1-17-21
Traveling out to Silverwood Lake for some fishing at night nowadays is tough. As always, it is very rewarding to land any type of fish when these types of trips occur. Arriving in the Marina near 8:30 PM, I was able to catch one Striper on a Rat L Trap Lure. It took approximately two hours to land it, and it was the only strike of the night. I wrapped up the short session, and left at 10:30 PM.
A few days later, I came back to Silverwood and I was able to hike in from Highway 138 where I parked. This allowed me to be at the lake starting at 5 AM where I could fish for a couple of hours uninterruptedly. There were not very many strikes as I targeted Trout with a jig, and Striper with a Rat L Trap Lure. I was able to land one stocker size Trout on a jig. The bite totally died when the lake opened and boats started to launch, so I packed up and left.
Heading to Vista Point Turnout #1 (Silverwood) with a few fellow fishermen a few nights later was a pretty solid night. By Tying a jerkbait, I was able to land one Striper in the 1 lb. range. Since the bite was slow, I switched my lure to a Rat L Trap and was able to land another Striper. This actual catch was a result of my lure entangling with someone else’s old fishing line which was still attached to a hook in the fish’s stomach. I wasn’t sure if it was just a random snag that I had caught, or if the Striper may have been curious about my lure and got a little too close as it swam by to check it out. One of the fishermen I was with hit one Striper on a small type of trout swimbait. After a few hours, we all called it a night and hiked out.
Marina 
Marina 
Vista Point Turnout #1
Knowing that I wanted to try new places to fish, a buddy of mine invited me out to Fisherman’s Retreat in Redlands, CA. Arriving there at 6:30 AM, and not knowing what to expect as far as fishing at a new lake, I tied on a jig. I walked around the smaller lake casting every twenty feet to see if I could get any strikes. Nothing was hitting the jig, so after I walked around the lake, I tied a drop shot PowerBait Mice Tail (Orange) and was able to land one Trout in the spot we designated to fish. By tying a Carolina Rig to another rod, I tried PowerBait on a very short leader for several hours with no strikes.
My buddy mentioned that a two-foot leader would be better than the one-foot leader from his experience fishing the last time at this lake. Upon hearing that advice, I immediately made the switch. I was able to land five more Trout, and I realized a longer leader was making all the difference. Also, holding my pole and bouncing and reeling very slow produced a lot of short strikes for me where the Trout weren’t swallowing the PowerBait, but taking it in their mouth subtle enough for me to fill the bite. Fisherman’s Retreat is honestly like a paradise for Trout fisherman. There’s a restaurant within a few feet of the lake, and the biscuits and gravy I ordered from there really had me in paradise.
Limit at Fisherman’s Retreat 
1st Trout caught at Fisherman’s Retreat!
Getting back to my home lake (Silverwood), I traveled to Vista Point Turnout #1, and made my normal hike to the spot where I have been able to have some success catching fish. Sticking strictly to a jerkbait, I landed 3 Stripers in about one hour. The fish definitely were more active on this night than any of the other nights I have had at the Vista Point location.
On my last fishing trip to Silverwood, I decided to head back to the Marina for a night fishing session. Near the boat launch ramps, I was unable to get any strikes on a Rat L Trap Lure, as well as jerkbaits. Sticking with the jerkbait, and switching locations to another spot in the Marina for a few more casts did the trick. I landed my first Largemouth Bass of the year weighing in at 2.19 lbs. I was very surprised because it was not until the middle of February of last year that I caught a Largemouth Bass, and here I was with one in the middle of January.
Largemouth Bass @ 2.19 lbs 
The last two weeks of fishing (7 trips), I was able to land a total of 15 fish (7 Trout, 7 Stripers, & 1 Largemouth Bass) fishing from two different lakes.
Best of luck to you fisherman out there, and as always contact me for assistance on anything related to fishing. Thanks!