Giving MVL A Go

Tuesday was the trout opener at Mission Viejo Lake which was postponed several months due to golden algae bloom.  The day was a perfect day for tout fishing, cool and overcast.  I recently picked up a new full sink line on his recommendation after fishing with Luc at Canyon Lake and wanted to try it out.  I figured most of these trout would still be acclimatizing to the new water and would be in shallows so I brought my 5 weight and a slower sinking line.  I'm glad I did as all the fish were in less than a few feet of water.

It took us a while but we found the pods.  They were still finicky and I only managed one trout two and a half pound 15 inch trout and a five pound catfish.  Unfortunately my fishing buddy came home with the skunk.

Will Always Remember Her First

On the day before New Year's Eve, my niece's full last day in California, I decided to take her our fishing in an attempt to get her her first fish.  I knew Mission Viejo Lake had recently stocked the day prior and I called my mate to see if he could get us in.  Without hesitation he obliged.  Since I do not own any fishing equipment other than fly I asked if he could bring his spin gear and some powerbait.

I planned on both Chul and I fish flies and Juliette mess around with the spin gear.  It was not long before we were on a fish.  Chul had casted the rod for her and in no time at all was on a fish.  He handled the rod to Juliette and guided her on fighting the fish.

We landed the 15 inch Tailwater stocker in my new Brodin net.  We ready our selves for pictures to text back to her parents.  After a few I lost the grip of the rainbow and as it flopped around in the boat it scaring her somewhat.  But it was not long before she regained her confidence and began admiring her first catch.

The fishing essentially shutdown after that and both fly fishermen came home without a catch.  After two hours we called it a day.  I've never seen Juliette so proud and excited.  When we came home she could not help but let everyone know how she did and to show off her first fish.  We had planned to watch the new Star Wars movie together in the afternoon but decided to memorialize her catch and make a gyotaku print of the fish instead.

MVL In A Sorry State

Orange County's once premier private bass lake has died.  Golden algae has devastated the fish population.  Mass die offs happened earlier this year, halting trout plants.   As a result Mission Viejo Lake recently began planting tilapia and catfish.  Since neither Chul or I had ever caught a tilapia on a fly, we thought we'd give it a shot.  What a waste.  We have never seen the water in such a sorry state.  It's quite a shame.  All the fish we saw were died ones floating on the surface.  One at the docks which was a tiny sunfish and later a 2 pound catfish.  We were told the tilapia were holding deep.  Without a fish finder and armed with only 5 weights with 150 and 220 grain heads it was pointless.

Not Like It Used To Be

The Salamander Fly (now tied with braided chenille) got a lot of looks but just was only pushed off beds without any takes.

Yesterday we fished Mission Viejo.  Most bass at MVL are off their beds with only small fish remaining.  Water color is Hulk green and visibility is about ten feet.  After speaking with a few bass fishermen their experiences haven been like ours and can be explained with one word.  Lousy.  The dock attendants have let us know that mortality has been high for the big bass.  We only saw one big bass that was off her bed and was cruising.  The lake has changed that I have no interest in returning anytime this year.  I got a lot of looks and chases but no takes.  Chul managed a trout sized juvenile on my 3 weight.

Nothing But Frustration At MVL

It can be easily argued that this guy had a better day than us.



The only thing not rising today were the fish.  The mercury was rising.  Our blood pressures were rising.  My frustration level was rising.  First its the middle of January and it's 90 degrees out.  I had my fan on last night as I slept.  While I don't want Minnesota winters, I do want it at least feel like a winter.  I hadn't sweated this much fishing since the summer. 

Hooking percentages increase when you don't fish with bent hooks.

