Del Valle - NCKA "Fishin" and "Chillin" 10/12-10/14

Well after over 200 hookup posts, the real anglers showed up on Friday to tough out the storm. I showed up on Saturday morning for the good weather, fishing and company.  Launched at 7AM and trolled the south area around the ramp with no luck. A few trout on the surface so I switched to fan casting 1/8 oz watermellon Kastmasters and hooked a 12 inch trout. Trolled up to the campsite and dropped off the man dogs. Headed up to the narrows and had no luck there. Switched rigs several times and at 1000 ended up trolling the downrigger with flashers and an Uncle Larry's trolling spinner and a Rapala JSR in shad pattern with a black wooly bugger teaser. Hooked a 19 inch striper just off the campground on the wooly bugger, another 12 inch trout on the rapala near the launch ramp and a 12 inch crappie just north of the launch ramp on the wooly bugger. Grilled many man dogs then headed home to do some chores. Ran into ChuckE on my way home, stylishly late for the event. Sorry my trout clinic was cut short but the lunch ran late. If anyone wants additional tips, feel free to PM me or hookup with me. I am always open to sharing my "secrets" or should I call it Techniques XJ 15-20. 

Scott

Man those pics sure look different than Friday's scene.  There were a few hardcore anglers braving the elements.  I was trolling and casting a rapala J7 with no luck.  I did get a really small bass and as I was slowly reeling him in, a larger one tried to hitchhike but let go near the yak.  I had to leave early to pickup my kid but I hope you guys enjoyed the bbq ribs that I brought.

Willie

that mooch really knows his way around a sausage.

that mooch really knows his way around a sausage.

 

If I knew Ben was giving free rides I would have made it down there!!!!!
The shoulder is making a comeback so I will be back on the H20 very soon.

that mooch really knows his way around a sausage.

If I knew Ben was giving free rides I would have made it down there!!!!!

 

GB2, tell us how you rigged your teaser! just on a dropper loop? no scent/bait on the teaser?
how deep did you keep the downrigger? did any fish pull the release or did you have to do that?
you keep so many secrets! 

Saturday, I surfed 4-mile, I saw dolphins come to within 20 feet of the shore in the cove between 3 and 4 mile.
3 guys shore fished the 4-mile point and I saw them pull in some perch, and maybe a small cabezon or rockfish.
A pelican dive bombed the kelp next to me, still some bait hiding in there, but not like last time I surfed it.
There was one powerboat drifting halibut territory out there, can't imagine they got anything, but who knows.
medium sized weak waves, but a lot of them, sunny and warm. great surfing.

Sunday, I slept in, 

i was there on Friday got there at 7am with light rain started fishing and had a hookup within 5 minutes on a crawler i was fly lining got it to the boat a nice 18 inch trout drop the netted and pop came off the hook , fish for 3 hours without another bite then the rain began to fall non stop!!but i continued to fish anyway. talked to mooch for a while then bang i get bit, nice LMB!!! mooch took off then 5 minutes later 4# SMALL MOUTH  YAYA!!! by now its 2 pm and Ive been fishin in the rain all day and I'm soaked all the way though my jacket sweat shirt and 3 other layers, pants were soaked to my underwear but i didn't want to give up i was only there for the day and i wanted a trout!!! by now the wind had died down but the rain was coming down hard and not stoping at all. i started throwing a crawler on a  split shot in the narrows then zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz FISH ON!!!! nice 4 # cat  gave a good fight as i was using my ulta light with 4 # test, 20 minutes later tap tap give it time set the hook and little blue gill comes up throw him back recast and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz another cat same size  i fished for another hour with no luck by now I'm cold wet and tired i wanted to stop by camp to say bye but i was way to tired to paddle to camp and then back to the launch so i just paddled to the launch loaded up and headed home only to be stuck in traffic soaking wet!!! all in all a real good day on the lake  4 fish total one large mouth one small mouth and two cats, if only i would have caught a trout the day would have been perfect, in the last week Ive put in 2 trips for trout and a total of 22 hours and haven't caught one, just the one i lost   REVANGE WILL BE MINE!!!

GB2, tell us how you rigged your teaser! just on a dropper loop? no scent/bait on the teaser?
how deep did you keep the downrigger? did any fish pull the release or did you have to do that?
you keep so many secrets! 

OK John, I will trade you 3 trout secrets for one of your secret locations.  Because you are a nice family guy I will share some secrets with you and the rest of the world on the internet (English reading).

