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August 13, 2010

We have landed a total of 11 Salmon in the last five trips.  Wednesday, we hooked three but lost all three hookups.  I have been fishing the Gridley stretch of the Feather and the Yuba City area.  We landed three fish today with two fish in the twenty pound range and one fish running around twelve pounds.  All fish have been hooked on Flatfish and Kwik fish.  I had two guests from Orange County on board Wednesday and Thursday.  On Thursday, Don and Bob landed three nice fish by 8:30 with the biggest going around twenty five pounds.  We decided to call it a day so they could get an early start on the road home.  I hope this made up for the three nice fish that we had lost the day before.  We had the wives with us the day before, but I think I wore them out with the long day and not one fish landed.  They did a great job of running the plugs all day for me but I failed to put one fish in the box.  The real heart breaker on Wednesday was when Bob hooked a fish on our last pass of what was a long day.  After a lengthy battle, the big buck that was pushing thirty pounds made on last run right under the boat, hooked the plug underneath us, and came free.  These guys fished hard and never gave up on me.  I hope they realize how much I appreciate that.  It is very hard to keep your head in the game when fishing is this tough.  Today's guests were long time clients David Davidson; his son, Nick; and David's friend, John.  It was great to reminisce about past trips and to put a few fish in the box while we were at it.

Thank you everybody.

Until next time,

Mike

Terrible opener . . .

Fishing on the Feather is as tough as fishing gets.  I saw no less than fifty boats and heard of a whopping eight fish caught!  I personally witnessed only one salmon caught the whole morning.  The current flows on the Feather are coming out of the After Bay.  This warm water does not help matters.  We need the flows to come down the low flow section, which is much cooler.  The current water temp is around 68 degrees.  I like the height and the water color, but we just need the cooler temps and the fish will hold in the lower river. The Outlet and low flow sections are stuffed with fish.  But, of course, that's not where we can fish for them.  How convenient is that?!?  I fished from Gridley to Palermo and saw only one fish roll.

We felt very fortunate to land three fish yesterday.  I had a total of five bites, hooked four, and landed three.  All of our bites were on Kwik - Fish.  I did try roe for a while, but the Pike were relentless at chewing on the baits.  I cancelled my next couple of days and will give it a try on Wednesday to see if things improve.  I had Joe and Shawn Anderson from Paradise and Gary Buxton from Yuba City on board for the opener.  We fished from sunrise to 11:00 a.m. before throwing in the towel.

Thank you for checking in and I hope to have a better report next time.  I am trying not to be to negative about all of this, but what has happened to this fishery just pisses me off.  The Salmon we landed yesterday has reminded me what a great fishery this used to be and what we have been missing out on.  I do think that fishing will improve this week without all the pressure.  Lets hope I'm right.

Mike

  Mexico Trip 2010

Click here or on Marlin photo to see video

Well, after more than fifteen years, I finally caught a big Rooster fish.  It seems like forever that I have been trying to catch a big Rooster.  I have caught several smaller Roosters and even handed off a couple of big ones to my guests over the years.  I, finally hooked not one, but four Roosters over the fifty pound mark.  The first day in Mexico, we went for Yellow Fin Tuna.  After landing several nice tuna up to forty five pounds on light tackle, we decided we had enough.  The first one I hooked took me forty five minutes to land on the light rod and reel I was using.  It appeared that the light fluorocarbon leader I was using made a big difference on the tuna bite but we were punished on the rail for almost an hour for every fish we hooked.  We knew we had enough fresh Ahi to fill our coolers so we elected to try for Rooster fish the rest of the day.  My live jack was inhaled in the first ten minutes of trying.  After feeding the fish for ten seconds or so, I put the reel in gear and set the hook six or eight times and then hung on.  The fish took off like no fish I have ever hooked before.  I still was not sure what I had but we all figured it was a giant Rooster.  After a long run that never did stop, the fish jumped and even at 200 yards we could see it was the Rooster of all Roosters.  However, my excitement was short lived when the fish showed no signs of slowing down and it became obvious my tackle was too light for this fish.  It  spooled my 300 yards of fifty pound Spectra before we could turn the boat around.  I was very dejected to say the least. There was absolutely nothing I could do but put both thumbs down and say good-bye to the biggest Rooster I had ever hooked.  It was a long boat ride back to the resort.  I really had a hard time even thinking about what had just happened.  I had made a big mistake in under-estimating my opponent.  After several Pacifico's and a Margarita or two, I started preparing for the next day.  I was not going to lose another one if I could do anything about it.

