Summer is here! Burning Berryessa experience…!?

Ok, this is a two day report & my girlfriend told me that it’s good for my English.  So it’s kinda long, so please be patient with me…
I took days off (don’t worry about my work, Mooch & Bill) to gain some GAF & AOTY pts.  I decided to take my girl to go camping & yak fishing in the lake because she was begging me about it for awhile (but not ocean yet), and this week was her only week off from school.  I was also getting tired of getting blown in Bodega (but of course the day that I decided to go away from here, then the best kayak fishing day came), so I went to stay in Davis.
I was gonna give trout fishing in Lake Solano another try (the last few times I got skunked), but Davis was getting pretty hot for me, so we decided to go to the North end of Lake Berryessa because it’s a little cooler up there.
We picked up some stuff & lunch then drive up to Berryessa.  It was sunny out but we noticed some wind.  We got to the Putah Creek Resort early in afternoon & got a nice camping spot right away because no one was there (weekday treat).  We put up the tent, had some lunch, and got into the water around 2pm.  The sun was still up pretty high, but there was slight breeze.
We went out to main water & the wind started picking up.  And PBs started showing up, so we decided to stay in the cove to avoid the wind & PBs.  I was trolling minnow to catch some trout/salmon, and as soon as we got into mouth of the cove my pole went down.  I picked up a nice LMB.  My girlfriend was getting pretty excited & started casting plastics out.  I got myself situated & dropped a worm down and right away I got a big hit!!!  I thought “AOTY”!  He was very heavy & I only had a 6 pound test… so I took my time & slowly brought him up.  It came next to my boat & I saw him, it was a big cat.  When it hit I was so sure that a bass, but I guess I wasn’t that lucky…
We fished around the cove for awhile.  My girlfriend was getting hit but the wind was pushing her around, so she couldn’t really fish much.  She was getting frustrated especially when I was picking up a few fish.  I tried to stay around her, but you know me I can’t paddle.  We were going all over the place trying to catching up to each other.  I told her to we should move to other side of the lake because the wind was coming from there.  I thought if we were on the other side we would be protected by the hills.  She wanna give a few more cast, so I let her, but the wind pushed her to the end of the cove right away again.  I looked behind her & saw the deer come down by the water.  I told her to slowly look back, but she told me she can’t look back because of the wind & she would flip over.  When we were arguing, the Fawns (baby deer) came out of the bush to follow their mother.  I just took a quick picture and that interested her enough to finally make her look back then she saw it & said “ohhh…”
We moved to the other side but there wasn’t much of cove there & PBs were everywhere.  I picked up some more bass, but she was having a hard time fighting with wake & wind. We paddled some more to look for some coves & finally got into decent size cove.  However, now her legs were burning…  Before we left, I helped her put on sunscreen (of course that’s my favorite GAF job) & she had been reapplying it through out the day.  It’s SPF 50 & it was for babies, but she was really getting burned (yes she is a very white).  So we decided to land the kayak & put our feet in the water to fish.  We fished there for awhile & both picked up some baby bass, but nothing big so decided to paddle back & fish back.  She picked up a nice Black Crappie at the mouth of the cove.  She was very excited; her 1st BC did the pose again!
We paddled back against wind & it took awhile, but we made it back to the campsite cove.  I was trolling minnow and ended up picking up a nice SMB for AOTY.
Her sunburn was pretty bad, so we took some pictures.  I was worried that she needed medical attention, but drugged her with Advil & put her to sleep.  I cooked the fresh BC and ate it myself cuz she doesn’t like fish, but it was very good!
I woke up early the next morning & went for a paddle before breakfast.  Nice & cool but not too cold, not much wind & of course no PBs.  I kinda felt bad that I left her at camp by herself in these nice conditions.  I lost some fish & only got one nice SMB.  She called me & asked me about the catfish that we left on the stringer in the water by our campsite.  She found the stringer but the clip was open & the catfish was gone.  I was pulling the cat all day on my boat but never came out.  Strangest thing…
Even thought her sunburn was still pretty bad, but she still wanna fish some more (that’s my girl).  She wore my waders to avoid UV & we fished around the campsite.  Fish were jumping around, but we only got nibbled by blue gills.  We’re getting tire of our bait stolen, so we decided to call it for the day.  I let her lay down then I cleaned up the camp, and we left around 3pm.  The nice thing about the campsite was that check out was at 4pm.
Despite fact that she got sunburned, we had a great time kayak fishing & camping, and more importantly I earn some good GAF & 20 more pts for AOTY!!!  We gotta do this more often (if Jim let me), but next time some company will help!

Here is my 1st fish (16inch LMB) & the big cat!!!
I forgot to measure the cat...

earlier day.  she is still smiling
& the Fawns pics.

fishing from the shore & catching babies...

she was fighting w/ fish & wind...
& got a nice BC.
My last fish of the day was a nice AOTY SMB!

her sunburn  & the sunscreen...

Early morning SMB
& next day wader fishing in the lake...

Ducks
Heron (yeah the phone reception)
& I found this head, it's a big fish head!!!

Awesome report!  Sounds like a fantastic campsite too.  Were you guys staying midweek - the place looks deserted.  Really nice set up.

Sunburn sucks.  you can actually see the progression of the burn.  From the initial picture to the one where she's biting the BC, her shoulders got WAY more red.

Great report! Sounds like a fun time, I always liked going to that lake, there's good trout n salmon there if you can find them...
So did you pull in any birds?! Ben

U, That is a GREAT story and campout!  you HOOK'd a few different species and that SMB is bigger than mine    Dam good on all the pics also.

That looks like a cool-ass spot!!  you can park the car right there and it's right ON THE WATER w/a tree and table too!!   is that the only site like that and where on the lake is this SWEET site?

Great report and I really like your girlfriend's (Ash's) attitude even after the sunburn she was up for more fishing.  Do not let her off your stringer  .

Great report and I really like your girlfriend's (Ash's) attitude even after the sunburn she was up for more fishing.  Do not let her off your stringer  .

Ohh, and that too!.....don't let her "mysteriously" unclip herself, like the catfish did!?

great report.....now go back to work....Jim needs your help   

Ash is a trooper  She's definitely a KEEPER 

Thanks everyone, I really didn't think anyone (except Mooch) will actually read whole thing, but I'm glad that you guys liked it!
Putah Creek Resort is far up north, and usually most PBs goes to Capell Cove because closer & free launch there, so not too many people go up there except fishing, but weekend is different story thought...

Great report! Sounds like a fun time, I always liked going to that lake, there's good trout n salmon there if you can find them...
So did you pull in any birds?! Ben

No Ben, I didn't catch anything strange at this time.  I trolled around the second bridge where Putah Creek comes into the lake, but no trout or salmon.  I used to catch rainbows or kokanee there with castmaster or minnow during winter time, but I haven't caught any trout or salmon this year.
Yeah, Ashley is great!  Last year we had a lab wide fishing trip, and that was her 1st time fishing.  Her 1st fish of her life was pot winning Lingcod!  I told her it won't get any better then that, but she still into fishing!  She's a great catch!