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Date: April 26, 2024 Body of Water: Collins Lake - California Boat: FHS Pontoon With: K and Captain CK Target: Rainbow Trout with Lightning Trout, too Time: 7:30 AM - 4 PM Moon Phase: Full moon plus three days Conditions: Alternating clouds, sun and morning squalls; wind from all points and up to 15 mph or so; 50 - 65 degrees. Collins Lake was "full" and spilling over the dam, the water was clear but stained, and surface water temperatures were 65 - 68 degrees. K was so kind to arrange a visit to the San Francisco area, and especially one where we could camp and fish together! After a bit of research we settled on https://www.fishhuntshoot.com/product/collins-lake-guide-trip/ , and we were not disappointed! Captain CK offers guided "teaching" trips on a small reservoir at the base of the Sierra Mountains, and I thought (correctly!) that this would provide a pleasant platform for K and I to relax while re-living our glorious past of trolling for trout (and salmon) on Lake Michigan. The accommodations at Collins Lake looked good, too, and I spent a good share of the winter quietly looking forward to a respite from the Maine weather and getting into some active fish! We left K's home on Thursday morning and wandered our way to Collins Lake. We snacked and saw sights along the way, and when we arrived mid-afternoon, our cabin was clean and ready for us. We poked around, unpacked, and enjoyed some local ice cream with our hot dogs roasted over our campfire. We went to bed relaxed and slept well! We hooked up with Captain CK right on time, and after brief introductions and based on our trolling experience, we were able to skip "class" and go right to the fishing! With surface water temperatures climbing to 65 degrees or more, Captain CK had deployed his downrigger for the first time all Spring the previous day, and many of the reported biters were settling in, deeper, to eat "meat", i.e., crawlers. Our initial spread included a surface line, 175 feet back, with a small white worm/action disk; two colors of lead (supplemented with a small, in-line weight) with a pink dodger and pinched crawler on a Slow Death rotating hook; and a naked, rotating pinched crawler 44 feet behind the rigger ball set at about 20 feet down. The morning's weather was funky but very fishy. Skies were gray, it was breezy to windy, and scattered, intense showers were visibly around us. (Occasionally they would find us, especially mid-morning). I was surprised to find depths over 100 feet in the lake's basin, and we settled into a pattern of searching for and collecting bites over this deeper water, especially along the lake's western shore and northeast corner. (Structure likely played a role in the northeast area, and I told myself that the predominant wind was pushing any food into this corner, too.) Everything got hit, but the pink dodger off two colors of supplemented lead clearly elicited the most action. We added the same dodger to the downrigger, and pretty soon we had switched to a pink worm on top, too! Target speed was 2.0 mph +/- 0.2 mph, and we were very comfortable on the pontoon platform. Bites came in flurries, and the numbers started racking up! After the first fish (which came on "my side" of the boat), we tried to alternate turns on fish, and there was plenty for all to do (or not, as one's mood might dictate at the moment). Soon enough, Captain CK was comfortable with me running the back of the boat (I let him thread the crawlers, just because...), and I was happy to net fish and monitor, tweak and adjust our presentations. I especially enjoyed converting drive-by's into hookups by "feeding" the bait to following fish. This was remarkably effective! We took a break for lunch with ten or 12 trout landed, and the afternoon was just as productive, even though the wind veered to the northwest and skies cleared. We spent some time heading up the river arm, where we added a spotted bass to our catch, but when we returned to the basin we finished strong, including our largest trout of the day (six-pound rainbow) and most beautiful fish of the day (a solid four-pound Lightening Trout for K). Captain CK and his dog friend, Lucy, were very generous with their time, and when we called it quits at about 4 PM, we agreed that we'd landed at least 19 trout in addition to the bass. We'd missed and farmed out a few, too, but that didn't matter; we were fishing again, the next day! What do I have to say about this? This was so pleasant and relaxing, and I can't thank K enough for making this happen. I also need to thank Captain CK for enjoyably hosting us, adjusting to our competence, sharing stories, and his enthusiasm. He and Lucy provided for a unique experience, and it was the one I'd envisioned! I also appreciated his rods, reels and lures, as they felt great in hand and performed well. For some odd reason, K seemed to specialize in the golden Lightning Trout while I caught just about all rainbows. They are the same species, but I still felt like the rainbows fought harder. I lost a lot of the details, but that comes with having had so many strikes and fish landed. Still, I enjoyed a number off firsts, including first freshwater fish in California, first Lightning Trout, first trout on a soft plastic, and first use of rolling crawlers for trout. Obviously, this will work in Maine, and this has been added to my list of tricks and presentations. Here's how I ended up finding FHS.com. In the mid-to-late 1980s, I was new to Lake Michigan and trout trolling in general. My only chances for trout and salmon were either from a river mouth pier, or in the years to come, from my small, shore bound boat. The local prize was a Spring Brown Trout, and they ate trolled Rapalas or casted spoons near shore. I was all in! But I still recalled a specific television show where a western troller was pounding big rainbows on his trolling flies. These didn't exist in Michigan, and this was before the Internet. I couldn't get those flies, and so I turned to local tactics. I didn't think about those flies again until a couple of years ago when I landed in Maine. One of the staple approaches to trolling for trout and salmon here is a double-hooked trolling streamer fly. I've integrated them into my local tactics and have generated some strikes and several by-catch smallmouth bass to date. When K proposed the idea for this trip, I started thinking about those big rainbows and flies! I found the original video (or remake) of the show I recalled, and it featured Jay Fair and his system for trolling his flies (see www.youtube.com/watch?v=syMj8laWyLM .) I found his flies for purchase and got some! I rigged a couple of rods with his hybridized floating flyline/leadcore-tipped presentation. But I also found www.fishhuntshoot.com/shop/ and their flies, gear, and guided trips. I'm glad I did! "Fish on!" Pondering the questions of core essence and finding meaning in unexpected ways
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