I launched near the New Melones Lake Visitor Center. Just turn off on Melones Ct. off of Highway 49. It is for hand launching only. No boats with trailers. Water levels are on the rise and there is debris in the water so drive slow as there are lots of trees and branches some of which are hard to see. Non issue if you are in a Kayak. Trolling required frequent stops to clear debris from the lines but I was still able to catch several Trout.
I had success with about a three inch trout imitation lure however the best luck came on the Fly rod. I trolled with an intermediate line 1.5mph ish, with what appears to be a trout imitation fly. Not even sure where I obtained that fly. It was the third fly I tried in my box. Since it looked a little like a trout and since I had already caught one fish on the trout imitation I figured why not. You can watch the video here.
I used my Hobie Live Well for the 1st time. I learned it will not start pumping on its own. I added about a three foot hose inside and primed it by sucking a few times on the hose to get it going. Good thing it was lake water. Ended up sucking up some water and debris. I plan to install a longer hose next time which should help reduce sucking up water and will allow me to use the hose to wash out the Kayak. Could have used the hose to wash out sand and fish blood on more than one occasion. It will be a nice addition. I was impressed though with the live well. It ran nonstop for about 5 hours and kept a trout alive the whole time which is not easy as they tend to die easily. Normally I would just put them on a stringer but I wanted to test it out.
I logged Sonar on my Lowrance Elite 7 Ti. If you look close you might even be able to ascertain where I caught some of my fish. What's nice about logging the Sonar and uploading it to GoFree is not only can you see the contours and sonar history, but you can recall where you fished, the water, wind and air temps.As you can see in the data below I fished for 7 hours. Didn't seem that long. My legs held up well considering the length of time I was out there and the fact that I am not in very good shape right now. It is a testament to how nice the Mirage Drive performs. Love it!
Note to self. Stop and explore. Get out of the Kayak and walk around for a few. There was a couple interesting areas where there was some old structures, running water and I hear there is some interesting crystal rocks or whatever they are called. I tried for Bass using a Berkley Power worm in natural and dark with blue flake and only one take down on the blue flake. I have some lessons to learn if I am going to catch Winter bass here. Try to work improve on the Camera mount location and angle. The GoPro Superview mode may be too wide.
