My trout opener day fishing

[Scott V]

I prefer to stay away from crowds, its not that I don't like people, I just don't like fishing with lots of people. So I went to a private pond and had a great day on the water.

[kokaneejr]

Nice fish especially jealous of that redear. Did you catch him on a clouser?
I am off to Berryessa tomorrow maybe go for the grand slam Trout, Largie, Smallmouth and Spotted Bass. Maybe a gill thrown in.

Good luck in Orlando when you go!

[Darian]

Now, that my idea of an opening day!!! That Redear is a stud sunfish. You really had a good opener....

[Scott V]

Probably caught about 20 or 30 gills, most on foam poppers and the rest on my black wiggle tail. You know which one it is Craig.

[Ed Wahl]

Or in my case mediocre at best minds.

Anyhoo, me and Phil hit some foothill ponds on the same day Scotty did. Turned out to be a pretty good choice. The waters are just starting to turn on. Most were still a bit off color but the fish didnt' care.
We rigged up 3wts for the pre-game show at Bluegill Pond.
We fished Bluegill Pond first because, well, that's the first one we came to. I caught this unusual 'gill there right off the bat on a black 'bugger.



Phil followed up with a more appropriate specimen for this pond. A cute little Redear.





I think I may win a prize for my first Greenie, which I caught out of Cow Piss pond, a true Warner Bros. cartoons 'Chicken Hawk'. "I'm a Chicken Hawk and You're a Chicken".



From there we battled bovines, ticks, poison oak, and a multitude of other hostile threats to catch a smorgasborg of warmwater fishies. Some notable and some not so much.

This Green Sunfish was just average for this pond.



Look at the tail, someone's been building a nest.


There's a good sized foam frog inside this Bluegill's mouth.


Gettin dark and time to walk out.


Bear in mind we stayed with the 3wts the whole day. It became clear at sundown on the last pond that we were undergunned. That just made it that much more interesting. These fish were insane. Trying to keep a bass' head up out of the weeds with a 3wt is quite a challenge. If you know what you're doing you can put a helluva lot of pressure on a fish with a 3wt. If you don't know what you're doing, well, there's always the warranty.

We had 2 different families of Coyotes yipping at sundown, quail calling, woodducks sneaking into nest boxes, Acorn woodpeckers doing that video game noise that they do, bats, bullfrogs, a cool racer on the road,hot chicks in the parking lot,good food and good beer, it was an excellent day out fishing all the way around.
Ed

[Scott V]

I know where you were Ed, those are some of my favorite places. Glad Phil got to break in the new rod quickly.

[jrief]

Scott,

Thanks for the help on Sat. How late did you stay? Late enought to throw poppers? I had a great time and no long drive. I'll contact you about local smallies....Jerry

[Scott V]

Scott,

Thanks for the help on Sat. How late did you stay? Late enought to throw poppers? I had a great time and no long drive. I'll contact you about local smallies....Jerry

Hey Jerry, I stayed til about 3:30. Last one off the water but that is nothing new. Let's definetly get together for smallies.

[Phil Synhorst]

Damn Scott,

Those are some nice Bass, and quite a healthy Redear.

I would liked to have broke in the new Trout rod on Trout, but what the heck. I'm pretty sure that was the best fishing on the opener I've ever done. Blue Gills, Redears, Greenies, and Bass all day; better than slow fishing in the high country. Especially the Bass at the last pond, they were so feisty I really thought I'd be sending the 3wt. in for repair.

A big high five to the people at Redington, not only does that new Classic Trout rod suit my casting, but it's back bone is much bigger than it's line weight suggests.