Mike Rules #2 Lake Amador

Mikey got himself a new ride and invited me out with him to give it a

test

run. Picked Lake Amador to fish at, small lake where not much can go wrong at and if it does its not a far swim or tow back to the ramp. Got on the water just before 0700 on Sunday 5/1/14 and started trolling around the lake hoping the trout were still biting. We trolled slow with power worms, Hoochies, and small Rapala's. Action wasn't hot by any means, but everything except my Hoochie was getting hit, but unfortunately we couldn't freaking stick anything.

We

found our way back into the Carson Arm casting at trout that were rising everywhere, but couldn't buy a bite from them. Mike did manage to pull in a decent sized bluegill casting a power nymph to get the skunk off, but not what we were looking for at all. Hate the idea of leaving fish to find fish, but after nearly two hours casting to fish that weren't biting we had to cut our loses and make our way back out to the main lake. By this time it was about 1200 and we had a slight breeze kick up, thank god. Breeze felt nice on the hot day and it allowed us to do my drifting technique. Drifted powerworms and powerbait across the lake and finally started putting fish in the boat. Again not hot and heavy, but we were getting bit on every drift.

We kept at it till about 1500 putting 4 fish in the box and had one more SDR. It was getting hot, we were both taking a beating from the sun, and Mike had some plans later on in the day so we called it a day from there and a great success with the new boat.

Our catch at the end of the day.

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The Captain with his new ride

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We had a couple of small hiccups but nothing serious and for it being the first time the boat has seen water in some time everything went great.

We must have missed well over half a dozen hits plus the ones we managed to capitalize on, if we would have landed every fish that hit we would have limited easily, but it didn't turn out that way today. Most other people we talked to were either skunked or had 1-4 fish so it was a tough day all around for most. Had a blast regardless though.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

Trapping Dads on the AR

With this years low water conditions I just have not had the enthusiasm to go out for shad. My interest has turned almost completely turned towards crawdads. I usually dive for them, but it's a lot of work and sometimes I'm not always up for that so I've been trying to get more into trapping for them. I have a couple of traps I made last summer and I defiantly need to make more. Only problem I have with them is the American river is a very popular hangout area for all crowds and leaving traps out there to soak I run a very high risk of people tampering with my traps or just taking off with them and me never seeing them again. First attempt I took my traps out trying to take them to an area that has less traffic.

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Gave the traps a full 24 hour soak from noon-noon the next day. Walked down to the river and could not have more perfect timing. Right as I saw the water I saw a man in his raft and his two kids with my trap in hand and paddling their way down the river. I walked right up to the shoreline and said "Hey you think you guys could give me my trap back please?" I'm not here to start a fight with anyone, I just want my trap back. The man kept quiet being caught red handed and guilty, they gave me my trap back and we went on our separate ways. Great to see parents teaching their kids how to steal, but as much as I wanted to say something to him again I'm not here for a fight.

When I got that trap back there was only one crawdad in it. Don't know if they dumped it or if someone else came along before them and emptied my trap on me but I lost some somewhere in the process cause most of my bait in there was gone. Next trap when I was pulling it in it got stuck under a rock and my line snapped from it. Sucks, but nothing I can't fix. I was half planning on this happening so I suited up in my diving gear and swam out there to retrieve it. Got it out of there with 20+ crawdads inside.

Second attempt Deni and I went to a new area with hopefully less traffic. This time instead of leaving my lines tied to a tree along the shoreline for people to see I tied my lines to a rock and sunk them in the water so they are less viable and a little bit more challenging to retrieve. Sucks for me when I have to come and get them back, but I'm used to swimming in the river for hours to catch these guys so jumping in for 5 seconds to grab a line isn't too big of a deal.

Got both of my traps out after an over night soak and got 30 between the two.

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Pretty sweet getting lunch for myself with fairly minimal work. I'll have to make a lot more traps to get enough for a boil for friends if I want to keep doing this method, but its a lot of fun seeing your trap come up with it full of crawdads. Using shad as bait I got from my friends who are still trying for shad with the rough conditions.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

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DD on the Delta 5/12/14

My dad called me on Sunday and told me the high tide is lining up perfectly with the moon rise, and with our coming full moon he knew the big boys would be out and biting today so we had to get out there for an evening session to throw some topwater plugs. Dropped the boat in just after 1300 and ran down to the SJ to mess around for a while while we waited on evening to come. Spent a couple of hours in the SJ and false river for short strikes practically everywhere and I did watch a fish pushing 15lbs follow my swimbait to the boat, but never hit it. We picked up a couple of

shakers in False, but for me especially I was just getting short strikes everywhere and couldn't really stick anything.