The JSR dives to 10 ft plus. The larger JSR will dive to 12-15 ft. I tie a gold bead black wooly bugger directly to the line using a palomar with the hook gap facing up so the bugger is upside down just like drop shotting for LMB. I tried a dropper loop and 3 way swivel but they are more prone to tangles. I tie the bugger 1.5-2.5 ft above the Rapala. I stare in the morning with 2-3 ft then as I re-tie new luers it gets closer to the plug. I start fishing this rig around 10-11 AM as I begin my switch from trout to warm water species. This combo will take trout, LMB, SMB, SB and Crappie. The JSR is a rattling - suspending lure which makes it perfect for yak trolling. Try it on Lexington next time you go, it's the bomb. I have also used olive wooly buggers, clouser minnows and deceivers but the black bugger seems to be the most consistent. I use liquid scent or 1/4 inch red powerbait earthworm to scent all of my trout lures.

As far as downriggers, I usually start using them around 1000 AM. From 7-10 AM I pull Rapala J-7 and SR5 in various colors. The SR5's I run on 8# fluoro with the wooly bugger teaser. Depending on the water temperature, I usually start around 12-15 ft down. The warmer the water the deeper I start. If I am marking fish, I run the downrigger 2-3 ft above the fish. I have never had a trout under 14 inches pop the the release but I also use a snubber which makes it more difficult.

Scott

GB2, tell us how you rigged your teaser! just on a dropper loop? no scent/bait on the teaser?
how deep did you keep the downrigger? did any fish pull the release or did you have to do that?
you keep so many secrets! 

OK John, I will trade you 3 trout secrets for one of your secret locations.  Because you are a nice family guy I will share some secrets with you and the rest of the world on the internet (English reading).

The JSR dives to 10 ft plus. The larger JSR will dive to 12-15 ft. I tie a gold bead black wooly bugger directly to the line using a palomar with the hook gap facing up so the bugger is upside down just like drop shotting for LMB. I tried a dropper loop and 3 way swivel but they are more prone to tangles. I tie the bugger 1.5-2.5 ft above the Rapala. I stare in the morning with 2-3 ft then as I re-tie new luers it gets closer to the plug. I start fishing this rig around 10-11 AM as I begin my switch from trout to warm water species. This combo will take trout, LMB, SMB, SB and Crappie. The JSR is a rattling - suspending lure which makes it perfect for yak trolling. Try it on Lexington next time you go, it's the bomb. I have also used olive wooly buggers, clouser minnows and deceivers but the black bugger seems to be the most consistent. I use liquid scent or 1/4 inch red powerbait earthworm to scent all of my trout lures.

As far as downriggers, I usually start using them around 1000 AM. From 7-10 AM I pull Rapala J-7 and SR5 in various colors. The SR5's I run on 8# fluoro with the wooly bugger teaser. Depending on the water temperature, I usually start around 12-15 ft down. The warmer the water the deeper I start. If I am marking fish, I run the downrigger 2-3 ft above the fish. I have never had a trout under 14 inches pop the the release but I also use a snubber which makes it more difficult.

Scott

thanks for spilling the beans on your secret rigging techniques!

scott, you do well when the fishing is tougher I have noticed and I think it might be the extra effort you put in when trolling.

(of course jfish did pretty well with his flylined crawler too,  ).

the teaser will reduce the diving range of the plug a bit due to more water resistance tho, right?

I've never tied up a dropshot rig, only a dropper loop which I just learned this year.  But I do use a palomar at times, so I think I get the idea. I am tempted tho to tie it into a small dropper loop myself. thanks for the ideas!

when the stormy weather gets here, I might hit the quarry lakes in fremont like last year.  I've got a few new trolling ideas to try out. Then in the spring, I might hit a secret lake or two and possibly even lexington although I hear they are going to pretty much fully drain it this year  .

J

Scott, when you stopped to say goodbye at the launch, I had thought you had a very short seminar or I had delayed walking back to the campsite much longer than I thought. It was great meeting you and all the others. That Friday downpour was epic...thought I'd be getting swimming lessons right there at the picnic table. Now, if only I can figure out how my PFD sprouted legs and walked away...

Scott, when you stopped to say goodbye at the launch, I had thought you had a very short seminar or I had delayed walking back to the campsite much longer than I thought. It was great meeting you and all the others. That Friday downpour was epic...thought I'd be getting swimming lessons right there at the picnic table. Now, if only I can figure out how my PFD sprouted legs and walked away...

Hojoman -

Yeah sorry about the clinic. Had to get home to do some chores and family stuff. Cooking those dogs took longer than I thought. Nice meeting you and thanks for the CD. I looked at it briefly. Haven't listened to the music yet.

Scott

First of all I want to thank Mooch for putting the Del Valle Fishin and Chillin together and allowing me and my friend Ken to participate. It was something that we wanted to do for a long time but never got around to it. It sure was a memorable event and we had a lot of fun. Got to meet so many nice and fun loving people! It was great.

Since I am terrible with names, I am not even going to try here. Friday was definitely challenging and we all got soaked. Fishing for bass was really slow but I did manage 7 and missed just as many bites. The highlight was the food and drying up at the campfire Friday night. Here are some friday pictures.


