1/21/2007 Del Valle

There where a ton of people out, Mooch, Tim, Mrs J., Fishhunter, Marmite and a few others I don't recall.

Fishing was very slow, Marmite landed a few smallmouth, Joel landed one smallmouth (pic below) and I landed a very nice trout, largest ever for me. It went 19". I caught it trolling a Norman Deep N, great fight on 6# test and my new Okuma spinning reel. Pics below.

Flat-line trolled the perimeter of the lake with a pearl colored 3.5" big hammer on a 1/4 oz leadhead with trap hook.  Has produced at Loch Lomond for trout, but no luck at DV.

Saw two guys in a PB pull in a hog of a trout on a rapala right in front of me.  When they pulled up their stringer to secure the fish, they displayed a pretty decent haul.  The hog was approaching double digits, it was huge.  I didn't have any diving cranks.  shucks!  had a feeling that would have been the ticket.  Looks like the more productive spots were toward the dam and the two bays. 

Saw a bunch of people out there.  Even ran into one of my old PB buddies, Khanh Tran on his 17 Whaler Montauk, the "BackBrace II".  He said he slayed 'em the previous day but had only picked up one at 11AM.

Weather was awesome, and it was nice to see all the ncka'ers again.  Adam, hope you got to strike the pose!

Bill -

Great work!!  . Nothing like those monster DV trout. And nice bass Joel and Doug. Sorry I missed the fun but I had to reorg my garage to make room for another yak. Was in Livermore at Lowes yesterday and the wind was blowing pretty good. Hope it wasn't too bad for you. Oh and happy birthday Joel. At least you didn't get skunked on your birthday like I did last week. 

Scott

Had a nice day and met the others as listed by Bill.  As mentioned I got two smallies, 15 and 15.5 inchers and a largemouth at 20".  No stripers this time though.  I got hit hard on three occasions, twice it threw the bait and the third time the line was cut off--only 6 # test.

Tried out my new Optio W20 and worked well but I couldn't do the underwater shots like FishHunter does.  So I gave up on that and brought the fish in.

I got to try out my dry suit and found it kept me warm and dry wading in over the waist.  Think I could get a bit warm though if it was too sunny, as it keeps the heat in also.

Afterward six of us had a bite at In and Out and Mooch got his birthday treat from Bill--a 4x4.  Hopefully, Mrs. J will post her picture of "The Gorge": Man, what a big mouth that man has!

Nice Trout Bill, nice smallies Doug did you get them on Minnows? These Coastside Kids did well did you see them up there?

 are those kids just really little or are those all big trout?

I think the lil gal 2nd from left is Khanh's daughter "connie."  She was crewing the BackBrace II.

Mike I got them on minnows.  I didn't see these kids, they must have been on one of the boats that fished the dam.  I heard they had done well there in recent days, but I wanted to fish around the narrows and was getting a fair number of hits.  When I finally decided to head toward the dam, the wind was so strong that I could barely paddle toward the entrance to Swallow Bay.  I found FishHunter tucked against the rocky shelf to escape the wind as I neared the end of the Narrows and he said the wind was brutal.  I bucked the wind for awhile and then decided it wasn't worth it and headed back.

Nice score boyz!

Had a great time with the crew....despite being trout skunked I worked hard and paddled / trolled almost the entire peremiter of the lake and only had one SMB respond. Still, it was a great work out - especially when the wind began to howl. Saw guys parking their boat along a point near the dam and baitfishing from shore with success. Saw some big fish on their stringers

It was a tough day indeed but thanks to Bill's bday treat at In & Out Burger, I got re-energized by the "4X4" Had to "un-hinge" my jaw to get that burger into my mouth.....a skill I learned back when I was in the "Special Ops"......special ops of burger eating

Martin - thanks for the "Hana Pa'a" t-shirt....it does not fit (cause I'm "big-boned") but it was the thought that counts.

I had a great time on the water with you guys--next time I'll turn ON my radio so we can keep in better contact!  I didn't have any good fishing reports for you anyway, but I did have fun playing with my newly installed fishfinder that appears to be working fine. It was fun meeting up with you after to celebrate da Mooch's BD.  Here's a pic of Bill's whopper.
 
And here's a pic of the gang at the burger joint.

But the best yet, the BD guy who out ate all of us...a 4x4???


See ya again soon on the water,
Big J aka Nutrasweet Mama

OK, the first two pix were missing.  Did this work?

Uhhh,I guess I didn't clue in that it was your B-Day Mooch,but I was so glad to be a part of it even though I didn't know it then.....HAPPY b-DAY Brudah!!

nice to get out to the Valle for the first time and meet some NCKA'ers in person.

Way to get some SWEET pics. out of that new camera Doug! I hooked-up for two consecutive days after getting my Optio.
There is a option on the camera that will shoot rapid fire like when holding the button down continuously.I haven't tried it yet,but I know it will be easier then getting the fish to "say chesse".I have missed more than I hit underwater..keep shooting!

and met Big J and yakuza too!!

My "jointed lure" that was the sure thing for Chabot,got hit and I had it on and then it was off just as fast...I tossed my senko around too... NADA for me on this trip but a good day out with serious fishin' peeps.

Had a good day and see out sometime...somewhere!

Sweeeeeeeeeet.  Great looking trout.

jason