Friday, Douglas, a friend and co-worker of mine is also a semi-pro bass angler (Fresno Bass Angler of the Year, 2009) and also the proud owner of a new $72,000 Ranger Bass Boat (Yikes!
). So, he invited me along for a day on Bass Lake, a beautiful lake about an hour or so northeast of Fresno. I went with him there a couple of years ago and the fishing was pretty good. Three years ago he caught two 11# plus bass with 20 minutes of each other. So, I'm always stoked to go with him. He knows I love fly fishing and of course, I certainly bragged about the assortment of fish I caught in the saltwater in Key West. He asked me to bring along a fly rod to see how I do. It was forecasted for wind that day on the lake, but I had hoped to get some fly fishing in before it kicked up and I would be forced to swap over to conventional bass fishing gear. I was not disappointed.
Douglas looking comfortable behind the steering wheel as we headed out across the lake.
He found a good cove immediately and it wasn't long before I got into the bass. The first one made both of us chuckle.
I had tried several different flies, but this unique clouser I picked up while in Key West was certainly the hot ticket for the day. The water was usually about 6' to 10', but the bass could come up from the bottom and just slam the lures and flies. The lake's clarity was good, not great, but I was still able to see every bass that hit the fly and many, many more that just came up for a look and passed.
The quality of my fly caught bass got better.
We spent a lot of time casting in and around private docks. I was using a 13# leader and doing well. However, imagine my surprise when a very large fattie came up and snacked on the fly, only to swim off with the fly still in its mouth. You should have heard me, "Take it, take it. Yes! S***! It broke the line!
" We both saw it and agreed it was the biggie of the day. This was the quality of fish Douglas was catching on several different lures he was using that day.
All in all, I probably caught about 8 bass on flies before I swapped to conventional gear. Two reasons. 1. Wind started kicking up, and 2. Casting an 8 wt. for about 6 hours straight is tiresome on the ol' arm. Douglas always fishes from super early in the morning until exactly 3:00 p.m. That's the time when his bass tournaments end and he just like to keep it real.
Like I said earlier, Bass Lake is a beautiful lake and unquestionably with me, but some of the most unique and luxurious houses I've ever seen in Central CA surround that lake. Here's a pic of the Pine Resort, a very nice place that we stayed in for my birthday a couple of Aprils ago. Does anybody recognize it as the report from the movie, The Great Outdoors" with John Candy?
Just a lost shot as we headed back across the lake to the boat ramp and called it a day.
I would have to say, we probably caught 40 - 45 bass that day. My 8 on the fly and about another 10 on conventional bass tackle. Of course, Douglas just killed me on sheer numbers, like he always does, and that's OK. Now, it's time for me to take my boat back up there with Denise and see how we do.
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