Fall Guys Trout Tournament

Well as you know, there has been a recent addition to my family and that means that fishing time is at a premium. Fotunately my wife was nice enough to let me attend the Fall Guys Trout tournament last weekend at Amador Lake.

When I arrived at Amador Lake, I was pleased to see a nice turnout of folks and lots of new faces. All in all I think there were about 20 people entered. We hit the water at 7:00 sharp. I could not have been more excited. I knew from reading fishing reports that the lake was full of trout, which should make for a great day of fishing. I was also excited to try out the new track system I had installed at Headwaters Kayak Shop.

Sweet track and rod holder setup I had installed at

Headwaters.

I paddled out of the launch ramp cove and deployed 2 rods, one with a 2 inch Powergrub with no weight and one with my trusty cowbells tipped with a nightcrawler. Almost immediately I saw other people catch fish. I had to anxiously wait about 15 minutes before I got my first hook up on a the grub. Whew! One in the boat, the pressure is off.

I continued trolling the grub and switched the other rod out to a wooly grubber. I had a few more strikes on the grub, but nothing would stick. This problem was compounded by the fact that you could see fish hitting the surface eveywhere. Hours passed. I kept changing lures, but no luck. It is now 11:00 and after talking to some of the other anglers, I was getting nervous. I  bumped into Adam Coons, another member of the fishing team and asked if he had had any recent action. He said he had just had a strike on a crankbait. I already had a rod rigged with a shad style crankbait and I tied a Diawa DC Shiner on the other rod and paddled the length of the lake back to the dam. About halfway back the rod with the DC shiner on it sang out. Fish on! I started reeling my second rod in, the line snagged on something in the kayak. I set that rod down so I cou.d reel in the fish. As I'm fighting the fish I hear the sound of a rod sliding across the deck and plunk. I quickly grasp the line and rap it around a hook on the kayak, all the while still fighting the fish. I finally get the fish in and get it secured on the stringer. Now to deal with my deep sixed rod. Unfortunately I had the drag set really loose so that when a fish struck I could hear it. Fortunately the rod that went over was for bass and reel was spooled with 15lb test. I was able to retrieve the rod by spooling the reel and pulling it up by the loop of line tied to the reel spool. My lucky day.

Now that that was over, back to fishing. I let the DC shiner out again and 10 minutes later the reel sang out. I got that fish boated and another angler offered to take a pic of me. I lifted the fish out of the net and the fish gave one last giant kick, which was just enough to free it from my grasp. Into the water it went. Oh no! Luckily the fish hit the water and just floated, so I was able to re net it. Yet another calamity averted. It is now about 12:00. Thankfully I now have three fish in the boat. I let the DC Shiner out again. About 20 minutes later I got another srike. I slowed down to let the fish grab the lure again. I then look over my shoulder to see a massive pontoon boat bearing down on me. I paddled out of the way quickly. No fish is worth getting keel hauled.

The lure I owe my 3rd place to.

  I ended the day with 3 trout, the largest was 16 3/4 inches. That was enough to put me in 3rd. I was a happy camper. Thanks to Jim for hosting the event and thanks to Headwaters for the awesome track rigging.

-Bill