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Bass fishign tips by master fisherman Michael Seewald.  Fishing reports from San Diego lakes and bays in San Diego, California. Bass fishing largemouth and smallmouth bass, ocean deep sea fishing reports, bass fishing, how to bass fish, smallmouth, largemouth, bucketmouth, otay lake, san vincente, and el capitan and loveland reservoirs. The world record bass, mission bay yellowtail, tuna, mako shark fishing reports. Blue sharks, calic Stellenbosch, Paarl, Franschhoek and Cape Town. Miramar Lake, Poway Lake, and Lake San Marcos. Dixon black bass, record bass, how to catch bass in San diego or the california delta or clear lake.
 

 

2005 Seewald fishing reports
are from most recent. 

Usually pretty current too.

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Dec. 29th and 30th,  2005
Fresno Lakes

I Fished two lakes in Fresno area next two days, bass lake and ?

Caught four bass on senkos, pumpkin, in shallows at bass lake in the rain.

Next day with Steve's son, no trout and no bass at other lake.



Dec. 1st and 2nd,
 2005
Colorado River

About 8 bass between us.

Had a great time, acconpanied by Mike Casteneda. He caught his first striper and first hit on worms and some on plastic crankbaits after we got there, about 2 p.m.. Stayed at 1st hotel that Valerie and I did before for $45 plus tax. Other hotels same price, Yuma Cabana nicer but booked.

Had two blow-ups on white 'ribbit' at dusk first night, very exciting. He had two or three on his crankbait, smaller ones. Next day we fished dawn to dusk and I got three and he got four or five.  He used shiners quite a bit too, but he caught, to his total surprise, more on artificial.  We drove home that night.

Nov 17th, 2005
  San Vincente

With Mike Casteneda. On lake by 8:20. Fished Kimballs for an hour then spent two trying to find rod. Took Mike back at 1:30 and I stayed until 5. Spent another hour with video camera then chased after explosions by bass chasing shad.  Zero fish, but metered tons and saw them too.

 

Oct. 22nd, 2005.
San Vincente, California

1st 'Real Tournament', and it was a night one.

2 bass me, 1 Herbert.

Started 7 pm, weigh in 1:15 a.m.. Two bass on Ika, black blue-flake. Herbert one dink on worm. Quite a few hits on Ika but no others. Winning weight 8 point something, second 7 point something. Mine was 4.33 for the two. One more fish may have netted my a check it was said. TUL.

I lost one rod and reel accidentally catching it on a cast of mine back in Kimball's arm, just at the end of our time.

Was the end event of the Aim Marine Boating & Fishing Jamboree of October 22nd and 23rd, weekend!!!

 



Oct. 19th, 2005.
Lake Hodges, California

 Fresh back from S. Africa and still in jet lag, I hit up San Vincente for some fall topwater action.  I got there and launched and fishing by 10 a.m..  Tried some new water for me towards the Hwy 15 overpass just past the narrows on the left side, a large cove with lots of sunken  trees and brush, for no love  with a Zoom 'Horny Toad' and a new favorite, the Lucky Craft 'Splash Tail',  which worked later on elsewhere.  Then moved closer to the back overpass and worked the trees and shore, netting two bass, one keeper on a Sumo frog and one dink on the Splash Tail. 

Over the next three hours not much happened, and then at about 4 pm ran into a section with lots of holding bass and proceeded to lose about 5 in a row on the frog, with some fairly large explosions being created by them hitting it.  It did not make sense to lose so many trying to set the hook though and I decided to pull on my drag and found it slipping...no wonder there were no hooksets after they had taken it down and loaded me up just right for the hookset.  Lesson learned, double check the working strength of the drag before using it.

 
Click to enlarge
The hog that fell to the Sumo Frog at Lake Hodges.

I adjusted it to proper working strength and then lost another in short order!!?.  About 5 pm I was bringing it by a large bush in the water and I took my eye off the bait when a big splash happened.  I thought it must have taken it down into the brush because I could hardly bring it in, and then realized it was because it was so big.  I managed to land him before he got tangled in all the structure I was in and he weighed in at just over 4 pounds, one nice feeeesh! 

I'm glad I got that line adjusted just in time not to loose him too.  That was the last action for the day, other than dinks trying to eat a frog bigger than they were, God bless their little souls. 


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1st Basirisky
frog bass.

On my way back out of the area I tied on a new Basirisky frog and tossed him a bit.  Above picture taken of the first bass caught with it. 


Basirisky frog.  Click image for more details.

An indicator of things to come, I'm sure, as that bait has some interesting characteristics to it, it walks back and forth without going far, and works with a slow roll so well.

Thank U Lord for another great 'on the water' experience.

 

Oct. 6th to the 13th, 2005.
South Africa, Africa

While working in South Africa I scouted out some exceptional fisheries to try my bass fishing skills on. I was blessed by getting connected with the best bass fishermen there too and getting to find out why smallmouth bass fishing was soooooo exciting.  This is a few days of fishing with it's own report/page....See complete report/photos here.

 

Sept. 5th, 2005. 
Otay Lake, San Diego, California
 Labor Day.

Well, I was hoping to go marlin fishing for the first time in my life, but the ride never happened so my friend Barry was waiting to see if he could be plan B with me joining him at Otay with the 'Answered Prayer', and I did.  Arrived at 5:35 a.m. but the lake was not open yet.  Was about 6th boat in line and Barry arrived around 5:45.  We went in about 5:50 and launched and headed to the back of Otay arm. I tossed a variety of topwater but nothing until about 8 when a bass plowed out of the reeds and attacked a Zoom Horny Toad frog I had on. 


Photo of a Zoom 'Horny Toad', a frog imitation.

He hit it hard and fought just as hard. Barry thought 4 or 5 pounds and I thought the same the way he fought. Darn, as he got close he looked awful strange and skinny.  In fact, it started to look like an eel?  I got him close again, no, not an eel, but something really different.  We landed him in the net, and I'm glad I did not try to thumb land him or I might be missing one; he had teeth like a barracuda.  Figured someone must have tossed a pet into the lake that had grown too large.  Had heard about this happening but first time I'd caught something like this. 

 


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1st Lucky Craft 'Splash Tail' bass.

We fished the shore until noon or one, and then decided to slow down and do some plastic worm fishing.  We anchored and tossed various plastics at the entrance to Harvey's arm.  I got one hit but that was it.  About 4:30 we went back to the shore fishing.  About 6 pm I caught one on a fluke that really took the line and I just held on, he was too big to try and bring in at first.  He swam into a bush and tossed the lure.  Darn.  Put on a prop bait and tossed it next.  15 minutes later fish on, (see above photo) and this guy really fought too.  Barry took the photo and we weighed him figuring about 4 pounds- he was just shy of it. 

We released him and went back to working the shoreline.  Nothing more but lots of big bass exploding on the surface along the reeds edges.  Finally the topwater action is heating up there.  Good times coming.  Back to the docks by 7:15, and it was getting fairly dark out.  Some folks said they thought it might be an Arowana, and that was true.


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An Arowana caught at Otay? Yep.

 

 

August 27th, 2005.
El Capital Lake, San Diego, California

"Just for fun, sdfish message boards'
bass tourney held at El Capitan, east San Diego County

The gun went off at 6:15 am to start (not really a gun) and I heard the roar of the boats from the launch ramp, which I was still at launching my boat 'Answered Prayer'- oh well!  I was now in my first San Diego County fishing tournament, how exciting.  I said hi to a couple of fellows I know from the fishboards and went to work (fishing that is). I worked a point 4/5ths of the way to the trees at the far end of the lake.  It had produced months earlier but two hours of trying my best with hula grubs and various topwater lures produced the big zero.  I decided to move down to the trees, where after I arrived I realized I should of gone immediately.  I knew this as I pulled up because bass were busting everywhere and two guys said they already had two in their live-well.  That was heartbreaking as I was skunked and it was nearing 9 a.m..  I tried flukes and other assorted topwater there, with the occasional spinner bait and plastic, but still no action on my line.  I sat back and thought, what could I do different?  The sun had burnt the clouds away and the heat was starting to get unbearable almost instantly.  I could hear the fat lady singing and it was only 9:30, with three hours left to fish before we had to be back at the docks for weight in.