As the sun Started setting we worked our way back into the Moke to our regular stomping grounds. Started off around 1700 same story lots of short strikes, but I couldn't stick anything. At least I know that they are here. After 1800 I pulled the spook out and I wasn't going to be throwing anything else from here on out. As we were working our way up river we did get on a small boil that was full of nothing but shakers, but some hot and heavy action pulling out over a half dozen fish within 10 mins was pretty cool. Started working back down, hoping some bigger fish would be biting now. Working the tules with my spook I finally get the boil I was looking for and I got a pig on the end of the line!

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Fish put up a hell of a fight, but was still no match, got her in the boat and landed this beautiful 10lber.

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Got my DD fish and got to thinking about it I think its been about 4-5 years since I've got a DD striper on top water, so its a freaking amazing night!

Kept working the tules and still had a mess of shaker messing with me while sticking and landing a couple of them. Throughout the mess of them I did managed one more nice schoolie in the bunch.

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Sometimes though as long as I'm getting them on top water it doesn't matter how big they are it's still a freaking blast.

Hit one more point on our way out before heading back to the ramp. Worked the area over good without any immediate action and just as I was starting to think this area was gonna be dead I get another real good swirl and I'm on another nice fish. At first glance I thought it might have been another DD fish, but it just barely missed that mark.

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Weighed this beauty in at just shy of 9lbs.

Called it a hell of a way to end the night from there and headed back.

Another great outing with Dad on the delta. I got to give it to him on this one, he saw all of the conditions line up great and said we needed to be there and sure enough he couldn't have been more right. He told me he needed to go one more time too cause once it starts getting hot out he wont be wanting to go out there anymore. He didn't pull any keepers in himself, but he let me do most of the fishing while he just watched and drove the boat. I kept trying to talk him into throwing a spook on with me, but he said he gets more of an enjoyment on seeing me loving my top water bite so much like we all love seeing the excitement in a small child when they catch their first fish, which I totally understand.

Hopefully it doesn't get too hot for the fish here soon, because I would love to get out there and do it again.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

Lake Amador 5/8/14

Headed

back to Lake Amador with my dad to get our limits worth of trout. Last few times we here I kind of struggled, but now I'm back with more knowledge on the lake and how the trout are acting, plus I'm not dealing with a post front either so were here to do some work today. We launched the boat around 1000 and started our troll. Trolled rapala's, grubs, and hoohcies, once around the lake for nothing, but we watched the finder the whole way seeing where the

schools

were located around the lake. Set ourselves up wind of where we knew the fish were and started drifting through em pulling power worms and powerbait along the way. We just had small split shots or egg sinkers to pull the baits down we were probably drifting baits through 5-15ft down. I even put a power worm behind a dodger and drifted with that.

10 seconds into our first drift my dad got hammered and we put our first fish in the box. We averaged about 2-3 fish per drift with no bait being better then the other. Our bite started slowing down as the day warmed up, but we kept at it and we had our 10 fish limit by 1300. All cookie cutter trout with the biggest maybe being 2-1/2lbs average being like 12 inches though.

With getting our limits early we tried for bass for a while, but we only managed to lose a couple on plastics, but never managed to bring one to the boat. Got off of the water around 1800 and called it a successful day. Other boaters we talked to seemed to have similar luck on the trout. Lots of bite and fish to the boat, but nothing big.

Our limit we brought home.

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Been a great couple of fishing days with dad, now I need to get back and work my local waters. I've been slacking I haven't even caught a shad yet this year.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

Delta Plugging 5/7/14

I know I'm kind of late to the party, but I just haven't had the resources recently to get out to the delta and hop onto the spring bite. My dad and I made the plan to launch out of B&W and try to

earn a few stripes today. Slept through our alarm's and got a later start then planned. Launched the boat around 1000 and headed towards the SJ. Tried a few spots and we picked up a couple of shakers, but the wind was kicking pretty good. It wasn't unbearable but it wasn't the most enjoyable conditions either. With that we made our was towards the Moke to find some shelter. Worked the area's we knew and it wasn't long before we started hooking up.

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We started picking up shakers here and there on white fish traps. No big

schools

, but we were consistently picking on one here and a couple there.

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Kept working points hopping around trying to find some bigger fish. Had a couple of doubles along the way.

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We did get on a couple of keeper schoolies, but nothing to brag about.

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We ended up staying in the Moke all day and I started throwing spooks after 1700 and it was out fishing the fish traps. Feeding my top water addiction.

We stayed until 2000 putting over 30 fish in the boat throughout the day, probably only 7 being over 18 inches.

Kept our limit for a fish taco dinner.

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All of our keepers were between 19-21 inches.

