Los Vaqueros Reservoir

Right on Alex!!  Thats a PIG!!

Thanks Mel. See you at S.C. one of these days. 

Definitely a beautiful fish !
Cooking him up tonight .

If you look closely. You can see the tiny octopus hook at the side of his mouth . The leader broke as we netted him. 

Just by the slap you can tell its got some weight to it. 

I use 6# for bait leaders. Trolling I use 10# leaders. I use Pline CXX 6# line. The 6# trout I caught at LVR straightened out my mosquito hook! Thought my leader popped. Leader was good with some teeth scratches. Luckily this happened once I had the fish on the stringer.

Definitely could not muscle in the fish I caught. Tend to have better luck with lighter line .  Makes for a much more interesting battle anyways.

Note to self. I have some of those mosquito hooks. Maybe save them for pan fish. The small octopus hooks I have are pretty sturdy.

But after the leader line broke . I was talking it over with the friend I went with. He asked if it was old . So we are looking at the leader line spool. Its one of those compact ones that is just for leader. It has remnants of plastic grubs that have melted on to the cover. 

Wow did I get lucky.
 
Guess you can tell I don't trout fish much.  Look forward to visiting LVR again. The next time with my Pops who couldn't make it again.  . Rubbed the story in though . 

Was first time visiting and scoping the area out. Fished the west side and dam. Will try east side next time. The 7am to 3pm boat rental sure did go by fast though.

Was lucky in that all fish I caught were in the corner of the mouth that was much tougher. Have lost fish I believe that were hooked bait fishing with trebles on the soft part of the roof of there mouths.

Nice catch Alex!  Thats a nice hail mary fish for sure.

Alex can we put the kayaks in there?

Alex can we put the kayaks in there?

Nope.

Nope.

bummer

Nope.

bummer

Huge bummer.  Especially considering it was build under the guise that people would be allowed to bring in their own boats.  And for this reason, they'll never see a penny from me.

Nope.

bummer

Huge bummer.  Especially considering it was build under the guise that people would be allowed to bring in their own boats.  And for this reason, they'll never see a penny from me.

OK ! Don't trip Brutha. Next time I rent a boat you can ride for free with me. But you have to buy lunch. AT OUTBACK ! 

Sounds like a deal!

Sounds like a deal!

That is only on tues thru thurs when boats are 35 bucks. So your portion would  be 17.50 plus 5 dollar entrance fee , plus 6 dollar parking.  I will be ordering the surf and turf which is about 30 bucks.   

So I usually gift my fish for favors. 
But finally had a little spare time so i fired up the bbq.
Fillet part of my fish and sent the rest off with the friend i went with.

Little garlic salt, lemon pepper and with a slight drizzle of honey. Will finish off with fresh lemon juice when ready to eat. Saving for a friend at work tomorrow that I owe. 

Placed on the bbq at a really high heat and seared. Then lowered temperature to finish.

I actually like it cold the next day. Taste more of the flavors.

Close to smoked texture but a little more moist. 

Trading fish for favors,you animal[emoji12]