|
6.30 El Capitan
Boat: 'Answered Prayer, solo 1 p.m. till 8 p.m.
Water 80 degrees 5 bass landed (1 fiver), 7 fought. 7 hours
Got the new Berkley 'Choppo' 120mm prop bait (Whopper Plopper knock off) and changed to bigger hooks at the concession stand with chatting with friend Sean M, who was going to be a backseater on anther mans boat (he fishes with his son Aiden on my boat often). Started with it and got one in short order, far north at beginning of the trees, but she threw it in short order. Worked my way towards that back, and a couple of hundred yards later tossed it into a small clearing between trees, where you'd usually throw a frog, which I'd thrown half the time working back there, and got another, but that one too got off in short order. Now I'm wondering if there's something wrong with the lure, I don't usually lose them on the similar Whopper Plopper! Weird. Worked my way to the shallows, frog and boot tail fluke mostly, finally getting one at 3:45 on the fluke. Worked the back right area where it opens up, one hit on the frog just before that area, then nada. Worked 'honey hole trees', slow and steady, taking a lot of time... nada. Weird. Worked 'big tree', where I lost a giant last time, nada.
 
 
Worked my way back out to deeper water 9', and got one on the new Choppo, cool. Next cast, another hit, cool, but it didn't stick. Getting shadows now, and worked the other side, another Choppo bass, nice 2# like the other, very cool. Worked back to the shallow, boot tail fluke, got another 2+ on it, now getting time to leave. Worked back out on the right side, got a blow up, no sticky, next cast, my last as it was 7:50, sunset and time to be off the lake is 8:01, and another hit but this one stuck, a nice 5 pounder, TUL. Ran back on plane from the shallows the three miles and got back to ramp at 8:01.
Asked Sean how they did, and the did well. 15 bass, 6 by him up to 4 pounds, on deeper crank baits. Cool.
6.26 San Vicente
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc.
(first time since it opened the week before, after closing for 2+ months, due to Covid deal)
Solo from 6 am to noon, then Larry A. from noon till 3:45 - 10 hours
Water: 76, 80 by noon.
1 me, s.spook at 9 am.
 
6:04 am, was a bit worried about the bite, as only three other trailers were in the parking lot! Why? Found out as I fished, the bite
was SOOO tough. Only got 1, but a nice one.
6. 23 El Capitan
Solo
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc.
Noon till 8 p.m. / Water, 80 -8 hours
5 bass, 1 WP at 2 by dam, others on boot tail fluke and 1 on Power Bait 7"
worm on followup blowup, none on frog, but missed two monsters on it.
Looks so nice and FISHEY in the far north end of El Capitan Resevoir, and IT IS!
This one came as a 'follow up bait'. A 2 pounder hit my frog, then a sixer hit it too, instantaneously. Both missed.
So I threw out a 7" curly tail Power Bait worm (motor oil color) 5 minutes later and got the smaller one.
 
Twinsies... Got these two on the boot tail fluke swam over the surface, so topwater explosions come with each catch. Exciting stuff, TUL!
6.17 Otay Resevoir
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc. 6 a.m. till 8 p.m.. 14 hours / Me 8 total
Chuck 1st shift (6-1), David V. second. Me 3 first shift, two jerk. Chuck 0./ me 5 second, 1 frog, 2 jb shallow, 1 jb med., 1 spook back left Harveys. David 5 also, all d/s, one blow up frog end of day.
 
Too funny, David V. got one second cast with me the week before, just after
Chuck W. got off the boat. This time, I get one the FIRST cast after David joined me.
Chuck couldn't believe it, as it had been so tough for him.
Finally the jerk bait is working, been sooooo long.
6.9 El Capitan Resevoir
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc. Noon till 8 p.m.. 8 hours
10 bass me, 0 Larry WP bass 2nd cast at ramp, then ran to back and got 9 more
on boot tail flukes and frogs. Larry had two frog blow ups, missed the hooksets. Fought one, got off quickly.
 
Second cast, at the ramp waiting for Larry to come back from parking the van/trailer, I get this nice model off a tree with the WP!
Frog fish in far back, north tree covered area.
6.3 Otay Lake
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc. 14.5 hours
Me 4 total
Chuck Lei from 5:30-1, Me 1, Chuck 0,
Then David V. till 8. me 3, David 2 (his first time out since last fall, and he got one 2nd cast on the frog, he was soooo happy.
We sent a photo to Chuck, he could hardly believe it, as he'd gotten skunked that morning.
Me on frogs and boot tail flukes, then popper last one of day. TUL.
Boot tail fluke working wonders again. TUL.
 
