American River 1/31/13

Back at the hunt for Steel head again. Brought my friend Steven with me today. Same area I found them at on Monday. I started with throwing roe and Steven threw a Cleo for a while. 20 minutes into it neither of us had even a hit yet, so I went back to beads. Hooked up 3 or 4 times to only have the hook pop a second or two into the fight. Pretty common occurrence with this method. I did finally stick one good though and brought this beauty onto the bank.

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Never got a weight on him, but this guy measured out 31 inches. Steven and I kept at it for another hour, but the fish here learn to pick up on you after a while. After so long they learn your there, what your trying to do, and they move off. After they did we took off to leave them for another day. Hopefully my buddy Steven can hook into one soon. He is still learning a lot, I'm teaching him what I know, but I have to give it to him. Trying to learn

how to fish by fishing for steel head is not an easy task. He sure has the patients of a saint and my hat is off to him for that. We'll be back at it again soon.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

American River & Cache

Don't want to write two separate reports so I'll combine two here.

I've been hitting the American a time or two each week now trying to get a few more steelies. My friend steven and I have made 5 or so trips now up to the hatchery mostly throwing spoons.

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Out of 5 trips I managed to foul hook a salmon, Steven missed a hit, and I'm pretty sure I foul hooked a steelie too that popped off after 2 seconds. I decided in that many trips we should have had caught atleast one more fish. Fish are here, but they are just to pressured from the crowds in my opinion.

1/28/13
I decided to try my riffle I know below Rossmoor, since the hatchery hasn't been treating me all that well. Steven had school so I was running solo. Got to my spot and started tossing my cleo. 5 mins after being there I saw one swim right past my feet, at least I knew they were here. Took a closer look and I saw a few more holding pretty much right in front of me. I reeled that spoon right across all of their faces and had a few turn on it, but couldn't get one to hit. 30 mins into that I accidently foul hooked one and spooked a few of em off. That fish popped off of course, luckily there was still a couple fish hanging around though. I kept at the spoon for a while longer and I had one fish swipe at the spoon and barely tap it, but he didn't really grab hold of it for my to be able to stick him.

Finally decided to switch over to beads, and first cast and hooked into a nice one. I managed to get he fish to the bank and I was able to see it was about a 8lb wild hen. Since I knew it was wild I didn't want to drag her up on the rocks and bash her up, so I left it in the water and when I went to reach to and grab her for a quick picture my hooked popped and she took off. Kinda bummed about not being able to get a pic, but as far as I'm concerned that's a caught fish! Right on

I try a few hours longer for two more hook ups that came unbuttoned a second or two after I stuck em. Good recon today and finally had some decent consistent action.

Today 1/29/13
Mikey hooked me up with some rod balancers for my boat and I have been dieing to try them out. Took the boat back out to Cache for another sturgeon hunt. On the water around 0800 and I ran back to the area's where I marked fish last time I came out. Ran all up and down Cache though and I didn't mark fish anywhere! I ran around for a while without seeing anything. Made my way up into Prospect and finally started consistently marking fish. Dropped down roe/eel and shad today. Popped a cold one and waited for that bite.

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On a quick side note I found this video on youtube the other day, thought it was pretty funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGSN7JVg1yQ

The rod balancers fit perfectly in the boat thanks again Mike!!!



I tried here for 45 mins, and a few other spots for the same amount of time or longer for only one quick nibble on roe and one on shad.

With the lack of bites and everything I just kind of had a bad mojo feeling and decided to call it a day and head back in to have some free time before I have school. Good call two because on my way back the wind really kicked up and the water was starting to get pretty choppy. Nothing I couldn't handle, but I'm glad I got my little boat back before it got any worse. Off of the water by 1200. Gave it a good try, hopefully the fish will want to play next time.

Till then guys.
Mark

American Steel 1/22-1/23

Plan was to go back out for Sturgeon Tuesday, but plans changed and that didn't work out. I told myself I wasn't going to buy a Steelhead card this year because I usually only go 3 or 4 times a year I didn't think it was worth it, but I found myself in Rancho with nothing to do so I caved in a got it. My friend Steven who I took fishing twice last year really loves the sport so he got his fishing license this year and I hit him up to come on out with me. Got on the water around 1200 at the hatchery. Plenty of fisherman out today, found a spot between em and tried throwing beads for a while. Saw tons of fish swimming by and there were some hogs in the ladder so my hopes were high. We tried for a couple hours though without hooking into anything besides a few snags.

