Serene Lakes - Rapala vs Worden Trout Competition 7/21-7/22

Well I really wanted to be at BH pounding on halibut and lings with everyone else, but my WAF is critically low and I needed to score some points before my Big Sur and Islander trips, so I agreed to go to Serene Lakes with some friends for the weekend. A few months ago, a popular fishing magazine rated fishing lures and for trout, the #1 lure for "big trout" was Worden's Flatfish (F4 - Perch Scale). I found this interesting since this I have had limited success with the Flatfish F5 and F7 and ususally use Rapalas J7 or SR5 as my go to lures for flatlining trout. I decided to do a side by side comparison on 7/21. I began with a firetiger rapala J7 against the Flatfish. Unfortunately 5 minutes into the troll a sailboat cutoff both of my lines and I lost the Rapala  . I switched to a rainbow trout Rapala J7 against the Flatfish. Nothing was happening until about 6PM when the sun was lower and a calabaetis hatch started. All of a sudden it was non-stop trout love for 90 minutes.  A total of 11 trout, 6 trolling and 5 casting 1/4 oz Kastmasters. All trout were CNR except for 3 which we ate for dinner. The final score:
Rapala Rainbow Trout J7 - 4 trout, largest 15 inches
Worden Perch Scale F4 - 2 trout, largest 12 inches

On 7/22, I paddled and my wife fished and I luckily put her on some good trout which scored even more WAF points. 

BTW - Serene Lakes is near Soda Springs and is about a mile long with a boat ramp, lodge (Ice Lakes Lodge) and beach on the south lake which is connected to the north lake by a small inlet. The evening bite starts around 5-6 PM and is slightly better than the morning bite IMO. A 4 or 5 WT flyrod and some small adams is all you need for a good time if you flyfish. The trout run 10-16 inches in general. It is a family oriented community and they are not used to yak anglers so be cool and follow the rules.

  Where is Serene lakes located?  You mentioned Soda springs, Don't know where that is either.
Lake looks really nice!

very clean beautiful fish... love them wild ones! Nice work GB2!

Z

beautiful...

james

Those trout are beautiful--there's nothing so good as grilling them over a Sierra campfire for dinner. Thanks for sharing this location that's new to me.

BTW, may I post your wife's picture on the Women of NCKA thread? If so, please send me her name, too.

Janice aka "Big J"

that's a lot of trout! fishing is all relative. rockfishing you are disappointed you don't get 50 fish.

troutfishing, you get a limit of 5 you are stoked.

don't you have to troll the flatfish really slowly? I guess the joined rapala should be trolled slowly too,
but doesn't the flatfish have to go even slower? did you troll both at the same time? what speed?

J

Beautiful fish!

Al, Nice fish and from the looks a beautiful serene lake.  Were you scenting the lures with the power bait ? If so what was the flavor of the day?

Nice report. I have to try the lake out next time I'm up that way.

Thanks for the report and the lure comparsent.

  Where is Serene lakes located?  You mentioned Soda springs, Don't know where that is either.
Lake looks really nice!

it off the hwy 80,on the summit take soda springs /norden exit ,about 25 miles west of Truckee.

BTW, may I post your wife's picture on the Women of NCKA thread? If so, please send me her name, too.

Janice aka "Big J"[/color]

Hey Janice -

You can post my wife's picture. Her name is Karen.

Scott

don't you have to troll the flatfish really slowly? I guess the joined rapala should be trolled slowly too,
but doesn't the flatfish have to go even slower? did you troll both at the same time? what speed?

J

John -

The Flatfish does troll a little slower than the Rapala, but not much. I never use the spedometer on my GPS and choose trolling speed based on the rod tip movement. I find the Rapalas can be worked slower by using a softer rod (e.g., Loomis GL2 or fiberglass), lighter line and for the J7, F7 and F5 using a loop knot or adding a split ring. I prefer the split ring because I have not found a loop knot as strong as a palomar. BTW your boys would love the lake. You could camp at Donner Lake and fish Donner in the morning and hit serene lakes in the evening on the way home. Great place to teach them fly fishing also.

Scott

Al, Nice fish and from the looks a beautiful serene lake.  Were you scenting the lures with the power bait ? If so what was the flavor of the day?

OK Frank, since you are such a great guy I will tell you one of my secret fishing tips. For hatchery trout Power bait trout scent seems to work the best IMO, I have tried them all. I use the liquid Powerbait Scent and pour some in a footwell and dip my trolling plugs in them every 15 minutes. For casting lures such as the Kastmaster, I switch the stock treble hook to a barbless single hook and thread a 1/2 inch red powerbait earthworm onto the shaft of the hook with 1/4 inch extending beyond the J of the hook. The powerbait worm not only creates a scent trail but the movement of the worm drives trout crazy similar to the large kastmasters used for striper fishing. For bass however, I use other brands of scent. See you out there.

Al, I have a friend/cousin that lives at the furthest eastern part of Hammer and they are just starting to Kayak. So when I am there I'll pm and give you a heads up. Frank

I will tell you one of my secret fishing tips.

Oooh, I'm glad to learn of these tips! I'm going to Spicer Meadows in the near future and will try your techniques, especially the "scent tank" in the footwell. Scent has worked for me, too, but I'm not very methodical about applying it. That will change... Thanks!

Janice aka "Big J"