Ellis Lake, Horseshoe Lake

Another Personal Best

Lucky Horseshoe Trophy

Horseshoe Lake
When I woke up this morning I did not expect I’d be fishing today let alone catch a new personal best. What an awesome surprise.
My girlfriend needed me to drop her off at the hair saloon at around 11am so I had about an hour to go out and wet my line before I had to go back and pick her up. I thought maybe I’d give Horseshoe Lake a shot. It should be warm enough today and maybe I could entice something to bite. I picked up a few flies that I had tied for the lake and set off.

As the days grow longer and warmer more people are starting to head outdoors. Upper Bidwell was pretty crowded and busy. This migration of people can often lead to owners letting their dogs splash around in the water and spooking the fish. Not good for me. There were a lot of people out today, but they were all very considerate and respectful.

I set up my rod, tied on a fly, and headed out to the bank. My second cast out I get a take. It’s a big fish probably a catfish the way its fighting. After a few seconds it jumps and then I realize, its a not a catfish, its a big ass bass. I fought her like a pro keeping my line tight and letting her run until I finally landed her and gripped her by the jaw. Admiring this fish in my hand reality finally hit me, holy crap this is a big fish. She was probably around 5-6 pounds. I have always heard rumors about there being 10 pounders in the lake but I never believed it was a possibility until now. My shoes and pants were wet from getting into the water to pick her up and let her go but wow was it worth it. A new personal best and achievement completed for the year.
A trophy bass.

Ellis Lake

I went home to Marysville and had the chance to fish Ellis Lake. After catching a trophy the previous day and the following today I wanted to keep trying my luck. Unfortunately it ran out. I did not get a single take but a skunk on a fly rod is always a lesson learned.

There is a full moon coming March 5th. With the unusual warm weather this year the bass will start migrating on to their beds a little earlier than usual. This move should turn on the fishing and give me another shot for a personal best breaker.

Feather River

The Feather River. Quality over quanitity?

Feather River Hatchery Steelie

The number of steelhead that have returned to the hatchery this year is less than half of what it was last year in 2014. Here are the numbers from an article from the Fishsniffer website: 677 adults this year (2015) compared to 1472 adults last year (2014). On a good note though these fewer fish are bigger. Three fish that were captured and returned to the hatchery were over 17+ pounds. Amazing.

There are always steelhead in the Feather River system but these bluebird bright sunny days are tough days to fish. It was pretty slow yesterday despite being on a good run that usually produces at sunrise. After not getting a single take I fished near the hatchery and saw a few other anglers hook up but it was also very slow for me.

Disappointed, I and wanted to beat the 2015 steelhead skunk. The following day I was able to hook two fish and land a nice hen a little under 5 pounds. This steelie is probably my new personal best. She was pretty beat up with torn fins, fungus head, copepods
on fins, and has probably made it back to spawn several times in her lifetime. She fought hard and the second before I was able to get her under the net the hook popped out of her mouth. Luckily she was tired enough to where she floated for a second and I was able to net her. It was a awesome fish as my first steelhead for 2015.

Big Feather Hen

The spring-run aren’t in town yet but after a few good storms they should start trickling in. Drought conditions are going to be hitting the lowest of the lows this year and it’s not looking good.
I’ve been reading that the American River is fishing really poorly with very few steelhead returning this year. On paper it looks bad although I haven’t been out there so I can’t really judge.

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