Don and Alan came over from Redding to fish the lake. They got on the water at 10:30. Don hooked one large trout that jumped and ran all around his boat. Alas, the fish broke off with both of his flies.
I got on the water at 1:00. It was very slow for the three of us. After an hour I decided that I would troll around to try to find a pod of holding fish. No pods were found. However, as I was trolling upstream, one fish did strike my black mohair blue/red sparkle leech and it was the largest fish I’ve caught this year (except for the mutant fish I caught in July). It was a beautiful 21 inches. I resuscitated it while in the net and let it go. It was a beautiful fish and experience.
So, I quit after 2 hours and didn’t have any more takes. My best fish of the year was enough for me.
I did get out on the Trinity River for 45 minutes yesterday. That was my limit of time and energy as I was huffing back to the van and had a sore back the rest of the day.
Fortunately, a couple of days to 4 are coming in to raise the river level and flows. When I get back from Christmas Steelheading will be my main pursuit. I might even celebrate with a few Steelhead brews, of commiserate my lack of success.
Tight Lines!