Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

[Jlawsen]

This years planter steelhead moved further down and the adults are now at the no ski bouys on the main arm. It took less than a week for them to move out of the creeks and into the cooler waters. The warm weather we've been having is the most likely culprit.

The adult fish are deep right now but some smaller fish are being caught around 25'. My hunch on using the T-4 flat fish didn't pan out and after an hour of dragging them over plenty of nice fish I switched back to a large uncle larrys with a half of mini night crawler drug with 4 colors of 18lb lead core and a 15' 14lb mono leader. Five fish were caught, three were between 4-5 lbs and the two that I had to keep were about 1lb. The two fish in the pic could not be revived despite a all my efforts. The top one lost his lower lip in the fight. The bottom one (the heart breaker) just wouldn't swim out of my hand. The limit is two per day on the Steelies and the one on top was the last fish of the morning. A lot of guys take 5 this size thinking they're rainbow trout but the game warden knows better and if you get caught the fine is nasty. The spots are solid black for those of you that don't know and the anal fin has 13 or better rays.

The uncle larry was orange,green and perch with black spots. I was using my two 8'6" G-loomis model STR 1024C's with a Diawa Luna 300 on one and a Shimano Curaddo 300 on the other the lead core was on the Luna and 14lb Sunline mono was on the Curaddo and it was on the down rigger. I would have like to put the Ultra-Light out but I decided I didn't want to have to chase a fat fish in that fog. It didn't lift until almost 9:00am.

I also ran a Jay Fair florescent orange with perch fly off the down rigger at 75, 50 and 35 feet. It got a lot of attention netting 3 nice 3-4 lb fish but nothing above 35' touched it.

The fog was back in form this morning also.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

Give those fish to NGT so he can use them for cut bait for those killer cannibalistic hot dog eating goldfish!

The smaller ones are the best eats anyway, not so many toxins.

The good thing about fog is that it hates wind and they don't hang out together.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

The wind did come up about 8:30 per usually and all the fog on the lower end blew up to where I was. The fog on that lake, this time of year is smoke on the water fog so it takes a pretty good breeze to get it moving. Once the surface temps drop a degree or so it starts to move out.

Those two fish were running pretty deep and the oxygen levels were low down there. It was kinda wierd that they were feeding in what was obviously an exhausted state. The top one fought decent but the bottom one just came up without much resistance at all. I pretty much new he was a goner before I put him in the boat. Two out of nine isn't a very good record for that lake considering the population I saw on the scope. The bigger fish can handle it down there but the small ones can't.

 

[ngt]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

Give those fish to NGT so he can use them for cut bait for those killer cannibalistic hot dog eating goldfish!

I seem to have made an impression on this guy.

Anyways, sounds like you had a good time out there. Sorry I missed it. Family time was good though. Not catching 4-5lb fish good, but I'm glad I got to spend some time with the folks.

Couldn't wait for the kit in the mail so I grabbed a cheap bobbin and used a wobbly alligator clip on an old soldering station. Made it a bit tough, but I made my first two black woolly buggers and although they're definitely nothing to show off, they're fishable! One with a lead inner, and one without. Both with copper beads. Fun stuff. I can't wait for that kit. Thanks again for getting me going on that.

Was that the same Uncle Larry as last time? I picked one of those up when I was in there, but I have a few weeks before I'm looking into a reel that can hold the lead core and fish like that.

That fog looks thick! How was the ramp?

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

Eric, the fog was thick as pea soup until about 8:30am then it cleared off. The guys that I saw going out were all very cautious so I went ahead and just trolled from behind the break wall to the no-ski bouys and then worked that area. After an hour of nothing on the T-4 Flat Fish I switched to the Uncle Larry's on lead core but I shortened the leader up to about 15 feet. I hooked up on the first fish and I'm pretty sure the shorter leader meant less stretch and a better hookup. I think that meant that using a rubber snubber would have been going in the wrong direction for these fish. I had them but didn't use them. I ran a traditional Eagle Lake rig on the down rigger which is running it 50' back and using a SEP's 2/0 watermellon flasher with a Jay Fair orange fly about 4 feet behind that. That hooked up at deeper depths but didn't work at all at 25' and up. The Uncle Larry's orange/green with black spots and a touch of perch worked for 25' and up and that was 4 colors of lead core.

I run the Shimano Currado 300 and the Diawa Luna 300 but I ran a Shimano Bantam 50 for years and it served me well. I still have it on my back bouncer (the rod with an excessive number of eyes on it).

As for the ramp, it was fine at 5:30am but at 10:30 it was a mess. Not a single boat in the waiting line was ready to launch and they were backed up all the way to the top of the hill. And to top that off everybody was strapping their boats down on the ramp when they pulled out. It made a 4 lane ramp into a two lane but do you think anyone thought they might be part of the problem... NOoooo.