Nothing went our way.  We fished for a couple hours trying to get one of the bruiser bass or monster bluegill to take.  None would give us the time of day.  With all this hot weather we were unsure whether this fish were staging up for an early spawn or if they were just trying to tease us.   After a couple hours of mindless casting and stripping we gave up on the bass and tried our luck on the stock trout.  Chul and Ben fished for stockers last Friday and found them at a corner of the lake.  As there were two boats moored there, the fish must have not moved.  We anchored to the very left of them and started to fish.  Both Chul and I got bumps but failed to connect.  While we were fishing a boat cruises up to us, given his course it looked like he was about to cruise over our fishing hole and lines.  I thought to myself that no one could be that stupid and inconsiderate.  He'll turn and go around us.  Nope.  He cruised right over our lines spooking all the fish that were starting to bite.  He anchors right next to us.  If it were for the fact that he had two young daughters with him, he may have gotten an earful from me.

With my blood pressure now at critical levels, my casting, my fish striking, my patience were all suffering.  For the next hour or so I had to be stuck near a guy that I wanted to cuss out and watch him and his girls catch fish after fish on powerbait.  If it wasn't bad enough he had to poach our spot now I had to watch him catch fish there too.  There apparently is no such thing as karma.  To cap the day off Chul mysteriously broke his Winston 6 weight.  He didn't even know it was snapped until he started stripping some line in and saw his tip was missing.

Other than a day or two last year, Mission Viejo had been fishing poorly.  It has continued to the new year.  We don't intend on returning anytime soon.

MVL A Bust. A Dink Apiece.

I Forgot To Give Me New Creation A Dip.

We hit Mission Viejo Lake to see if the "trout opener" got the bass into a feeding mood.  The lake was stocked last Thursday and again on Saturday.  We had hoped that the addition of trout to the lake would get the Big Ole Bass to come out and get on some real protein.  On my first cast I managed a 9 inch dink juvenile bass.  Nothing for the rest of the two hours we fished.  Chul lost a couple trout and finally got a dink bass roughly the same size as mine to hand.  Frustrating.  We were told that the trout stocking was not very successful as the trout were mishandled and a good percentage of them died. 

Small Fry

The Small Fry Fly

Could be the smallest bass ever caught on a 7 weight.

After lunch at the Habit I headed south to meet Chul at MVL.  Now that we have a fish finder I was hoping to find and get on some of the pigs that are roaming those waters or at least get on some of the big bluegills.  Last month I can up the idea of fishing tiny fry patterns as bass and bluegill have recently spawned.  I figured since MVL has no shad or any type of baitfish, these fish must be feeding on fry and smaller fish to maintain their diet when trout is no longer stocked.  Off the bat Chul managed a trout sized bass within the first few casts.  A good sign I thought but I was later proved wrong.  Today was a joke.  Chul managed only that fish and missed a half a dozen more.  I started to get bite when I tied my Small Fry as a trailer to my Fugly S.O.B.  I didn't keep count but I must have had a dozen dinks none bigger than 3/4 pounds on the trailer and one on the Fugly.  What a joke.   I guess we can look on the bright side at least we didn't have to carry the pram in 100 degrees, more than 500 yards in soft sand.  Still it sucked. 

 

Water was 77 degrees slightly off colored with a minor breeze.  Most fish were metered at about 10 feet to 30 feet.  After finding pigs at 30 feet I'm starting to think its time to invest in a fast full sink line just for lakes like this. 

A Rough Season Continues

We fished MVL this afternoon and like most of our recent outings it was brutal.  A pair of dink bass for the both of us was all we could show for our efforts.  Tight lipped bass were not  our only problem but strong winds that prevented our boat from making a decent drift and playing havoc on our casts.

"Ricky Rangers"

With the skunk still reeking from last Friday's outing, I wanted to get on some fish.  The easiest and cheapest option is to fish my local brown water.  I had called Greg to see if he wanted to fish as I owed him an outing and he was in.  He managed his best outing ever with three to hand and three lost.  I, in the other hand, had one of my worst.   Skunked.  I had one on for a it's initial run but popped off.  I missed several more.  Carp is usually easy for me (at least here) but I'm having a hell of a time getting one this year.  Albeit part of the reason is I'm not fishing the most opportune times or gear.  Greg was fighting his last fish when someone who works for flood control came and told us we couldn't fish here.  I was done for the day and was in no mood to argue with him so Greg landed his fish and we left.  "Ricky Ranger" is so full of shit.  There are no signs stating that fishing is prohibited.  He claimed that DFG (now DFW) regulated them and "natural habitat" so its off limits to fishing.  It's protected.  Who the fuck protects carp?  No one.  Such bullshit.  When I got home Greg emailed me the regs that actually state that you can fish there.  What a piece of shit liar.  I knew he was full of it, I just couldn't prove it until now.  I knew this though:  Interfering with some one who is LEGALLY fishing (or hunting) is illegal.  It is known as the hunter harassment :