Another Lunker on my Super Spook lure, love it. ;/). Right- Chuck prepares another rig while I pose for another bass catching photo.
5.20 Otay Lake
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc.
11 a.m. to 7:45 / 1 Chuck, 1 me frog - 9 hours
5.16 Otay Lake, OPENER
(Opener after Covid closure, 1 of 3 lakes now open so far). 14 hours
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc. 12 bass, 1 fiver
Slept overnight, 9th in line (arrived 6 p.m.). Up at 5 am, line went in at 5:15.p.m.). Ran to back of Harvey's, quite a few others there, got nothing till 7:20, on a popper. Then a frog fish 10 minutes later, both far back right corner.
Slow till 1:45, started getting them in shallows behind tulles between big cove to Honey hole TUL> Three biggies last 15 minutes, Spooks and W.Plopper by Narrows working west.
 
First fish came on a popper, the next on a frog, back in the tulles behind me.
 
So much fun once you get things figured out. Saw two guys way back behind some tulles when I went to fish 11.6 honey hole, and remembered there was good fishing a couple of years back when the tulles got flooded, there were some areas to get back there. Found my way back, only a couple of other boats did, and it was on like donkey kong, TUL. Kick tail boot tail flukes, with many times the wake behind the bait alerted me to a possible strike (about 50% of the time, the other 50% they veered off without hitting it!).
 
The last 1/2 hour of the day is my fav, the bite really come on, like it did this day. Got three nice ones.
4.27 to 5.1
Lake Havasu, Five day trip
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc.
Lake Havasu City, Arizona
Day 1 / 4.27
0 bass/ 6:30 p.m. till 8:10 p.m. 2 hours
Well, with Covid closing down the San Diego lakes thought it'd be prudent to fish in Ariz., they're still open, thank U Lord.
Drove starting in the morning from Del Mar, and got to the lake some 6 hours later. In time for a couple of hours out on the lake. Launched at 'site 6' ramp at 6:30 p.m. (took a while to find it, never having been there, except for a camping trip with college buddies back in the early 70's) and fished till dark. Lost a big one on the S. Spook on a point. Stayed at the Bridgewater Motel, not far from the actual London Bridge that connects a little island to the city. Didn't get any fish, but did get some nice photos!
 
Day 2 / 4.28
0 bass. 6:30 a.m. till 6 p.m. 12 hours
Did not start out well. Up early, ran north towards the river, which feeds the lake, but hit a sand bar at about 45 mph, and once you come down off
plane it's tough to push it off the bar. I slowly worked it to deeper water, but it took almost two hours of strenuous pulling, then pushing, gettin a few inches with each effort. Finally another boat came up on it, thinking it was safe as they saw my boat, like I did with another a few hundred yards further
north that I fist saw (they were still trying to get it off after I did) and I asked the big guy to help me after he got his friend off. TUL. Went fishing back near the ramp, losing a couple of fish but getting skunked for the day. Called it a day around 6 p.m., pooped from long day, not much sleep, and heat, I went and visited a fishing buddy, Brian Day, that bought a house there. He showed me his waypoints on his fish finder and gave me tip on best areas to work, along with baits.
Day 3 / 4.29
7 a.m till 7:30 p.m. 12 hours
6 bass
The end of day 2 was not all a loss, I touched base with friend I made on Facebook, Ron Ratlief, whom offered to show me how to run the river without hitting sand bars the next morning, cool. I met him where I'd gotten stuck, and ALMOST got stuck again, and I thought I was nowhere near the spot I got stuck the day before. Scary. We ran up about 2 or 3 miles to a place he like to fish, and he got a small one after a blow up on the frog. I tried a lot of top water, nada. We made another run further north by about a mile, looked great, nada. He had to go, too hot by 11, and I followed him back down towards the lake entrance, fished it for a bit, more nada, then ran to the bridge. Tied up, got a coffee, then ran through the 'canal' to the marina towards Site 6 and took a nap under the umbrella on my boat I set up (as only had some 5 hours of sleep), then worked a bluff and started to get into them, FINALLY. The jerk bait was the ticket. Later one I got the top working, found the points where there were drop offs had nice ones. Lost a couple of monsters, oh well.
The 'real' London bridge, tore down stone by stone, numbered, then re-assembled back in the late 60's or early 70's.
 
