Mike McKenzie
05-08-2007, 09:30 PM
Just got back from a week of houseboatin' and fishin' on Shasta. It was our 25th year of draggin' our boats around with the houseboat lookin' like a mother hen with a bunch of chicks. In spite of the weather that was tossed at us by mother nature, (started out nice, sunny and warm with 65-66 degree water, then came the cold, wind and rain with water temps droppin' to 57-58 degrees) we had some of the best fishin' in the last 5 years. With the trout on top the trollers among us were draggin' Rapala Countdowns (in RBT) around 75' behind their boat and caught no end of trout from 1 to 4 lbs and with the downriggers they got some nice Kings to 5 lbs or so. The Bass fishin' was also pretty darn good with the usual stuff they use, crank baits and plastic.
As I'm the only fly fisher on the boat (It's a sacrifice I make every year just to be with my long time workin' buddies :) ) I sometimes feel pretty lonesome! Over the years my fishin' partner and I have kinda' worked things out to where he can do his crankin' and wormin' while I fly fish.
Many years ago when we first started this operation we would look forward to some outstanding top water fishin' for smallmouth. Then DFG decided to plant Spotted Bass in the lake and the smallmouth fishery went to hades in a hand cart over the next several years (and still ain't back to its former self yet) Anyway, every year I spend an evening or two vainly lookin' for top water fish with my bass bugs and over the years I've come to the conclusion that Spots never (or rarely at most) "look up" unless they're chasin' a ball of shad!
This year was no different except that I was more determined than ever to get bit on top. I beat the water to a froth for two days for the sum total of two 10" Spots, all while my non fly-fishing boat partner was averaging 10-15 fish an hour fishing with those infernal plastic worms! Not willing to give up the fly rod but wantin' to catch a fish, I changed reel spools and put type IV head with amnesia running line and tied on a Dave Sellers rear weighted deceiver style fly. First cast ..Fish on and I never looked back! Proceeded to "whip the tar" out of my boat partner the rest of the trip!!
Spots averaged 1-3 lbs with the biggest Spot for the trip being a shade under 5lbs on the "Boga", which is a dang fine Spot and unfortunately it wasn't me that caught it! While I think that pound for pound the spots pull harder than smallmouth or largemouth, I find myself longing for the "good ol' days" before they put the spots in the lake! Dang it anyway!!
Did pretty good on trout also, tossin crystal buggers (olive, black and brown, no suprise there!)
The capper was that durin' a downpour on Wednesday evening the Spots came unhinged and went on a non-stop bite..So there we were freezin' our fannys off, soakin' wet and starvin' to death and wantin' to go back to the "mother ship" and eat but the fish wouldn't lets us go!!
This all leaves me with two questions for ya' all.. #1 Why is the catch rate directly proportional to misery?? and #2 Is there anyone out there that knows how to get spotted bass up to the surface in a resevoir without dynamite??
All in all # 25 was another memorable trip!
Mike
As I'm the only fly fisher on the boat (It's a sacrifice I make every year just to be with my long time workin' buddies :) ) I sometimes feel pretty lonesome! Over the years my fishin' partner and I have kinda' worked things out to where he can do his crankin' and wormin' while I fly fish.
Many years ago when we first started this operation we would look forward to some outstanding top water fishin' for smallmouth. Then DFG decided to plant Spotted Bass in the lake and the smallmouth fishery went to hades in a hand cart over the next several years (and still ain't back to its former self yet) Anyway, every year I spend an evening or two vainly lookin' for top water fish with my bass bugs and over the years I've come to the conclusion that Spots never (or rarely at most) "look up" unless they're chasin' a ball of shad!
This year was no different except that I was more determined than ever to get bit on top. I beat the water to a froth for two days for the sum total of two 10" Spots, all while my non fly-fishing boat partner was averaging 10-15 fish an hour fishing with those infernal plastic worms! Not willing to give up the fly rod but wantin' to catch a fish, I changed reel spools and put type IV head with amnesia running line and tied on a Dave Sellers rear weighted deceiver style fly. First cast ..Fish on and I never looked back! Proceeded to "whip the tar" out of my boat partner the rest of the trip!!
Spots averaged 1-3 lbs with the biggest Spot for the trip being a shade under 5lbs on the "Boga", which is a dang fine Spot and unfortunately it wasn't me that caught it! While I think that pound for pound the spots pull harder than smallmouth or largemouth, I find myself longing for the "good ol' days" before they put the spots in the lake! Dang it anyway!!
Did pretty good on trout also, tossin crystal buggers (olive, black and brown, no suprise there!)
The capper was that durin' a downpour on Wednesday evening the Spots came unhinged and went on a non-stop bite..So there we were freezin' our fannys off, soakin' wet and starvin' to death and wantin' to go back to the "mother ship" and eat but the fish wouldn't lets us go!!
This all leaves me with two questions for ya' all.. #1 Why is the catch rate directly proportional to misery?? and #2 Is there anyone out there that knows how to get spotted bass up to the surface in a resevoir without dynamite??
All in all # 25 was another memorable trip!
Mike