Fish and Game Code Section 2009. (a) A person shall not willfully interfere with the participation of any individual in the lawful activity of shooting, hunting, fishing, falconry, or trapping at the location where that activity is taking place.

So if I run into this know-it-all-know-nothing douche again, we'll have words.  And if he thinks he's right I'll challenge him to call the game warden and let DFG sort it out.  I'll then show him the code that permits me fishing there and tell the warden to cite him for harassment along with a complaint to his management.  I've concluded that this is probably his favorite fishing hole, he did claim to be a fisherman, and did want people fishing in "his" hole.  Or he is some guy who is on some power trip and wanted to flex some nonexistent muscle.  Or he is some PETA member that didn't want us "hurting" wildlife so he made up some cock and bull story about this is a "natural habitat" so no fishing. 

Greg, I've bogaed a lot of carp in my day, trust me that's not 10 pounds but it is a nice one.

Soured I went home showered the nastiness off and headed to MVL to meet Chul and his buddy to see if I could wipe off the double skunk off.  Initially, although Chul invited me to fish with him and his buddy I thought it was probably not a good idea.  But after Ed canceled tomorrow's outing to Irvine Lake due to sickness and the fact the weather was nice I changed my mind.  I called Chul and let him know I'm in.

Chul spent most of his time helping his buddy Brett with a drop shot rig as Brett is a neophyte angler.  I fished in front and managed to land two trout sized bass.  At one point we had a hog follow the boat and Brett was desperately trying to place his dropshot in its face. During this time I landed my second bass, which was the smaller of the two, I released him and watched him swim away when all the sudden the hog race out from under our boat and took the bass in on gulp.  I was shocked and asked if they saw that and they all did.  I only wish I got it on film.  It was the highlight of the day.  Everyone managed at least one fish before the lake's "Ricky Ranger" pulled up next to us and cited Brett for casting too close to the docks.  At least he was cited for an actual rule and not a made up one.

Video From Yesterday's MVL Outing

Video from yesterday.  Unfortunately the most interesting part of the whole thing is the 70's porno-style Star Wars music I added to it.

MVL A Different Experience Than The Last

Biggest stocker of the day

After losing a 5 pound bass right at the boat on my last outing to MVL, I've been jonesing to get back on that water.  With the plan to hit it on Tuesday canceled, we hit again today.  When we arrived at the gate, Chul realized he had left his HOA card behind in his truck.  Great, I was in no mood to drive back and get his card.  So after getting a replacement at the office we finally hit the water.  First thing we noticed was the wind was blowing pretty hard and it was much cooler than last week.  I captained the boat to our favorite starting point as Chul rigged up.  We got there and although there was a lot of chop on the water I did notice a pig cruising just below us.  Drifting along this wall I saw above us an osprey with a trout in it's talons.  He stayed in this cove fishing hard with only one fish to show for our efforts.  I managed the dink bass and ate lunch before we headed out. 