Great day on the Delta with dad, I'll have to come back soon to hopefully get on some bigger fish.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

Lake Amador 4/27-4/28

Haven't been going out to Amador nearly as much as I should have been this winter season and I've been wanting to get back. Took my friend Dustin out with the tin can cause I couldn't get a hold of my bigger boat. Made it on the water just after 0900 and started trolling grubs around the lake. Made it one lap around the whole lake without a single bite. Time to change it up, did another lap around the lake with Rapala's for still no bites. I know the recent storm that rolled through probably messed with the bite, but I didn't expect it to be this slow. Ran back into Jackson knowing there would be some water flowing back there to hope to

find a few fish. I tossed a mini jig around and Dustin tried tossing a Rapala. I managed to hook into one, saw the fish thrashing and my line popped, P-Line sucks. Kept working the area hoping for another chance, Dustin did managed to have one follow his Rapala, but it never committed to hitting it.

Back out to the lake to try again. There wasn't a lot, but there was a decent amount of surface activity so I knew fish were moving around still. Tried a completely different approach and drifted powerbait across the lake with the wind. Shortly into the drift I finally get the first bite of the day and stuck a 3+lber. Kept drifting for a while for a few missed bites and short strikes. We couldn't hook into any, but at least we were getting bites now. After a couple of unsuccessful drifts we gave bass fishing a quick try. I managed to stick one quick on a robo worm right away to have it pop off right next to the boat. Kept working the bank in Carson Arm and managed to get one good hit on a jerkbait, but nothing more. Did a few more drifts with powerbait for just a couple of short strikes before we called it quits after 1700.

My one lonely fish at the cleaning station.

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Determined not to let one of my home lakes get the best of me my dad and I took the bigger boat out the next day. Got a little bit more knowledge and a better ride we were getting fish today. On the water around 1300 and started fast trolling Rapala's to cover water and maybe find some biting fish. Did a lap around the lake without a hit still, switched it up and slowed the troll down. Trolled grubs, spoons, and hoochies around till I finally stuck one on a pink hoochie behind a silver dodger @ 15ft on the rigger. Got something to bite trolling maybe I can find the pattern. Struggled keeping the right speed I wanted. Was going just barely too fast on the main motor and the wind was too strong to go the right speed on the trolling motor. Kept at it for a while though and was able to stick one more and farm on trolling the hoochie around.

Frustrated, with the trolling speed even though I was getting hits, I knew I should be getting more. Made the switch to just work with the wind and try drifting again. We drifted pink power worms, the hoochie, and powerbait. My dad put two in the box drifting a powerworm with a split shot with missing a couple other hits and I missed one good hit drifting the hoochie. As the sun was setting we wanted to try for bass a little bit so we finished off the day doing that. I tried the spook for the longest time looking for a blowup while my dad kept to his plastics. I tried the spook for sometime without any attention, I had to realize it probably wasn't going to happen. I switched over to a crankbait to still try for a reaction bite and maybe get down to them to get a bite. Worked the banks hard for a while before I managed to get my first bite, but I was able to pull this guy off a point in probably about 10ft of water.

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That guys swallowed that bait down deep and got himself gut hooked pretty good. Was bleeding pretty good by the time I was done getting my bait back so in the box he goes. Kept at it still the sun went down for one more missed bite for both my dad and I, but nothing else to the boat.

Our final kill count at the end of the day.

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Not an Amazing day, but we did way better then I did the day before, so I call that a success.

I want to get back out here again maybe for a night trip, but I know silver bullets in the system so I might be lost to that for a few months. We'll see how that plays out.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

Bassing with Dad 4/24/14

Ran back to my new discovered lake with my Dad to target bass and try to show him the

crappie bite I discovered. Got a late start to the lake and dropped the tin can in just after 1400. Ran back to the area's that were working for me before, but most of them are now 5 ft above the water, water level is dropping fast. Fish were still around though. I started off throwing my jerkbait around and it was still working. Didn't take too long for me to get the skunk off.

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Nothing huge but catching fish is always fun. My dad was looking for a bigger bite as always tossing spinnerbaits and bigger worms trying to find something that was really picture worthy. He was hooking fish fairly consistently, but didn't quite get the bite he was looking for.

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Weather was pretty rough today with the storm moving in. We were battling with the wind all day, but with a nice over cast sky above I put my jerk bait away and started throwing a spook to fill my top water fix.

Even in the choppy weather I was still getting blow ups and having success on the spook.

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After getting a few fish on the spook I put it down and busted out my sissy stick and I threw a popper fly I've been wanting to try for a while. Pre-front conditions were rough to fish in, but the fish were biting and they were hitting hard and they loved the fly.

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Spent the rest of the day going to town on the smaller just barely legal sized fish on the fly.

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When the wind got too rough we trolled Rapala's around and did managed putting 4 crappie in the box up to 14 inches and missed/lost a few others all in about an hour of trolling for them. Weather started drizzling on us and the wind was only getting stronger as the evening progressed so we threw in the towel around 1930 calling it a great day. Always awesome getting on the water with pops.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark