I got out on the lake yesterday after checking the ramp parking lot to see how many people were on the water. I saw the rig of the best fisherman on the lake and headed towards the dam to see if he was upstream. I left the marina at 2:00 so it was a great time to determine how long it takes for my new boat, at top speed to move upstream when there is no current.
The picture above is Frog Rock. During the summer many anglers motor up to Frog Rock and then drift down towards the marina, using Seps flashers and worms. Many, many trout have been caught over the years using this method. It took me 20 minutes to motor up to Frog Rock.
The picture above is a stretch just above Frog Rock. Years ago a local hatchery had their pumps go out, so they dumped all their fish into Lewiston Lake. There were fish stacked like piles of wood from this spot downstream to about 1/4 mile downstream. I fished half a day and had a “bucket list day.” I released 101 fish, all 12 to 14 inches in an afternoon. That was a day I’ll always remember.
Across the reach, in the left of the picture, is a small creek that empties into the lake. I was told last year at the Trinity Fly Shop that large spawners were taking size 18 polyback nymphs off the surface, in January. One of their friends landed 6 fish that way, all over 6 pouingnds, using surface nymphs in one outing. I look forward to the time, soon, that the conditions will repeat themselves this year.
A beautiful section above Frog Rock
I made it up to the dam area (ha ha, damn area) in 30 minutes. The fisherman I had hoped to observe was not in the area, so he must have gone south from the ramp.
I’ve been to the dam only once before. I did not see fish working even as a small hatch was on the water. I decided to troll a leech all the way back to the marina to see if I could find fish.
I saw one fish working the surface with it’s back coming out of the water, about 200 yards down from the dam pool (damn pool lol). I stripped in my line and cast out in the area I thought the fish was moving towards. I got 3 “tap-taps” but no hookups. The fish was either very small are very large. Back in the 80’s I caught some large steelhead on the Mad River using spinning gear and a glow bug, in a pool that had about 20 people fishing in. I would get small trout “tap-taps” wondering what was going on. I finally set the hook after the 20th set of taps only to find myself hooked into an adult steelhead. Lesson learned.
I ended up trolling down to the Rock Pile, only to have my trolling motor die. I checked the circuit breakers, battery charge, and hoped that it just overheated (still a problem but it died once and came back on). No luck. It has ceased working. I checked online for warranty and found it has a one year warranty, and then found it has a two year warranty. I’ll drag it into Redding to have it looked at by an authorized technician.
No fish, dead trolling motor, but the experience was wonderful. The weather was perfect, in the 50’s, with a bright sun and clear sky warming the area. Once the shadows hit the water the temperature got downright chilly. It was a good day. I live here, I have to learn how to fish here.
Tight Lines!