The Highlight Of The Day

We moved across the lake to try to block the wind.  No matter where we went the wind would follow us.  Oddly it would drift us the opposite direction every time we moved.   Chul managed a bump that he missed so we moved on to the next spot.  Tired of the ubiquitous purple bugger, I switched to an ungodly creation I came up with the other night.  A Sili-legged monstrosity that  if it caught fish I would name "The Fugly S.O.B."  I only tried one in a tan/crayfish color and a few in purple.  Since dark colors weren't working out I choose the natural colored.   My rod went heavy and as I stripped line, I lost a real good fish.  I keep losing good one this month.  A few more casts I managed another dink bass that came off at the boat.  After that I managed a stock trout.  As I fought this trout Chul repositioned himself and his line in the direction I was fishing.  When he pulled his fly out of the water a 1.5 pound bass was chasing it.  Realizing it too late, Chul lifted his fly our of the water as the bass was ready to eat it.  Not his day. I managed another stocker after a few minutes.  We left this spot to another cove and tried our luck.  There we spoke with a rather well known gear bass fisherman and he moaned about losing a serious hog just minutes before, this guy had caught a bass over 14 pounds earlier this week and he said the one today was much bigger.  We fished this area and landed another stocker this one much bigger than the last two.  My fly was intended to be a bass fly and I'm catching stock trout.  S.O.B was supposed to mean "Slayer of Bass" looks like I'm going to have to rename it S.O.S.T. (Slayer of Stocked Trout).

Another Stocker with no dorsal fin.  Where's all the bass?

We moved on and I tried to get Chul on some fish but none were taking.  We even changed rigs in the hope of changing his luck.  He fished my prized T&T Helix 5wt and I fished his Sage One 5wt but even that didn't change his luck.  In fact his bad luck probably just rubbed off on me!  If that's true the next time I'm camp chef, I'm putting a laxative in his portions.  The day ended with Chul wrecking of the skunk.  This definitely was not what we expected considering last weeks outing.  What a shame.  I didn't come here for stockers.

MVL Video

Breaking The Mark At Misson Viejo Lake

Our four day Sierra trip was somewhat disappointing.  We were hoping for a skwala and march brown hatch that never happened.  Don't get me wrong I enjoyed myself but I was hoping for more.  Chul asked if I wanted to head out for some local fishing  and I told him I'm always game.  We debated where to fish and suggested taking his new pram (which I brokered the sale) out to Alamitos Bay.  After some discussion, Chul suggested MVL.  I was somewhat reluctant since our last outing the lake was green but I agreed and met him at 1PM outside the lake.  I was already aggravated today as I spent the entire morning on the phone with AT&T for mucking up our phone lines and internet service.  I was in no mood for a poor performance on the water which I thought may happen.

I'm hardly ever wrong (yeah right) but I can say I ate a big shit burger today.  MVL was absolutely stellar perhaps one of our best.  Chul was the first to hook up with a 2 pound bass.  After a few casts I was on one about a pound and a half to three quarters.  Never could I break the 2.5 pound mark on largemouth bass until today, kind of.  I danced my fly near a submerged tire and was hooked on a monster bass.  I managed to get it to the boat before shaking off.  While I didn't get a photo of it I did get it on the headcam.  We estimate it to be 4.5 to 5 pounds.  Like always I fished my favorite 5 weight T&T Helix saltwater version and it was bent to the cork.

We moved on to couple other coves before hooking up again.  Chul was the first and landed a trout-sized bass that could have been one of the prettiest bass in the lake.  I once asked Ed ,while fishing with him particular lake (Barrett),  if there were crappie in that lake and after I spoke those words he almost instantly landed one.  I asked Chul the same today and told him that story and jokingly said we'll now get a crappie on our next fish.  And guess what he did!  His first crappie on a fly rod in fact.  I told him I'm going to ask that every time I fish for now on. 

Off topic now, while in this cove a mother and son were on their floating deck not far from us.  They were close enough that I could hear what they were saying.  She picked up the phone as it rang and I heard her say that her father was dead.  Distraught she yelled out crying.  It was a sad scene but what made it more sad, as I watch this poor woman weep, was that her shitbag-skater-punk-dressed-in-all black kid do absolutely nothing but text on his cell phone.  Nothing.  Nothing to comfort her or put an arm around her.  Nothing.  I wanted to go over there and punch him in the face.  We stayed at that cove long enough to see her eldest son come out and as she wept he at least had the common decency to give her a hug and console her.  What the hell is wrong with kids today!?!  It is no wonder there are so many mass shooting in America.  Kids today have no compassion or even the decency to try and calm their own mother down after tragic news. 