Steven did manage to pull up some dead line with a silver and orange Little Cleo on it, pretty nice score. Figured why not, had Steven tie it on and give it a shot. He had a few followers come real close to it, but they never hit it. Moved on down to try another area with a little less crowds. After two hours there we still had no luck.

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We fished until 1600 saw maybe 5 or so fish get caught around us. Not as many as I would have expected to see with the amount of fish and fisherman out there, but that's how things work out sometimes.

Today Wednesday I don't start work until 1400 so I figured I could give it another quick shot before I had to go and punch in. On the water today around 1000. A little less crowded today which is always nice. Took a spot that I saw a guys doing pretty good at the day before. Started with beads again, hoping to get at least one hook up. Gave it a couple solid hours of trying for still nothing. Saw a few fish get landed around me, but still no crazy action happening. I started seeing a few fish cruising right at my feet next to the bank, so I figured I'd try the spoon to really work the shore line and try to entice a bite that way. After about 20 mins. of tossing that, my spoon stopped dead literally inches off of the bank. Not feeling like a normal rock I slammed that hook had a fish on!

Fish was heavy as heck on my 7ft bass rod I decided to keep this Cleo on. I immediately regretted that decision about 2 seconds into the fight when this fish wanted to show me his power by going on a 50 yard run straight down river. I wasn't really worried about my line snapping, but I didn't think I was going to be able to pull him

back up the rapids with the lighter rod. I didn't do anything except hold on and did a lot of praying for the first 4 mins of the fight before I got on turn of the reel on him. After a while of keeping pressure on him though I was slowly able to pump him back up the river towards me and after roughly a long 10 min. fight I beach him and got my first steel head of 2013.

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Didn't have a scale and I forgot to measure him so lets guess him at close to 10lbs and roughly 30 inches or so. First steelie I've ever gotten on a Cleo too which was awesome.

Kept fishing for a while longer, but I have to admit my arm was sore as heck, I didn't know what I would have done if I hooked another. Stayed until 1230 before I left for work.

I've never been a big fan of steelies, but if days like this come around every now and then I can defiantly learn to love it.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

First Sturgeon Excursion

Alright so many of you know I've had an itch to get my first legal Sturgeon lately. Its just been something I've been wanting to add to my list of species. Debated on going out today to either the Sac or Cache. I knew I would have a better chance at getting into a fish at Cache, but it can be sketchy going out there in my small tin can. I watched the weather and all of the conditions for a few days before and saw that it was going to be a nice calm day so I went. Slept in a bit and launched from Vierra's around 1000. Armed with Pile, Ghost, Eel, and Roe I'm ready. Running solo today, Sturgeon is still really new to me and I like going solo when I'm doing something new. It allows me to experiment a little more and I can act more freely on gut instinct. Plus going solo in my boat I can get my boat going at 20 mph! Haha

Got into Cache and I noticed a group of a half dozen boats all anchored together, as I passed by I saw one boater net a lower slot sized or just short fish. I usually try not to follow crowds, but I figured if I stuck close-ish to the rest of the fleet I can't go too wrong, plus I can learn more from watching other guys. Ran up above the crowd to stay out of everyone's way and give me a good view on whats going on with everyone else. I started with Pile and Ghost and started getting a few taps on Pile, but no serious pull downs. Gave it an hour and then made a quick move, saw another boat fighting what looked like an over sized too me. They later came over and anchored right next to me and said it was 56 inches. I saw they were throwing Ghost as well.

20 mins. into my second spot my Pile worm gets nailed and I swung hard on it. Hooked up, but didn't have the weight of a Sturgeon behind it, got him boat side and saw the most screwed up striper I've ever seen in my life.

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It was all healed up so it wasn't from anything recent, but idk if this fish lost an eye in a fight with something or maybe poor C&R. I had to crack up with the hook placement though. Tacos tonight!

Skunk off got that monkey off my back now time for the target fish. The hardest things I used to have in my boat sitting on anchor was just comfort, but today I thought I'd bring out a lawn chair use up all the space in my boat since I have it and I was pretty freaking comfy all day out there.