I realized Barrett had hot weather and the bass loved the frog there, at least the ones under heavy growth/trees, even at noon, so I tied on a new one Kellen had sold me a couple of weeks earlier 'It's my favorite color' he had said.  That was good enough for me.  15 minutes later I saw an explosion under a big tree that was half submerged as most were, but it was on the other side of the trunk.  I tossed the frog into the thick brush still growing in it.  I did not see it land as it went into and through the brush, close to the explosion as I could get.  I kept an eye on the line though and noticed it was moving, so I cranked down and set the hook- fish on, Thank U Lord.  I beefed him out of the brush and prayed he would not throw the hook, as he jumped pretty high.  I realized he was a  nice keeper at that point and grabbed the net that was at the ready.   I landed my first bass; it was sweet to finally get one; it picked up my spirits quite a bit.  Surprisingly, it had hit that frog gently, slurped it down, and this was the first time of getting one like that.  In fact, all four hits were that way.  Weird.

I continued my approach of tossing the frog under the trees but it was tough as the frog constantly got hung up, not hook wise but just the line would tangle around the tree branches.  If I did not get into the dense stuff I got no hits.  Well, it must have reached about 105 to 110 degrees by noon, but I was happy with my results.  I had landed two out of possible three fish I hooked into and had watched one really big bass come out of the water and try to eat the frog that was stuck up in the branches.  I would lower it down and let it dip in the water, then raise it up a few inches, trying to get some attention.  I was about 5 pounds and he slowly came up, big ol' mouth wide open and almost getting up to the frog at the top of the pull.  Believe me, I was excited and cheering for that big guy to get up there and eat it, but he only gave it a half try and failed, costing me the first place, as well as one that hit the frog and I failed to reel down first before swingin'.

I got out of there right after the drawing, I think everyone did.  I was so hot from fishing in the sun it took quite a while to cool down, even with the air condition on in the van on the way home.


Click on image to enlarge
My two frog fish, netting me fourth place out of 11 teams.

 

 

August 19th, 2005,  Lake Jennings

Caught a 13" on a Yamamoto watermelon hula grub on 6 pound test on 'hog point' (my name) next to the same tree. Then, for the first time, used the zoom frog 'Horny Toad' watermelon / red flake (similar to the 'Ribbit' soft-bait lure show further down) and caught a nice 18" after a few minutes of use, across the boat docks at 'north buoy cove' I'll name it. Was bringing it over some stickups back in the corner.


Click on image to enlarge

1st Zoom 'Horny Toad' bass (18"),
Lake Jennings 8.19.05

Tossed it around the point some more heading east and then across putted across that mouth of the giant cove to some reeds.  I got nailed by a 13" just as two guys catfish fishing from a boat there said they'd like to see me catch one.

 

August 18th, 2005
  San Vincente

Worked aqueduct arm from 7:30 all morning for no love. Overcast until 9:30 and some guy was getting them on single prop bait, Bagley brand he said.

Moved to Kimball arm entrance and tossed watermelon hula grub for no love, same areas the week before got a nice 4.5. Worked the 1st beach area in back for a couple of small ones on small split shotted blue/red clear worm of Alain's. Went across to chimney worked topwater for no love and then that side to back of Kimball's for a couple of dinks, 3, on split shot rig.


Click on image to enlarge

18" on Lucky Craft 'Splash Tail' prop-bait.

In evening I used that prop-bait at the narrows and got slammed by an 18" and then another one on the next cast at same spot but lost him in the weeds. Did not remember I was going to use the new Zoom 'Horny Toad' frogs until I saw a guy back at the docks have one hit his at dusk. Said he'd got two in the last hour that he got good hook sets on.

 

August 14th, 2005,  La Jolla Kelp beds.

Notes for trip:
Planning on going for albacore on Ken Williams' 36' boat the Dodie B.. Usually takes 6. Ken drives it, friend Ben will be the 'deckhand' and is my connection to get on the boat as I don't know the owner.

Told to bring poles with 20, 25 and 30 # test. Albies are 25# to 50#, mostly larger lately. We will troll 4 lines, when hit toss out live bait immed., then bring in fish.

Depart 2 am, fish by 5 or so, leave noon or so, back by 3, 4, 5 or 6, depending on many factors.

In reality, here is what happened.

Got a call from Ben the albies have been far and few between so we're planning on fishing locally, so we will leave at 7 a.m. exactly.  Met Steve (brought lunches, looked like Woody Allen a little , Jim (computer 'online provider'; he used to have a boat near Ken's.  Then there was the diesel repairman that had worked on Kens boat previously.

We caught quite a few calicos at the L.J. kelp beds on sardines and then went for 'reds' off Del Mar/ Torrey Pines at 300' (over rocks).  Caught one or two on each line on each pass over some rock pile out there.  Then went to Cardiff, dirty water so left. Hit boils and caught bonito and Mackerel on way back to the L.J. beds, saw some yellowtail and then back to L.J. for nada. Back at 3 p.m.. Lots of good eating.

 

August 11th,  San Vincente


Click on image to enlarge.
The bass was barely hooked, see image.


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Official Rapala scale weight.


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Here is the dude, brought back to my face so we could both get into the photo.  Release him unharmed to grow another 10 pounds.

Fished San V from 1 pm til 8.  Most using Hula grub and topwater.  Caught this nice 4.6# largemouth at 4:30 on the watermelon hula grub not far from shore.

August 10th,  Lake Wohlford

Went with Jerry S.  I got two dink bass on blue brown mini worm Carolina rigged at rocks west of docks. One catfish too. 7:30 am till noon thirty. Hot and humid.. Rental boat at $14- Jerry no luck, skunked.

 

 

July 7th - 16th.
Mammoth, Bishop, Convict Lake and Hot Creek

We went trout fishing on our vacation up to the Eastern Sierras.


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Here is Valerie trying her skills at picturesque Convict Lake.


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Me with my first brown trout on a fly, Hot Creek.

 

June 8th, Barrett Lake


Took Mike Wade, the gentleman who traded me his bass boat for art last year.

Me -2 in boat, 5 in or at boat, 11 hits on topwater. 
Partner-  1 in boat (dink), and lost a couple.


Left home at 4:20 a.m. with Mike and his truck.  Bill took us in right at 5:35 from the gate and we were on the lake by 6:15 headed for the end of Pines Cove.  Took us 20 minutes to get there on their small motor boat.  Tried topwater for the first hour and a half for no love.  Went to spinners and plastics. 

Got my first bass on topwater ZZ Boze walker but he tossed the lure when he jumped, at the 'trees'.  I hooked the same one last week, same bush.  At 8:50 I caught a very healthy one between the trees and the shore on a pumpkin senko.


Click on image to enlarge.
Senko bass, early morning.

Worked the narrow cove after some of the points around there and topwater some more.  Had at lease 8 hits on the solid frog or the ZZ with only a couple of hook-ups that were lost.  Mike had a tough time with little plastic action, but report of most of the boast getting skunked showed how tough the bite is still. 

As the shadows started to appear in the deep canyon we were working I started to use the buzzbait and got a nice 18" at 5 p.m..


Click on image to enlarge.
Buzzbait bass, late afternoon.

Went back the the 'trees' for not even a hit, we both worked the frog.  Mike continued with the frog and I used the buzz working our way into the major arm and I had another three or four hits, one of which was hooked up but I lost him after he jumped.  Was a very nice day on the water, not a cloud and light to moderate winds, for Barrett.  Was only a few minutes late back to dock as the 'off the lake time' was 7:55, but we got in about 8:05.  About 7 cars left n the 'train out' at 8:15.

