Debra and I rented a cabin at Lake Alpine  for my birthday. We arrived at noon and checked into a “rustic” cabin at Lake Alpine resort. We turned west again for an afternoon at my favorite Hwy 4 lake.

Bottom of the ramp was 50 ft from the water but we managed to launch Bauxite Betty with a bit of wading. Wind was up and temps were mild.

Fishing was easy

Scenery spectacular as always

Water levels here are hurting. Fish bit Thomas Bouyants, Panther Martins, Kast Masters, Super Dupers,J5 Rapalas. I never touched the downriggers. We made it back to Alpine for bar food at the lounge and another Giants win.

Next morning Debra cooked breakfast burritos and we packed sandwich makings. We launched into a chock full Alpine 100 yards away from our cabin.

3 laps around the lake yielded a fish per lap. I decided to put the boat back on the trailer and we headed up to Highland Lakes. We hiked up the to Tryon Meadows and tried to win the ridge behind but snow blocked the path. Debra does not like fording streams.

The last half mile of the road to Highland was blocked by snow but should be open in 1-2 weeks. We stopped and fished the Mokolumne on the way down to Alpine. The river was in fine shape but I suck at stream fishing.

Dinner that night at Serafina’s Kitchen in Arnold. Well worth the drive down the mountain.
I took a couple of casts back at Alpine where hundreds of risers were slurping something on top.

That’s my idea of a birthday.