Back to happier things.  I managed one more bass  of juvenile size like the one Chul caught toward the opening of this cove.  Then we moved across the lake and fished there.  There were boats stacked up in the deeper ends and one after another these spin guys were hooking up on some stocked trout from Nebraska Tailwalkers.  We fished closer in the shallows and drifted down hoping for more bass.  I got a bump and had a fish momentarily.  The next cast or so I got hit again this time I had him on.  It was one of those stockers.  These fish do not quit.  I talked shit on Chul for over a year for wanting to fish these trout and here I am laughing and giddy as this trout swam around the boat.  I can say these stock trout are fun (never taught I'd ever say that).  The fish was full finned and although the photo may not show it was nicely colored.  I'm used to CA DFW hatchery trout that look half dead when you catch them.  Since you are supposed to keep the trout in this lake, I did and according to Chul are great table fare (unlike the DFW ones).  It should be nice in the frying pan.

The fishing ended for the most part, not bad for couple hours on the water.  Afterwards we headed northbound for our homes not before stopping for some Chinese food at Chef Chen's in Irvine.  The fish and preserved vegetable soup, Chinese beef roll pancakes and Kung Pao chicken hit the spot and filled our growling stomachs since neither one of us ate anything all day.

Videos forthcoming...

Heavy Rig At MVL

Friday's venture to MVL with Calhoun's 850 grain head and Sage Xi3 10 weight was a bust.  With this strange weather pattern, it actually felt like summer on Friday.  Rain is expected on Tuesday with cold weather to follow.  Perhaps it was this that caused the fish to be tight lipped.  At any rate it sucked.  Casting that heavy rig was not easy but I didn't expect it to be, I need some more practice with it.  Timing is critical.  Bill mentioned that you needed to really be fast on the
backcast to generate enough power to throw that line.

First Cast Of The Year - Nada For Me

I got an invite from Chul to fish MVL this afternoon.  With our plans to fish the Kern this weekend in jeopardy, I wanted to get out and wet the fly line.  The lake had stocked trout on Tuesday so we expected the Bass might be targeting them.   I started with my Sage RPLXi 9 weight with a 350 grain  line and various flies managing a few short subtle strikes but no hook ups.  We fished for a few hours and Chul managed an average sized largemouth and a dink.  I switched to my favorite 5 weight after Chul went to his 6 weight and started catching his fish.  I thought I might end the day without even a pull until I had a vicious strike and once I set the hook a 4 pound trout leaped twice in the air.  I've mocked Chul all last year for fishing for these stockers and he has always been adamant about these fish being quality and not the typical stockers so common from our DFW hatcheries.  I've been skeptical until now.  That fish I hooked up struck hard, fought hard and bull dogged me the whole time.  I lost him at the boat unfortunately but I can say I was impressed.  That basically ended our day as the boat was due in at the marina.  No fish yet as of 2013.  Hopefully if tomorrow's rains are not out of control, I'll be getting my first fish of the year, a REAL fish, this weekend.

MVL is Fishing Well

After a successful morning appointment, I took up Chul's invitation to MVL.  He had fished gear Monday and reported back to me that its on fire.  For most of the afternoon, Chul fished gear and I fished fly.  Almost immediately we were on fish.  In the beginning there was no obvious advantage fishing gear but after about the first hour, as the wind picked up even more, fishing gear was clearly the winner.  With the fly I only managed dink bass, although clearly these juveniles are getting bigger and clearly feeding well, and some respectable bluegills.  I did manage a very nice bluegill that literally felt like a log.  Once it became apparent what I had on the line, I noticed that a 5 pound bass was chasing the panfish the whole way , grabbing and nipping at it.  The bass most have grabbed a hold while I initially fought the fish and that is why it felt so heavy.  Chul managed a very respectable bass off a dock with plastic.

Gills At MVL

With the bluegills aggressively taking flies last Thursday, Chul invited me to try and take some with light tackle. In the morning we had cloudy skies but when we reached the water at about 1, the sun was at full force and the winds picked up. Not really ideal conditions, so I decided to keep the 3 weight in the truck and use my 5 weight and my 8 weight as a bass back up.