 

 

June 4th, Ocean Fishing on the Joy
 

Herbert, nephew Thomas and I aboard Hebert's Joy, a 24' Maxium.


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Pole out with balloons above the whole dead mackerel that we put out for bait.  Two poles are set up and ready to go as we drift from 2 to 3 miles outside the Mission Bay entrance.

Caught a mako shark. I was given a chance to bring in the first shark, and it ended up being the only one.  A week previously we caught the first of the season.


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The fight was only for about 10 or 15 minutes as he was only about 4 1/2 foot and 70 to 80 pounds.

 


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Herbert and Thomas help in landing the shark.  Herbert is shown with the gold gaff and Thomas is set to hook a rope around the sharks tail so we can attach it to the back of the boat.  There is no room for him with us in the back of the boat, thank God.


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Here is the mako shark on the gaff.

 


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Here is the mako shark on the boats back deck.

 

 

June 1st, Barrett Lake


Took Mike the fireman, first time fishing there, most a salt water fisherman.

Me -1 in boat, 2 in or at boat, 6 on line.  Partner-  1 in boat, no others hooked up.




Ran into 'SOCB Prez' Brian and he was nice enough to give me two new baits he just told me about- Ribbitt's- to try. Also ran into Mike Wade, the gentleman that traded me art for his bass boat.


Click on image to enlarge.
 

Clear skies and a little foggy and cool on the lake. Plan A was to work the flats at far end of Pines topwater first but remembered last week I was going to hit Becky's first for the same type of reasons, so we went there. The terrain is not set up as it was last year, with that long gentle slope, as I had hoped it might be. But the shore looked so darn good we worked it anyway for an hour and a half. Neither topwater, nor plastics, worked. Decided to revert back to the Plan A.

That did not work either. The topwater bite seemed doomed this year, but I just could not believe this, so I decided to try it different ways. I tossed a solid body frog to a tree in deeper water and let it set. Two seconds later I twitched it and a bass exploded on it. I showed off to my friend how I was letting him run with the lure. I never caught up to him to set the hook, he had spit it out.



Click on image to enlarge.
Trees in the water, far end of Pines Cove.  Waterfall in background.
Most of my bass action happened here.


My partner caught his first Barrett bass on one of my favorite lures there now, a watermelon colored Hula Grub an hour later.  I continued to try and catch another bass on that frog. I finally realized it was that 'tree in deep water' that was the one detail missing in my pattern. I went back to that idea, finding similar trees and tossed that frog all around them. Nada. Finally I started to bounce it up and under the overhangs. Fish started to nail it, one or more under each tree, but the solidness of the bait worked against me, and I lost at least 5 or 6 in a couple of hours, one right at the boat.


After finally getting one into the boat we took a break under a tree and had lunch -an actual break, instead of trying to cast and eat the sandwich at the same time, a novel idea. (I felt like it was a waste of time, now that I had a pattern down that worked and did not want to stop to eat, but my partner thought it would be couth, so what the heck).


Click on image to enlarge.
A nice fighting 17" on a topwater frog.



I thought that Hauser might have a lot of trees too that would work, so we headed way over there. The darn lake is so big now it took us 45 minutes to get there, not counting stopping and working another usual prime spot that produced nada. Well, as nice as those trees looked we got zippo there too, not for lack of trying. Hit Barro's secret cove on the way back, the little one with the small waterfall on the right, and just like his lack of productivity there last time, same with us.

The long arm next to the entrance/exit road was my ace up the sleeve, and I could not wait to get there, but it was 6:10 when we motored up to it, watching the last two cars take the 6 p.m. train out following Laurie, leaving the whole lake to us.

The buzzbaits we tossed did not even produce a strike. Now my partner constantly missed the strike zone with his cast, making his effort null and void to start with (not that I did not constantly remind him he needed to hit the shore first) but my 'perfect' casts went unanswered.

Again, the lake looked so good and I'm glad to have given it the old college try. My partner enjoyed the day, and what a trooper, first time out and never gave up.  I go again next Wednesday, with some new ideas to up my fish count.  We will see.




May 25th, Barrett Lake

Took Herbert and his German nephew Thomas, first time fishing.

Me -3 in boat, 4 in or at boat, 6 on line, partners 0- none on line.



Past few weeks we have been going in at 5:40, after 5:45 on opening week, so I figured we had till 5:30 at least to get there. WRONG. Missed first train by 10 min. as Bill went in at 5.20 due too, he said, only having to check-in 11 cars. DARN DARN DARN! I didn't blame him though because it's getting a lot lighter nowadays earlier.  I noticed this at 5:15 on the way there knowing 'the masses' would be saying "let's get going Bill, it's so light out already!" 

And I was all excited to hit a couple of spots I figured would work topwater finally. It's the pits sitting there waiting for so long, knowing just around the corner bass heaven is 'possibly' going off. Next Wednesday I'll be there earlier.

 


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First bass of the day, nice 16" fighter.

Anyway, first fish came at dam, shad getting blasted so I tossed that small storm shad bait Mick was nice enough to turn me onto two weeks ago, hit in middle of exploding shad ball and fish on- nice fighting 16". Fished area for 1.5 hours or so with no more 'skill/luck'. Herbert's nephew was a newbie and I spent a little time teaching casting methods, tying on lures etc.. He was a fast learner and was impressed with our southern California landscapes as he's from So. Germany.

Next fished the island just before Pines, plastics for all of us, nada. Usually I get three in this spot. It's only 3 to 7 foot deep too.

Next came a tap and run for me on hula grub- watermelon green, first island area inside Pines but lost him due to poor hook-set method. We worked that area for an hour and that usually produces 2 - 3.



Next came working cove just before Campo ending for nada. Spinnerbaits. I got and lost a real fighter- minimum 3 lbs, at the boat due to showing off/ fooling around with him on red/black spinnerbait. We worked that area for an hour. Move to waterfall cove for a break and then fished it on way out- nada. Got a nice 16" on that same spinnerbait on entrance to the waterfall coves, and he fought like crazy taking line a couple of times on 6 lb test. Worked the 'flats' to long river arm but surprising nada on flukes and frogs- usually get 1 to 2 and 3 - 4 hits there. Was 4 to 5 pm.. Worked river arm further back and got one on black buzzbait that really hit hard, getting my partners all excited again, another 16". 1/2 hour later lost a small one way back by ending of the area. Went to work a shoreline halfway back to docks and Thomas got a hit on his fluke- his first 'almost bass' and he was excited about that.

Herbert - no hits for the day, at least he is putting time on the water, that will always help you get better.  He missed casting into the 'strike zones' most of the time, and that will hurt on the total numbers caught for the day.

Can't wait till next Wednesday when I'll go back.  Going with a friend who is a semi-serious fisherman but it will be his first time there. The weather was perfect, light winds in most places and temp. only low 90's, I'd guess. So many great looking spots and only 14 hours at the most to try.
 


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Barrett Lake, bass fishing paradise (most of the time) at dusk.



May 14th, 15th and 16th,
Colorado River Fishing Report

My first tournament. 

Took 2nd place 'team', day two, with a limit of 5, fishing solo.  Took smallest 'keeper bass' award too.


May 14th, 15th and 16th, Colorado River Fishing Report from the first annual Bob La Londe 'Just for Fun Yumabassman.com' tournament.


Friday the 14th left San Diego at noon with the Answered Prayer after dropping off the loaner fishing tube from a previous Barrett outing to Dave M and stopping to pick up donated lures from CJ Siebler in Santee.


Click on image to enlarge.

 

Was a little concerned as the mountains are over 4,000 foot and the van is not a real strong 'tow vehicle', but slow was the operative word and all worked fine. Rolled into Squaw Lake, the closest lake from Yuma on the river with a launch ramp (21.5 miles), at around 5:30 p.m., to do some 'pre-fishing' (fishing before a tournament to find out good spots to fish during it). I netted myself some heavy duty topwater on buzzbaits. I lost about a 5 pounder on just the second cast, in the canal from Squaw Lake to Little Senators. I realized it's not good to catch them anyway and rigged up plastic covers over the hooks. Other action came on the frog.


