Let's Go Fishing

With no water and warm weather in the Sacramento area, the brothers decided to go to the mountain instead.  Darn, I missed out...

Fish Whisperer fishing report:


We arrived there around 3pm on Friday & setup camp.  To our surprise the entire lake was iced over except by the dam. On my first cast I caught a nice rainbow.  The fish hit in less than a minute.  Next thing you know a few minutes later my buddy got a bite and from there we had 10 fish before the sun went down.  These rainbows were beautiful & strong fighters.  As for the weather it was nice when the sun was out, but as soon as it went down the chill was very strong.  We had a nice camp fire & started dinner: grilled carne asada, veggies, & tortillas.  After dinner my third friend showed up and we got his tent set up in the dark.  My buddy that arrived later was so excited to get on the fish he woke me up in the morning on first light.  Immediately we were on the fish as we had triple hook ups.  As the sun came out it melted some ice by the dam so we went over there with lures.  Brother this is when the trip became special.  We started hooking good sized cut throats on z-rays & kastmasters!  We had 30 fish in less than an hour on the dam.  We had so many fish that we started releasing anything that looked under 2lbs.  We quickly got the bbq grill going so we could eat some fresh fish & go back to complete our limits before going home.  I just couldn’t believe how hot it was.  Even got to watch them take my zray just feet from the shore.  I’ve never fished a trout hatchery before, but I imagine it must be like that.  All I can say is blessed is the man that fishes the lake as soon as the ice thaws. 

10 fish before the sun went down.

Derby winner

Entire lake was iced over except by the dam.

We quickly got the bbq grill going...

In one word was “awesome”!

Need I say more?

American River Level Still Low

Some pictures by Gritsmill...

Where to, when the water is low?

Stock up on more fishing supplies?!?!?

Pray for rain!

With all the news about how low the rivers and lakes around the Sacramento area are, I had to go check it out for myself.  The water in the American is very low!  The spot upstream of Watt where I typically see stealhead lined up this time of the year is now above the water line.  I only saw one fish swimming.  However, downstream, I can see half a dozen big steelies dancing; at least, this is a good sign.

In normal conditions, you would not be able to walk out this far

Wild life along the American

Steelies spawning beds to the left

Downstream from the Watt Ave. Bridge

How Long Is Your Fishing License?

My 2014 California Fishing license is 10 feet long???  Whoa.  I better go fishing.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Wishing all your dreams come true for this special season....

From left to right: Master Fisherman, Miss Princessa, Miss Mystic, Miss Twinkle Star, Monk, and Miss Mountain Climber.

Master Fisherman can smack a fish from a 100 yards away with a basketball.

Miss Princessa can outrun the fastest bear!

Miss Mystic can catch the most impossible fish.

Miss Twinkle Star can charm or scare the most unwilling fish to bite!

Monk needs concentration to assess where the fish are hiding.

Miss Mountain Climber can set the hook at lighting speed!

Dreams do come true when you believe.  Best wishes for the upcoming 2014 fishing season: Fish on!

-JU and Mrs. Miracles

Ave Maria on the American for the First Time

Today I had free time from noon until 4 pm.  Hooked up with the Fish Whisperer to do another salmon run on the American.  We met at the Howe American River Access.  This also happened to be the first time that my canoe, the Ave Maria, equipped with a 40 lbs. Minn Kota trolling motor, entered the American.  It's hard to say, but I either fumbled the controls in the beginning of the first troll or the Fish Whisperer hooked into a big whooper!  We started out near the Watt Ave. Bridge by the concrete pipes where ProFisherman and I landed a lot of fish in the past.  I wrapped the sardine just like the way the Pro taught me.  We pulled plugs for steelhead and salmon; Arkie and Hot Shots were for steelhead and sardine wrapped Kwikfish for salmon.  We saw some salmon jumping, some beat up salmon swimming around, and some carcasses showing the that the salmon have complete their life cycle.  As a bonus, I saw a beautiful steelhead shoot straight out of the water about two feet high!

The first past, the Fish Whisperer using a 13X Kwikfish, sardine wrapped, sees his plug going the wrong direction.  His pole bent; I stopped the trolling motor; he pulled the canoe upstream?  It's ridiculous!  Unfortunately, after a little while, the line snapped.  So I quickly wrapped a K14 Kwikfish that I got on one of my Oregon trips and repeated the trolling again.

The second take-down.  I put the Ave Maria on reverse to troll upstream.  The Salmon Slayer was in the rod holder.  Bam!  The take-down was so violent, the Fish Whisperer had a hard time removing it from the rod holder.  Once again, after a little while, we only got our plug back, but no fish.

The third and fourth take-downs both happened on the Oregon Kwikfish.  The Fish Whisperer was holding on to the rod when the salmon took it.  One was on and off.  The last one, the Fish Whisperer got to fight it for a little bit and even saw its head when it spit out the plug.

Although no fish was boated, it was a blessed trip.  I now know that I can load and unload the Ave Maria by myself on the Fish Mobile.  I learned that the 40 lbs Minn Kota can handle the swift current of the American by Watt Ave.  I preferred to troll in the forward motion rather than in reverse.  Until next time: tight lines....

Reworking this K15 to a gold color.

The finished product is in third row down, to the left.

More of dead salmon are seen now

We were the only fishermen on the river.

The Fish Whisperer: he called; they came; but we didn't conquered this time.  Next time, my brother.