Digging for Gold

Today I took my son Nick gold panning to show him some basics and get out for the day. We grabbed some Subway sandwiches and headed down Salmon Falls Rd. We parked at the Sweetwater Creek parking spot and hiked downstream about a half mile almost to Folsom Lake. Due to all the rain and snow we got this winter, the lake is really high, but nice and clear. We set up on a little side creek and plinked around for a couple hours. Found only a couple flakes, but the scenery was worth the trip.

There are no snags

At least you have to think that way out here. Yesterday Nicole and I came out and lost five lures, all snags. Or maybe not. Probably. But the funny thing is, the two largest fish we have caught out of here at first seem like snags. Nick's giant that we lost was at first assumed to be a snag, and today we got an awesome reminder of how the fish here fight! We started out at 6pm and headed upstream. At the top of our first pass, just as we were in the thick of things, I said to Nicole, "We're gonna hook up now." A minute went by and Nicole's rod took two small dips and set firm but steady. Line stripped out at a smooth and constant rate. I asked her if it felt like a fish but she couldn't tell. I reeled in my line and headed downstream as she reeled in hers. Just as the boat got even with her line, we saw her fish fighting about six feet below the boat. Nicole got her to the boat very quickly, and after two attempts to net her we got her in. There were several people on the walking bridge watching all the action, and they gave us a standing ovation! Definitely Nicole's largest fish ever, and it certainly gives Nick's record a run for his money. Here I am with Nicole's fish since she wouldn't hold it. This is not a snag!

Time to go!

 

              Will tomorrow never come? After last Sunday's successful outing I can't wait to hit the water tomorrow. It seems all conditions are lining up perfectly; a light rain came through today on the back end of an unseasonably cold spell, temperatures are expected to warm to the low 80's with sun, and flows should be relatively stable. Hoping for evening skies like this!

My Fishing Spot

Most people don't even notice it. When I speak it's name, I am invariably confronted with one of three mutterings: 1) Lake what? 2) Where's that? 3) There's no fish in there! You may be wondering why I would be willing to share my fishing spot with anyone, but therein lies the beauty of the place and the reasons I fell in love with it.

Lake Natoma

I finally got the boat/motor tuned up and ready to hit the water after sitting in the garage all winter. My wife and I decided to give the tune-up a test run for the afternoon at Lake Natoma. We launched at Negro Bar and started trolling with our favorites just below the Auburn-Folsom bridge. Right on cue, three redneck kayakers decided to paddle behind us right on top of our lines! As a result, I decided to cut over to the side of the channel and let them pass. As soon as we got back on our favorite line, my rod started flopping with a fish on! The fish just swam right to the boat, only starting to fight within 10 feet of us. Caught and released the 15" rainbow and decided to start the run over. After dropping downstream a few hundred yards, we put our lines out and started upstream again. Just as we were getting above Rainbow bridge, my rod started thrumming under the strain of a larger fish! As I started to bring it in, she jumped about three feet out of the water to give me a look! I tried to crank her in, but we were in the hard current and it was difficult to hold the boat and reel in the fish. Just as I got her in halfway, the lure fell out softly and she was gone! I estimated her to be about 5-6 pounds, not a bad start to fishing this year! I have to note that the weather has been unseasonably cold, and the water was gin clear. I'm sure that the carburetor idle adjustment I made that quieted the motor didn't hurt. Expect some great fish pictures soon!

Sly Park

Saturday morning I got up at 4:30am, hitched up the boat and headed for Sly Park, a.k.a. Jenkinson Lake. I got to the lake at 6:00am and launched by 6:15. The wind was coming across the lake pretty good, so I started out trolling by the first dam and islands. First I dragged broken-backs but switched to mid-depth plugs after an hour or so. I headed over to the second dam and trolled along the south shore. There was a huge hatch of mayflies and trout were lazily rolling all over the surface. I have never seen a lake hatch as thick as this one, and it went on for quite awhile. After seeing that the fish were near the surface in deep water, I put on a Kastmaster and a Mepps Syclops. I took my first rainbow right at the point of the narrows with the Kastmaster, a beautiful 13" wild rainbow with big black spots. I took a planter about an hour later on the Syclops. As I trolled back towards the second dam, a bald eagle swooped down and took a trout about 150' in front of the boat, then turned and went right over the boat about 50' up, pretty cool! By now the wind had picked up again so I headed in to the dock. My buddy Arnie was tooling around in his new pontoon boat, we chatted for awhile and I headed home. A nice day all in all!

Lake Natoma

Saturday my wife and I got out for a couple hours. Near the end of the evening we were discussing what had previously been effective in catching the trout out here, but as of late nothing. Just then Nicole says "look at that fish jumping out there". I saw my rod bouncing and set the hook. Nice 16" rainbow trout, first one of the year!