Fishing 01-02-2016

[wolfs4evr]

First trip of the year! Boulder ramp was a ghost town when we got there this morning ~30 minutes before the posted sunrise.



Air temp at the house was 33 at the NW end of town but 41 at the ramp. Water temp at launch was 54 topping out close to 56. A little windy in the earlier hours but became calm before lunch time. Catching bait was a serious choir. The higher water has really done something to the Shad. No one I seen or talked to was doing well at all catching bait. I gave up after at least a hour of tossing that darn net with 30-40 or so in the baitwell. Mostly good sized stuff but not many of them.

Fishing was tough too. Not much found at all in the usual spots. I wasted most of the morning slowly working my way out from catching bait to just past the outhouse cove with only a handful of Stripers in the livewell. (The sonar only showed one here and one there. Never any big schools at all.) On the positive side Kate, my youngest who has only been fishing 3 times now in the boat, landed the best one of the day at 4 pounds even. She gave her a good run that was for sure. I had to help hold the rod some for that one. (I really didn't want to see $450 worth of G.Loomis/Shimano Ci4 going over the side either... lol)



Shortly after 12 I motored out in the bigger open area past sand island (to the South and slightly East) and started to see some action on the sonar in 145 feet of water. I dropped 2 lines to the bottom and came up 5 cranks from there and it was non stop. I couldn't keep both in the water. As soon as I was ready to net one the other would take off. Get that one landed and the bait going back down, turn around net another, repeat. Eventually I got 3 lines down but short lived as our bait ran out.

[url "https://youtu.be/K7rd0Gn3tFs"]https://youtu.be/K7rd0Gn3tFs[/url]



Worked for me numbers wise. Exactly what I needed for the smoker tomorrow. The big one is already in our tummies!

15 Stripers in a Brine. Will head off to the smoker sometime tomorrow AM.



The big one made it into the oven this evening. It was supppper good. Madi and I ate that whole thing up. Kate hasn't quite acquired the taste for fish yet. We covered it in melted butter, lemon juice, basil, garlic salt, pink Himalayan salt and some pepper. ~25 minutes at 400. I also made up a batch of baked garlic parmesan potato wedges to go with it. Allll gone! Super good diner to finish off a great day.

Tom
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

Awesome report and pics as always, thanks for posting it Tom. Good you see your young one got out with you and caught the big one, of the day. We got out yesterday as well, I only wish it was as warm as it was there.
[signature]

[wolfs4evr]

I do miss the snow some. Been almost 29 years since I lived somewhere where snow and cold temps existed (Montana).

The coldest day in 2015 was 29 degrees. Not cold enough to worry about shoveling the driveway but... It is a seasonal change nonetheless. Either 30s or 115s. Our 2 seasons [:p]

I had more fish than I thought fillet size wise. I was going to leave the ribs in them and just pluck them out as soon as they came out of the smoker but... I had to trim the ribs out of all of them before smoking to make room for all the fillets I had brined.

Good to go for a while on smoked fish! We vacuum pack 2-4 fillets per bag and into the freezer for a rainy day. Also awesome snacks on the water when fishing. Just grab a bag out and toss it in the cooler on the way out of the house.

They've been done since earlier this afternoon. Finally got a around to getting them out of the smoker. Off to the vacuum packing machine here in a bit.



Tom
[signature]

[wolfs4evr]

Stockpile heading to the freezer []



Tom
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

You have been there longer than I thought, from the sounds of it, you're planning on staying in LV[:/]. Good looking fillets, you are sure getting a lot of use from that smoker.
[signature]

[wolfs4evr]

I left Montana in 1987 when I joined the US Navy. Did my 20yrs pretty much all in San Diego. Retired in 2007 and got a job here in Vegas. So less than 9yrs of Vegas life so far. This was about as far east of the PRK (Peoples Republic of Kalifornia) as I was allowed to look for jobs per the warden (wife). She detest cold/snow and all of her family is trapped in Kalifornia so couldn't move too far from them to keep her happy [angelic]

I kept joking about moving to Montana when I retire and only got have fun send letters for a reply... Lol

Tom
[signature]

[wiperhunter2]

OK, I did not know you were retired Military, good for you. Don't blame you at all for not wanting to stay in Kalifornia.
[signature]

[reellittlephish]

[quote wolfs4evr] This was about as far east of the PRK (Peoples Republic of Kalifornia) as I was allowed to look for jobs per the warden (wife). She detest cold/snow and all of her family is trapped in Kalifornia so couldn't move too far from them to keep her happy [angelic] [/quote]
---------------------------------------------
Funny Tom. I'm 5th generation Californian. Grew up in Northern CA ...San Francisco. I will not be returning to California except to visit.

Nice bit of work on the stripers.
[signature]

[albinotrout]

Good work Tom... Looks you and your daughter had a fun day regardless the slow catching.
[signature]