Well I have been getting real burned out on the whole big bass fishing thing lately. Haven't got any good fish and have been hitting it real hard.

I decided that it was time to take a bit of a break before I just got ticked and quit, LOL. Take a break from bass entirely.

So brandon and I were both free to fish for once, so after discussing our options, I talked him into going fishing for trophy brown trout and big mackinaw (lake trout).

Since my truck has a bad wheel bearing and I am waiting on parts to arrive, we decided to take his truck and boat, " Moley" which is my old boat. He bought it from me last year and has done a ton of work to it. I haven't had a chance to fish out of her since then so i was looking forward to that too. After rigging it up with 2 of my downriggers and one of my trolling motors, I picked up some gear and we headed for the high country at 3:30AM.

After about a two hour drive of bouncing and winding through shoddy mountain roads we finally arrived at the lake, about half an hour before launchable light. So we went down to the ramp and threw the big baits around for awhile and then launched.

After looking over the topo the night before, I decided that there was some pretty good struture right by the ramp, so we just dropped both of the electrics and started trolling. We ran two 8" swimbaits off the riggers and Brandon toplined a F18 Rapala while I toplined a Trophy Stick in the Kokanee pattern.

After about an hour of high speed (3.3 on gps) trolling for browns, we look back to see that my trophy stick is fouled and running on the surface. I start reeling it in only to realize that there is a 6" smallmouth attached to my 6" bait, LOL. We brown fished until the sun was up pretty good and then went deep and slow on the downriggers looking for the giant Macks that this lake holds. I was running a bait that is about $75 in a color that is a VERY limited edition. And I had it 65+ feet down, crashing through the rocks . We stuck to that game plan for about 4 hours, occasionally switching baits, speed or type of structure. No hits >. It got a little stormy on us, so we went back shallow and fast, and this time I was pulling the F18 while brandon pulled a big bait. After about 20 minutes my rod get HAMMERED! I pull it out of the holder and we stop the boat. It spulling kind of hard, but clearly not a giant. I was hoping for a 3 or 4 pound brown. What I ended up with instead was a 2.5 smallmouth, LOL.

I try to take a break from bass fishing and the only things I can f'n catch are bass !

So after like 6 hours of incredibly frustrating trout fishing, which is REALLY boring BTW, we finally said screw it. I picked up the dropshot and went to work.

I ended up with 5 more of those and we called it a day.

Moral of the story kids: Trophy Trout fishing sucks, and bass are in my blood.

Way to "save" the trip,lol.

At least you got out there, getting tough on the other side of the country.  Looks like the next time I wet a line will be back in your state this coming Feb.

What's a giant mack?

This is the lake record for a lake that is pretty close to me

Lake Tahoe has some great Mackinaw fishing, but it is illegal to run a two stroke motor on Lake Tahoe, so I have never fished there.

Maybe we will get to fish in Feb, as long as I am not in Reno for the Safari Club International or Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation shows.

Chasing linesides with robert on the delta this weekend, stoked!

Well, it makes for a good story, anyhow.

BTW, Great pic. I love them brown fish!

8-)

Moral of the story kids: Trophy Trout fishing sucks, and bass are in my blood.

LOL!

Bass are in your blood.  Maybe the "striped" variety after this weekend.  

Cool man, hope you guys fill the boat!

Where at in Northern California were ya fishing at fourbizzle?

Nice looking smallie.

H.B.A.

I talked him into going fishing for trophy brown trout and big mackinaw (lake trout).

Moral of the story kids: Trophy Trout fishing sucks, and bass are in my blood.

No no buddy, you got it all wrong. The moral of the story: When trophy trout fishing with 4biz, be sure to bring all bass gear.

As I was getting all of my gear ready the night before, I knew we would be strapped for space and weight on the boat, so I decided to keep 50% of my bass gear at home. All plastics, drop shots, cranks, jigs, small swimbaits, spinning rod and reel, etc. I didn't think we would need it, but sure enough, I needed all of it. I'll be sure to bring my trout stuff next time we go on a bass fishing marathon, cause you never know. All and all it was a good trip. Once again, 4biz managed to save what could have been a lame trip. All the smallie's were chunky monkeys, they all looked very healthy.

Oh yea buddy, i told you it was your stupid idea. for realsy

My version of trout fishing is throwing a 6" trout imitation swimbait. Also trout dont suck, why do you think there are 20+ largies out where you live??? lol atleast they are good for something

cool story and pics.  

Seems like you managed to make a bad situation into a good one.  That's where the line gets drawn between a good fisherman and a great fisherman.  Good story and pic as usual.    8-)

Way 2 Go Mr. B.

Nothing like a stringer of smallie's to chase the blues away  8-)

That is one HUGE smallmouth bass!  Excellent job on the big fish.