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Great beautiful day on the water. Gave this spot another hour without a bite so I picked up and made another move. Kept working my way up river trying to find some fish away from the crowds. I marked fish everywhere for the most part, but with the outgo going strong my anchor kept slipping and whenever I got it to hold 12 ounces of lead was barely staying on the bottom. Did I ever mention that I hate the outgo? Like seriously with a burning passion. For the next hour I tried several spots just frustrated with the tide thinking I missed my window opportunity and was thinking I might just head back and fish the sac near Isleton. I had a feeling though that things might get better if i kept going up though so I ventured further and found a whole other fleet of boats. Didn't seen anyone fighting anything, but I ran up above them and saw a lot of arch's on the FF so I thought what the hell lets try. Current was just slow enough my anchor held, so I dropped in both lines set up my chair and sat down. I grabbed one of my rods to set it a little closer to me and right as I picked it up it got hammered! Haven't even been here a minute and I'm hooked up! That's what I'm talking about.

Knew this one was my Stug, he didn't feel huge but they still put up a hell of a fight. Got him boat side, and of course no net, can't use snares anymore (not like I have one anyways), and I forgot my gloves at the truck. Damn, well hopefully he wont tear me up too much. Tailed that fish and pulled him in the boat as carefully as quickly as I could and I got my Sturgeon!!!

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Oh yea I also forgot my tape measure at the truck as well. I am guessing this guy around 30 inches though. He may only be a shaker, not even my PB, but I've never felt so accomplished. My first Sturgeon in my boat and my first successful sturgeon outing as a Captain. I've caught a few before, but never by myself, so this was a successful moment for me.

Running off of that high I stuck this area out for 2 more hours hoping for a chance at that keeper.

Snacking on some smoked trout via New Melones to help pass time.

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It still looks pretty fishy down there.

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The rest of the weekend fleet.

Nothing else was happening here though. I didn't even see anyone else hook up. I made two more moves until I decided to call it a day. Got back to the ramp around 1630. I talked to few fisherman back at the launch and they all said they had a shaker, but didn't see any slot sized fish get pulled up.

Freaking fantastic day on the water and I'm very excited for my next outing. Can't wait for that keeper.

Got my fish today on roe/eel btw.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

Amador 1/14-1/15

My old co-worker told me he went and bought himself his fishing license for 2013 after a few years of telling me he was going to do it, but never did. Told him lets give Amador a shot and see how its doing. Got a good report from Jay and Ethan from 2 days before so I thought it would be a good day of catching.

Splashed the boat in at 0700 and started the troll. We started off with whats been working for me all season which is powerworms. We were trolling pink, chartreuse, and white. We did one lap starting from the dam all the way to mountain springs and ended in the back of Doney bay without a single bite! We saw a decent amount of fish rising around the entire lake, but saw a few more at the the mouth of Mountain Springs and the mouth of Jackson. Was watching birds diving on the water all day picking up stunned shad on the surface. I was figuring trout were smashing them about 5-10 below the surface and the injured ones floated up where the birds could get them. I didn't ever notice a concentration of shad in one area around the lake I saw them everywhere so fishing where the bait was was not a way to really pin point where the trout were.

After not getting hit on Powerworms we switched it up to Kastmasters and grubs. We made another long troll into the Carson Arm and back out all the way to Mountain Springs again for one short strike on a Kastmaster. After that it was near 1100 and we still don't have a fish in the boat. I was seriously stumped. The only other thing I thought we could try that might work was Rapalas, but unfortunately I don't have any. Made the choice to switch back to Powerworms, just because I have some serious confidence in them. Trolled back to Jackson and on the way I noticed there was a group of fisherman that beached their boat on a shallow shelf and were soaking bait, I'm guessing powerbait. We watched them for 5 mins as we trolled by and saw them land 3 fish. Most action I had seen all day, seemed like bait was the way to go.

As I was thinking about doing the same one of my rods with the pink Powerworm doubles over. Seeing the hit on a 1wt fly rod while trolling is absolutely insane, especially with the way these cut bows hit and fight. setting the hook on it can be a little tricky, but the fight is way more fun. Got him in the boat and finally got the skunk off of the boat. We kept trolling and Robert had two solid hits on a Kastmaster, but wasn't able to connect on either of them. Made several more passes in the same area and managed one more fish on the worm and a few hits no stick. Our bite there died off after a while, so we trolled out way back into Jackson to see how the creek was looking.

Water is getting fairly high but there weren't any fish back here. Hopped out anyways to stretch the legs and do a little bit of exploring. The whole area back here is shaded and out of the sun and even at 1200 in the afternoon the balmy 40 degree weather allowed for there to be a lot of ice still back here.

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Found one of the coolest looking things I think I've ever seen in some time and it makes for a pretty cool picture.

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If that doesn't say it's cold then I don't know what does.

Also found a small deer skeleton back here.