Foregoing our usual starting spots, we fished a shallow cove where the bluegills were active last week. I rigged my go-to crystal purple wooly bugger with a Hargrove bluegill fly as a trailer. On my first cast several dink bluegill attacked my trailer but I was unable to hook up. After several casts, stripping my tandem down the drop-off I saw a huge bass chase my bugger only to be taken by a smaller bass.

We moved to our usual spot and I missed a strong strike when I was clearing a tangle on my flyline. This was the hardest take so far fishing MVL. I suspect it must have been another monster bluegill. I managed to take two more hand sized bluegills to end the day. I lost a few more near the boat. Chul who was fishing his 7 foot 3 weight most of the day manged to avoid the skunk by catch a dink bluegill.

Handful of Juvenile Bass at MVL

One of many cookie cutter juvenile that attacked our flies all day.

Small bass is better than no bass.  With the weather consistent the last few days and with cool overcast conditions, I was pretty confident the fishing would be pretty good.   In the three hours of fishing, we managed several a piece, I lost count but we had at least 6 or 7 trout-sized bass to the hand.  We noticed at least 5 bass in the over 8 pound range.  Two of which followed our boat for sometime though they refused to open their mouths.  I had one of those chase my 11 inch bass but refused to attack it.  It seems that there are two kinds of bass here- juvenile 10-11 inchers and monster bass.  I've yet to catch an average bass here.  Since this lake has a slot limit, I'm not sure if people are pulling all the 12 to 20 inch fish out of here and that is why we see the extremes in sizes.

One of many tight lipped lunkers in this lake.

Redemption At MVL

Mission Viejo Lake looking toward the dam

A pair of 5 pounders taunting every fishermen who passes the marina.

The Carnitas Wet Burrito Lunch special at Olamendi's Express

After this weekend's stellar trout fishing, Chul invited me again to fish MVL to redeem ourselves from our last poor outing here.  We met for lunch At Olamendi's and afterwards hit the lake. We spent less than 3 hours and we on the once we hit our favorite cove.  The cove where Big George and Martha we seen the first time we came.  While those two beast did not show their faces, we managed a pretty good bite on juvenile bass with the best weighing in at a pound.  We caught a few within that range and a few less than that.  After about 10 or so we moved to the other side of the lake and hit the area we saw the two other beasts (8 pounders).  This time we saw three of them all within that size.  Both of us missed a couple here, when Chul noticed a lone 8 pounder cruising below us.   We didn't have a good angle for a cast, not that it really matters.  Ed once told me that those big shore runners generally don't eat.  Most people catch those mammoths in the deep water as the guy at the marina later confirmed to us when we chatted him up.  I casted all my stripped line at an angle that the fish was taking and started to strip.  The line began to jerk and I set the hook.  It didn't feel big but it was fighting.  It turned out to be a respectable bluegill.  As the wind drifted us Chul again noticed a pair of bruisers cruising just to the Port side.  The two were at least 8 pounder.  Again we didn't have the right angle to make a decent cast but we tried anyways without any luck.  We called it a day after that and while we didn't get any impressive fish, we had a good time killing a few hours after work.  Today was our best day here in terms of numbers so we can't complain.

MVL Skunks Off The Boat For One Of Us

Green water, high winds and cold weather coming this weekend made fishing today rather difficult.  Encouraged by seeing a nest of huge panfish on our last outing, we went back to the same location to entice some of those fish to take our flies.  That was not going to happen this time. Although it was tough to see through the water, it appeared that fish had gone.  We fished several hours and for me I didn't even get some much as a bump all day despite throwing just about  every fly I had and using every type of retrieve.  Chul on the other hand at least caught, although small, a largemouth and a respectable bluegill.  when he caught the bluegill he had a huge LMB follow.  We hoped the it would charge and take the panfish.  Chul even dangled the fish just above it to see if the bass would take.  But it did not, it just stood underneath it staring.  Hard day for the both of us but at least Chul got to feel fish.  Rough.