Well, I needed to get some more fishing in since it was trout weather out there and raining. I went to my spot but saw no signs of life and decided to try a different lake and see if a change helped.  There were Pelicans and Cormorants everywhere!

I get the two rods out and just turn around to head back to the truck and get out of the rain when I heard something creaking!  Both rods doubled over already!  I grabbed the rod that I thought had the biggest fish and fought them in.  I kept one and released the other since the hook was only caught in it's whisker and easy to get out.



I send out two fresh baits and get back to the truck when I look back and another double header!  I got both in, but one squirmed it's way off the hook and slithered back into the puddle when I was taking care of the other.



I put two more fresh baits out and eventually catch two more although they kept getting smaller, so I decided I really wanted to spend the rest of the morning on a trophy trout hunt.

I moved back to the other lake and had a few mystery bites that did the same thing Dave and I had the day before.  Huge hits and gone the moment I grabbed the rod.  I did finally get a little catfish, so that was 7 fish for the morning so far.

Then I started putting everything in the truck to leave as I was hungry and no trout anywhere.  I was just ready to grab the last rod out when it just got crushed with a bite!  I for sure thought this was a cat since it felt heavy but never came to the surface.  It was dogging me and had less then impressive runs so it HAD to be a cat...

Then I saw it... HOLY CRAP!  A Big Hook-jaw Rainbow! Holy sh!t!



Just over 4# on the lip gripper.

What a "Last Cast" fish!

I even came back in the afternoon, but EVERYONE on the lake was fishing the spot... apparently everyone saw me catch it so I moved around and tried other spots for no luck.

Well, I just had a great interview so finger's crossed!  Thanks for reading!

Dave really wanted to get out trout fishing again so we planned on hitting the lakes when they opened.  Well, I get to the lakes literally 2 minutes late and the only person in there fishing was on the spot I was going.  Grrrr....

Unfortunately, I was limited to where I could go since Dave is not super mobile so I needed some flat ground.  I decided to hit a spot that I caught a bunch of fish earlier in the season.



I got slammed 4 times but they all dropped it the minute I grabbed the rod.  Dave was having some fun with me by saying I should be using trebles!



Well, finally got one to stick, but I knew right away it was the wrong kind and pretty small.



It was about time for me to head back, but Dave stayed.  Before I left, I watched him get two huge hits that doubled over his rod just to drop the bait!  HA!  It made me feel better since he WAS using trebles!  lol

Well, I left and Dave had 3 more hook ups that all magically vanished the second he grabbed the rod.  Oh well...  I really wish I knew what was going on there.  This happens way too frequently in the puddles, and I have no answers since the bait always comes back perfect!

I made a bunch of tacos on the Blackstone, but I spent a lot of time working on the ribs.  I thought per the recipe that I could get them done in 3 hours, but LIES!!!!!

5 hours later and they looked/tasted perfect!  I do like a saucy rib, so I painted them with some high end BBQ sauce and they were quite the hit!



I individually sliced them and two huge racks never stood a chance!



It was some great stuff!

Our little Pipsqueak finally wanted to stay with Grandma and Grandpa for a long weekend.  One thing she wanted to do was go to the lake to:  Feed the ducks, Fish, and go on one of the big paddleboats. 

We got there and the first thing she did was feed a TON of ducks, geese and coots!  I wasn't sure she was going to get out of that mob for a while!

Soon as she went through 2 bags of bird food, we were off to the big white swan!



We cruised by the kid pond and I noticed some trout in there, so I knew where we were going to cast!

We spent 30 minutes cruising Lake 5 and I was whooped since no one helped me peddle that beast!  lol

We got back and set up for fishing in the kids only area.  Lydia liked playing with the worms more than fishing.  She got mad at me when I ripped one in half to put it on the hook!



She was getting tired and hungry so I knew that the time was short and as she was plying with the worms, her little princess rod doubled over!  Well damn!  It was almost half of her size!



That was all she had left and wanted to go home so she could have snacks and watch her shows.  I have to admit I was stoked she stayed out there as long as she did!

Well, I'll be back soon to get my fishing in.  No adults allowed to fish the kiddie pond unfortuinately. 