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Had our fun, did some sight seeing, stepped in some cow shit, no fish but its still very cool to see. I always love coming back into Jackson and seeing how things look back here. Headed back out trying to get Robert on his first fish of the day. Trolling out of Jackson we had a few more hit no sticks and then finally Roberts rod with a chartreuse Powerworm doubles over and he gets his first of the day.

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Fish today aren't huge, but the average size has gone up which I'm pretty happy with.

After that I was completely committed to the powerworms. The bite wasn't hot, but they were working. We kept trolling till 1630 for a few more short strikes, but no more fish. Tough day on the lake, but still rewarding.

Our line up at the cleaning station.

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The fat fish on the bottom was loaded with shad.

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All of this (17 shad + some) came out of that one fish. They are getting fat on shad, which makes me surprised the Powerworms were working and the Kastmasters hardly had any action.

Back at it again Tuesday with my Dad. My dad brought the Raps today which I was hoping would be with hot ticket with the fish feeding so much on shad. Trolled Raps and grubs for 2 hours without a bite. Still saw some fish rising, but not as many as the day before. Again I saw people fishing on the same shallow flat I saw yesterday and we watched them land two fish while we trolled by. My dad said hell if you can't beat em join em, so we found our own bank spot with some fish rising around and tried soaking some Powerbait to get our first fish of the day.

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30 mins. into it I managed to get one on rainbow Powerbait about 20ft off of the shore. Gave it in all a little over an hour for only the one fish. Probably could have got more if we stayed longer, but it wasn't really worth waiting around for. Made the switch over to trolling Powerworms again and 5 mins into the troll after switching I popped another. Went bite less again though for the next two hours. Tried changing it up and tried fast trolling Raps for an hour for one short strike, but nothing else. Slowed it down for one more fish I got on a power worm and my dad managed to get slammed slow trolling a CD-7 silver and black Rapala. Off of the water at 1600.

The best bait for me was the Pink Powerworm. I caught fish on Chartreuse too, but pink had way more hits. White never got touched. All around I saw more fish caught on powerbait off of the shore more then anything. Even everyone I talked to at the cleaning station said they just beached their boat and caught all or most of their fish on Powerbait, which still makes no sense with the trout focusing on shad so much. Serious mind puzzler for me.

Today's line up.

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Amador has been pretty tough lately, but fish are getting bigger so that's a big plus.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

Lisbon Slough 1/6/12

Was planning on searching for dino's on the Sac, but when I woke up at 0600 to pouring rain outside I debated on if the trip was going to be worth it taking my boat out there or not. I haven't seen the river in a while so idk how high fast or debrie filled it was going to be. I got everything together and waited and waited for the rain to stop and as I kept thinking about it it seem more and more like I should put the trip off. I still had to get out though, so I call my buddy steven and my girlfriend and I took them out to Lisbon slough in the Sacramento by pass. I don't know if the sturgeon have moved up in there or not yet, but I figured I could soak some bait for a bit and we could bring the bb and

pellet guns to pop cans for a while and everyone can have fun.

Quick pic I had Deni take of the Sac as we drove over the 80 bridge.

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Not the best picture, but the river looks pretty high very brown, but seems to be pretty slow. I don't know if the tide had a lot to do with it or not, but it wasn't ripping like I thought it was going to be.

got to Lisbon just after on1300 and I dropped down some roe and eel to see if there were any biting fish around.

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Water here was also very high and brown, but there was next to know current at all.

I attended the rods with Deni and Steven had fun popping cans.

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I attended the rods for over an hour and nothing was happening so I eventually just turned the clickers on took my turn on the BB gun.

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Showed em how its done too.

I'll be honest I didn't pay much attention to the rods after that I figured if anything crazy happened I'd hear the clicker hopefully. We stayed out for about 2 hours and took off from there. No fish, but we all had fun and that's what its all about in the end. I'll get that sturgeon another day. thought I'd make the post to show the conditions of what I could see of the Sac and Lisbon. I'm sure there are some fish in Lisbon, the water is certainly high enough. Maybe just needs a little bit more time to get some more fish moving through, I know I haven't even heard of anyone trying out there yet.

On a quick side note today 1/7/12 was finally my first day of work at the new store.

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Feels so nice to get back to work after 2 months doing nothing but waiting on em. If anyone near Rancho Cordova is looking for a new place to shop or would like to just check it out we open Wednesday morning. I'm in the meat department so I'll be in the back of the store if your trying to find me.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark