michaeln
05-16-2010, 06:25 PM
I got a wild hair Friday morning... it was dreary and windy and cold in San Francisco, and I checked the Burney report and they were forecasting really nice weather for Fri/Sat/Sun. About 8AM I started packing and was on the road by 9AM, on my way to Baum Lake.
I arrived there Friday afternoon and lo and behold my friend Gary Lee was there in the parking lot with his float tube. He'd been there since Tuesday and was camping in the Cassel campground where I was planning to camp.
He offered to share his site with me for my tent, so after setting up camp in Gary's site I fished a couple hours, nada. Strapped the Scadden Outlaw Rampage to the rack and went back to camp. We went to Angelina's REX Club for dinner because it was like 9PM and La Fogata (best Chile Verde in the known universe!!!) was closed. Nonetheless, dinner at the REX was very good.
Next morning Gary and I were the first on the lake at about daybreak. Fished a couple hours for nothing, then nibble nibble nibble WHAM. Caught a 21" (MeasureNet rules!) big fat rainbow in spawning colors, using a #12 Denny Rickards AP Emerger stripped slowly on an intermediate line, which is the same fly I caught 17 on one weekend there and also the same fly I caught my personal best rainbow at the dam at Baum on. Good fly!
It was funny... after I got the big one in the net (and it only took about 3 minutes or so to land him), he looked like he was dead. I tried reviving him but it looked like he was gone. I asked Gary if he wanted him and Gary said "sure". I don't like to kill them and don't like to eat them, but I know Gary likes to eat them (he had about a 16 incher in his cooler from the day before).
Gary paddled over and was digging out his stringer when I noticed the fish's mouth was moving just a little. Mind you, I never took him out of the net and only had his head out of water long enough to get the hook out. I held him in the net facing the current and after a minute or so he started flaring his gills and there was some tail movement, so after another minute or so he looked OK to release and I had to rescind my offer of the fish to Gary, and I let him go. No pics of the fish, I was too concerned with reviving and releasing him.
After that all I could do was three 8-12" dinks at the inlet from Crystal lake. Gary and another guy (who had a new Scadden Outlaw Renegade) both had slow fishing on Saturday although they had both done well earlier in the week.
It started raining around 3PM so I called it a day, and naturally after getting my boat all packed up in the rain, the rain stopped. I was tard though, and went back to camp and read for a while, then went to La Fogata and then back to camp where I read a while then went to bed early. Got out of there about 7AM and drove back to San Francisco.
I arrived there Friday afternoon and lo and behold my friend Gary Lee was there in the parking lot with his float tube. He'd been there since Tuesday and was camping in the Cassel campground where I was planning to camp.
He offered to share his site with me for my tent, so after setting up camp in Gary's site I fished a couple hours, nada. Strapped the Scadden Outlaw Rampage to the rack and went back to camp. We went to Angelina's REX Club for dinner because it was like 9PM and La Fogata (best Chile Verde in the known universe!!!) was closed. Nonetheless, dinner at the REX was very good.
Next morning Gary and I were the first on the lake at about daybreak. Fished a couple hours for nothing, then nibble nibble nibble WHAM. Caught a 21" (MeasureNet rules!) big fat rainbow in spawning colors, using a #12 Denny Rickards AP Emerger stripped slowly on an intermediate line, which is the same fly I caught 17 on one weekend there and also the same fly I caught my personal best rainbow at the dam at Baum on. Good fly!
It was funny... after I got the big one in the net (and it only took about 3 minutes or so to land him), he looked like he was dead. I tried reviving him but it looked like he was gone. I asked Gary if he wanted him and Gary said "sure". I don't like to kill them and don't like to eat them, but I know Gary likes to eat them (he had about a 16 incher in his cooler from the day before).
Gary paddled over and was digging out his stringer when I noticed the fish's mouth was moving just a little. Mind you, I never took him out of the net and only had his head out of water long enough to get the hook out. I held him in the net facing the current and after a minute or so he started flaring his gills and there was some tail movement, so after another minute or so he looked OK to release and I had to rescind my offer of the fish to Gary, and I let him go. No pics of the fish, I was too concerned with reviving and releasing him.
After that all I could do was three 8-12" dinks at the inlet from Crystal lake. Gary and another guy (who had a new Scadden Outlaw Renegade) both had slow fishing on Saturday although they had both done well earlier in the week.
It started raining around 3PM so I called it a day, and naturally after getting my boat all packed up in the rain, the rain stopped. I was tard though, and went back to camp and read for a while, then went to La Fogata and then back to camp where I read a while then went to bed early. Got out of there about 7AM and drove back to San Francisco.