Mooch is steaming here?


Those round spots are little water spheres. Here is Ben. Caught Adam sleeping.

Those round spots are little water spheres. Here is Ben. Caught Adam sleeping.

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas... 

Man, what a weekend.  It was too much fun, and saturday night's potluck was a meatlovers delight.  FH's ribs - Da bomb.

As usual, I went very minimal, bringing only a sleeping pad, a spare blanket, and a 20 degree sleeping bag for bedding.  Had planned to sleep outside, but then Guitarzan and all his talk about tarantulas.  I caved and asked if I could take the spare half of chuck's tent.  As a good buddy does, he said "Of Course"

Sunday morning I paddled out with the intent of trolling all the way to the dam.  I was dragging a bucktail kastmaster on a Gloomis spinning rig which I mooched from mooch, and a shallow diving rapala on my shorty rod.  as I was rounding a point, the kastmaster goes off, then pops off.  I paddled back to where the hit was and marked a bunch of fish on a hump coming up to 14-17 feet from the 25 feet floor.  I dropped down and BENDO, drag stripper!  It was a decent sized smallie.  No camera so I thumbed it and paddled over to Big J who was nearby and asked for a few snapshots.  She obliged, can't wait to see the fish.  Released and it swam away.

paddled back to that hump and floated the Kastmaster down, BENDO.  17 inch LM!  Gave up on that spot though the marks were there, and went back to trolling.  missed a few short bites, and lost some hardware to submerged trees but didn't bag anything for home.

Other interesting notes include REALLY messing up my car getting to DV after my roof rack collapsed.  Also, when they say they lock the gates at 2000 hrs, they really mean it!! 

  Arrived at the lake earily enough to get the last parking pass! Yee haa. It was still somewhat sunny then, Loaded up my gear, and headed to camp.  When I arrived, Joel was there and helped me unload.  The firewood was still at the truck (no room on the 2 yaks I had) Was able to retreive the wood and the cooler with the skirt steaks with Ben's Scanoe (thanks again Ben) while on my way back to the truck (In Ben's Scanoe) the rain started, just sprinkles, but it was strady.  On the way back the sprinkles wern't sprinkles anylonger!
   It rained enough to have everyone in their waders, wet suits, rain gear whatever it was we had to stay dry in we were in!  Setting up tents in the rain was no fun.  Some time around dark 30 the rain stopped!  The fire got started, and so did the "Man Grill" 

  It was good to finally meet all the people I had been reading posts from for so long now.  All good people!   Food was "off da hook"  and a lot of it!

   Saturday morning started off with clear skies!  Turned into a beautiful day!  Fishing for me was standard, "Skunked"  I did have a few hit, but no hookups.Tried kastmasters, roostertails, an SR-5, and even tried drowning some powerbait.  Saw the4 fish on the FF but no love for me.  After crazy gluing my rudder back together Saturday afternoon I was able try some trolling, and explore the lake away from the camp waters.  Didn't have much time as it was close to dinner time and I wasn't going to miss those "Mandogs"!  Adam kicked the Mandogs up a notch with the chilli! 

   It was a fun, first kayak in camp trip for me!  Looking forward to the next time I can join another one of these!

Troy


 

Before I start releasing my pics, I just want to thank those who participated in this little gathering - especially to the Friday crew   Despite the rain, spirits were high and we were eventually rewarded with "dryness" later in the night around the camp grill. After devouring the delicious ribs from Willie, my Soy Vey chicken thighs, Troy's finger-lickin-good steak marinate and Compa's rice...from some other country and many more other dishes (could not keep track), I sat on my chair and could not get up for 3 hours (despite many attempts to gather some delicious brownies from Janice). I felt like an Anaconda that just had a whole antelope for dinner   Many thanks to those who brough firewood....Troy was very generous by making another trip back to the parking lot to grab more for Saturday night. Thanks also to Ben / Guitarzan for lending his canoe for the easier transport services   It was also nice to see the turn out on Saturday - the weather definitely improved and the socializing,eating,fishing and drinking made the day even better.

It was nice seeing Stuart and Fred's family drop by the campsite (just for the day) to do a little fishing with the younglings.

As far as fishing...I had a great time and caught a little bit of everything (love Del Valle for that ) and mostly from the shore. Two rainbows (released) casting a super duper and a kast master. 3 Catfish and one 19-inch striper soaking minnows. Convinced one LMB to hit my Shad Rapala trolling my yak along the drop offs. Thanks to Ben for letting me fish off his canoe! (talk about relaxing )

It was nice - for a change, to simply have an NCKA gathering which focused more on the "getting to know each other" rather than the just the fishing itself. And besides, not everyone likes to fish for competition....it's just simply about "being out there"   RELAX was the key word of the weekend...we even gave ChuckE a much deserved vacation from his deep frying skillzzz