Despite the  dire weather forecast I loaded up the boat and launched at Markley Cove to an empty parking lot. C’mon people you are not gonna melt!

My first stop I lucked out and found bass busting shad up top and it was on. I was throwing 4 inch white Zoom Flukes on a crappie jig head into the boils. I was fishing an ultralight 4 lb test rig. Serious fun.

Rain came and went sometimes absolutely pouring but I had the top up and side windows zipped in so stayed comfortable. I just switched to trolling the banks when it was too wet to be up on the trolling motor.

Lake is full and beautiful and I had it to myself.

.

Shiny Happy People. Congratulations to the newlyweds.

Epic road trip#432

Sunday morning Debra walked downstairs at 8 AM fully and nattily dressed for work. I informed her that it was in fact Sunday. She changed clothes and we took off in the white car for a Napa drive. We enjoyed lunch in Calistoga at Lovina. Highly recommended. We then took Deer Park road up to Angwin and over to Pope Valley.

This is an outstanding drive. I was wishing I was on a motorcycle. We ended up at Beryyessa.

Bits of brown showing on the hills now that summer is creeping in. The lake is chock full and spilling.

We took the back way from Berry to Fairfield instead of going through Winters. This trip was a fantastic tour of the twisties and is well worth a day.

Our debut live bait trip for 2019 went well. Henny and MIke joined us at the dock early Saturday morning.

. We picked up bait at Pier 45 around 8 AM and ran over to Angel which we had to ourselves. We picked up one keeper there.

We ran to the City Yacht fuel dock for wallet lightening. For some reason we burped a bit of  diesel into the water which freaked out the propietor to the extent that I stopped fueling at half full. We then motored over to Treasure Island and picked up another keeper in tight to the rockwall.

We joined the fleet on the Berkeley flats for an hour or so but nothing there. At lunch we crossed under the Bay Bridge and spent the rest of the day collecting 2 more keepers and missing a couple between the bridge and the shipping terminal.

We were boarded by the Coasties but all was good. Mike did all the fish cleaning while I tidied up the Mighty Peridot.

Debra made Asian Style Halibut last night with Pineapple fried rice. AMAZING.

R and I spent a very productive 3 days on a very full Lake Oroville.

Water temp ranged from 64-70 degrees. Weather was mild, wind manageable. Spotted bass were on the chew. We fished middle and south forks mostly. Every tree held fish and there was a lot of trees in the water. We stayed at Feather Falls Casino KOA which was very convenient. I was surprised how good the food was at the Brewery in the casino.

We made a quick run to Pyramid to get the cobwebs off the RV. We were blessed with a visit from Prodigal Daughter +1.

I could not muster the energy to hook up the boat 2 days in a row so I loaded some surf gear and headed west. CudaMan wanted a go

Stopped for a break at Larkspur Landing to see if any stripers were around

Out Sir Francis Drake to Pt Reyes Station for breakfast. Quick stop in Inverness for the cliche shot

The wildflowers are just beginning to pop

Peeped some notacows

Out at the end of the point is a small turnout with a cliffside bench and a view from Bodega Bay to the Farallones down to Pacifica. I saw a dozen whales in a half hour.

I could hang here for hours. On the way back I rolled out to Tomales Pt.

Restful day. Never got my fishing gear out.

I have been fishing some tasty water lately. With all the rain this year the lakes are alive.  I will claim that the beauty of this place in spring is so distracting my fishing success has suffered. The wildflowers are just getting started. In a couple of weeks there will be carpets

I met Jerry at 7 AM at Glory Hole Sports. Blue sky, 40 degrees at blastoff and a full beautiful lake. We spent too much time in Carson but I managed a couple of spots there on Baby Brush Hogs at 30 feet.

Nothing on the bobber. Had an  issue with the Neutral Safety switch. Motor no start. Started trolling with the electric motor back towards the ramp while dragging trout gear thinking it might be an early day. At the mouth of the creek arm I managed to get it started after messing with the shifter so we headed back to Coyote. 54 degree water back there and no bites. We then hit the cove below the visitor center near the 49er bridge. Looked SO FISHY but was dead. We tried crankbaits, spinnerbaits, brush hogs. Beautiful afternoon with Bald Eagles and Ospreys making a showing. Wildflowers starting to pop big time all over. At this point we made a big move to the spillway. Jerry set up the stove and worked up some fresh biscuits, chicken fried steaks and gravy for lunch while  I spot locked and fished some drowned trees.

  After lunch we headed to the dam where he switched to a 3 inch white fluke  carolina rigged and got a small spot to break the skunk.

Next fish was much nicer and really lit up in spring color.

And again on the fluke

Being no fool I switched to a 4 inch fluke. We picked up a few more fish. On the trailer at 5 PM.  Next trip likely halibuts on the bay.

Pleasanton to 132. 132 east to Don Pedro. Pedro to McLure. Couterville north on 49 past Moccasin. Over New Melones and ended up at at Jackson Rancheria.

Bridge over Tuolomne