I just received delivery of my first baitcast reel, a Shimano Citica. Anxious to test it out, I called up James, knowing he'd be fishing in the San Bernardino Mtns. He had mentioned that he might go to Jenks Lake. I had been wanting to try out Jenks Lake, so we agreed to meet there. I took off at about 6am and was watching the sunrise as I entered Beaumont.
I arrived at about 7:30am, and James and Amy got there around 8. I knew there was going to be a bit of a learning curve with the new baitcast reel, so I started small just pitching a frog out a few yards. James and Amy rigged up their fly rods and James hooked a little Warmouth on his first cast. It took most of the morning, but I eventually started getting the hang of casting with the new reel.
James and Amy hooked up on a number of fish, both trout and baby bass. I hooked up on this little bass that tried to eat a plastic worm almost as big as he was.
I got the prize for the most insanely impossible hookup for snagging a dragonfly in mid air as I was casting a rooster tail (Mr. Miyagi eat your heart out!). Oh, I wish I had a picture to show you! But as I was hauling him back in to take him off my lure, he thrashed in the water, threw the hook, and took off. He must have learned that from watching the bass.
Compared to a lot of the bass you see, the one I caught was a decent sized one. That was until we saw Grandpa. We call him Grandpa because judging by his size he must be at least a few generations old. James spotted him just off the bank near the dock as we were getting ready to pack up and leave. He was cruising just under the surface, right above the underwater vegetation. He was enormous!!! Outside of the big fish tank at BassPro, I've never seen a bass that large before unless it was in a picture or video. He was an easy 10 pounder if he was an ounce, and it wouldn't surprise me if he was closer to 12+. He was absolutely huge!! We had been seeing surface strikes across the lake near the bank. We'd see one with a big splash, then another several yards away as you move towards us. Then another getting closer to where we were. We were thinking those surface strikes may have been Grandpa and he was just working his way around the bank towards the dock, then back towards the cover he came from. I'm telling you right now, if/when I go back to Jenks, I'm going to watch for those surface strikes and as soon I see them I'm going to start pitching my frog near the bank and wait for Grandpa to make his way over.
Around noon James and Amy invited me to go with them over to the stream. We fished several little pools until we found one with a couple dozen trout in it.
It also happened to be near by some guys that had driven up in a taxi to pan for gold. We fished that little pool for next few hours catching several trout of all sizes.
James kept insisting that I use his fly rod. I must have put at least 30 dollars worth of flies in the trees. But he is as patient as he is generous and kept insisting until I hooked one in the sweet spot.
We continued to fish that spot until I needed to take off. It was 5pm already and I needed to get back to the family. I had left at 6am and wouldn't be getting home until almost 7pm. I could also hear thunder coming in behind us and I wasn't dressed for rain. I thanked them for allowing me to crash their weekend and headed out. By the time I was passing Jenks Lake it was raining pretty good, so it looks like I made it out of there just in time.
I made it down the mountain and was passing through Yucaipa when I looked up and saw a double rainbow. (What does it mean? [Genesis 9 : 8 - 17]) Unfortunately, it was only a single by the time I got a picture.
And finally, I got to watch the sunset as I was heading West out of Hemet.
Quite a day!
Watched the sun both rise and set.
Hung out with both James and Amy.
Fished both lake and stream.
Caught both bass and trout (and a dragonfly).
Fished with both baitcast and fly rod.
Saw both a single and a double rainbow.
And met both gold panners and Grandpa.
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