I'm super happy the Seahawks spanked the Patsies, but one of my biggest "harrumph" moments was watching a Superbowl commercial.  My favorite commercial was the "Relax Your Tight End" by Novartis.  Unfortunately, they wanted to save money and terminated a hundred of us... but put out a 10-million-dollar (+) commercial during the SB. 

Oh well... it was a funny commercial.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do in the morning, but was planning or at least hoping to fish for an hour or two.  5:55am and my phone starts ringing!  WTF?

I see the number and it looks familiar so I answered.  Turns out it was a recruiter (from the east coast) having a potential job opportunity out here in San Diego!  I had to go from "Dead Asleep" to "Interview Mode" in seconds without a cup of coffee!  This was way more stressful than you think!

Interview done and now I'm a little stressed.  Trying to get interviewed in that scenario is not easy but I think I did well so it was time for a cup of coffee!

I grab my rods since I was wide awake now and head down to the puddles.

I started bass fishing at first but went back to trout fishing right away since I haven't seen a bass caught in a month around here.



I switched lakes and started soaking baits for a quiet morning... until a group olf old betties were walking by and blocked my view of my rod.  They were all turned at the rod, so something was going on.  I parted the "Gray Sea" and saw my rod doubled over!  I was hoping for a trout, but realized it was most likely a cat.  The ladies were more stoked than me!  LOL



I wasn't keeping this one so I let it go after a quick picture and hook removal.

Then it was as quiet as ever or possibly even more.  I did a last cast and set my 15 minute timer...

10 minutes... Nothing

5 minutes and I see my SI out of the corner of my eye get thrown into the lake!  UGH, that means a cat but Fish On none the less!

As I was fighting it, I started to change my mind about it being a cat.  It was making blistering runs and going apesh!t!  I then got eyeballs on it and it was a REALLY nice trout!  I took my time and there were no people or birds that could have messed it up so it was a really fun fight!

In the net and onto the scaled Lip Gripper!



Friggin beauty! at ~4.25# on the spring scale!



Funny thing it was a Cut Bow (What they were calling Steelhead)!  What a fun fis indeed, even though it looked like a normal triploid trout.



Well, I made one more cast and headed home.  My granddaughter is coming over tomorrow for the weekend, so I'm going to be Papa for the weekend and probably means no fishing for me.  I do plan on cooking a huge Super Bowl dinner though, so it'll make up for it.

Thanks for reading and I'm contemplating heading down for the final two hours today before the park closes.  I need to clean these lakes out of trout!

Well my parking permit expires today and I have to go in for my PRP shots.  No better time than to get in a quick lake session.

It was S-L-O-W!!!!  Basically 3 hours of nothing until at the very end.  My only action in the beginning was a Green Heron flying into my line and tangling up!  I reeled him in and untangled him.  My first Green Heron ever and one amazing thing about it...  It never ONCE tried to bite or peck me.  I was a little dumbfounded since I've never caught a bird that wanted to draw as much blood as possible!



Well, my 15-minute timer went off (old Sasquatch move to make sure we left at a decent time)...  5 minutes later and my SI dropped like an anchor!  Trout on!

Nice one, but weird coloration on it.  Looked like he might have been in these lakes for a while.  In any case, more meat for the smoker and another carcass for the lobster pots!



I got home to shower and head off to get my PRP injections.  Not a terrible procedure but not comfortable either.  Fingers crossed this holds me over until the end of the year so I can start working and get some more fishing in!

Thanks for reading and until the next Puddle Excursion!

Quote from: Chris on February 04, 2026, 10:02:10 PMHow do you like it now? I've been beating on the Komodo's in hopes Okuma would recognize me but no such luck. Lol. Iike them but always open to new gear.

I haven't really had anything to test it yet except for a few larger grade bonito and had to back down on the drag to make it a little more fun. I would totally have no issue throwing artificials at big yellows and tuna with it, although I'm not sure "how big" is to big yet.
Feels solid. Not as smooth as the Tranx 500, but $100 less so good trade off to me.

Well, I postponed the surgery until later this year, but I go in for PRP injections today.  It should improve the tear by 25-35% and most of the pain in about a month or so, but we will see.  This is going to be an expensive experiment, but I've talked with people who have had it and they swear by it.  I only wish insurance covered it.

