San Pablo Reservior 4/19/08 - Hunt for Giant Trout

I usually don't target giant trout because I am not in the AOTY and I think the smaller trout fight harder and taste better. All that said, since our brothers to the north have challenged us to a giant trout throwdown, I thought it would be good to work on our NorCal locations and tactics. I was thinking of hitting Camanche or New Melones but Brian said things were kind of slow so I decided to stay local. Since I hadn't fished San Pablo Reservior since the opener, I thought it might be a good time to check it out since SPR and DV are consistent producers of giant trout. Well it was super windy with intermittent white caps, my allergies were killing me and I didn't get a bite after 5 miles of trolling and casting everything I had including the John Airey grub invention.  On the "Hail Mary" troll back to the ramp, my Rapala SR5 gets a major take down with about 20 feet of line gone in a second. I thought it was probably a bass since I was only in 20 FOW and it was about 1 PM. After 5 minutes of pulling on the fish I was thinking that this fish fought more like a tailess mutant giant trout than a LMB.  Another 2-3 minutes the fish was on the surface and completely spent. I used the boga since it was too big for my net and the big trout have teeth. The official weight was 9.5 Lbs and 26" a personal record and was enough to join the whopper club. So I believe it is "time to crush the weak".

Scott

Great Job Scott,
                        That is how you're supposed to get it done! Running solo and answering the "Northern" call...I'm glad to see you stuck it out and worked threw the weather to get a lunker trout.

Again WTG,

S.

WTG Scott!

Let's hear it for the Hail Mary fish.  When I used to fish San Pablo I've heard a few stories of fisherman getting big bites and then watching as their poles get dragged into the water from the planted sturgeon...LOL.

So they give a whopper hat as well...pretty good for a local fishing hole.

Gary

Congrats on the whopper! I've yet to catch a decent one at San Pablo even though it's only 20 min away. I gotta give it more work apparently! 

Nice work there Scott!  What a bruiser!  Were you using any scent on that SR-5?

Sounds like it fought decently.  The mutant I caught back in January didn't fight at all.

Way to get out and do some scouting!  You should have tied her up and sent her back down until "The Showdown."

Michael

Pretty fish. You definitely have the touch, Scott.

Awesome fish, Scott, and excellent report too.  Love the hail mary - turns a ho-hum day exciting quick! 

Congrats Scott!

They actually give out hats for whoppers A! 

You catch a 12" rainbow and win a Kayak...You catch a 26 incher and get a hat! Great job!

hee-hee! good story and nice mutant!,  .  I forced my lazy self out there and trolled this afternoon in the freezing cold wind at scr, and got hooked up on a tiny but mean trout with my dodger and worm, but the SNGNBNG did not get hit today for me either, although I did not fish it long as I was trying the SNGN2powereggs,  .  those did not get hit either, no SNG-combo was working for me, but my poweregg-headed beetlespin plastic behind a dodger got slammed. However, he fish was not hooked well and got off so it's just a fish story but I will use that lure again. I cut a little bit off the head of the plastic so the whole thing was 1.5" long or so.


The bankies and osprey's were struggling, the planters might be running low, not sure? Finally an osprey scores and
does about 4 victory laps with a struggling trout in the late afternoon today. no pics Abking, somebody stole my camera out of my wife's luggage last weekend,  . I ordered a new one tho.

you know, it is full moon, maybe the later afternoon is the better call for this weekend? sleep in. fish till dark.

J

Nice catch Scott! Perhaps we can start a club of our own.....we can call it the "Tail-less Mutant Trout Club" 

Here's my AOTY entry from a few years back. A 10+ pounder from Lake Del Valle.

Damm GB2,

 Way to Represent,

 That Sucka is as Big as some StealHead entries,

 I want mine to Have a tail though, need every Centimeter I can get..........

Scott you are on a lunker roll way to go   glad you aren’t in the AOTY

Pat R

Scott-

Great report. Nice way to end the day. Man, that's one crazy looking fish too. Looks like somebody took a worm inflator to it... big and fat with that little head.

Freddie

I usually don't target giant trout because I am not in the AOTY

First... you nail a big'ol LMB at Sonoma, now this big mutant trout.  It's not too late to register for the AOTY.

Impressive size!     Hope you do the dissection and let us know whats in the gut.  love to know what that pig was eating in its time in SPR.