Saturday the 4th, southbay suggestions solicited.

I think I'm fishing this saturday.   . wind and swell look poor for surfing.

surf perching is a possiblity, but south winds and messy seas might rule that out.

The forebay/san luis is a possibility, but I guess wind might rule it out too. However, if one is trolling or
occasionally casting downwind, does it matter?  I've never been to the forebay to fish. driven by it
and possibly water skiied the big lake once on somebody else's boat (so hazy memory).

the other option would be lexington probably, maybe those crappie are ready to bite? But maybe
the wind and rain put the dampers on that again, I don't know. what's the lexington word?
(Bill, I am bailing on lexington tomorrow again this week, let's wait for sun, crappie and trout stocking,
all happening in march  ).

Anyway, suggestions for where I should fish, I think my decision criteria is:
1. kayak
2. close to mtn view.
3. active fishing (trolling, casting, not still fishing)
4. cheap 
5. lack of crowds
6. actual chance of catching fish, release only is fine.

best,

j

I think the forebay would be your best bet, trolling is the preferred method there and you can cast if you really want. Wind causes a problem in that it makes it harder to troll but the nice thing about the forebay is you are not generally going to get in a dangerous situation since it can't really blow you anywhere bad. I have seen 3-4 foot wind waves on the forebay which makes it cold and wet.

maybe I'll try the forebay then. thanks bill!

I got 'mambas' for my hands, wetsuit with hood, rainpants and pullover for wind proofing, so I should
be fairly weatherproof, at least for a few hours 

got any recommendations for parking and launching with emphasis on crowd avoidance? payment
avoidance is good too, only partially because I'm cheap.  I just don't like talking to anybody 'official'
if I can help it, even to pay. I got wheels for my kayak  and 4wd on my truck if that helps. pm
me the really secret stuff, thanks,   .

Finally, advice on tackle, lure and presentation is solicited. these are mostly under-size stripers right? 

thanks for any help. I expect to get skunked my first time, but I'd like to increase the odds a bit.

and no, I don't have a sonar unit yet  so I'll just have to more or less guess @ depth, etc.

I need to check WAF but I might try to sneak out there with you. Just in case I don't make it....

I like to launch at Mederios (image below Google Earth is soo cool!) Payment is up to you, there is generally not anyone at the gate but I have been ticketed for not paying in the past, I think it is $65, much cheaper to just pay. Mederios is an abandoned boat launch ramp I just pull up and park right in front and unload, it is about 10 feet to the water depending on the level. This time of year you might see about 4 boats total on the forebay, no need to worry about crowds.

I do nothing but troll on the forebay, rattletraps, X-raps and smithwick rogues are my go to lures. Troll right along the weed beds and drop offs, a FF would really help you here.

Actually according to this the weather looks pretty good, a little cold but good.

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=95322&hourly=1&yday=62&weekday=Saturday

Weirdly, I am good buddies with the google earth dudes. I think we
go back more than 20 years now. yikes! I'm old,  .

I did see it was only $5 and probably not too crowded, I can
probably handle that. whew!

Yep, I'm sure a FF would be good, I just can't deal with the
complexity just yet. eventually I will most likely get one. I'll
just have to hope I cross a drop-off or two by luck.

It would be cool to have some company if you can make it.

best,

J

WAF is good, I will be there around 7!

studly! 

I did some googling on stripers. if the water is still cold, do we need to try pulling
some sort of bait around?

I know you are a mostly-lures dude, and frankly, I prefer that too, but I feel it is my
duty to ask about minnows and such as I see comments that cold stripers are not
up to chasing frisky lures around.

Also do you alter your hooks on the lures to deter snags? A single siwash on the back
of a little plug maybe with a rubber trailer of some sort seems like it would be fairly
snag proof. not to mention a swimbait/jighead. might reduce hookups of course.
might increase landed to hooked ratio.

How about three-way trolling rig to try to keep the lure a fixed distance from the bottom?

j

I know people catch them on minnows but lures have outfished minnows everytime I have fished the forebay. The stripers this time of year tend to get pretty active in the shallower water.

I just take the front treble off of the smithwicks but that is mostly to save my hands. Mooch replaces his rear trebles with siwash hooks seems to work for him.

Minnows have never worked very well for me on the Forebay although that doesn't stop me from trying.

You don't need to alter your setup to worry about snags.  I don't think I've lost a lure to snags yet.  You pretty much end up dragging the weeds up.  You may want to alter the hooks so as to not have such a hard time releasing the sub-legals.  There seems to be a lot of them this year.

I wish I could join you guys this weekend, but Tahoe calls.  Good luck!

-Allen

Thanks for the info on snagging and hooks.

What test line are you guys using for trolling the forebay?

In the past I used 10lb mono but I recently spooled up with 20lb spectra on the reel I am going to use. I  like light line since the fish in the forebay are generally small. The 10lb line will troll the smithwick about 6ft or so which seems to work well.

I've been using 8# outfits.

BTW, I think parking and boat fees add up to $10 ($5 each).

Instead of launching from the closed boat ramp, just park at one of the camp sites along that bay to the left of the launch.  You'll see the buoys out there.  Troll from buoy to buoy on the deep side of them.   Or just follow Bill around!   

-Allen

I just may join you guys....

I just may join you guys....

Do it!

I think the fees are $7 or $8 dollars, I just pay to park not the launch. The ranger has told me in the past kayaks don't have to pay a launch fee.