After several weeks of intense physical therapy and a major case of cabin fever I finally got the blessing from my doctor as well as my physical therapist to go out and do some fishing. However, my doctor says that he does not think I would be steady enough to take the Champion out yet. You see, he’s been in bass boats before and knows that they are basically a hull with a deck therefore you don’t have anything to grab onto if the knee happens to buckle or get unsteady when a wave comes along, which makes sense to me. He did say that he thought a pontoon type boat would probably work well because it has side rails for support if needed as well as seats to sit and relax on and I know they rent them at my home lake of Isabella. I decided that seeing how its been awhile since I’d been fishing I was going to try and catch a toad so I rig up 2
G.Loomis Swimbait Rods, 1 Senko Rod, 1 Worm rod with a 16 inch worm, 1 Jig Rod, 1 Drop Shot Rod and a Crappie/Split Shot Rod.
Cindy and I had the truck loaded and ready to go bright and early, pulled out of the garage. Hit the Home Link button, a.k.a. the garage door opener, the door started to close then went back up. Hmm, a fluke possibly, so I hit it again and it did the same thing. OK, there’s gotta be something blocking the sensor, so I get out of the truck to check it out and indeed find a piece of paper in front of it so I remove it, hop back into the truck, press the button again and nothing, GRRRRR. After awhile I get it working and even though we didn’t get to leave as early as I wanted to, were finally on the road. Woo Hoo!
Now, anyone who knows Lake Isabella in the spring time they know that the wind always starts blowing hard at 1:00 and just gets worse from there. Due to time constraints I figure there is no need in even attempting to rent a pontoon boat because chances are I wouldn’t be able to take it to the areas I wanted to fish so I figure why spend all the money on something that I couldn’t really utilize so I figured I’ll just beat the bank in a few easy accessible areas. One thing that I love about Isabella is its one of the few lakes in CA that you can still back right down to the water.
We arrive at the lake and the wind is already starting to blow but that’s not going to stop me. First stop, Dean’s marina. I start casting an 8 inch Hudd along the calm side of the docks. On my 4th cast I almost have my rod ripped out of my hands, OOOOOHHHH, YEAHHHHHHH! FISH ON! The bass comes out of the water and its at least a 10 pounder, there were people crappie fishing on the docks and they were amazed at the size of her. Anyhow,
remember how I said I was casting along the docks of the marina? Well this bass decided that he was going to run under the marina, which of course was good for him but bad for me. I ended up loosing the bass as well as my Hudd. I tied on another Hudd and made countless more casts but nothing doing so I break out a Senko and end up catching one that weighed almost a pound and a half. I continued working the same general area by driving and parking in different area’s working a jig and drop shot but after about an hour more without any more bites its onto stop number 2.
We make our way out to Engineers point and I Start out throwing the Hudd for about an 30 minutes but nothing doing so I break out the 16 inch worm and slowly drag it along the bottom. I feel the tell tale tap and pressure so I reel down and drill him and the fight is on. I get him in and as it turned out he was actually shorter that the big ole worm I caught him on. He weighed maybe a pound and a half as well. I continued to work the area for about 30 minutes with the worm and then a jig and its time to make a move. So its off to Kissack cove
I start out throwing the Hudd looking to land that big bass. After about 45 minutes its big worm time, 15 casts and nothing doing so its Senko time. First cast with it, tap, feel the pressure, swing, fish on! Another carbon copy of the other 2, oh well, at least I’m catching a few fish. I continue to work the Senko for about 30 minutes without any bites so I figure its time to go after some Crappie.
Because the water is kind of dirty I start throwing a 1/32
Blakemore Slab Daddy’s Crappie Jigs in the parrot head color and I proceed to get into them. I ended up catching a total of 9 of them but most of them were only about hand sized, not the “Slabs” I was hoping for but it was still fun. I did get one that went about a pound but didn’t feel like cleaning just 1 crappie so I gave it to an elderly gentleman that was fishing next to me. Time to make a move to Jophin cove to see if I can get into some bigger crappie.
Driving towards the spot, as I round the corner I notice the shoreline is pretty packed with people but I figured I’d still check it out. I pulled up and parked, then sat in my truck for about 15 minutes to see what was happening. I saw a few crappie caught but the ones I saw were the same size hand sized ones I was catching earlier so I figured why bother with the crowds and went back to Kissack.
I backed down to the shore line and tried the 8 inch Hudd for awhile before so I figured I’d give the 6 inch model a try. On my second cast I get a viscous strike, as soon as I swung to set the hook I realized that I had not tightened my drag so I didn’t stick the fish. I then tighten up the drag and continued to throw it for about 30 minutes, no love. Next its jig time, nothing. Break out the Senko. 3 casts later as I’m reeling it in fast to make another cast a bass comes rushing up but at the last second he turns away. I think he saw my mug and it scared him, HA! After a few more casts with the Senko, I break out my split shot rig, which is a
Shimano Stradic FI Spinning Reels CI4 on a G.Loomis Greenwater Spinning Rods
and on the 2nd cast he bit it. While he was only a little over 2 pounds it was still fun. I continued to fish for about another 15 minutes but by this time my knee is pretty sore from being on it so its time to call it a day. I didn’t bother taking any pictures because in my opinion I didn’t catch anything worth taking a picture of.
In my opinion the maiden voyage on my new knee was a success. Total fish count for the day, 4 bass and 9 crappie. While I didn’t get any bass worth taking pictures of it did me a lot of good mentally just to be able to get out and wet a line. Hopefully the next time I’ll be able to get to the lake early enough to rent a Pontoon boat and really wack em! I thought about heading back over today but I’m still a little sore and figure I should relax and not over due it but I will be getting back on the water very soon.
Now all I have to do is continue pushing myself at the physical therapy so I’ll soon be steady enough to take the Champion out and do some serious fishing.
Thanks for visiting my site. Be sure to tell all of your fishing buddies and come back soon
Until Next Time, Good Luck and Tight Lines To Ya!
