Headwaters Fishing Team: Spicer Meadows Night Paddling, Camping and Fishing

Spicer Meadow Reservoir July 27-29^th

^{Over the weekend I had a chance to
mix two of my favorite hobbies kayaking and camping, which I have done many
times separately but never camped out of a kayak. I also threw in a little fishing when Bam and
I went up to New Spicer Meadow Reservoir.
On Saturday the 27th Bam and I loaded up our Headwaters shop borrowed
kayaks, the Jackson Cuda 14 and the Eddyline Caribbean 14 and set off for
Spicer. The Caribbean is one of my
favorite boats in the shop for its light weight and sleek design. I knew the 7 mile paddle to the other side of
the lake wouldn’t be as tough with this great boat. Dan Arbuckle came through for me with dry
bags and showing me the proper way to load the Caribbean 14 with all of my
gear. The important thing is to make
sure the load you are carrying is as close to the middle as possible so the
weight is not all in the bow or stern. I was able to put all of my gear inside or on
top of the boat with plenty of room to spare.}

Geoff and Bam ready for adventure!

Loaded up and ready for a late night paddle.

^{We left Lodi Ca, at 6:30 pm and were
at the lake by 9:30 and on the water by 10:15.
This was my first night paddle without the help of a full moon. The paddle was exhilarating and really gets
your senses going when you cannot see that well. Good thing Bam knew where to go!   Spicer is a smaller canyon type lake and the
stars were out in force that night with the Milky Way very prominent in the
sky.   Another cool aspect of this lake
is the back half does not allow motor boats of any kind even trolling motors.   We
made it to the end of the lake around 12:30 am found a great campsite started a
small fire and grilled up some food before heading to bed. The beautiful part about Spicer is there was
nobody at the back of the lake. We could
have chosen anywhere to set up camp.}

Geoff enjoying a little down time around the fire.

^{I woke up to lots of buzzing around
my tent and realized the bees were working hard carrying pollen from the tall
green plants surrounding the shore and wanted no business with us.   When Bam and I checked out the lake the
trout were reacting well to hatching Callibaetis. There was no wind in the morning and
conditions were great to fish. We
quickly got to the lake and Bam set up his fly and me with a panther
martin.   I think we slept in too much
though as soon as we got going the wind picked up and the callibaetis took of
for the shores.   We paddled to the where
the creek came in to the lake and Bam hiked a bit to check out the creek and I
stayed in the lake and kept at it with my panther. I finally caught my first fish in almost two
decades when I caught a nice trout. We
tried a little trolling but by the early afternoon the wind was really picking
up and never died down till well past sunset.}

Bam trolling a fly line.

12"er

Geoff doing his thing.

^{We ended up cooking up that trout
with some scrambled eggs and potatoes and had a great breakfast. Sleep caught up with the both of us and I woke
up and Bam had a rainbow trout on the stringer.
He tried a bit of trolling with the Cuda 14 but still the wind would not
let up. We feasted that night on trout,
grilled chicken and sausage. Life just
seems so much better when you have skewered meats sizzling over an open fire
out in the middle of nowhere. The next morning had us scrambling to break
down camp load our boats and get on the water before the winds showed up. We made it about two thirds of the way back
before we got walloped with the wind. We
made it to the boat ramp and loaded boats and headed down the hill after a
great camping trip. Bam was great at
getting me set up for fishing and I enjoyed camping with someone who loves it
as much as I do. If you are looking for
a great place to kayak and camp with no crowds, and throw some trout fishing
in, Spicer is my recommendation.}