Del Valle 1/20/08

wow, those are fat trout!
looks fun, WTG guys!
wish Del Valle is closer cuz sounds like nice lake...

I wondered who was pictured eatin them BigJ'brownies.
Scott is a trained&certified *official ManDawg maker and ALL-AROUND-NICE-GUY!

Great Posts! Great Pictures! I always like the pictures of the kayaks lined up on the beach.........Looks like some sort of invasion. 

Well, I've never been known for being punctual and I'm just keeping true to form - I'm only 2 and a half days late with my report.

Didn't get to bed until 2:30 AM the night before, so a 4 AM wakeup call wasn't gonna work.  I reset the alarm clock and slept in 'till 5.  Between packing, hitting the store and returning home for something I forgot, I was on the road by 6:30 and at the lake by 7:30.  I was a little upset for arriving so late but I found out that the park doesn't actually open until 7 during Dec. & Jan.

On the water and rigged by a little after 8 AM.  Decided to troll towards the inlet before heading to the dam.  Nothing happening up there - water clarity was pretty poor and some debris to contend with but no fish.

Turned around and headed back towards the launch ramp.  A couple hundred yards past the ramp and my reel starts singing.    I grabbed the rod and feel some weight so images of hog are running through my mind.  After a brief battle I see color and now my heart is pounding because I see Angler Of The Year points before me.  As I get the fish to the boat, he decided he wasn't ready to give up.  Instead, he turned in the opposite direction and sped off, all the while leaving half the lake in my yak - thanks buddy cuz I didn't shower this morning!   Get him back to the boat and it was another dousing before he was ready.  Finally got the net out and it was WAY to small.  What the heck, I'll try anyway.   In-N-Out, but now I've got the front treble of my J-7 perch colored rapala firmly secured in my net.  The back treble is in the fish's mouth, but how well hooked he is - I don't know.  By this time I'm freaking out because all I can imagine is the lure falling out and him swimming away.  I finally decided that if I was going to earn AOTY points, I had to hoist him into my lap via the net.  As you can see in Scott's picture, it was a success.  The beast then decided to knock my stringer into the water and I watched as it sank to the depths.  Luckily I always carry a backup - something I learned the hard way.

I spent the next 15 minutes removing the treble hook from my net.   My next purchase will be a rubber net.     About this time Big J strides past and we BS for a few before continuing on towards the dam.  We separated as she trolled one side of the lake and I trolled the other.

Made it all the way to Swallow Bay before lunch without another strike.  Decided it was time to meet up with the group when I got a call from Scott telling me lunch was getting cold.  Stepped it into high gear (3mph) back to Hetch Hetchy Campground.

Lunch was awesome.  Had 2 mandogs as well as a cookie and a brownie.        Thanks to everybody who contributed to lunch, it was fantastic.  Met the likes of Courtney, his wife Ariane, and Doug.  Nice meeting you all.  Courtney, I'm glad the wife was able to change into warm clothes after "going in."    What exactly happened again?

After lunch, most headed home to watch football.  I had decided this was going to be an all day trip so I brought my walkman and headphones to listen to the game.  As the others were leaving, I returned to Swallow Bay and then back towards the narrows.  I repeated this one more time when I noticed it was 4:30.  Back at the ramp at 5 and loaded up by 5:40.

I stopped by the marina and weighed the fish - 9lbs. 10oz.  When I got home he was measured and he came out to just a smidge over 24."  Man I would gladly trade a few of those pounds for inches because as you can see, he looked like a football.  Oh, and I took pictures to submit this time.

Sorry no photos.  I tried to snap a shot of the rainbow that Janice got but it disappeared before I could get the camera out.  Glad to know that somebody is quick on the draw.  Almost took a couple pictures of the whitecaps that kicked up later in the day, but thought, who wants to see those.  Did see some deer in the distance and as I started to head in their direction, a PBer came whizzing by, at way over the 10mph speed limit, and scared them away.

All in all, a great way to spend the day before my birthday!

Michael

looks like fun times with quite a bit of catching spicing up the fishing.

Hey Michael! Happy birthday and NICE FISH!   What a great way to spend your birthday, looks like an awesome time! 