Looking in side view mirror in desert.


The Answered Prayer ready for 'pre-fishing'.



That night I went to Bob La Londe's home, the gentleman holding the tournament, where everyone was invited to a B-B-Q, and a poker game till 11 p.m.. I was not interested in the poker game but was real excited to talk river bass fishing with some new acquaintances I was to meet. But when I got there a little after 9 Bob said that only two guys showed up and had left already and he wanted to hit the sack. But we still shot the bull for awhile and then it was off to find a motel. The Yuma Cabana, for $35 a night, seemed to fit the bill. Plugged in the boats battery chargers with an extension to the ice machine near the office and hit the sack just after changing some fishing line and getting ready for the next day, about midnight.

Got the 3:45 a.m. wake up call and headed to the river in short order. Got there just before 5 but the restaurant I heard was to be open was only serving coffee, so nothing to eat for me.

That morning I drew Jeff (JAD on Bob's La Londe's website yumabassman.com) who had not fished for bass for over 10 years, and was mostly a catfish fisherman. My heart sunk at this fact, then realized if the Good Lord wanted us to win, then by George nobody would beat us.

We sat with three other teams/boats, floating just off the launch ramp, and synchronized our watches with Bob- 5:34 a.m.- 'safe light' time (seemed pretty light out to me though) and then listened to him explain the tourney rules.

Disqualifications for those getting tickets on the water or for driving without life vests on or without lanyards attached to the body (a cord attached to a kill switch from the driver that turns off the motor if you were thrown from the boat), no bass allowed under 13 inches, points lost if they were not brought in alive (we release all fish after the event), weigh-in at 2 p.m. sharp, etc..

Then off Jeff and I went speeding to the Squaw Lake canal. I did not know how far that might be, as it had been months since going there once from Fishers Landing, but it ended up being about 3-4 miles or so downriver. The area I'd planned to fish already had two boats on it (bummer- other guys pre-fishing for a Sunday tourney), so we went further down and went to work. I got five or six bass over the first four or so hours on Pumpkin Hula and one on a watermelon senko. Jeff threw many lures but borrowed a senko after I got one on it. All were on the bottom of the canal in about 6 feet of water where the canal bends, just outside the main flow of the water. We got a few 'short fish', under 13", and some small striper bass that were hitting the surface for some fun action, but I ended up getting the only keepers, three just 13" to 14". Jeff got quite a few too, but none large enough to help our cause, all were undersized. And what he lacked in knowledge I found out he more that made up for with enthusiasm, and even though he is now 5 years out of work for a construction injury, he hung in there, pain and all.



Click on image to enlarge.
Jeff trying his best.


As we were going into my first 'weight in' it was with mixed emotions. I was excited in that it was my first, but also disappointed in that we only had three of the five allowed fish limit. But consolation was not far away as Bob (a really good fishermen, especially in his element there) and his partner only had three too! The other two boats had limits (5 each) and Dave Willhide (another really good fisherman who guides there and runs a fishing supply store) and his partner had a real nice limit with 3 and 4 pounders, and the big fish for the day at just under 5 pounds to boot.


Click on image to enlarge.



After talking and getting much needed info with the 'back seat participants' on what worked for them that day over a $5 quarter pound cheeseburger from the marina restaurant I drove the 45 minutes back to Yuma and took a MUCH NEEDED two hour nap. I was so hot from being in the direct sun for so long it must have taken an hour to cool down after a cold shower and laying on the bed with the air-conditioner going full blast. Later that night I noticed some other fishermen from Nevada just pulling into a motel across from mine. I hung around as they prepped the boat and poles as they stated they would be fishing the river tomorrow in a big money tourney, with the Angler's Choice circuit. I gathered lots of advice from a myriad of questions and went back and prepped for my next days attack too. On following there system I cut 10' of line from all 5 of my poles, re-tying the lures or putting different ones on. My plan -use the hula grub again which already worked, along with a 'Sweet Beaver' plastic in the tulles for lunkers like Dave W. does there. Buzzbaits in the morning too.

Hit the sack just after midnight again and had the hotel give me a 4:15 wake-up call; planned to not wait around in the morning for 'safe light' to come and get a little extra sleep instead, but sinus problems and a sense of prevailing excitement kept me restless. I had allowed 15 minutes to get packed and out of the hotel and figured after the 45 minute drive I would arrive at 5:15, a good 20 minutes ahead of the 'safe light' starting time. Of course this was assuming they started out at 5:35 a.m. again, like the day before.

But I wanted to make sure I ate that morning and had heard of a Jack in the Box that was open 24 hours, so I pulled in at 4:40, a little behind schedule, to order. To make a long story short, the normal 5 minute cooking time took 20 minutes and now I was panicky as it was 4:55 a.m.! I high tailed it at 70 mph all the way to the lake. The 45 minute drive took 30 minutes exactly and I pulled onto the launch ramp at 5:25, giving me what I thought was still a 10 minute window - but nobody was there. I had a sinking feeling they had left a lot earlier today, and that was the case.

I launched and started to fish solo as they left with my partner for the day also. I was not a happy camper as I felt Bob may say I was disqualified from fishing too; I fished in low spirits. But I ran into Dave and his partner a few minutes later, just across from the ramp working the tulles. He said they had left 'way after safe light' and that weigh-in was at 2 p.m. again. That was a load off my mind, as he did not say I was disqualified for 'showing up late'.

Anyway, I prayed that I'd be blessed with five fish, even though I'd be fishing solo. I fished the Fisher Landing tulles for naught for the first 1/2 hour using buzzbaits, then went to work the tulles between the private docks and the shore using the Pumpkin Hula. Hit on first cast, but I lost him trying to set the hook before I had caught up to the running fish, a rookie mistake; yeah I'm still a rookie, but trying not to be. I then kept getting bit working around the private docks, either just next to them or between them and shore. The shadowed side (getting light out quick, and hot) worked the best and I had a limit by 9 a.m.. The last fish was just 13" exactly, and he seemed so much smaller than the ones in my live well I almost just tossed him back without measuring him, glad I didn't. T.U.L.


Click on image to enlarge.



Now the professionals will start to 'cull' the fish, keeping the bigger ones caught later on and tossing the small ones back, and I was excited I was going to get into the culling bass routing. NOT. I got no hits after that, except one that I lost in the tulles on the Sweet Beaver.

It was over 100 degrees by 10 a.m. and I did not want to cook like the day before. I figured maybe I could fish the shadowed sides of the private docks, as many of them had roofs, but I'd be real limited. I remembered I had a golf umbrella and that I could fasten it to the seat and fish under it. I did that but I was so cramped by lack of space that I fastened it instead to the top of the oar after fastening the oar to the seat pedestal. So I fished in the shade (standing up) in front of the Answered Prayer from eleven till 2, weigh in time. Many people said they were going to use my idea next time out and were quite jealous I was fishing in the shade while they sweat bullets.

On this day I felt good going into the weigh in, having a limit on the boat. And low and behold, it netted me second place 'team' for the day, as Dave's five were smaller and Bob came in with only three again. Boy, I'd have been more excited if I wasn't so hot and tired again, and having only about 6 hours sleep in two days of 'hard work'. Won $30 for the smallest 'keeper bass' of 13" too from the day before, getting my entry fees back. T.U.L..

Drove back, tired as heck, that afternoon. Crawled over the mountains with the heater on as the van wanted to overheat with that 104 degree desert heat. The air-condition worked on the straight-aways to the mountains, but once I started climbing so did the temp. Got back to Del Mar and it was 69 at 7 p.m.. Was nice to get home, but it was sure fun fishing that river. Next time, first place.
 

A couple of pictures forthcoming.

