Sasquatch Sighting (1/5)

[Latimeria]

It's been a long time since I fished with Steve, and he was ready to get in some trout fishing.  Physical ailments meant we would be fishing the shoreline over boat fishing so we headed down to the local puddles to see if there were any Jess's Ranch Trout left in those lakes.  It's been 2 weeks since stocking.

It wasn't long before Squatch might have missed a bite and reeled in to check it out.  He rebaited and casted out before getting ready to check his other bait.  I was up ready to text Dave that we were trout fishing when I hear "Hey, get the net!".  I look up to see Steve fighting a nice trout!  The scoop and his first fish of 2024 and 2025 came ashore!

Beautiful 3.17 pound Bow!



It's been a while but Steve was stoked!  He was enjoying the people walking by and seeing he had a fish and I didn't.  lol

Well, after an hour of getting nervous, I saw my strike indicator drop.  Funny thing is Steve's just shot up and doubled the rod, but my fish apparently like swimming towards me.  In any case I get my first one of the morning, a typical stocker trout.

Hi Steve!



We kept checking baits and saw the Taco Chuck Wagon arrived and was setting up.  Steve and I were ready to pounce when we knew they were finally open for business.  We were both happy that we both avoided the skunk when I refresh and recast new baits.  Soon as I cast the second one out, I noticed the first rod's strike indicator drop like a stone.  Fish on!

This one was definitely more legit and screamed line out numerous times.  Much different from the last one who just rolled his way into the net.

After multiple runs and a trip down the bank, Steve gets the net under him.  Hell yeah!  Big hump backed bow!  The Jess's Ranch trout look different from the other hatchery trout for some reason.  More Chromey.





I go to take a picture of it, but Steve was getting some new baits out before stopping to take a picture.



Then I look over to my other rod pinned down!  I just cast that one out!  Another great fight on the 4# ensued.  This one fought really hard also but was much skinnier than the last one even though it was almost as long.  I barely got a picture of the first one and now have two to take. 

3 on my stringer now.



Now people have seen a few caught and ask what we are using for bait.  Steve says "Nightcrawlers".  One kid was stunned, but was excited to go buy some to use.  Another guy shrugged his shoulders and said in a low muffled voice "f@cking Night crawlers??  WTF".  HA, Steve got a kick out of this guy since he really didn't want to use nightcrawlers for trout.  It was funny any way you slice it.

I cast out a fresh bait and within a minute was bit again!  Unfortunately, I couldn't keep him on the line and he spit the hook.  Immediate rebait and recast... to since for the next 30 minutes before we left.

Then Steve see's his strike indicator jump!  He gets down there and same thing.  Never stuck long enough on the bait/hook.  His bait was torn up like mine so probably smaller trout. 

In any case, we hit High Noon and had to get on our way.  It was great to fish with you again Steve and maybe let's try "Trout Tuesday's" instead.

Put the fish on the scale when I got back and we were pretty spot on to what we were thinking. Big one was 4.28#.



Steve gave me his trout since he didn't want it, so I ended up with 8 beautiful fillets of great looking meat!



Well, it felt good to fish with Steve again and get back on the trout track.  Those pesky catfish were a bit much for a while, but glad they turned back into trout.

Thanks for reading.

[sasquatch]

Had a great time. Thanks for accommodating my trepidation about being on the boat. I'll definitely be more inclined to try it after getting through the day today.

I knew all along you'd end up with more fish but it was fun being trout king for a bit.
I would like to mention that I was only about an hour into my first try to get a trout.

[jrodda]

Good going boys, those are some solid fish. They do look very chrome. Nice fillets too.

[KogaHead]

Great job by two old guys with aliments

[Tim524]

Glad to see Steve back in action

Those fillets look great !

Tuesday Trout Report coming soon I hope

[j.rasta]

Squatch on the water 😳🤪 is 2025 the return of the Tuesday Night Crew 🤔 nice work by the OGs 🤙🏽☝🏽🫶🏽