1st Daily Limit Caught Today

Stopped for some groceries and that backup Panther Martin lure just in case I should loose it on a snag or rock -- did so later in the early afternoon.  When I arrived at the dam, all the parking spaces there were occupied and as I passed there, I noticed that more than a couple of the vehicles had FWC logos on the driver's doors.  As I continued on for the parking area at the picnic spot around the corner, I worried that it might be full and the grounds occupied by more FWC people or fishermen but, when I got my first look, there appeared to be no vehicles at all parked there -- a sigh of relief.

When I parked the Jeep and got ready to get out and start fishing, I noticed that I had left my vest with other lures and glasses back at the RV -- luckily had my stringer and the hook removing tool in the cooler that I did remember to bring.  The weather looked threatening from both ends of the reservoir but, the sun was shining brightly as I headed to the far end of the picnic area and down to the edge of the water.  I started countng the number of casts until I had a fish on or a strike but, after more than a dozen casts, I stopped counting and tried to focus on the direction of the storms that were approaching.  I worked my way from the sandy point toward the steeper boulder covered banks and cast both directions as I moved toward the rocks and boulders.  Soon I had to climb along the rocks and boulders and before long I had a nice Brown trout to put on the stringer then went clamboring over the rocks and boulders for more.  Shortly after that I lost another nice fish just off the grassy cove back toward the picnic area.  A little later I had my second Brown trout but, had to walk/climb back to the stringer I had left closer to the picnic area (because of the threatening storms).  The sun had disappeared by now and I could hear thunder and see the rain approaching from the end where the dam was with some turbulent and nasty looking clouds starting to come over the mountain on the far side of the lake -- time for a break, I thought.  Guess that was about 11:30 and about 30 minutes later the sun came out again so, I headed back out for more fish.

Two other fishermen had arrived in a burgundy pickup just before the first rain and the windstorm came through.  They also sat out the storm in their vehicle and got back out when I did -- one of them had a broken reel and they hadn't caught anything up to that time.  Later I heard from the other guy that he had caught and released 5 Brown Trout -- had to touch it first with his finger-tip so he could claim having caught it to his friend.

When I arrived at the water's edge for the second time, I had thought that maybe one more fish would be enough and I could return to the RV with enough fish for another cookout -- and I did catch another nice fish but, had forgotten the stringer with the other fish on it so, I had intended to carry the fish back and toss him in the cooler with the other two fish.  As I started to walk back up the rocks and boulders to the picnic area, I lost my grip on the fish and he fell into lots of dirt and sand so, I took him back to the water to rinse him off however, the slippery and strong fish managed to slip out of my hands and swim away.  That's what I get for leaving the stringer in the Jeep.

With the weather threatening again, I cast another half dozen times mostly with the stiffening wind direction and managed to snag and loose that precious Panther Martin -- good thing I had the backup in my pocket but, my hands were getting cold from the recent dipping while loosing that fish so, I headed for the warmth of the Jeep again to tie on the lure.  As it rained a little more and the winds picked up, I told myself to get that stringer in my pocket before heading out again.

Soon there was another break and my hands had warmed up for another go at the trout.  This time I took the shortest route to the water as I could see more threatening clouds coming in from the west.  Shortly after reaching the water's edge for the third time, the winds were whipping waves nearly into white-caps so most of my casts went parallel to the sandy shoreline where I had lost two fish yesterday (one of them had jumped the amazing 2 or 3 feet out of this stretch of water).  After a few casts, I had my first Rainbow trout of the day and got him on the stringer this time before worrying about how dirty he got during the hook removal process.  A few more casts and I had the bigger of the two Rainbows -- this completed my four fish limit for the day and I only cast a few more times to see if that trophy fish might get hooked.  Now my hands were really cold and the nasty weather was closing in so, time to hustle back to the Jeep -- had already gathered another grocery bag of cans and trash but, found a couple more beer cans on my way to the car.

As I passed the dam on the way back, I noticed only one vehicle (a white pickup truck) parked there and all the others had left.  The rain began to fall more heavily as I drove back with my limit and it wasn't even 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon -- plenty of time to relax and have a few beers (before cleaning those fish).