 

May 11th, Barrett Lake Bass Fishing Report

Me, solo.  First time tubing it.  8 bass.

Pulled in right behind 'Sgtmaj' around 5:15 and shot the bull with him and Mick till Bill (the lake keeper) came up at 5:45.  Then we drove the 15 minute dirt road in.

 
Click on photo to enlarge.
Here we are, all going into the lake, single file, with dust coming up as usual.

 

 
Click on photo to enlarge.
First view of the lake.  The arm on left is the one I got the buzz bait fish from. 

From 7 to 1:30 I tubed from the dock to the dam, across the dam and back, then got a boat from partners who left early for the balance of the day. Three bass on watermelon Yam. hula grub, first at 7:05, five minutes after launching. (It took a while to get it 'all together' as it was the first time in one; you know, like why do the suspenders go under the crotch, oh it doesn’t- take 'em off again, etc. Note to self, have them on next time like all the other guys waiting at the gate).

 

 
Click on photo to enlarge.

Just launched, first time in a tube.

Second one was at 8 off point between dock and dam (I know, didn’t get far, but it takes a while to get those things going in the direction, or semi-direction even, of where you'd like to go).

 

 
Click on photo to enlarge.

Trying to get the hang of using the fins to turn the tube, line up the light,
and snap the shutter on my new digital (and waterproof to 5 feet) camera.  Of course,
one must remember to try and not cut off the head of the fish, or the fisherman for that matter.

 
Click on photo to enlarge.
First tube bass, 7:05 a.m..

The third at 10:30, across the dam on other shore (had it mastered by then- was weird having the bass hit you in the butt and legs trying to get off the hook, glad he did not stick me with it!). Blow up on topwater, in corner where the log jam sits, on Sluggo but missed him. Shad all across dam on surface getting picked off by the bass, lost one on white single tailed grub. Wished I'd had jig head so I'd retrieve quicker but regular boxes of gear would not fit in all the pockets my loaner 'Trout Unlimited' tube had. Tubes are great but I would take a while to prep another trip, as in getting lots of little bags to put mucho selections of gear in. Did handle four of the poles I took out there quite well.


Click on photo to enlarge.
Third bass on a watermelon Yamamoto Hula Grub (half showing behind bass), dam in background.


Watched guys catch shad and use them for bait cause they had not caught anything the 'regular way', kinda sad. They left second train out- good riddance sirs.

Mick joined me there and got one right away on a shad looking soft bait he said Crease turned him onto. Wished I had one and asked if had extras, and he did; but no skill with it and they seemed to shut down at that very moment too.

 

 
Click on photo to enlarge.
Mick with his dam bass, caught on a small plastic shad.



Took 2-3 off in van to rest and then took boat and went topwater early. Thought the 5 o’clock topwater bite might happen early, as had not tried it early last two times out there, but did not hook up until 5:20 on the frog - third cove, the real long narrow one, from dock on left headed to PC. Then switched to buzz baits white, and three slam and inhale it from 6 to 7; very aggressive hits and fought well. White skirt eventually got ate off and the white/chart louder one (literally, not just figuratively) was not as effective, but maybe because shoreline then fished was facing different direction- east, instead of north/south like first bay that worked did.

Last 10 minutes tried the frog again. Time was 7:40, had to go but one last cast (you know) and it got hit so hard by something so big between two stick up plants that it landed stuck up in it them. Tried the follow up Senko toss but no love. I felt I just needed 1/2 hour more to get my numbers up to 30 (always the positive thinker, and they were getting much more active), but have to be happy with the eight I finished with.

 


Click on photo to enlarge.
The one that did not get away.  Frog action, Barrett style.

 

May 4th, Barrett Lake Bass Fishing Report

18 Bass, falling barometer, 62 degree water.

Started out great. While waiting in line for Bill to check us in someone said the barometric pressure was dropping. That meant fish on a feeding frenzy! For me, and some friends, it turned out just that way. I had fish on by 6:30. Figured I'd stay with the Yamamoto hula grub, as it worked best last time. Caught them on all three colors I tried; shad, cinnamon and watermelon. Shad was more popular.  They hit the half part two, even more readily, after the back tail had been bitten off.

Later, around 10, I motored out to the end of Pines Cove where a friend with his buddies were. They were doing well on white spinner baits. Well, I'm not too great with those, but with some practice I caught four in an hours work (I mean fun). Found some low lying grassy areas and caught one on a flukes- topwater, dragging them over the tops.  Switched to a hula white/silver flake and caught two on that method. (Note, I should have used this for the frog fishing I did later).

From 2 to 5 was tough, and I hit a down spell with zippo, working spinner baits and reapers. The wind in the afternoon was to be reckoned with.

At dusk I had a good frog bite, and when I missed them I followed up with a white/gray Tiki worm, which worked a couple of times. (I got so excited when they thrashed the bait that I forgot to change to this follow-up method and usually just tossed the frog right back at them- out of practice). They never once came back for it, they seldom do. Ending up missing over 10; I figured the frog was gone they had it and reeled in really hard to set the hook. This always ended up pulling it out of their mouths. I should have reeled in more slowly I guess, then set the hook when  I felt them. One somersaulted over three feet in the air hitting it from straight below- totally awesome and would have been worth the whole day just for that. They were not more than 1 foot from shore, usually in the grassy edges on semi-deep drop off banks over in 'dock cove', hiding to ambush stray shad swimming by. I tossed parallel to the shore to cover more strike zone.

Even though I tripled my catch rate over the seven from two weeks ago, I met many who could not put it together, reporting catch rates of only 2 or 3 per person.  Ben and his partner couple caught more than me, but still, 18 was not bad, figuring with all the goof-ups/missed hooksets would have put me over 30. I am out of practice with that frog technique, which I just learned out there last year. I'll do better next time out, next Wednesday the 11th.

Each trip out there can improve an anglers skill level by leaps and bounds. We are blessed to have this great lake in our county. And even more blessed to have this site to share methods and technology. Those beginners that don't frequent these type of sites (and even the more experienced) are doomed to much smaller fish counts, don't you think?

I fished solo. Was last one out on last train out. Too bad Alain had to work after all, he would have had a good first trip out. We'll get 'um next time Alain.
 

May 1st, Lake Hodges

Me 1, Ben 1.

Ben met me at the house at 6 a.m.. Then we met at shop. On lake a little after 7 and fished till 6:40, a few minutes after they wanted us back _6.30. Only two bass, one each. Me at 6 and him at 6:15 on shores edge near 'tree corner'. Mine on shad hula grub, his on white/gray wave worm on the sink. Was mostly a cloudy day. Hit whole lake, more or less. Worked dock shoreline towards narrows point entrance, me flukes, he white spinner baits and small swimming grubs- nada. Then to Martinez Hideaway area, working towards dam. Got to place where I got hit topwater and saw Ben's was on but instantly outran him to go under the boat and toss the lure; white jig that he had been slow rolling. It was 2pm by then and we went across to deep area. Worked white jigs and spinner baits for nada starting in 'big cove' and working back to docks direction. Was coughing bad so went back to van and got cough syrup and then headed to hwy 15 bridge. First time back there, lots of water. We worked it till 5 or so then went to 'tree corner' were we finished the day. Other reports from three guys with pro bass boats were 0-1-0 for the day. Wow, that's tough. Very stained water with heavy amounts of small green algae made visibility about 12 inches.


Click on image to enlarge.

My first Hodges bass.  After two days I'm now averaging .5 per day. Photo by Ben.

 

April 27th, Lake Hodges

Me 0, Alain 1.  Note: Big storm coming in tonight. See note below report.

First time with A.P. there, second trip this year. New friend Alain joined me at 4. I started at 10, worked dock area 1 hour topwater, flukes, frogs for no hits. Went to left side of arm towards dam and tried drop-shot for a while. Nada. Went across to Hernandez Hideaway area and worked tulles towards dam. One blowup on fluke around 1 p.m.. Last one. Called by Alain for P/U. First time fishing together. We targeted the narrows with finesse baits, senko, Ikas, topwater working bank to old dock point by 6. Then to Hern. shoreline for topwater till 7:40. One hit on frog for me and one tube guy had got three on Ikas there.

