I was just sitting Thursday evening thinking I should hook up the boat and head over to SL Friday since the weather forecast wasn't too bad. That said I'd almost dismissed the thought when I got a call from pal, Noel de Guzman suggesting the same thing.
That was just the push I needed to get off my lazy butt.
Noel couldn't be at my place until around 9:30 a.m. so we got a late start. Morgan Hill was tented with a high coastal overcast that was just starting to burn off when Noel arrived at my place. The coastal intrusion made me a little nervous because that condition usually means it's blowing or is going to blow at SL because of the inversion process.
But, the Wind Lady said the wind was only from 0 to 5 mph out of the east so it was a go.
The lake was dead-flat-calm when we arrived. We were heading for our first stop by around 11 a.m. and we found a few good schools of fish which blackened my graph within a few minutes of putting around our first stop. Within 5 minutes we were landing fish, most of which ran from 2 to 4 pounds with larger fish following hooked fish from time to time.
Needless to say we were having a blast with singles and a few doubles - at least a hit almost every cast.
The fish were still holding deep and it took a long count with a few stops-and-drops mixed it the retrieve. A lot of takes came on the sink. We both were using T-14 on 7- and 8-weight rods. Noel was using a little syn hair Clouser in white/blue/purple and I did well with a white/yellow/brown darting jig hook Sea Habit - size 2/0.
The water temp was around 56 and the clarity was excellent although I could see a bit of algae starting to grow.
About 1:30/2 o`clock I notice the wind turbines starting to turn and the wind shifted from east to northwest. I knew it wouldn't be long until we would be forced to bag it. I could see the black "wind line" steadily working its way across the lake from Dino.
We headed back across the lake to work the southwest bank for awhile and we did pick up a few more fish and dropped a couple; however the wind just made it very tough to cast and to control the boat so we finally cashed in around 3:30 and headed for home.
Although only a short stint on the water we still managed more than 20 fish to hand and enjoyed the camaraderie and warm sunshine while it lasted.
It's spring and wind will be a huge part of the SL equation from now through summer; so pick your days and don't hesitate to give it a go if the Wind Lady says so.
Dan [click here to display pictures] |