Lake Mendo "plan C"

     Started off Saturday like most others with multiple plans for Sunday, A,B,and C. after monitoring the the bouy reports through Saturday PM.

Plan A.  Get up turn on the computer to see what the Bodega buoy was up to. No Bueno........27kt sustained wind, gusts to 31kts and 8.5 ft. wind waves most of the night. The Bodega Bay site showed 11mph wind at 2:30 as well. Not an option.

Plan B.  Drive to Jenner and take a looksie for ourselves........and make "the call"........why bother.

Plan C.  Hit the bait shop for minnows and head up to Mendo...Went with this plan as rock fish season should be open for at least a month or so we hope.

      Showed up at the North ramp and headed our towards the power lines in search of SMB's. there is a spot where you can literally fish one rod on one side of the boat in 19' of water and the other rod on the other side of the  boat in 8' of water. As HOLY TOLEDO says "stripers on one side. bass on the other". Ten minutes into the day the bass side rod doubles over and produces an 31 1/2" striper......go figure! Spent the next two hours trying the rocky banks for smallies....you could see the fish in some cases but they had no interest at all in my offerings. Turned and headed back out to the main lake to fish some of the larger coves only to catch two more stripers........no small mouth  bass love for me today.
        Patrick and I  did meet up with Chad, (ChevroletDaze) then Rory on the water and later talked with Juan on the radio. Pretty sure others caught fish but  that is their story to tell. As far as weather it was a beautiful day on the lake until around 2:00 when the wind decided to whip things up a bit.
        All in All I think we made the correct decision.

oh allen,...i've never heard someone sound so dissapointed about catching 3 stripers in one day. see what the aoty does to people.

Damn I shoulda gone good to see you on the water Rory

Well Jack, truly there was no disappointment in the fishing, weather and company kept at Mendo........Only from not  fishing the BIG Blue after eight months of waiting. 

Mike, We thought we would see you up there?

I was packed and ready but I had a Parental Emergency sometimes they are worse than teenagers but you gotta love'em.

Thanks for PlanB pics&port Allen! 
This is where I shoulda,coulda and would have been, if it weren't for that RockFishMadness....drove to BeanHallow to confirm that YES! it's WINDY&CHOPPED! 

Rory~ welcome back!  good to see that your injuries aren't keeping you away from the hunt. 

Looks like FUN TIMES up there fellas!!.....I'll be there for the next one for sure.

IhopeCHADdidn'tPICK-UPonANYbadHABITSwhileTHERE!  

 

Sounds like Mendo was fun! - I did my chores around the house, it was 1:00 p.m. and I decided to load the 'yak and find some water. I checked the weather cam in Mendocino, the wind and swell report and decided to hit Fort Bragg for late day paddle and fish, I wanted SALT.

I got to the Noyo and saw the mess outside and turned away, I wasn't going out in that alone. I was thinking . . .  should have gone to Mendo, should have gone to Mendo . . .  I drove South to Russian Gulch and it looked OK, so I went in. Launched at 4:30. One Sea Trout (returned it) and some mystery nibbles. Dang rock sausages were all over keeping the fish hidden is my guess. I did not get off the water until 8:00 p.m. - stayed inside the cove to avoid the mess. Very nice. I'll hit Mendo after work this week . . .

John

It's a bummer to have to turn away from the ocean, but you'll be blad to have waited for good conditions once you do get out there.  Way to salvage the day.