NorcalBassin

Had a short window to squeeze in another trip before our next series of storms and anticipated a lot of action... the fish apparently had other plans. 🫤 On a positive note, after a lot of casting practice with reaction baits I decided to tie on the new small hula grub from Yamamoto. Ended up catching a couple just before it was time to go and I'll definitely be spending more time with those this spring.

Had a 70 degree day with snow in the forecast in a couple days, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity for a quick afternoon trip. Crazy using the AC on the way out to the lake in February. 😆 First fish on a wacky senko Solid one on a Ned The girth on these spots is something to behold Another nice one on an underspin And, of course, the smallest fish of the day on a swimbait 🤣

We get them passing through pretty frequently and a couple years ago had a group of 3 that stuck around the neighborhood for weeks plucking off people's pet cats and just hanging around people's driveways even in the middle of the day. I'm guessing they were "removed" because they've never been back. Saw one run across the driveway at our old house and another cross the road in front of me, but the most eerie things were hearing their mating calls in the middle of the night (sounds like someone is being tortured) and being woken in the middle of the night by the sound of a deer getting absolutely smashed in the woods just outside our open window followed by a brief struggle and then absolute silence except for the sound of a carcass being dragged deeper into the woods. After that one the kids had armed security nearby when they were playing in the yard.

Reports are coming in that sound pretty awful with them having passed quite some time ago. Allegedly no gas leaks/CO poisoning, he had obvious signs of a fall, and she had pills all around her. Lots of speculation on what happened and it all makes a sad day even worse. RIP to a legend.

I'd take my dad and go back to Clear Lake in the 90's. He could bring bags of senkos for endless action and I'd take a few OG Deps 250's to be the first one to ever show it to them. 🙂

By no means an expert on the panhandle fisheries, but May should be prime spawn season. The bigger lakes may temporarily freeze or have certain areas that freeze, but they don't freeze over from shore to shore for the winter. Dworshak should be great but don't sleep on Coeur d'Alene or Hayden if those are a lot closer to where you'll be staying. Some of my favorite fishing days have been on Hayden.

As DB said, excellent saltwater and even steelhead fishing around there. Ruth Lake southeast of there near Mad River is your best "local" bet and a buddy of mine has had some really good trips there. Depending on which part of Humboldt County you'll be in, Clear Lake could also be well worth the drive (about 3 to 3.5 hours from the town of Eureka). Best of luck!

Home lake put every boat in a 30-day quarantine with golden mussels being "discovered" well over an hour away, and after being rather upset my annual pass was worthless the past month it lessened the sting just a tad when they decided to allow non-motorized kayaks to access the lake without any quarantine or inspection. I had a short work day and figured I'd dust off the kayak to see how the lake was doing after no pressure for the past month. Afternoon air temps were in the 60's and water temps were upper 50's... no complaints there. Only had a couple hours to fish so figured I'd start with a ned since it tends to do well here in the winter. It did not disappoint with a solid spot within the first few minutes. Not going to complain about an almost 18" spot in January! Worked my way around the bridge mindlessly casting finesse baits while taking in how odd it was to be on an empty lake. Since finesse wasn't delivering any consistent bites I figured I'd switch it up and throw a swimbait. I almost couldn't believe my hands when I felt that hit! Couldn't have been happier with that plus-sized spot and figured it was the perfect time to call it a day.

Absolutely love winter campfires out back. This one was with my youngest and Riggins playing the role of inattentive security guard. 😆

Smoked thinly sliced tritip sandwich with grilled onions and BBQ sauce. Tots on the side. 🙂

Finally got a little measurable snow up our way. Riggins was trying to eat it as it fell and the St Bernards were like what the heck is the matter with you. 😆

Nostalgic for me. Unlikely to order much from them since so many other sites have a lot more stock, better prices, and sales, but I'll keep it in my truck and enjoy flipping through it from time to time this next year while killing time. Sometimes it's just nice not being on your phone or computer.

Excellent job! Been here for nearly 15 years (holy smokes time flies!!!) and it was a pleasant surprise how quickly things were back up and running smoothly.

Crazy seeing all of that snow in Louisiana and the Gulf of America when we haven't even had a flake yet at my elevation this season. I'm sure that'll change in Feb/March, but I can't say I'll mind the near 70* temps this week.

So sorry you're having to go through this and thank you for taking the time to share the news and your thoughts with us. As has been said already, we're all here to support you with whatever you need. God bless and you'll be in my prayers.