Alain got one on small worm worked Carolina 1/2 way to old dock point. Was very nice out there but I worked my bottom baits too fast. Alain gave me two rods and some plastics I have not looked at yet.

     From barometer article:  When a weather front is approaching (falling barometer) , it's more than likely the fish aren't going to bite. The same thing is true when a weather front is clearing, but it's not as drastic. But immediately following the passing of the front, as the barometer rises, the fish feed very aggressively and will continue to feed until the barometer begins to fall.

 

April 24th, Barrett Lake

Me 7, Barry 6. (NOTE: this lake had doubled in surface area due to rains since I last fished it in Sept. of '04, when it closed).

Lake keeper Bill took us in at 5.45 and on water fishing by 6.25 working shore just across, and north, of dock. Tried jigs in a.m., white at first, no love and lots of Excalibur and large fluke topwater tries for no hits. Blue/black jig got first bass in the boat at 7:30 for me. Then I got one on white/gray senko type bait 20 minutes later four feet off shore, although kept tossing all bait to shores edge to start retrieves; heard that's where most hits occurred.

Then to end of point further north on same side at Hauser's entrance with mostly blue/black jig for naught. Then past Becky's cove along deep cliffs for nada for an hour. Lots of birds and shad along some shorelines with mostly brown/black pork jig and later a deep runner jerk bait for naught. Then big cove 2/3rds towards end of Hauser on left for nada with topwater small fluke. Two gents there had caught three there on Texas dark worm and eight in coves elsewhere. Barry using spoons and worms and creature baits. Then 'waterfall cove' towards end of Hauser's on left for some good action.  Mine on pumpkin red/blk flake senko with red electrical tape band. Barry starts getting hits and bass. First one on large 'Beaver' of mine (he forgot his tackle box in his car where we teamed up back in Spring Valley) and then two on the light green twin tail hula grub. (It was weightless and skimmed across all that grass covered bottom) I switched to that as he was three to my one and then got one but farmed him due to poor hook configuration.

Worked another 'newly formed cove' on way back out on left side for nada, then to Pine arm at about 4:00 p.m. for our first look-see. Worked the waterfall cove at very end on right, beautiful but nada. Some guys were parked and working the jetsam for a few they said.

Back to the nice rocky point with a saddle design I saw 2/3rds of way in on left hand side and we caught a couple of more each, but farmed even more of 'em there on hula grubs. Two guys came by nailing them on white spinner baits, then two more came by using frogs, claiming they had got 15 in last two hours on them!!? (I now realize that topwater not working in the a.m. does not mean it won't in the p.m.) They caught one where we had just fished and moved on further and landed one more. I switched to frogs and started working shoreline and got one hit instantly but it was almost 7:30, time to go. We left at 7:40 after tossing and twitching a rapala on the surface for one more. Got back to docks just in time to watch everyone leave on last train out at 7:50. Had to wait for the escort to come back then got escorted out by one of the guys at 8:30.

Made for a long (13 hours) day and my arm is a bit sore but we did complain together that the day had ended too soon, believe it or not. Overcast 95% of the time, water still a bit cold but the look of the lake is nothing short of spectacular.

Really a bit of paradise and as an artist, if I had brought my camera, I would have taken quite a few to possibly paint at a later date. Yellow and purple flowers grace the shorelines interspersed by tall green grasses and boulders to break up the patterns. Cottonwood trees block the ends of the coves in perfect arrangement and varying birds flutter and chatter non-stop, reminding you that only they (and a few illegal) roam the area- houses and cars are non-existent.

April 18th. Miramar Lake. 

Zippo

Left frame shop at 10:15. Started fishing about 11. Zippo along tulles with flukes first two hours. Then zippo with senko and bed fishing next two. Worked more beds and then senko on way back. Started getting hits about 6 p.m. and lost one on the hook set, forgetting 4 lb. test leader was being used. Jerry, new to bass fishing. Back to docks at 7:15.

April 8th.  Lake Jennings

Zippo

Valerie and I hit Lake Jennings around noon.  It was a bit windy but warm most of the time with variable clouds.  Trout did not take the usual offerings of Kastmasters too well.  Valerie had two hits but I worked bass mostly and had no hits.  Worked some beds towards dusk but could not get any interest.

April 6th.  Ocean

Zippo 1p.m till 7 p.m..

Herbert and I went out on his boat to the La Jolla kelp beds for his first time.  We did not get all the way to the point but worked the outside of the beds then drifted back to the jetty over a two hour period.  Went to fish haven outside the amusement park and found the sunken ship, but poor current configuration left us anchored to the side of it and not over it.  Herbert believes close is good enough and we did not re-anchor over it as I'd hoped we would.  I lost two on anchovies and squid strips that I tried to toss towards the wreck.

April 2nd.  Otay

From 6 am till 11 am. Zippo. Sunny.

Went with friend Barry and tried methods which worked a week ago for no love.  His first time there.  Boat overheated battery trying to start it and melted the contact.  Thought big problems might stop our day but realized my jumper cables, attached to the trolling batteries should work, and it did.  T.U.L..  Fished Senko's on topwater and sometimes dropped into likely looking places but not even a nibble.  Also tried spinner baits for nada.  He stayed and I don't know how he fared.


March 30th.  Otay

1 bass, nice weather, 62 degree water. 7 a.m. till 6 p.m..

Fished the dock's north side where I'd got some topwater action the week earlier.  Lotioned up the arms around 10 as was getting real hot and sunny out. Picked up the rod and cast it right out of my hand, hitting the back motor and then it plunked just outside my reach.  Thought of jumping in and decided not to as I did not have time to think if I'd damage something (wallet, watch, etc.).  Heart sunk with it.  Tossed a marker buoy overboard after rummaging through boat to mark the area.  Decided I'd toss treble hooks all day if I had to and snag it back up.  After an hour and lots of lost treble hooks decided to go fish and come back at 1, when it was too hot and sunny for most fish to bite. 

Went to Wal-Mart and got a large diamond salt-water fishing lure and a nylon rope.  Went back and spent two more hours working the area.  Almost jumped in, naked, but decided not to at last moment when I saw a boat headed my way. Good thing too, it was a lady warden checking things out.  Man, that was close too.  A friend called and we prayed.  Five minutes later I pulled it up. Thank U Lord.  Went back to topwater fishing for no love.

 

March 25th.  San Vincente 

Val and I. 1pm till 6:15 pm.

1 bass on senko, two lost topwater back of Kimball's arm on med white fluke.

We fished back of Kimball's arm- Had some topwater action back there but could not land any. Was using too large of a fluke but it's nice to see that working now. Did real well at Otay topwater Wednesday so my type of fishing is 'back'.

Due to the last minute action I did not head back till almost dark. Found out back at the dock the wife could not find her backpack. Had her fishing license, glasses, clothes, etc.. She kept listing all of the items that would need replacing and I told her it must have flew off the back of the boat (did not know she had put it back there) somewhere on the way back. Told her it's in Davey Jones Locker now as I'm sure it would not have floated.

Feeling so sorry for her and her loss I decided to ask the ranger if he wouldn’t mind backtracking all of the way back to Kimball’s to try and find it with me...he agreed. (Could not take ours as it was closing time and getting dark).

Basically black out by the time he got the boat re-fired up and going. Would take a miracle but prayed anyway- God loves answering prayers, right? We looked all the way to the back cover, a couple of miles away and his headlight only lit up a five foot wide path straight down in front of the boat.   I didn't know how we'd see it and if it was not directly run over we would have never seen it.  On taking a large sweep at the back of Kimball’s Arm around to come back we actually almost ran over it! It had sunk just under the surface.  We were doing about 10 mph and I grabbed it as we ran it over! The two motors would have chopped it up had I missed it. Thank U Lord.