Jerkbait was producive! Note the umbrella, kept it 15 degrees cooler than standing in the sun. I replaced the front seat with a 3", 7' long PVC pipe and stuck the golf umbrella in it. Figured out this system in Yuma many years ago, so I could fish in 100 degree heat over there.
Yippee, at 4 p.m. (of all day fishing), finally started to land fish. Largemouth and smallmouth. Jerkbaits off a wind blown bluff was the ticket.
The smallies fought three times their size compared to largemouth. Got one off a point on a S. Spook at dusk, 7:20 p.m..
Day 4/30
9 a.m. till 7:30 -10.5 hours
7 bass, mostly topwater, TUL.
This day started out very cloudy, cool, as that helped keep it cool, and the bite should be better. It was.
 
Nice Jerk-bait and Whopper Plopper bass.
Day 5/ 5.1.2020
3 bass, two nice on Spook and Plopper 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. -4 hours
Slept in, too tired for such long days in the sun, and worked the points across from Site 6. I ran towards the north, just before the 'narrows', on the new Casino side, and worked points back towards, and past, the new casino and marina, where I got a real nice WP fish, about 4 pounds. Eventually worked the bluff again, nada. Then ran back west across the lake and worked coves, then an island, about a mile or two from the ramp. Slowly getting one here and there. Then across and worked the east side, nada, then called it a day and left the lake about 3 p.m. for the 6 to 7 hour drive back. Thank U Lord.
Worked the northern part of the lake in the a.m., finally got one on the whopper plopper in this area (next photo).
 
11:48 a.m. whopper plopper, then the jerk bait, still working well. Got a couple on it before leaving back to San Diego. Last one landed at 12:22 p.m..
Smallmouth fight like crazy. What a blessed trip, TUL.
2.24-25 Calvary Chapel Bible College, Murietta Hot Springs.
Me 6,
Day 1, 1, Day 2, 5
6 hours total.
With the usual suspects, Mike C. and his wife, Herbert and his, and me. We stayed overnight.
I met them at 3 p.m., fished till 6. Our usual bet/tourney was on: $1 for biggest bass, $1 for most. Ended with: Me 1 (lost 10 on popper with 'broken treble'. Dumb. , Herb. 3 (biggest), Mike 4 (most).
Mike and Rocio Castaneda, Herbert Kellner, myself, and Gita Kellner at a local Thai restaurant
After dinner we hit the hot springs/jacuzzi and got to bed by midnight.
Day 2
5 bass 3 Hours
Up 6 am, and had another 'tourney' till 9. Me 5 (won most), and since one was a 1.35 (won largest). Mike 3, Herb 3.
I paid $14 for my share of room.
2.19 Otay Lake
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc.
Me 1 on d/s, Larry 0 -7.5 hours
met my hm 6:50, on water by 7:30 Fishied till 3. Started w/ Punker on rocks outside Harvey's, worked in and to the honey Hole. Started d/s for both of us just before shallow flats started. I got a 2.1/4, morning dawn. Saw Gil, he reported 9 for the day, most at Otay arm, but first was in front of us, d/s. Reported a popper blow up, cool. Saw Jason (tuber).
 
2.12 Lake Hodges
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc.
2 bass Fished 11:30 am till 4 pm - 4.5 hours
Got a 4+ first cast on a spinnerbait, just past the narrows on the left. Worked it all the way down the bank, nada on it. Switched to a red rattletrap after awhile, and got the second at 1:30 p.m, and last, of the day. Worked the shallows in late afternoon, for nada. You can't quite get to the foot bridge any more.
 
Spinnerbait worked fist cast. A thousand casts later, got one on a red lipless, a rattletrap by name.
The crappie bite was off the hook it was said, 95% of the fishermen were targeting them.
2.5 Otay Lake
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc. 6 hours
0 bass
Cold and windy. fished from 11:30 till 5:30
Saw Arden and his dad in Bushlowe cove. (He reported a nice one caught in the tulles later).
Ran to west side when wind came iup at 1. Nada, tossed big top, d/s, med. cranks, and ned rig.
Nice sunset, 5:33 p.m.
1.29 Otay Lake
Boat: 'Answered Prayer', '86 Skeeter w/ 115 Merc.
11 till 4 -5 hours / 1 bass
1 on ned rig. three hits, one landed. 0 Larry.
Threw med. diving crankbait mostly. Met at framshop at 10 am.
1.22 Otay Lake
Solo, 1 bass on med. dive crank. (Guess 5 hours, did not record)
Ran across an old Bonita Vista High school buddy, with his new ride. Someone rear ended him and his boat and pushed him into oncoming cars. Totaled the rig.
At 4:25 I got a nice one on a medium diver crankbait. Fished till 5 p.m.
Mexico- El Salto.
Jan.10th - 14th
Full report here:
El_Salto_Mexico_Jan_2020.htm
One of two seven pounders on my first day, this one on the Lunker Punker, El Salto, Mexico.
|
