Sunday funday

This weekends weather in the valley was ideal for a lake day. I wanted to get my wife and daughter out on the water with me, but with only two kayaks (outback and sport) I was at first considering a rental boat, which led to me calling a handful of marinas to check on the status of their fleets. After calling Pardee, Amador, and Camanche, I found most won’t start their rental seasons until next weekend, while others are just a little too expensive.

Since there was no wind to worry about, we decided to pick a lake with lighter boat traffic and to give assembling a hillbilly catamaran a try. A little pre assembly at home on Saturday proved it was possible and stable, so we hit the road at 7 am Sunday and headed East to New Hogan Reservoir just outside of Valley Springs. We honored a fishing tradition from my own childhood, stopping to grab donuts on the way out of town. This was one of the best moments of the day. Blending the past and present in a way that just felt right. Plus, donut holes, need I say more?

Stripers are the main draw there, so i brought a bunch of large trolling flies and some frozen anchovies hoping to entice a few late morning bites. This time, we launched from fiddleneck, but after exploring the Whiskey Creek arm and discovering the day use area there, I think that would be our launch site next go around.

Not a single bite, and we never really found any schools to circle over. My six year old didn’t seem to care and had a blast just hanging out on the trampoline, dragging her feet and hands in the water, and swimming during a few shore breaks. She never complained once and we were out on the lake all day. Jennifer was quite content as well, and spent a lot of the day just reading her book and relaxing in the shade. We looked absolutely ludicrous, but man we were so comfortable!

This is no kind of rig to use in current or in any sort of rough water, but for a flat calm day on a 74 degree lake, it was ideal.Elise is looking forward to her next fishing trip, and so am I.

awesome build! very cool

Thanks for sharing the family trip report and pictures S-B.

Hah that is so awesome!    Fun day accomplished!   

So awesome!  That kid's gonna have some great memories.

Good Times!  Way to make it happen and get the family OTW, Evan.   

Thanks for sharing your fun family experience!

awesome build! very cool

+1 

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Wow, so happy family, so sweet baby girl!

Very cool, looks like a fun chill day!