March 23rd.  Otay

7 a.m. till 6 p.m.  4 on pumpkin topwater Senko's, Ben two on white spinner baits and one on sinking Senko.

It was very windy and the rain was still hitting the county that day, on and off at the lake, but not too bad. Was another great day there. Caught a four, two around 2.5 and a 2. Was a blast as topwater had not really worked much previously the week earlier.

The first was by luck, a 19", 3.5 to 4 lb'er, back on 'end right cove at Harvey's.  Hit it after I'd fished top water flukes for no love for an hour, along with white spiller baits and Senko's the 'normal' way. Realized after trying the fluke again for two more hours that maybe they wanted that watermelon Senko and switched.  Caught one on second cast not far from the docks going back to pick up Ben.

Ben joined me at noon and we worked north of docks and up into Otay arm. His first time to the lake.. Caught his on white spinner bait and one on a senko floating down. Forgot camera phone could have got a shot as reg. Camera still broken. Later Ben got shot on his phone of a smaller one (all 14" or larger) and I got one of his on mine. Got one of two more on the top, one after Senko sunk by a submerged bush, which there are hundreds now.


Funny thing is, the first one was by mistake. I'd missed my target and burned the 6” Senko back to the boat. The four nailed it as I brought it over deep tulles that just reached the surface in 11 foot of water. I thought, heck, I just fished 45 minutes and nothing on white flukes, but maybe I quit too early. I switched poles and started throwing the white fluke again. After two more hours with the fluke and nada darn thing, I started to wonder if the first catch was really the fluke!? Then a brilliant idea hit my thick skull, maybe throw the senko again topwater. Second cast, BAMO, fish on but farmed just as fast. But hey, I was onto something- they wanted it dark. Caught and released another three on it. Ended up with about 11 lbs from four fish.
 

March 16th. Otay  

12:30 p.m. till 6 p.m.  Zippo water 65. l

Lots of closed mouth fish. Used old boat with trolling motor only, south side of docks, as bass boat in shop still.

Water up to concession stand. Senko's, sweet beaver, lizards, not one hit. Saw a couple small ones taken on small straight worm setups.

Met Patrick, AKA 'master caster' who knew me from fishing boards!

Next day had a pulled back. Was trying to solve a water problem, due to lack of drain plug installation at launch, by trying to pull the boat out of water not realizing how heavy it was.

 

March 11th.  Southerland Lake.

5 bass, one me, one Arthur.


Santa Ysabel Arm, Southerland.


Mesa Grande Arm, Southerland.

Click on images to enlarge.

Took a newbie (Arthur) to the lake.  Met him on the sdfish.com message boards, he was in need of some fishing equipment so I'd loaned him some until he could get on his feet.  It was, for both our us, the first time there.  Got to lake about 11 a.m..  Took the 'old boat' with trolling motor only as the Answered Prayer is still in the shop.  Went across to the 'east bank' for about three hours of working the bank- nada.  Worked plastics along the shore.  Long shadow started to appear on west bank so motored across and instantly started to catch bass. 

 


Click on image to enlarge.

I lost my first fish setting the hook too hard, snapping 6# test. Bummer after three hours of nada, but the worst part was losing the Senko. I really wanted to get it back and kept working the same spot. Landed one finally after farming four straight and noticed something barely sticking out of his throat while un-hooking the senko. Sure enough, I pulled on it and out came my original Senko, with the hook still attached. I pulled it out no problem, hook not catching on anything and Arthur got a shot.


Click on image to enlarge.

Yeah, the newbie out fished me in 'the big fish department'. I was a farmer, farming about 6 and landing 4. A couple at 16 inch, and a couple of 12's. Here is Arthur's pregnant hog, and at about 17" figure a least 5 lbs.


Click on image to enlarge.

Watermelon with red or black flakes seemed to work best over regular watermelon. No love on other colors. Another of my four. Great day overall.

 

March 2nd. Lake Hodges.

0 bass.

Hodges is overflowing, first time in about seven years. Went in my old boat as the Answered Prayer is waiting to get fixed.  Got there around 1 p.m. and fished till dark. Nada.  The lake is so full of floating garbage it's pathetic.  Had an idea to suggest that the lake offers free boats to families that would go pick it up.  Still have to contact them about it.

Lake Hodges boat dock.

          
Lake Hodges, freshly filled from the rains, now has so much garbage floating on it.

 

March 2nd.  Ocean

One rock cod, one mackerel, one Bocaccio and 1 giant squid.

Went out with Herbert.  Storms have hindered ocean fishing for small craft for past couple of weeks.  Was an ok day.

Report from a friend getting 12 to 15 pound bonitos last Saturday - south 9 miles bank.  (Straight out from Point Loma.)

We did not know the 9 mile bank was not straight out of Mission Bay so when we got close to the area we noticed it was too deep to bottom fish.  But we did see hundreds of dolphins speeding by, headed north, at 8 miles out.  Pretty cool site. The at 4 to 5 miles out I caught a Bocaccio on the bottom jigging a spoon at 325'.   We then metered what we thought to be a small island and then hooked into them all... giant squid.  I actually thought I was caught on the bottom (at the same time Herbert did too). I caught my first giant squid after quite a long 'fight'!  Was actually dead weight until he got to the top, and then he had no plan on getting caught, heading down into the ocean a few more times. My partner lost his one possible catch for the day to a seal.  Also caught one mackerel.
 

 


Click on image to enlarge.

We have quite a bit of calamari for awhile.

 

February 25th.  San Vincente.

0 anything.

The engine did not start right so I just trolled around the boat dock areas.  Water way us.  Here is a peninsula that became an island, and is now disappearing.  Water level just 8 foot from spilling over the dam.  Went out from noon till 6 p.m..  Worked plastics and jerk baits.  Everyone said the bite got tough.  Water very stained.


Click on image to enlarge.

 

February 20th.  San Vincente.

1 bass, 1 trout.

Water temp: 58

Boat and Van slipped backwards on way up 'San V. overpass'. Jack-knifed just right and did not go down the mountain instead.  T.U.L. (thank u Lord).


Click on image to enlarge.


Click on image to enlarge.

The mountain drops off along the left side of the highway here, not shown.



You can see how steep it is, and with the rain making the road slippery, it was just too much for the van
to handle.  After slowing and stopping I just got spinning tires instead of traction.  That was bad enough, but then the car and boat started to slip downhill backwards!!!?  There was nothing I could do but try and figure out how to steer an out of control group of vehicles backwards while crying out to the Lord for help.  The van came to a standstill in about the same location as the truck in this photo, jack-knifed.  the nice rangers took the boat over the hill for me and said that FOUR vehicles had the same experience the day before!! Wow.

Fishing wise, I ended up with 1 bass farmed, 1 landed, to the right side of the 'chimney'. I met up with Ben and his buddy fishing his boat there. They left about three while I wasted two hours fishing brown/chart. lizard when I realized it was not stained like previous weeks and the extra brightness was not needed. Rained intermittently, sometimes very hard.

Motor still ran very slow.

 

February 17th.  San Vincente.

1 bass, 1 trout.

Water temp: 58/ Rained all day.

Got out about noon, fished till 6. Valerie not much fishing, did not like rain. Fished Chimney with lizard, brown/chart. In stained water. Blown off point in storm and found cover further in Kimball's arm, across to entrance at sunken old road. Nada and then around to back of Kimball's, right side. Found 9' flat spot 30 yards off shore with drop-off to 30'. Farmed one, losing lizard, then caught a nice 3# at same spot, working bait up bank to boat.


click to enlarge
Caught and released this healthy 19", 3 pound bass at San Vincente.
 Lure still dangling from his mouth.

 

Took Valerie back and trolled for one trout last hour of the day.

 

February 13th.  San Vincente.


3 bass (me), 1 -25# crappie!!! (Ben).

