Well, with river salmon fishing not looking real promising these days, I headed back up to Lake Tahoe to chase mackinaw again.
I got back up to the West Shore on Tuesday evening to find a little bit of a disaster at the house (more on that later).
Up early the next morning, we hit the lake and found lots and lots of macks on the graph but the bite was so-so. We still landed probably 10+ fish and got limits but we really had to work for them for some reason. Part of the deal was that my net blew out of the boat on the way up, so we lost three nice keeper fish right at the boat. Like the old saying goes…it’s always something, right?
Anyway, here’s Jackie from Auburn, CA showing off a typical laker that we caught on 2-ounce spoons jigged in 89 to 135 feet of water.
There are so many fish in the areas that I’ve been working that it’s sick and when they start chewing aggressively again, we’ll be back to the easy limits by 7 am program.
I took my soon-to-be-best fishing buddy (my 1-year old son Cooper) out to the local pond the other day on a little fishing excursion where we caught some toddler-sized bass and bluegill. While Coop thought it was pretty cool, it was dad who was totally jazzed.
I got totally fired up thinking of all the fishing spots and styles that I want to share with him. I can’t wait until he’s a little older!
I’ve always been a believer in the train of thought that says kids who are really into fishing and hunting — and are taught proper outdoor ethics — turn into pretty good people as adults.
Robbie Hammond of Discovery Bay, CA poses here with the largest lingcod ever caught on rod and reel.
Hammond caught the beast in the Gulf of Alaska while fishing with Capt. Steve Smith of Capt. Steve’s Fishing Lodge.
The ling tipped the scales to 82 pounds, 6 ounces and beat the previous record by about a pound.
The story of the catch may even be more impressive than the fish itself. Capt. Smith said that Hammond, his dad and a group of friends were fishing the first week of August with him. Early in the morning, they made a stop and everybody dropped the jigs over the side.
They immediately got tied into a triple hook up on heavy fish. Hammond, his dad Allan and one of their buddies, Brent, fought their fish for a half hour. Forty minutes into the battle, Brent’s fish was the first to come to the surface…
While the identity of this gentleman is going to be withheld for his own protection, I can tell you this: The Smoker of the Year Contest entry came from the American River on a guided fishing trip ran by none other than yours truly (hey, what can I say…dark fish love me!).
Some say that dark kings aren’t worth eating unless you smoke them…hence the term “It will smoke…” But I beg to differ. Next time you throw a blackie in the box, try this recipe out:
Mad River Outfitters in Arcata, CA may just be one of the coolest tackle shops around, but even they have some skeletons in the closet…like this sorry excuse for a brown mount. To their credit, this nasty beast isn’t displayed on the wall (anymore) but is instead piled on a junk shelf in the back room. I have to assume that this fish actually looked better than this when it was pulled from the water…because now it’s so ugly that it kinda reminds me of a “brown trout” that I “released” into the porcelain pond earlier this morning…
Representatives from Mad River Outfitters declined to comment.
So fall is just around the corner and that means that Chinook salmon are, or will soon be, pointing their noses up into their natal streams. Unfortunately, there are lots of rivers up and down the West Coast this season that are running very low.
Of course, early season kings are notoriously big fans of backtrolled, sardine-wrapped plugs like FlatFish and Kwikfish, but low/clear water conditions can make things tough. Luckily, there are some things you can do to help improve your odds… [click to continue…]
When Mike Globe of Willits, CA heard his brother Steve was buying a new jetboat, he was stoked. The only thing better than owning a boat is having a buddy or family member who does. Then, Mike and his wife were floored when Steve placed the name of their young son, Gunner, on the transom.
“It was out of nowhere and it caught my wife and I totally off guard,” says Mike. “It was probably the nicest thing he has ever done for me…one hell of a gesture from my bro….”