The next day, we came back prepared to do battle.  We had lots of bait.  Live Jack Craville and Mullet crowded our bait tank.  I also had bigger gear to handle this punk rock version of the jack family.  To say I was determined is an understatement.  I dropped the first jack of the day overboard and the Skipper put the boat in gear.  I was still thinking of the fish from the day before when my bait became nervous.  I let the fish run for the allotted ten seconds or so and set the hook into what turned out to be another big Rooster.  I put more pressure on this fish than any fish I have ever fought.  After 30 minutes or so  I landed my first rooster fish over fifty pounds.  I can say without a doubt this was the greatest  moment in my fishing career.  Not wanting to hurt the fish, we let it go after only a couple of photos.  After reviewing the pictures, we noticed that we did not get one single good photo of that  grand fish.  I was very disappointed to say the least.  But, fortunately, we were not done yet.  We still had plenty of bait and all day to try and hook another one.   After twenty minutes or so, I got bit again.  This one I handed off to my fishing partner, Sky, and he fought the estimated sixty pound fish to the boat but it was cut off on the transom.  We immediately went back to fishing and I got bit a third time!  This fished seemed to fight different than the others.  It tried to stay deep and was very difficult to turn.  We actually thought the fish came off a couple of times because of its violent head shakes that actually would put slack in the line.  The Skipper, Ramon, got a good look at the fish and immediately told me that this is the one we have been looking for.  After thirty minutes or so, the fish rolled over and we got a hold of its tail.  I could not believe its size.  We took a few minutes to do photos and this time Ramon measured the fish.  It was 65" long.  We put it at over seventy pounds.  It was not long before we had another bite.  This time it was Sky's rod that went off.  Before long he had landed our third fish over fifty pounds!  What a day!  Four Roosters over fifty pounds hooked and three landed.

We had another great trip to the Sea of Cortez.  It was different to say the least.  There was really no Dorado to speak of.  We caught one in four days.  But, the nice size Yellow fin Tuna filled the bill nicely.  We caught several species this year.  Yellow fin, Amberjack, Marlin, and of course, the almighty Rooster fish.  My fishing partner, Sky, caught his first Tuna, Rooster and Marlin.  He caught his Marlin on the last day in the last hour.  We were headed back in when the Skipper spotted the fish tailing in the rough seas.  Yes, I said rough.  Normally, the Sea of Cortez is mild but we experienced four to six foot seas on our way in on the last day.  Apparently when the north winds blow like that it brings the Marlin to the surface.  I have to believe them because in two hours we saw more Marlin than I ever have.  After throwing dead Ballyhoo at several, I finally had one eat.  I let him have the bait for a few seconds but as I was putting the reel into gear to set the hook he dropped the bait.  I immediately reeled in a few cranks and started to tease the fish gain.  It worked.  He grabbed the bait and this time he did not drop it.  I hollered at Ramon that he had it again so he put the boat into gear and hammered the throttle.  I set the hook four or five times and we were hooked up.  I handed the rod to Sky so he could pull on his first Marlin.  After an hour long battle, we slid the nice Stripe Marlin up for a few photos.  What a great way to end four fantastic days of fishing.

We were staying at Punta Colorado.  I like this resort for several reasons.  One, is its locality.  This resort is the closest to the fishing grounds often saving you a couple of hours each day that you can spend fishing rather than running.  Two, is its size.  The resort is fairly small almost giving you a family type atmosphere.  Three, is the people and Skippers.  These people work hard for you.  They will do anything to insure you a good trip.  If you would like any info about the place, get a hold of me.  I will help you any way I can.  I cannot recommend this place enough.  I am putting together a trip for June of next year.  If interested, give me a call or send me an e- mail.  This a very affordable trip.

Thanks,

Mike

It has been a fantastic Striper season. I have been working everyday and the fish keep coming. I have over a thirty fish per day average for the past couple of weeks. Tina  Dunlap caught and released the biggest fish of last week, it was a nice fresh hen that was almost twenty pounds. I carry a minimum of eighty baits on board and the past two days we have used them all. We had several fish over ten pounds the past week but I am still not seeing the bigger females that we are used to seeing this time of year. I know they are out there and it is just a matter of time before we land one. Last year, I had two that were close to forty pounds by this time. Oh well, there is always tomorrow. I will be fishing through Wednesday of next week then I leave for Mexico for a few days of fishing of my own. I will continue fishing for stripers when I return. This late season fishery can be fantastic. There is usually very little boat traffic and lots of fish. Call me if you would like to get in  on one of the best Striper seasons in along time.

Thanks,

Mike

We have continued to catch stripers everyday. We had a day off last week but were back at it the next day. I have been averaging around thirty keepers a day. The river is back up today but will start to fall and clear up soon. I have been catching fish in as little as 6" of visibility.  The boat traffic is light where I am fishing. There is good schools of Stripers from Sacramento all the way to Colusa which has allowed anglers to go just about anywhere in the system and catch a nice limit of fish. Some of the hens we caught  last week were ready to spawn any day, however we have seen several females that were a month away from spawning. I have two available days in my schedule. May 12th and 13th are available at this time.

Thanks for checking in,

Mike  

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