Water temp: 58

Photo class was cancelled as student were afraid to get wet, so hit San Vincente again.  Ben D. went with me.  He called half way to our meeting spot and told me he left his license at home and wondered if he should go back and get it.  Realizing it would cost us about 40 minutes of our shortened day (I had already gone to church and it was 11:30 already),  I told him not to worry, they never check!!?  I said even if they did, he could prove to the judge he had one anyway later in court.

Water was really stained from heavy two days of rain.  We got out just after noon after trading batteries as I'd killed mine from trying to start it with the motor still up, which it does not do.  I had done the same a few days earlier, so I must have drained it pretty bad.  Did not know I was also supposed to re-charge the starting battery too.  I only charge the trolling one.  (It's now charging as I type!).

We then worked a new underwater island he showed me not far from docks.  Fish and Game warden showed up 5 minutes later!!!  Chatted for a minute then asked if we had out licenses.  We both started talking at the same time.  I had left my license in van and offered to go with him to get it.  He said don't bother as he believed me.    I told him about my telling my friend not to worry, as no one ever checks, etc..   He told us just to send a zerox copy of the licenses to his office and he would not have to write us up.  He then said he usually writes people up because EVERYONE says they left their license at home- even those who don't have one, but because he saw my KPRZ sticker (a local Christian radio station) he figured we were probably telling the truth.  He then gave us his card to mail the copies to, said he was a fellow Christian and left!!  Thank-u-Lord.

Reminder to self: Next time remember the license- turns excuse time into fishing time.


Click to enlarge.
Me with first bass of the day.

Watched some guy land some trout from trolling and then headed towards Kimball arm.  Ben showed me another hot spot I'd heard about but had not found there yet, called the 'chimney'.  It's just that, and sits to the right of the Kimball arm entrance. Nice spot- plenty of un-even bottom and lots of rocks at a slight decline to deeper water.  Hooked a nice 17" on the second cast.  Later, got a 14" on the same bait, a brown lizard (FLW) with chartreuse tail.  20 minutes later got an even nicer one, 19" after loosing him with a bad hook-set a minute earlier.  Left the lure where it was and just jiggled it without moving it far figuring he would attempt to eat this 'thing' that had eluded him moments earlier.


Click to enlarge.
Here is the 19" one.

1/2 hour later, slowly working more shoreline into the arm, Ben hooked into one heck of a large bass on his ultra-light pole with 4" test and that white Yam. lure.  He then realized it was too big for a bass, and said it must be a very big catfish.  Then he figured it out to be a carp.  Sure enough, 25 MINUTES LATER we landed him.  Small miracle as 4# test would have not stopped him if he decided to head down to deeper parts of the lake, but he stayed around and in the cove he first hooked him in.  Was tail snagged, making it twice as hard to pull him in.


Click to enlarge.

Ben D. with the 25" carp.
Caught on ultra-light pole and 4# test line.

 

February 10th.  San Vincente-  

Water temp: 58
Solo - 2 bass, one crappie.

Water temp: 58

Soloed -sprinkled all day. Caught one 14" at the island rock point on brown lizard, chartreuse tail.  Worked Kimball's arm later and picked up a 12" on Ben's leftover Yamamoto singles tail 4" white grub, and then a nice 2" crappie on same lure. 

February 6th. 
El Capitan Lake, east San Diego County.


1 bass and 1 crappie (Ben)/ me -0.

First time to this lake- ever. Shown some very nice areas to fish with a new acquaintance Ben Dungca (his favorite lake in S.D.). Was cold as heck first couple of hours. He ended up with one crappie (2 lbs) and one bass (about 12"). Both on a small white Yamamoto single tail grub with dart head. 

A very nice guy named Thurmond, and his son, were pre-fishing for the W.O.N. tourney. They had caught three and turned us onto the SR Plastics 6" worms with the color he was getting them on. (a muted greenish/silver with white belly).

Two tourneys were going on. Heard one had a winning weight of only THREE POUNDS!.

It did look very good in places, with hundreds of square yards of nice 8 and 9 foot deep, tree flooded areas at the north end. Can't wait for the topwater days ahead. (Sorry, forgot the camera).  Can't wait to get back out there after water settles down (dirty from rains).
 

February 2nd, Wednesday. 
Opening Day Otay Lake.


Solo- 1 dink.

Water temp: 58

The wind was ferocious but it was nice to see how the 'Answered Prayer' cut right through the whitecaps as if it were glass. Learned not to cut it too sharply in that kind of wind though, boy did I take a shower the first time I tried it!!!

Lots of new coves at the end of Harvey's arm. The 'close trees', usually sticking up out of the water down there, are completely submerged.  You can actually go all the way to the airport back in there due to a creek channel. Most of it is 4' deep.


Click to enlarge.

The view of the end of Harvey's (almost) from a new cove.

 
Click to enlarge.

A new cove that was formed from all of the recent rains.  T.U.L.

Got there at 11 and fished till 5:45 with only one dink (actually snagged a shad second to last cast- no skunky T.U.L.). Had to stay close to the shore after 3 to make it more enjoyable so I worked Bushlow cove. Wind died at dusk. Only saw 1 fish caught, and heard of only two others. Went to the Aim Marine lecture- got there too late to hear his lecture as I'd hung at Otay till last light and traffic on 8 east was tough going. Oh well.


 
Click on image to enlarge.

Self portrait of the shad.  Smaller than the lure.

Mike Long was there. I jokingly told him I, and others, did not really believe he caught that 17 + bass at Jennings last Friday (a new lake record) on a jig (figuring he caught it on a swim bait). But the way he started in excitedly saying I could ask so and so who was there and saw it blah blah blah that I could tell he was really telling the truth. Then he proceeded to tell me why he uses it for big bass, and how, at this time of year, etc.. He is always willing to give me advice every time I ask him. He even said he'd take me and a beginner bass fishing friend of mine out sometime for some pointers!!! Cool guy.

 

January 16th, 2005.  San Vincente.


Solo- zeroed out.

58 degrees at dam, 60 in cove. Sunny and took shirt off as too hot till sun hit mountains.

Sunny day, but recent rains have filled lake to within 16' of spilling. Dropshotted buoy lines on 38' highpoint for one hour. Nada. Went to Kimball arm worked higher new areas with cranks and flukes. Nada. Worked deeper areas with swimbait and got one hit. Worked plastic worms till dark and got one hit. Saw one guy get one on worms first, and they had one on a stinger already (ouch, guess it's one less for us to catch that bigger next year).

Checked out Mike Coronado's trilling motor and told his dad I'd take it. Just slightly longer than mine but twice as strong -71# vs. 36#- $450 for a $700 motor.  Another blessing for the boat named "Answered Prayer". T.U.L. .


Click to enlarge.

New extended area, at least for me, of Kimball's arm. 
The water goes all the way into the rocky area in the back. 1.16.'05

 


Click to enlarge.

Nice outcropping of rocks just past the island headed to Kimball's arm. 1.16.'05

       
Click on image to enlarge.

The floating muck at San V, courtesy of the county wide devastating fires a years ago.

It only seemed to congregate at the ramp area. I asked if the people running the lake would be kind enough to
bring a hose over so we could rinse our boats off a little.  They said it would be illegal to do that, it's a drinking lake!!!!?

January 6th, 2005.  San Vincente.


Solo- 1 crappie.

Water temp: 56

Fished it from 2 p.m. till 5. Mostly trolling for trout as the wife love to eat those. Planned to get one or two and switch to bass fishing.  Ended up with 1 Crappie, about 2 lbs, caught on a deep trolled Kastmaster. Storm clouds around but mostly a sunny day. Lake was way up from the rains.  Thank U Lord.

$450 for a $700 motor.

 

Lake Hodges, February 2002. 


Just waiting for opening day.

 


Click on image to enlarge.


Click on image to enlarge.



Click on image to enlarge.

The dam, just inches from overflowing as of 2.21.05

 

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