Late BAM Scout Report, Friday 9-21

I had some business to take care of in Ukiah on Friday so I brought the yak and hit the lake right after.

I got unloaded and launched from the south ramp around 10:30AM, just as Juan was leaving. I was gonna paddle over to where he was to see how he did, but he took off just before I launched. Another small aluminum got off the water right after Juan and left me with the whole lake to myself.

I paddled over to the east side of the lake and dropped my minnows and slow trolled around the GLASSY lake. As I went over a nice decline one of my rods got slammed and I won a mediocre battle with a nice, but skinny, 28" striper. After realizing I forgot my camera I released the striper and slow trolled around the Crappie Cove area for an hour or so for nada, so I headed north along the eastside of the lake. As I rounded one of the points heading north I positioned myself along another good drop off, paddled a few strokes and BAM!, my other rod went off. This striper fought a little better, but gave up fairly quickly. I guess the P15 is a little harder for them to pull around than the Caper! Anyway, got the 29"er to boat and spent a few minutes reviving it. It finally gave a mighty swoosh of its tail and splashed the hell out of me for my efforts...which was OK by me because it was HOT out there and there was little to no breeze.

Messed around in the same area for another two hours or so and decided to paddle back towards Crappie Cove. Before I committed I checked my minnow on both rods and both were dead. D'oh! So I put my last two minnows on and as I was nearing the same area as my last fish my rod got slammed again and this time I was spun around and taken for a ride. After a really nice battle this time I landed and released a beautiful, healthy 31" striper.

Since this spot seemed fishy I decided to hang around there for awhile. I trolled my last minnow on one pole and threw a white Zoom Fluke type plastic on my other rod. After another long wait the Zoom gets nailed right off the shore, but after a few good tugs it comes off. A few minutes later my last minnow got nailed and I landed and released a chunky 17" smallmouth...which was a slap in the face since I didn't have my camera and I need a SM for the  AOTY! 

Anyway...a slow, but pretty productive day on what turned out to be my own personal lake for a day. I seriously thought about picking up some more minnows and staying for the swing shift, but I had to get home and clean up my pad 'cause I had a bunch of people over for UFC on Saturday. Which pretty much sucked, BTW...

Dustin -

Thanks for the report. You call that slow? Sounds pretty good to me.

Scott

DUDE!!  that sucks, not having the camera. Not only for your lost AOTY points but because you didn't have pics of your PRIVATE LAKE and "sore mouths" to show us!

reads like you had a great time!  yer not gettin spoiled are ya?

Don't get me wrong, three stripers is a great day (for me) at Lake Mendo...I just threw in the "slow" part because all the fish came 1.5 - 2 hours apart. There was no particular time that the bite was "on". 

Also - I forgot to mention that the water was so calm that I saw LOTS and LOTS of bait boils on the surface. Little fish that looked a lot like striper fry to me. Pretty cool.

Nice report RH! What size Zoom were you chucking?
Dreamin that my BAMIII report can be as good as that!!

Z

Quote "I guess the P15 is a little harder for them to pull around than the Caper! "

              Dustin when did you get a new Yak?

Z - I was using the pearl color...and I'm pretty sure they are 3.5" or 4".

Shimmy - I bought the P15 from a fellow NCKA'er early last month.

Sounds like a great day to me  Wish I was going to BAM 

FF

Wish I was going to BAM 

FF

You better have a good reason why you aren't...

Z

Dustin when did you get a new Yak?

I was wondering the same thing!  Right on, D. 

Nice fishin', too, way to stick 'em.

Dustin:

So did you get the new boat with your AOTD spoils? 

JIm

Jim - My AOTD winnings went to a nice dinner at The Cheesecake Factory for my GF and I, and a new Shimano Trevala MH66 w/a Abu Record 60.

I actually bought the P15 from a fellow NCKA'er with my Islander II money. 

It was a tough call, but I really wanted a yak that can handle San Pablo / Tomales chop better than the short Caper....and I figure I can (hopefully) hop on the Islander III trip next year!!!

I still have the Caper for Spring Lake trips and for a loaner.