Mick's Fish 'N' Trips

07/10/2019

Had a productive day on New Melones on Monday. Kept 7 nice Kokanee. The largest was 17.5 long.

04/06/2019

I went out striper fishing with my friend Forbes McGrane. We were doing a little prefishing before the Purple Heart Anglers Striper event. I was showing Forbes some of the areas I fish and some of the techniques I use. He mainly striper fishes on the Napa River.

We started the day catching a just legal fish at 18 1/2 inches long. It took the lure fairly deep and was bleeding badly so we kept it. After about another 30 minutes and moving slightly to a different spot we got our second fish of the day another keep at just over 19 inches. It too, was hooked deep and we kept it also.

After continuing trolling the same area we got hit by a much larger fish. After a nice fight we netted this 8.8 pound striper. It had inhaled the lure. I don’t recall ever catching a striper that had taken the lure as far in as this fish. The trailing hook had gone through the fish’s gills. I had to remove the front hook from the split ring and then pull the lure through the fish’s gills. It bled too much and we were not able to revive it so it too was kept.

We were now down to trolling with only two rods. We landed and released another striper going about 22 inches. We then took a tour of some of the other areas I like to fish, including the Sacramento River which was slightly dirty from all the rain. We then returned to the productive area as the tide had turned and was now coming in. Soon after starting to troll a fish hit the inside pole that had been bouncing off the bottom. This fish fought very hard and we didn’t see it for the first few minutes of the fight. It made quite a few good runs until it finally tired out enough to come to the net. The fish was 10 1/2 pound and 31 inches long.

We were lucky to land this fish as the front hook came off of the lure. It was in the fish’s jaw and the split ring was gone from the hook and lure. The rear hook was hooked on the outside of the fish as they sometimes do when the fish turns and fights. The split ring must have got damaged when I removed it from the hook early in the day on the other fish. It took us a few minutes to revive the fish at the side of the boat, before it could be safely released.

03/08/2019

I had the pleasure of having Rich from GVF lures (http://www.gvflures.com/) on my boat to test out some of his newer lures. We started the day by slow trolling with a combination of lures and worms. The only fish while slow trolling came on a Wee Draggin with a small piece of worm on the hook.

After an hour or so without another hit we started to troll fast pulling GVF Speedos. The next fish came soon after. It made a few jumps and after getting near the boat made a couple short runs before being netted.\

The last fish of the day also was caught on a Speedo. This was the largest fish of the day coming in at just under 18 inches. Soon after being hooked it made a numerous of jumps.

03/08/2019

Fish Gallery

02/14/2019

Monday February 11th's catch.

10/08/2018

The fishing cooled off as compared to recent trips. Saw only one other fish caught. We had only one hit, luckily Mateo was able to land this 12.5 pound female. The fish hit hard for a salmon and took some drag right off the start. It made quite a few good runs and slapped the surface a couple of times. You can see the cut plug that caught the fish between Mateo’s feet.

10/04/2018

I had Gregg and Forbes on the boat today. We started the day launching right after my friend Jack Naves, better know as “BassJack”. Within 45 minutes of fishing we had our first fish on that Gregg got to fight for a short time before it came off. Within 15 minutes after losing the first fish Forbes had his turn and landed this nice 7.5 pound hen after about a five minute fight. Close to the same time just downstream from us Jack and his guest caught their first fish of the day.

Within 30 minutes it was Gregg’s turn again. This nice 19 pound buck made a circle of the boat and made many runs, just staying outside of the reach of the net. After more than 15 minutes of fighting the fish it finally was tired enough to come head first so that it could be netted. Again around the same time Gregg was fighting this fish I received a call from Jack that they had caught their second fish and were done with their limits also.

09/21/2018

Wednesday's trip results.

Wednesday's clients were able to land this small 6 pound salmon. We also lost 3 other salmon during the day, which is very unusual to lose that many fish, just some bad luck. The fish are starting to move in and from now through October should be some very good action.

09/21/2018

Monday's trip results.

09/21/2018

Wednesday's clients were able to land this small 6 pound salmon. We also lost 3 other salmon during the day, which is very unusual to lose that many fish, just some bad luck. The fish are starting to move in and from now through October should be some very good action.

09/21/2018

My clients on Monday came away with limits of 9 pound salmon. The salmon both put up nice fights making several runs before finally tiring and coming to the net. We lost a large salmon that made a very long run after coming near the boat.