dR. BassLove

What is this world coming to?! Someone stole my rollerblades while I was fishing! I had them tucked behind the powerstation next to the bridge, covered with my jacket, and was fishing just on the other side in the cove and along the tulles. When I came back it was just my jacket on the ground. I just can't believe it. I've always had the utmost trust in my fellow El Doradoers, but I guess the truth ain't pretty...

I hit up the lakes during the heat wave and saw a surprising amount of action on the water. I could see lots of 2-3 lbers cruising the water, but couldn't get any of them to bite, although I could get them to at least give my frog/craw/spinner some looks. I brought a friend out to let him try out fishing and the monster bluegills were really out in force. He caught about 4 really nice 'gills and I was so jealous I joined in for a couple myself. Here's a few pix I took of them.

I had a long lunch today so I stopped by Alondra Park Lake for 45 mins of fishing. I originally had a dropshot rig set up to try, but after about 10 mins realized I had no idea what the heck I was doing so I switched to a 3/8 oz chartreuse spinnerbait. I managed a dink, but it was the first fish I've caught with a spinnerbait and the first fish I've caught in over a month so it was a nice morale booster. I have been to Alondra a couple of times now and I am surprised by how much topwater action I see going on. Both times I have fished there I have seen several boils about 4-5 ft from shore. Anyone else here fish Alondra?

Anyone have any luck this weekend? I went fishing yesterday and today @ about 4 to 7:30. Nothing either day. This weekend has been the first time I've actually been pretty discouraged. On Saturday, I was at the cove and saw some bass just hanging out. There was one 2 lbr, a couple of 1 lbrs and several smaller ones. I tried enticing them with my frogs (a white gummy bear with green skirt and a 1/4 oz green/white + chartreuse skirt). Those fish could not care less about my lures. They did not even look at them. I couldn't even spook them. Nothing. Then today, my first cast, I got a hang up. As the lure dangled above the water, I saw a pop and a fish leaped out of the water to get it. It totally missed and just got a mouthful of air. Technically that's my first hit on a frog, which is what I was hoping for, but I feel like that hit was an attempt for something other than a frog. For the rest of the 3 hours I got not as much as a rustle in the tulles. This was a rough weekend

@Greg Wow that's a great shot! I don't recognize it though. I was out there two about 2 pm. I met up with Brad by the semi-point on the North Lake. He convinced me to walk around the Ranger Lake with him. Didn't catch anything, but it gave me a chance to practice my over/side hand casts. He said I've improved a lot since he first saw me with a baitcaster ;D Makes me feel a lot better about not catching anything this last month. Brad had no luck today either. You're right the weather was terrific today and there were like no other people which is always nice. I am headed back out there tomorrow morning, so maybe I'll catch ya there! As for the other types of lures, I was considering using a toad like a Ribbit, but I can't seem to find any locally. Until I do, I'll stick will my Spro and Snagless. I wish I could find a Sumo or Tru-Tungsten Mad Maxx as those are suppose to be good for walking. What are your thoughts on Senko Swimbaits? @LazyBASS Sorry brah, I can't do Saturday, I'm gonna be hiking the San Gabs. I will be out there Sunday afternoon though.

My first success with a hollow-bodied frog!!!! Yay!!!! LOL. Too bad it wasn't a bass... or even a fish for that matter! As usual, I was pitching a white+black fleck frog with green+black fleck skirt in the tulle cover out in the North Lake. Been pitching for about 3 hrs. Then Devin shows up. I talk with him awhile, telling him how just minutes ago like 3-4 bass were jumping clear out of the water, deep in the tulles, trying to grab some dragonflies. He gets the idea of trying to flyline a Yum Dinger (Junebug) to imitate the dragonflies. After a few casts, he decides to switch it up to a black/blue frog. A few minutes later he calls me over and points out a nice bullfrog stalking his frog. First bullfrog I'd ever seen! Unfortunately, he loses the frog in the tulles and decides to go back to fishing plastics on the bank. I, of course, stubborn as I am, remain at the tulle cove to pitch my frog. After a few retrieves, I notice a pair of dark mounds popping up a few feet behind my frog. I stopped hopping my frog to try to get a better look at it. I realize it's the bullfrog and continue to retrieve my lure. A hop later and I see a eyes disappear. Hmmm I think... is he going for my.... Next thing I know he popped other from under my frog and chomps it!!! I'm thinking... holy crap what do I do now?! I call over to Devin and he hooks me up with a pair of pliers. I struggle with the hook for a few minutes before freeing the bullfrog. He plops back in the water and swims off. I chuckle and make some comment about how he (the bullfrog) should give up cannibalism. I cast out again and begin to worry that perhaps the hook hurt the frog and now he won't be able to hunt. Next thing you know I hear a small plop and wouldn't you know it the damned bullfrog is munching on my frog again! This time I totally stop and let the bullfrog chomp on my lure for a minute before letting go and hopping away. Yeah, so that's my funny story of the day. No fish though, except for some bluegill when I got bored and fished with some mealworms.

