1-16-22
Hello Fishing Family,
I hope everyone is having a good new year. I have been feeling a little under the weather, but I have slowly been feeling better with each passing day. With a busier schedule recently, I’ve only been able to fish at night at Silverwood Lake.
With the colder weather at night, it’s been challenging trying to catch a fish. On January 6, 2022, I hiked down to the Marina to try to catch a Striper or a Trout. I tied on a Rat L Trap Lure and within a few casts, I had a nice sized Striper (1 & ½ lb.) I made many more casts, but then I tried for Trout by tying on a mini jig. There weren’t any Trout around, or they weren’t interested in what I was casting. I wrapped up my gear, and I headed back up to the highway.
Five days later, I headed back to the Marina for some night fishing. I started off with what worked on my last trip, but that yielded no strikes. Switching to the mini jig I tried the last time and had no strikes, actually was the ticket this time. It seemed like every other cast I made that night, I had a Trout on.
The Trout action was awesome even though the Trout were very small in size. The highlight of this night was practicing catch and release on the limit of Trout I caught. I had recently bought a new net to help me with the catch and release. I focused on leaving the net in the water, and not touching the Trout with dry hands as I worked to unhook them.
Overall, I believe the fish that I released weren’t harmed in any way. It is a challenge not to harm them once they are landed. I know I’m working with stocked Trout which will probably be caught again or succumb to other larger fish in the lake, but there is also such a thing as a holdover Trout which another angler may catch at a later time, as a result of proper catch and release.
Once again, with colder nights, I am only able to fish a maximum of two hours before my hands freeze or the guides on my rod ice up, and I am not able to use my rod/reel. I really never know what fish I am going to catch when I’m out there, I can only speculate.
So on January 14, 2022, I hiked back to the Marina for a short night fishing session, this time with a friend. I tried the Rat L Trap Lure for Striper, and tried the mini jigs for Trout for about an hour each, yet I had no strikes. Knowing that my night fishing sessions are short, I really wanted to try a Tout minnow (1 ½ inch white/chartreuse) to see if the Trout were just being picky, especially since I would be leaving soon.
After a few casts, I finally had a strike which pulled very hard making me believe it was a nice sized Trout. Upon landing the fish, I realized it was a two pound Striper. Never before have I landed a Striper on a Trout minnow. I was feeling quite confused, especially since in my mind I was fishing for Trout. My buddy and I were in a bit of a shock, as we chatted about the catch and hiked back to our cars.
I spent a few hours fishing at Hesperia Lake on January 16, 2022. I was not able to get any strikes! Until next time fishing family, have fun on your fishing journeys.