Trout Galore!

4-4-21

Hello Fishing Enthusiasts,

I have done a lot of fishing in the past three weeks.  Most of the fishing was done at Silverwood Lake, but I went to Castaic Lake which I have not fished before, and Mojave Narrows to fish too.

As the night wore on at my house, my mind started to wander.  I knew that I could have spent some time at the lake fishing for any fish to bite.  I’m appreciative to catch a Largemouth Bass, Bluegill, Crappie, Carp, or have any fish on my rod whenever I can rather than be at home sitting on my couch thinking about fishing.  Which was exactly what I was doing, so I jumped up and grabbed my rod, and all my fishing gear and was out the door instantly.

Fishing this night just seemed so slow, not even a nibble.  As I listened for movement on top of the water, so that upon hearing the sound of a fish maybe, just maybe I could walk over and locate one, or so I thought.  Casting a jerkbait for two hours also seemed to be a little redundant, yet I stuck with it.  Within the next minute, I had a pretty nice fight on my hands, as the bass pulled down to get away pulling drag faster than normally.  Two runs, a leap into the air displaying its greatness was at show, but as I reeled my pole in, I knew the fish was at least 35-40 feet away.  I kept tension on my rod which I thought was good, until my jerkbait came slowly skipping back to me.

The fish had simply let go.  As I glanced down to retrieve my jerkbait lure, I realized that the o ring which secures the treble hook to the lure was gone.  In all the commotion, the bass had stripped the middle or center hook of the lure.

The next day, all I could think of was that fish.  My personal best Largemouth Bass of 6.5 lbs. pulled the way that fish pulled the other night.  I was in the right place at the right time because those big bass come in for periods of time to feed, and timing is important to find them.  Most of the time, I’m not there at the right time….

Over the course of about ten fishing trips, I had a few occasional skunks.  In other words, I caught nothing at a local Trout Derby, and didn’t even get a bite one night at Silverwood Lake.  Getting one little bite on the line feels better than feeling nothing for a couple hours of fishing.  The fish I describe missing/losing above taught me a few things:  1.  Big bass are in the shallows feeding this time of year, and 2.  Sticking with a lure long enough to pay off is important-In my case, the pay day will definitely be another day!

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I caught 25 Trout and 2 Striper since my last blog.  The trout were caught on two baits/lures:  Power bait (Salmon Egg Peach) and Trout jigs (white/yellow & light brown) tipped with power worms (green, orange, pink, or white).  Both Striper were caught on jerkbaits.

Traveling to a new lake (Castaic) to fuel my passion for fishing ended with a five Trout Limit.  My approach to fishing this new lake for bass was to start with drop shot senkos and jerkbaits.  By hiking up the shore of the West Ramp and casting for at least two miles, I soon realized that my best chance of catching any fish was to get back near the boat launch ramps.  I had so much fun that day.

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At Silverwood Lake, all of the Trout I landed were caught and immediately released.  The Trout jigs tipped with Power worms were enticing the bite.  I nearly doubled my trout catches of 20 since the start of the year on a lure that I know works, but really hasn’t been my go-to bait/lure.  Looks like I need to be more open to trying different types of baits/lures, as I move forward in my fishing journey.

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All in all, it’s been so much fun trying to catch a larger bass, and in all that trying surprising myself with some nice sized stocker Trout with the largest weighing in at 1 & ¾ lbs.  I was very thankful to be able to go fishing ten times over the past three weeks.  Recently, I purchased a new Johnny Morris Rod/Reel Combo, and it took several trips to actually land one on it.  Have fun on your journeys!