Yeah, it's funny how Brad only really has one style of fishing, but he fishes it really well. To be honest, I don't know what makes me more confident. At first, I thought the rattles would because I read a lot of people do that, but then you and that other guy said no so now I'm all confused :-/

Update: Sept 13th, 2010 Went out to El Dorado again yesterday. No luck. It's been about a month now that I've started my crusade to catch a fish on a frog. Not even a single bite. I was out there about 6 hours. I finally got to see Brad again and fished with him for awhile. He was murdering them bass, pulling out 4 (a 2 lbr, a 1 lbr, and 2 thumb sized). Brad says he's a finesse fisher and uses either tiny 1" Bass Assassin shad lures or a 4" Yum Dinger (Junebug). He casts them and then just grabs his line and plays with it. He says he's sort of deadsticking it. He says he gets nibbles all the time. I was extremely tempted to switch to plastics too, but I am so determined to land something with my many many frogs. I briefly saw Dan. He got skunked too. I also saw this other guy (I don't know his name) who is the only person I've ever seen catch anything on a frog. I immediately stopped fishing and walked over to watch him. I was really glad to see that his style looked a lot like mine and that he didn't get any action either. I told him my story about not catching jackshit for a month and he sounded surprised. He said some of his friends were telling him how they were slaughtering bass out there at the tulle cove on hollow-bodied frogs. He only fished it for about 20 mins before heading off. Overall, I'm feeling a little bit more confident that it's just been bad luck and not necessarily me that is the reason I haven't caught nuts. @Greg I think I went rattle crazy and stuck 2 -3 rattles in all my frogs. Do you think that rattles can be a bad thing? If you were me, would you pull them out? Thx.

I also forgot to mention. When I said fishing with a frog, what I mean primarily is flipping in the deep cover of the tulles and on top of the snotty vegetation floating on the water.

Hi LazyBASS, I usually go whenever I can, which is usually 6 am - 11 am and 6 pm - ? As for the days, it's really scattered. Whenever I don't have work. I usually go at least one of the weekend days. I'd love to hit you up for some fishing. I have met several dudes over there that I see somewhat regularly. Dan the Man, Brad, Devon, Steve.... I see some other regulars too but haven't had a chance to introduce myself. My name is Steve in case you say "Hi."

Greg, Thanks for much for the tips! I took your advice and returned the Storms. I figured I don't want to distract myself from learning to frog anyway. So another week passed and another week of no fish. I continue to dedicate myself to picking up one technique at a time. I was at a Sports Chalet today and came across some more frogs. Mostly they were Snag Proofs (Bobby's Perfect and T-Frogs although after throughly reading the back and asking the salesman I couldn't figure out the difference except for price and Gama vs Owner hooks). I also spotted a lone River2Sea Bully Wa frog (brown/yellow). Any comments on these? The R2S looked really well made and detailed so I bought it, but I hope that I wasn't made a victim again of companies catching fishermen and not fish :-[ I had read that many people like to stick rattles into their frogs for added effect. What are you thoughts on that? I got some glass rattles, but should I stick in just one or would more be better? I am willing to stick so many rattles up my frogs that they'd be crapping glass for the rest of their lives if I have to ;D

