Pelhament
05-21-2008, 05:43 PM
Brandon, and I went on a 5 day trip to Shasta lake last week with 14 other guys. This is an annual trip that Brandon's step-dad's dad started back in their 20's. We get a three story houseboat, and 5 or 6 guys bring their fishing boats, and we fish, bs, eat great food, and drink lots of alcohol. Its a blast. Brandon and I are probably the most hardcore when it comes to fishing and were on the water at least 6-7 hours a day. With 110 degree heat it made a it a little more difficult to stay out there but we still found plenty of time to fish, and probably averaged 35ish fish a day.
The most abundant fish is the spotted bass, but we both landed a few smallmouth, I got the only largemouth and sunfish and Brandon landed a pig of a Catfish. We were mainly finesse fishing 4-5in. plastic worms. We found that natural colors worked the best, but we also threw some spinner baits and repalas. We found fish busting bait near the surface and would grab our repalas or spinnner baits and target the bait balls. It was a blast, that is where we landed our biggest fish, including my largemouth and Brandon's cat.
The catfish was one of the most amazing fishing experiences I have ever witnessed. Brandon and I were following bait balls up and down the banks catching bass after bass. Brandon was casting a shad color suspending repala jerkbait (X-Rap) and I was casting the fire tiger version. He was casting to the left of the ball and I to the right trying to keep them bunched up, when all of the sudden Brandon's rod doubled over and line started screaming off the reel. The wind was picking up a little and we weren't anchored or using a trolling motor, so we were at the mercy of the wind. Brandon knew he had a big fish when he couldn't move it, and it just kept ripping line of the reel. We were in the back of a cove with lots of submerged trees. The fish wrapped himself around one of the limbs and Brandon thought he had lost it when his rod doubled over again. The fish worked its way out of the tree and came near the surface belly up, and we both shouted a few expletives as we thought we were witnessing the biggest bass either of us had ever seen. The fish took off again and wrapped itself around a second limb and then the rod went limp. Brandon went to his knees thinking he had the lost the bass of a lifetime. Both of our adrenaline was rushing and it was hard to believe that the fish was gone. Brandon lifted his rod and bam, it doubled over again. He worked it around the limb and then we saw what it was. A huge channel cat with a repala cleanly pegged to the inside of his jaw. I grabbed the net, instantly realizing it was completely inadequate for this beast. I netted its head and Brandon tailed it like a steelhead. It look even bigger once we got it out of the water, and weighed in at 11lbs 13oz. We were hooping and hollering, giving high fives and just pumped to have landed this fish. We took it back to the houseboat to show it off to everyone and took a couple pics, then let it go to make more catfish babies.
It was a great trip all around, lots of fun, good company and great fishing. Here are a few pics of the fish we caught while were out. The spotted bass are very plentiful but not that big, I think 75% of the fish we caught were 1lb or less. This is Brandon, his brother, his dad and I with some of our larger fish.
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0964.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0963.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0961.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0960.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0959.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0958.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0957.JPG
The most abundant fish is the spotted bass, but we both landed a few smallmouth, I got the only largemouth and sunfish and Brandon landed a pig of a Catfish. We were mainly finesse fishing 4-5in. plastic worms. We found that natural colors worked the best, but we also threw some spinner baits and repalas. We found fish busting bait near the surface and would grab our repalas or spinnner baits and target the bait balls. It was a blast, that is where we landed our biggest fish, including my largemouth and Brandon's cat.
The catfish was one of the most amazing fishing experiences I have ever witnessed. Brandon and I were following bait balls up and down the banks catching bass after bass. Brandon was casting a shad color suspending repala jerkbait (X-Rap) and I was casting the fire tiger version. He was casting to the left of the ball and I to the right trying to keep them bunched up, when all of the sudden Brandon's rod doubled over and line started screaming off the reel. The wind was picking up a little and we weren't anchored or using a trolling motor, so we were at the mercy of the wind. Brandon knew he had a big fish when he couldn't move it, and it just kept ripping line of the reel. We were in the back of a cove with lots of submerged trees. The fish wrapped himself around one of the limbs and Brandon thought he had lost it when his rod doubled over again. The fish worked its way out of the tree and came near the surface belly up, and we both shouted a few expletives as we thought we were witnessing the biggest bass either of us had ever seen. The fish took off again and wrapped itself around a second limb and then the rod went limp. Brandon went to his knees thinking he had the lost the bass of a lifetime. Both of our adrenaline was rushing and it was hard to believe that the fish was gone. Brandon lifted his rod and bam, it doubled over again. He worked it around the limb and then we saw what it was. A huge channel cat with a repala cleanly pegged to the inside of his jaw. I grabbed the net, instantly realizing it was completely inadequate for this beast. I netted its head and Brandon tailed it like a steelhead. It look even bigger once we got it out of the water, and weighed in at 11lbs 13oz. We were hooping and hollering, giving high fives and just pumped to have landed this fish. We took it back to the houseboat to show it off to everyone and took a couple pics, then let it go to make more catfish babies.
It was a great trip all around, lots of fun, good company and great fishing. Here are a few pics of the fish we caught while were out. The spotted bass are very plentiful but not that big, I think 75% of the fish we caught were 1lb or less. This is Brandon, his brother, his dad and I with some of our larger fish.
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0964.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0963.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0961.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0960.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0959.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0958.JPG
http://www.westfly.com/photopost/data/500/medium/100_0957.JPG