Quote from: sasquatch on February 02, 2026, 10:46:50 AMHaven't seen it. My friends mom changed the password and killed my access. 😂

Bummer. I actually remember when you said you had access through your friend's mom's password and it made me laugh.  lol

Has anyone been watching it?  I've enjoyed it so far as it kind of reminds me of more of a "Fellowship of the Ring" type of story for GOT which will ramp up as the seasons move on.  The characters really nailed their parts IMHO.

What's your thoughts?

Well, since receiving another rejection letter on Friday, I have to think outside the box.  Travel is not really an option as living away from home for months at a time in sub-zero weather is not enticing at all.
I took my notebook down as well as my gear to the lakes to soak some bait and try to brainstorm other options or possibilities that are out there.

Being there when the park opens usually means early bites dying into the doldrums before I leave.  Well, it wasn't long before I got my first nice trout of the morning and it was a big old hookjaw to boot!  Long and skinny sucker!





I rebaited and started to see what was out there which could match my experience... as a career pivot in sort of a way.  Not many options out there and then I noticed my SI drop like an anchor!  Fish on!
Triploid stocker and a fairly nice one!



I went back to work and exhausted all of the options I could think of so I was ready to pack it in when I see the SI laying in the water.  Fish on again!

This one wasn't big and 1.5# at most.... more like bass bait.

I helped a guy near me that was in need of help and he said he saw a giant trout, like 10 pounds that jumped out of the water.  I was instantly thinking it was probably one of the swimming ducks diving or poppin up like they do but I wasn't going to not investigate just in case.  Then we were both looking to where he was pointing and a 10+ pound bass smashed the surface!  I was like "That was no trout"  lol.  It was in the same general area I saw a kid catch and weigh his first 10 pounder so guessing it is the same fish since I can't imagine they leave their territory when they get that big.

Oh well, time to go home and try to enjoy the rest of my Sunday.  I have some fish to clean.



Thanks for reading!

Quote from: Tim524 on February 01, 2026, 07:24:15 PMYou are addicted to them Lakes more than Janie is to Bass Pro    

It's cheap and convenient when you're not bringing in a paycheck.

I pulled more lobster and made more Lobster Mac-N-Cheese but coated it with toasted crushed macadamia nuts!  Then I put lobster, crab, and halibut into fish cakes and added some remoulade sauce!



I also pan seared some squash just to get our veggies in and voila!  One hell of a paper plate ginner!

I ran back in the morning, but the same guy who saw me catch at my first spot yesterday was there again holding the area hostage... Grrrr

I ran to my next spot and there was another person holding that spot down.... Now it's time just go full Ninja...

I set up and hoped for something... anything... considering there's nowhere to hide around here and they all gang up on you soon as a rod is bent.

Within 15 minutes and my rod doubles over!  I was really hopeful it was going to be a big trout, but my strike indicator only goes "Up" when a Catfish hits for some reason. 

Sure enough!  At least a big one!



Next bite and my strike indicator drops so definitely a trout... and it was!



Then came my moment of pain.  One rod went off and it felt like a nice trout.  I was fighting it in when my other rod went off but I stuck to the rod in hand.  I get a nice trout in and run to my other rod and I KNOW it's a much bigger fish.  I saw it slashing at the surface, but that brought the pelicans and cormorants...  It was way too big to just muscle it in and I had it about 2-3 feet from the end of the net a few times, but the bird wasn't scared at all and kept cutting him off from beaching himself.

I saw the bird swipe at the trout's head (The fish was big as the bird by the way) and friggin clipped my line.  Thank god I don't have my BB gun with me or that bird would have been headless and the mad birders would have called the cops.

The parrots were tormenting me that a bird bested me from above...



Oh well... I kept Dave posted and things slowed down, but had one last flurry before I left with another cat and another trout.  Got my limits and had to head back to get on the horn with some more recruiters and get a few resumes out.  I want to go back this afternoon, but the wife says I need to take her out for dinner tonight since she's basically the bread winner in the house these days.



Oh well.  My shoulder is ruined and I hope this PRP shot helps.  I'm going to wait until the end of the year to get my surgery in and just keep my fingers crossed, I don't make my shoulder situation worse.

Thanks for reading!