I remember now! Yeah, I did say "Hi." Were you wearing earphones? I think I asked you if you had any luck and you didn't respond so I just kept walking. Dan is great. He has been so helpful and taken a lot of time out of his fishing to give me advice. Can I ask you what kind of swimbait it was and how you fished it? I bought several swimbaits in an attempt to imitate your success. ;D What do you think of this? (It's kind of hard to tell, but it's Rainbow Trout colored) Or this? I've tried a bit with the swimbait, but all I catch is a ton of weeds. My real goal now is to learn how to use a frog. I have dedicated the past 7 trips to El Dorado to just fishing with a hollow-bodied frog. That's a total of over 25 hrs of fishing without a single bite! At least I have gotten much more proficient at using a baitcasting setup (I got a Berkley Tactix 7' MH rod + Pinnacle Vision Slyder baitcaster + 20 lb Berkley Fireline (crystal) just for frogging). I had a terrible time getting used to holding the rod in my left hand and winding with my right, but I am started to get it. I would so appreciative of anyone who can give me some concrete techniques to get me my first bite. Thanks to some tips from Dan, I have learned to watch for movement in the tulles to home in on the bass, but even when I get a good cast to the spot, nothing happens. I was out there for about 4 hrs today (from 3 - 7 pm). I spent almost the entire time at the cove pitchin' into the tulles. A couple of times, right as my frog landed I would see a rush towards the lure and I would tense up and prepare to control myself to not set the hook immediately, but then nothing would happen. Could it be the frog I'm using? Here's four frogs I have. I started with the black Snagproof for a couple of trips, then switched to the brown Spro, then the chartreuse Mann's, and the last couple of times I've been using the chartreuse Kurmit. Which would you guys concentrate on using? I have been reading every single article that I could Google. I have read at least 30 hrs worth of material the past 2 weeks, but nothing I read seems to help. Some say fish it fast. Some say fish it slow. Some say leave it for long periods. Others say jerk it all over. You guys have helped me so much already to accomplish my goal of catching a bass on a plastic worm and I want to thank you for that. Now I would really appreciate any step by step instructions on how to successfully fish with a frog lure.

Wow, nice pix! Man, your first cast? Jeez. Was it on a worm? Is Dan a 50ish year old gentleman carrying about 5 premium looking rods? I do remember seeing some other older guys, but I don't recall what they were wearing. Do you remember seeing an Asian guy with semi-long hair wearing a hat + brown jacket + black backpack + rollerblades + not catching jacksh*t? If so that was me.

Hey Hammer, did you end up fishing at ElDo today? I was out there pretty early around 6:15 - 6:30 am. Wow, I haven't been out there when it's been so foggy and I was amazed by how beautiful it was out there! As if the normal mornings weren't beautiful enough! I started off at my usual spot (green piped semi-point) and tried some more frog fishing in the tully cove. I seriously do not know what I am doing wrong. The last 4-5 times I've been out there I have been totally skunked by those darn bass! It's probably been around 15 hrs of strictly frog fishing without any luck. I try to be as quiet as possible when I approach. I know they are there as I can see the occasional explosion as they feed, as well as the quivering of the reeds as they swim past. I have 3 different frogs: 1 black Snagproof, 1 chartreuse Mann's Super Frog, and 1 brown/green striped Spro Bronzeye. None of which has sparked any interested from the fish. If I had to guess what in particular was wrong, I think it might be the cast? I just got my first baitcasting setup and so maybe it's the sloppy casting? Often the frog will slap pretty hard on the water so maybe it's scaring them off? Your thoughts? Anyhow, around 7:45, I was packing up to go to the Ranger station and I met another fisherman who told me he'd just caught a 6 - 7 lbr in that cove only a few days before. I walked over to the tullies in front of the old ranger station and saw about 4 other guys fishing. I started casting my frog using a hop-hop-hop-pause retrieve. Is it better to have smaller rather than larger hops? Around 9:30 I start to lose confidence and got discouraged. I switched back to my spinning rod and started tossing a little 1/8 chartreuse jig with a slug-go rainbow trout colored plastic connected to a jig spinner. I figured it would be nice to catch something and panfish are a whole lot easier to catch than bass. On my 3rd to last cast, I saw a shadow shoot out and take my lure. I figured it was a decent sized 'gill. Turns out that I caught a personal record... the smallest bass I've ever caught! Haha, it was a tiny little 7-8 inch guy. I thanked him for salvaging my day, casted a couple more times and headed off to work content enough... something is always better than nothing. :

Hey Hammer, have you had a chance to hit up ElDo recently again? Any luck? I'd love to meet up and see how a real fisherman tackles El Dorado.

