Forebay 3/4/2006

We had a nice crew show up at the Forebay today. Joel, Dave, Eric, John, Craig, Kevin and I launched around 7:30 into flat calm but cold conditions. Water was a little low but the weeds where way down. I caught a fish pretty early, standard Forebay dink, about 13 inches. I trolled all the way down to the power islands and back with no more hits. About 10am my luck changed, I landed a 15 inch large mouth, then 4 more stripers in the space of 45 minutes. Biggest one was maybe 18 inches down to about 13 inches. Everything released of course. I think Eric had a striper early, Joel had a nice 20 inch large mouth and John had a 15 inch Large mouth as well. We called it a day around 11:30 am, got some food on the way back we saw John still on the water. Hope you caught some more fish man. I have a few pics I will upload once my camera charges.

It was great meeting you all! 

Bill, technical fishing question for you in here
down at the bottom.  you are the Forebay master!
The Forebay was a good choice, it felt like our
own private fishin hole! I wish it was a tad
closer, it is 90 minutes for me.

I had a big agenda, I wanted to try a lot of lures
(at least to see how they swam, mainly I had too
many short deeper diving guys that pulled up
weeds), and I have never really opened it up on
the scupper pro.  I stayed out till 2:30 and got
another hit between the 2nd and 3rd marker, but it
did not stick. So I ended the day with the large
mouth, which is the first large mouth from the
kayak for me, and the first fish for that
particular kayak.  Then I had to race home to take
3 chicks to ISA in SF and then see Jamie Callum @
the palace of fine arts, but that story is for
another bulletin board as scallen likes to say.


I used a trout/kokanee 7' UL rod and 4lb test
because I really just wanted to get bit, I figured
I had a chance of landing dink stripers on that.
I did not lose any lures in the weeds even tho I
dug up a garden's worth, but maybe it is too soft
to set the hook in the mouth of  a striper,
otherwise it worked great.

Bill, my questions to you are:
1. how far back do you troll the smithwick? Do you worry about it being too close to the boat?
2. If you troll it too far back will it dig up weeds? Or, how much did you dig up weeds yesterday?
3. What is the smallest lure you would troll @ the forebay?

My 2 hits came on a 4.5" rebel jointed fastrac in
orange and gold, it is rated to go to 10 feet deep
on 10lb test.  It looked like too big of a lure to
me, but I guess it was fine if a little deep
diving for that lower water.

At the end of the day I did hawaii 5-0 speed
paddling on the scupper pro from the power islands
home into the wind, I was real happy with the boat
and the paddle, I'm ready to race! 

Best,

J

It sure was great morning with no wind, I trolled most of the morning with a Rapala x-rap and caught two 16-17" released. Changed to a rattle-trap the last hr, but no more hits. Lost the smithwick last trip to Melonies... Nice meeting and fishing with you guys, hope to do it again...

Craigh

Good to know the x-rap works!

I put mine on there for a bit,
but the rod doesn't vibrate nearly like it does with
some of the other lures, I figured the x-rap was more of a casting lure, plus the lip is
small so I was worred it was just at the surface.

I have some rattle-traps and clones of same,
but since they sink I figured I'd lose them everytime I stopped
paddling cause they would sink into the weeds.

I enjoyed the social time after fishing and during the lunch time. Unfortunately, John missed the oppt.  . Hey John -- These secrets of catching fish in Forebay were exchanged, unfortunately, without you. Please catch us next time.     - Eric

you mean you spent perfectly good fishing time talking on shore? 
bboard is for talkin'/typin', time @ the lake is for fishin'! 

Eric, you won't win the fishing pool if you fall for the old trick of coming to shore
to get fishing tips from the guy leading the pool!  

Btw, I never used a VHF before, it was fun being on the water
and getting the blow-by-blow from mooch and bill. 

Treefish,

Sorry the Smithwick is "My Secret Lure".......asked Joel.....or Allen (Allan?)....you can trolled it as far back as you can.  I think that the Yak and paddling does make noise and vibration.  You can trolled it as far back as you can without hanging up on the weeds or bottom...  Get a fishfinder and you can tell where you Will get hung up..

Ken kickfish

Yeah Ken is the original smithwick master. I just toss it back and start paddling, there is not a lot tech involved. I think it was running about 3-4 feet deep since I was trolling in 3 feet of water and it was bouncing off the bottom. I picked up weeds but some where weeds that got caught on my line other times I snagged. I always take the front treble off, it is really there to snag weeds or your hand.

I have trolled small rattle traps and the X-rap with some success but stripers don't shy away from hitting bigger lures.

I think one of the keys is find something that works and stick with it. If you line is not in the water you are not going to catch anything. That plus my secret tinsel bucktail on the back 

Had a great time with the group! Good to see Kevin - FINALLY!

My lures of choice were the rattle trap and the x-rap. Both of which caught bass but no stripers this time around. My score for the day was 2 large mouths - a 15 and a 20 incher. Bill definitely had the hot stick of the day.I really think that the modifications he did with the smithwick did the trick!

IMO: The secret is not the lure but how and where you present it.

Pics to follow....

I thought for sure my lazy ike in red and white would entice a striper, but I guess
they are all about looks and not the action! 

bill put the right lure at the right depth at the right speed for the most time and as a result
he got the most fish! it sounds so simple! 

bill, did you tie directly to your 20lb spectra or did you use a leader?

Good to see you guys had fun.  I wish I could have made it but I was thinking I was going out Sunday with my dad (boat fishing)  I ended up staying home saturday working on the house, and when sunday rolled around I worked on the house too.  Bad weather grounded us.  No fihsing for me.

Jason

bill, did you tied directly to you 20lb spectra or did you use a leader?

Oh sorry 20 lb P-Line flouro carbon leader ties to a clip (no swivel) I will tray to take a picture tonight. I don't think the flouro leader matters, straight mono has worked for me in the past.

I use the exact same thing on my lures.. ..   thought i was cool..  haha.

Now this a total newbie question..   is the forebay??   Mendo?      i wont ask again promise!


That plus my secret tinsel bucktail on the back 

I'm a big believer of the bucktail or tinsel behind a lure or a jig. I've experimented with the x-rap for striper fishing (and a plain metal jig for rockfish). One of the x-raps I used early on did not have a bucktail on the rear end and I never got a hit (trolling the same area) I then switched to one that had a bucktail on it and it made a difference = two large mouths. The 20 inch large mouth had the entire x-rap inside it's mouth. I did the same with my rattle traps.

The same went with the metal jigs for rockfish = I've caught more by adding a single hook with a bucktail on it.

...just my 2 cents


Mendo is Lake Mendocino which is in Ukiah.....the Forebay is on EAST HWY 152  - near Los Banos.