Shad Trickling in Sacramento River

My dad, my brother and I got an opportunity to check out the Shad scene in the Sacramento River last Friday, April 17th.  We launched at Garcia Bend Park and proceeded down river to the Freeport Bridge.  We anchored at 7:30 AM, next to three existing boats.  A few minutes later, another boat came and anchored between the third boat and our boat.  The new arrival was comfortable within three feet from our boat.  I could have hopped over to his boat if I wanted to :-)  The new arrival told us he fished yesterday in the same spot and boated 12 shad.  It's good to know that we were next to fishermen who knew what they were doing.  The captain of the third boat told us that the shad action doesn't start until 8 AM.

Sure enough, at 8 AM we had the first take down.  Amazing!  However, we were napping and did not set the hook.  So we missed it.  Between 8-11 AM, there were a total of a dozen shad boated among the five boats :-(  We managed to land a 6-inch striped bass and one shad for the day.  We called it a day early and got home for a late lunch.

The shad rig:

The third and fourth boat had a total of seven fishing poles out.  They used a 4-foot leader with a triple swivel: one end went to the main line, the other had an 1-oz sinker at the bottom of the 4-foot leader, and the third was tied with a chartreuse 1/32 oz. grub at 3.5-foot out.  They were the most successful of the five boats.

At 7:30 AM.  How many fishing poles are there?

Upstream is the Freeport Bridge.

Downstream

 

The shad that saved us from being skunk :-)

Easter Vacation 2015

We were blessed to go on a family retreat in South Lake Tahoe for the Easter Week.  I stayed up all night looking over the instructions and viewing YouTube videos for installing cable tire chains.  I believe I am now qualified to give instructions on how to install cable tire chains, at least the cable model that I possess.  Knowing how to do it and having to do it are two different things.  I have had the opportunity to install this same cable tire chains a few years back, and believe me, it is NO fun to do it with snow pouring down :-)  Fortunately, we arrived in South Lake Tahoe just as our heroes, Caltrans (California Department of Transportation) brothers, were putting up signs requiring snow tire chains.

We settled in the cabin and viewed nature TV through the windows.  Being from SacTown, it was a fantastic treat to see snow falling, especially when we were inside a toasty cabin.  We ended up with 5 inches of snow by the end of the night.

At around 4:30 AM on Easter Monday, we were awaken by the sound of rustling as if someone was trying to bang against the cabin.  Mrs. Miracles said, "Is someone there?"  To which I replied, "It is probably just the sound of the heater turning on again."

Since we were upstairs and the children slept downstairs, MM said, "I wonder if the children are okay?"  At the mentioned of the children, I hopped out of bed lightning fast and rushed downstairs.  I opened the window curtains on the West side of the cabin and looked outside.  I didn't see anything, but instinctively, I banged on the windows and yelled, "Get out of here!"  The rustling sound stopped immediately.  A few seconds later, a huge brown bear (definitely more than 300 pounds) came towards the window and looked at me.  We made eye contact as I was banging on the windows and repeating my command: "Get out of here!"  The bear looked at me and slowly moved around the back of the cabin.  I truly believe that if I did not respond quick enough, the bear would have ripped the side of the cabin apart.  To my Võ Nam Chi students:  I used the second principle to avoid a disaster!  I then used the third principle to keep the bears away from the cabin the rest of the week.  Although several bears came by everyday, no further damage to the cabin was done.  The bears visited the two next-door cabins instead :-)

In the morning, regarding my encounter with the bear, Little "j" greeted me with: "Dad, you sound scary."  !?!?!?

Easter Tueday, we were blessed with another 5 inches of snow.  With the drought in California, the snow is truly an answer to our prayers for more rain.  The children had a fabulous time making a snowman.

A fisherman's gotta measure his catch.

Easter Wednesday, we checked out a local pond, but still too much snow on the walk way to get to our favorite spot.

Easter Thursday, we fished for half an hour with no bites.  We picked up and left.

Easter Friday, we walked around South Lake Tahoe by the gondola lift just to enjoy the view.

Easter Saturday, we headed back to SacTown.

Inside the toasty cabin.

I love nature TV.

I almost want to taste it, almost...

Wait, I didn't see these before.

Okay, may be a 500 pound bear!

Want a snow cream, dad?

I love snow.

I clear the deck for you.

It's better to clear the deck with a proper tool :-)

Do you wanna build a snowman?

Where are the fish hiding?

My cool hairdo.

At the Gondola.

Wider view at the Gondola.

Cool staircase.

Back of the cabin.

Hello, I'm Olaf.

First Eagle Scout in the Family!

Where did the time go?  I meant to include this picture of when the girls came back from N. Dakota for their Spring Break.  We received an invitation to attend our nephew's Eagle Scout ceremony.  This was at the end of February 2015.  What a tremendous achievement!

Congratulations!