So it's been about a week since I got to hit up El Dorado. I am going to be in the South Bay area and was considering trying out Alondra Park. Anyone fish there before? I tried googling for some more info but couldn't find anyone who mentioned a specific place to try. I won't be out there until 6:30 pm so I won't have time to really thoroughly scout out the park. If anyone can give me a tip on a starting point it'd be greatly appreciated!

Oh I see. So no one is ever allowed to fish from the golf course lake? Are there even fish in it or is it just a pool of water and golf balls? Any idea what that southern lake is all about? It's just there because or is it connected to the nature center?

Two quick questions: Has anyone ever fished at the El Dorado golf course lake? Does anyone know what is the deal with the lake south of the El Dorado Nature Center (next to Willow)?

That would be great if you could do it on Thursday as I will be out as well! Any ideas about the close-range bass?

Booyah! I can finally posts pictures! Here's the first fish I caught. I think it's a crappie (black or white?). Used a 1/2 oz chrome/blue Rat-L-Trap. Here's the first bass I caught with a 4.5" Roboworm (oxblood): Here's the little dink I caught with a 5" Senko (Tx-rig) watermelon/red fleck: I've circled the parts of El Dorado that I frequent.

Update. So I have been continuing to hit up El Dorado pretty regularly and I continue to be regularly skunked. I usually go 3 or 4 times before getting any action. Last time I managed to pull out a dinky little thing on a 5 inch watermelon/red fleck senko t-rigged. Just as I was all proud of myself a gentleman to my right pulled out a huge 4 lbr! I walked over and asked him what he was using. He told me that he was out there for the first time with his family and decided to try to use one of the little bluegill his son had caught for bait. Lucky duck! Then later than day, while fishing next to a bluegill fisherman, a huge bass struck the guy's line as he was dragging in a bluegill. Those two incidents convinced me to try some sort of fish imitator, but all I had was a green pumpkin swim senko. Tried it regardless, but no luck. That night I went to Big 5 Sport and bought a little 2 inch crappie (chrome/silver) swimbait by Creme (Spoiler Crappie) as well as some 2/0 and 3/0 hooks. I will try it later today. Another method that was shown to me was to fish for the very close inshore bass. Next to the spot where I like to fish (semi-point, near the green pipe) there are a lot of overheading trees to my right. There are a few nooks to poke into and I have seen some bass cruising around in them especially in the mornings. The guy told me to just throw your worm in there and wiggle it around, which I have tried the bass don't seem to care. To try to get more action, I tried a wacky worm rigged 5 in senko and a neko rigged 6 in robo. I felt I had decent action, like what I saw online, but no success. Do you have any concrete methods to fish those spots like you showed me for open bank fishing? Thanks!

That sounds great. I will try that tomorrow morning. I was talking to another fisherman today and he very generously gave me a handful of various plastics, including some roboworms, senkos, lunker city, and some others I don't recognize. How should I store these? Can I just throw them into one bag or does each one need it's own bag? I can't wait to try some of them out tomorrow. I am using Gamakatsu hooks. Size 1/0 offset EWG.

Rod: Berkley Lightning Rod 7' Medium spinning one piece Reel: Daiwa Shock 1500-B Line: Trilene 8 lb green Yeah, I know it's a lot of luck, but it's so hard to know whether I am doing things right.

1. Oh wow, 15 - 20 mins? That seems like only few casts using the technique you showed me. So far I've only had luck with the T-rig. Also, as far as I know, the only action (i.e., bites) that I've ever had were the two catches. Do you think I am missing a lot of subtle bites? 3. I have been using a 1/16 oz bullet head weight. 4. Okay, I didn't know if they might make the bass skittish, but I will continue to ignore them. Thanks Hammer!

I had a few questions I was hoping someone could help me out on: 1. When is it more appropriate to Carolina vs Texas rig? 2. How do you guys decide when to change worm colors? I fished for 2 hours before catching something. Should I have been changing more often (all the fish I've caught were after doing the same thing hour after hour)? 3. Where should I be aiming for when casting? Right now I am mostly aiming for the middle of the lake. Sometimes I cast near the reeds and stuff, but I have not gotten any action there. Are jumping schools of baitfish good targets or are the bass not interested in worms at that point? 4. Is the presence of ducks an issue when fishing (i.e., they scare the fish)? I really appreciate all your help guys!