 

[ngt]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

I went back to the reels when we were at the shop and saw your Diawa Luna 300. Nice looking reel. They're liking that orange down there I guess huh.

How much of a depth difference does a 25 foot leader make, as opposed to the 50 foot we were hitting them on last time?

Are all busy public ramps that screwed up when the sun comes out or does Lake Sonoma just bring in a crowd of winners every Saturday at about that time? You'd think people would eventually figure out that the top lot is for more than just parking after you launch.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

It's funny, I've fished that same color crank bait and have done good on Small Mouth there too. I think the night crawler has a little to do with it.. LOL..

As for 25 vs. 50. There are a lot of factors in play. Speed is probably the biggest factor. The shorter the leader the closer you can estimate the depth of the lead core but the slower you go the more lead core depth you get. Mono's float at different rates which is why a lot of people prefer FC leaders that don't float. However, water is non-compressable so there will always be some lift depending on the mass.

I guess the closest guess would be twice the depth loss with 50 vs. 25. I can see the leader and lead core on the side scan sonar and a 15' usually runs up about 6' with just a fly or a threaded worm. Not sure what Uncle Larry's lift rate is but it is a spinner so I would suspect there's quite a bit more lift. Next time out I'll give you the facts at different speeds.

All public boat ramps are about the same around here. I can't speak for other states. Here's the suprise, people with fishing rigs are just as much to blame as anyone. The 3.00 per day launch fee is why Sonoma gets so screwed up. If the Marina ramp was in decent shape I'd pay the annual dues and join. They have their problems too but the cost keeps it down.

Over at Berryessa you have the public free ramp at Capell. The rest are private and run 20.00 per day for launching. Last time I was up at Mendocino it was free and a lot like Sonoma.

I'm probably not going to go much now until mid October. These mid summer runs have given me good insight as to what fall is going to be like and since Eagle will only have one, free, single lane, public ramp I think I'll make this next one a stay near home vacation and pray for a rainy winter up north.

 

[ngt]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

Thanks for the info! Like I said, trolling is all new to me, as is the gear you're using. Seems to work well though.

I hope your friends up there get a nice rainy winter as well.

As for the ramp stuff, makes sense. The free ramps out in napa can get interesting, but a lot less pleasure boaters out there.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

Gonna stay home this weekend. It's another amature boating weekend and the ramp is going to be a mess. Sort of ruins the day if you know what I mean.

 

[harley707]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

Always wondered why that ramp is such a cluster. A lot of people don't get the system and don't understand etiquet at boat ramps be ready before you arrive use staging area located away from ramp before and after luanching.
There should be rules that Must be followed and each person using a public boat ramp should and must posses a lauching license before being able to launch a boat. This would save a lot of head aches and arguments.

Ps If I see someone walking up the ramp I will always ask if they need a lift. Helping someone out at any ramp brings good mojo and maybe they will pass it on.

Lake sonoma public Ramp does get way to much RAMP RAGE

 

[pdgs]

Re: Lake Sonoma, Ca 8-12-12 05:45-10:30

Always wondered why that ramp is such a cluster. A lot of people don't get the system and don't understand etiquet at boat ramps be ready before you arrive use staging area located away from ramp before and after luanching.
There should be rules that Must be followed and each person using a public boat ramp should and must posses a lauching license before being able to launch a boat. This would save a lot of head aches and arguments.

Ps If I see someone walking up the ramp I will always ask if they need a lift. Helping someone out at any ramp brings good mojo and maybe they will pass it on.

Lake sonoma public Ramp does get way to much RAMP RAGE

It's pretty nice this time of year except when people don't realize the proper thing to do is put you boat on the other side of the dock if you're by yourself. It may take a couple of minutes longer to do that but that keeps people moving. I laugh at people that come in off the road, go straight to the ramp and then launch. They have no idea how bad that is on their trailer bearings when those hot hubs suck that water in. I pull directly into the parking lot, take my time getting my boat ready so my hubs cool down and I have time to check to make sure everything is ready. Then I go launch and I'm in and out in just a couple of minutes.

If I'm not blocked in, I walk my boat around to the other side of the dock and pull it as far forward as I can. Then I take my rig up to the parking lot and walk back down. When I load I put my boat on the far side of the dock, walk up and get my truck. Then I drive my boat onto the trailer. I don't have to power it on because my trailer is setup correctly so I can just ease on to it and then crank it up. If it takes more than 5 minutes I'd be suprised. I stop on the side about half way up the ramp, pull the plug and adjust the boat on the trailer if needed then I go up to the parking lot in a vacant parking spot way at the end of the lot and get the boat ready to tow home.