Loch Lomond trout 3/3/08

Got to the lake at 6:30  was the second one on the lake. Started by trolling a very small blue fox spinner towards the inlet end of the lake. Just passed the island I get hit and dose not stick. So I continue in the same direction and get slammed. It turned out to be a nice hold over trout that was 20" and had a totally square tail. I trolled until 11:00 and headed home.  I meet alot of the NCKA members and they all where great guys to talk to !!!

   
                                                         Great day on the water
                                                             (squidly) jim ricker

Got to the lake around 6:30. Clear morning, no wind...absolutely beautiful. I trolled with threaded nightcrawlers and got lots of hits in the morning  but nothing was sticking. Got my first fish around 10am. Just a small rainbow. Around 11am I got a great strike, grabbed the rod, set the hook and fish on. I got the fish right under the boat then it started peeling out line. The fish ran straight into my other line and popped off  Was probably my best rainbow at LL. Double 

Things got slow till around 1:30 when I got 2 more fish within 2 minutes of each other. 1 more fish right before I called it a day. 4 fish landed and I gave them all away.

Got to meet some ncka folks I hadn't met before. All in all a great day on the water.

I love Loch Lomond 

-FF

  Well, I skunked today.   got on the water at 8am (At lake 7:30) Met AlsHobie Outback and his buddy, sorry don't remember your name.  launched out and forgot a few things so I ended up returning to dock.  Finally out ont he water I got a chancde to try my down rigger operation.  (See Gearing up for details later it's not really a fishing report)   Down rigger didn't find any fish, with florcent green RoosterTail, silver Yozozuir(?) minnow, white roostertail, or silber/blue 1/8oz kastmaster.  I tried various depths, starting at 15' 30' 45' and deepest about 60' with nada. 
  My buddy arrived and 20min he had a small planter hooked!  It was shallow.  So I tipped my yellow roostertail with some night crawler and tried trolling it without DR. ont he surface.  Nada.
  Put my mini flashers on and dropped them to 15' with DR, and had nothing!  My roostertails FAILED me big this trip. 
  Oh well.

  I did get to meet a lot of posters, and Kmunger, naerod, SCallen, paddled on by, Bill (Ganodema)
Met up Big J, she brought 2 versions of the scotty rod holder extensions for me to try out, (Thanks again Janice)

  Took a picture of a trout Keith landed while we were chatting just before I started my lunch, I looked at one of his rods, and it appeared to be bent!  I thought the line might have been perhaps caught in his drive, but it wasn't , as  he was clearing it, the darn fish hit!  (Threaded NC!)

  Wind picked up around 3:30ish out from dock, and my FF battery finally died.  Charged it overnight.(The battery may be on its last few charges)
anyhow I was glad I got out and got stuff wet.

Troy

I got a late start at around 9 am.  Started out trolling a threaded nightcrawler for about an hour and didn't even get a tap.  Then I switched over to a wedding ring tipped with a NC for the same results.  At around noon I put on a needlefish and got 3 hookups in about 30 mins.  All three were about 12-13 inches,  lost one right at the boat released one and took one home for dinner.  It was a beautiful day on the water, glad I took the day off.  I was nice to meet Big J , SCallen and a few others from the site. 

Looks like a beautiful place to paddle.  Thanks for the reports.   

Good to see all you guys out there. I got skunked while trolling, which is typical for me. The only time I catch trout at LL is when I stay in one spot and work it. It was such a nice day out there, it was more fun to troll around, though. I only had 2 hours, and it was time well spent.

Sorry I could only enjoy the day with you guys from the dock--it was GORGEOUS out there! At least I got to put faces with some of the NCKA screen names: ganoderma (Bill), naerob (Rob), harryls (Harry?), the fella whose name I forget (forgive me!) who has a 3 year old, and Troy's friends. The first picture is of Rob and his savior from being skunked and the second and third are Troy in his newly pimped yak. Fish or no, you couldn't ask for a more beautiful day to be on the water.

Janice aka "Big J"

  I was sorry to hear you couldn't join us on the water, but understand.  I'm sure you have a chance to get out on the Loch again soon.  Thanks again for the loan of the rod holder extensions!   Pimpin to continue!