 Ok, I need to get this out!  I would love to hook a fish that size! But, I have to say, (I hope I'm not the only person to think this) but that fish, just doesn't look right.  It's head seems way to small for its body size.  To me, it looks like an obsease (fat) fish.  And the tail fin?  I realize that hatchery fish have those, due to their environment their raised in, they just don't look right either.
  I would still keep the fish if I caught it! Don't get me wrong there, after it's cooked, who cares what it looked like right?

Troy

good report, dilbeck!   sounds like it gave you a good fight!
Happy B-day & congrats on AOTY pts!

Great read, Michael! Thanks for the blow-by-blow...but where's your name on the leader board?

I wondered who was pictured eatin them BigJ'brownies.

Hey, Adam, I've got to fess up: Courtney and Ariane brought those brownies, and they would win a BOTY award, hands down! This time I contributed homemade cookies that my granddaughter and I whipped up. And those Man Dawgs were a very welcome treat...thanks, Scott. Was it the new grill that made them extra tasty?

Janice aka "Big J"

Man, what a lunker trout! Nice job.

I have to say, (I hope I'm not the only person to think this) but that fish, just doesn't look right.  It's head seems way to small for its body size.  To me, it looks like an obsease (fat) fish.  And the tail fin?  I realize that hatchery fish have those, due to their environment their raised in, they just don't look right either.

Troy, I couldn't agree with you more, it doesn't look right.

I grew up catching plenty of planter trout in the greater Modesto area and their tails NEVER looked anything like that of some trout in the Bay Area.  I remember the first time I saw a Del Valle lunker a couple years back, my initial thought was WTF?  Odd shaped body, no caudal fin, what is going on with these poor fish.  I knew it had to be more than just the tail rubbing off on the concrete pens.  Just recently I discovered this thread over on the FishSniffer website regarding hatchery raised trout fins.  I found it to be quite informative as it answered many questions I had.

As for the trout I caught, I think the reason its head looks so small is because of its football shaped body.  If his body wasn't as deep, it wouldn't look so strange.  But I guess that's what happens when you are overfed and kept in a small pen.  It was definitely obese too.  When I filleted the mongrel, a white gellatinis substance, that I assumed to be fat, just fell out of the cavity.  It was really quite gross.  I would estimated it to weigh three-quarters of a pound or more.  That said, the meat was nice and pink suggesting it had been in the lake for at least a little while.

For what it's worth, I doubt that I'd keep another one - let another person share in the thrill.  My primary reason for keep him was AOTY points and wanting an accurate measurement, that and to feed a few friends.   Since I hope to have a hog trough in the near future, I won't need to keep any more BALCO trout.

Michael

When I filleted the mongrel, a white gellatinis substance, that I assumed to be fat, just fell out of the cavity.  It was really quite gross.  I would estimated it to weigh three-quarters of a pound or more.

Michael,

I hope you didn’t clean that in the kitchen because you would drop about 500 WAF points with that fish.

I hope you didn’t clean that in the kitchen

Yeah, I know, HUGE mistake.  Not necessarily because of all the fat, but because the wife HATES the smell of fish.  She's pretty cool tho as long as I clean up after myself.  Apparently I missed some blood splatter that I had to get the following day, but otherwise, no WAF loss - that I know of.

I now know where the fish cleaning station is at Del Valle.

Michael

I will say that the trout I caught that day at 13 and 14" had really orange color flesh like a salmon or steelhead. They tasted OK, but not like the usual rainbow trout. One of them shot trout eggs all over my yak and it took me 20 minutes to scrub them off.  Guess it was a weird trout day at DV.

BTW, building an outdoor fish cleaning station in my backyard. Got to do better on the WAF this year. 

scott

One of them shot trout eggs all over my yak

As in it was ready to spawn?  Never really considered trout spawning in Del Valle but it must happen, just not enough to sustain the fishery.  That is totally cool.  Sorry for the mess though.

BTW, building an outdoor fish cleaning station in my backyard. Got to do better on the WAF this year.

Some day, just not while living in a condo.  I envy all those of the board that have man-sinks.

Michael