Troy

Hello everyone I was skunked as well, I did have a few good hits but nothing was sticking. however I had a great time on the lake and meeting some of the members. this was my kayak's maiden voyage and I have allot of tricking out to do on my kayak. for instance my seat.....wow.....after a few hours of yak'ing my rear end felt like it had been kicked a few times. I definitely need to change out the seat....any suggestions?

AlsHobie Outback and I were on the water around 8am.  I was able to bring in 3 trout, two small guys went back.  We each got 3 trout and it was an absolutely beautiful day to be out on the water.  It was nice to meet everyone from ncka.

Jhog     

Sorry for the late report... I can never seem to give a same day report!  Anyway, it was wonderful out there!  But started out with a series of mishaps for me...

Had a blast meeting and chatting on the VHF with the NCKA crew which seemed to dominate the water for the day.  While getting rigged up for launch we chatted with jprtroy, checked out his rigging on his new OB which looked sweet!  Meet up with SC Allen, heard Dave and his buddy on the radio, but didnt get a chance to chat in person, Janice when she announced some free rod holders or something at the store (j/k!)

My buddy John Hog and I arrived a little late, like 7AM to the inspection post.  Went fairly smooth, but we had both yaks on my car, took a lil' while to take them down, have them checked.  They also check PFD's and any containers you may have btw, buckets and such for dampness.

  Got all our gear together and hit the water.  After about 20 mins paddling around I notice my FF going blank, and died!    I just got a new set of rechargeable batteries and was trying them out for the first time after their first charge.  They sat for about a week before use, but didn't think they would be dead?  I was smart though, and had my original alkaline pack ready to go.  Shimmied to the front hatch and swapped packs.  It died again!!  Admittedly I used them once before, but usually got 3 days out of them. 

Stowed the FF and got back out there to troll twards the dam, making a loop I saw my Rapala cross over my other line, stopped to fix the tangle and cut out the wrong line... holding the lure in my hand, the line freed and I found out it was my new dogger and needlefish that just slipped through my fingers....   Tried casting out a kastmaster to retrieve the line, but ended up giving up without a trace.  While trying up my rod again with a new flasher setup, dropped my knife overboard! 

That was the end of the frustrations, and got them out of the way early in the morning   Went about trolling around, chatting with the others, admiring the beauty of the lake, and hearing the reports come in.  Hog brought in a trout, from far away I thought it was a baby bass.    

Hearing reports from FF and other boaters that worms seemed to be the key, I re-rigged ditching the crank baits, kastmasters, rooster tails, etc and went with the dogger or flasher and threaded worm.  Thought I had a couple hits along the way, but when I checked and saw my worm was missing.  Think I was putting to long a worm on, so I cut em back down to size.

Stopped for a while to try bait fishing, and eat some lunch after hearing SCAllen say he was gonna eat a burrito and take a nap but didn't have a hit drifting off the bottom.  Picked up the troll again and headed to the end of the lake where I had a hit just around the last dock at the end before the creek.  Reeled him in and took a couple pics while in the net, then on the stringer he went.  Picked up my second line, and it had a fish on!   Must have eaten the bait while I was stopped dealin with the first, and he was a bit bigger!

John Hog caught another in the same area while just drifting off the bottom, his keeper for the day.  I did another loop through the area and landed yet another fish   That was it for me, but Hog got another hooked while we trolled back to the launch that he released. 

All in all, just a wonderful day, with a minor hiccup in the morning! 

Pictures:

a well documented(w/pics) report fellas!  a lake where the water=level touches the vegetation line..is a BEAUTIFUL LAKE to be at, on, or near!   thanks!

 

Ah, the old stomping grounds.

No one work it for bass?  Shame, as that lake is a trophy factory.

What are they inspecting for?  Zebra mussels?

Wish I could fish that lake again.

Also wish I was not on graveyard shift right now.......

Chico has sprung to spring, so it is time to get out and chase bass and crappie....

MolBasser

Also wish I was not on graveyard shift right now.......

That means you have all day to fish 

Ah, the old stomping grounds.

No one work it for bass?  Shame, as that lake is a trophy factory.

What are they inspecting for?  Zebra mussels?

Wish I could fish that lake again.

Also wish I was not on graveyard shift right now.......

Chico has sprung to spring, so it is time to get out and chase bass and crappie....

MolBasser

I've seen huge bass cruising or hiding under trees, but never caught one.  The lake water might be too cold this time of year anyway. What do you think?