New Here, Old Everywhere Else

[michaelnel]

Hi Folks

I'm Michael. 66 years old, still working, live in Angels Camp, California. I work 4x10 Thu-Sun so I have Mon-Wed as days off. I love fishing during the week.

Started with a 12' wooden boat with a 10hp Johnson that looked like it came out of a Popeye cartoon. A baby rattlesnake came out of the trailer tongue when I disconnected it from my truck. I used that to fish in the sloughs at Clearlake where I lived at the time. Caught a lot of Crappie and Carp in that little boat.

I had a 11'6" Zodiac with a 15hp Johnson next, fished that in the Sierra alpine lakes and in SF Bay (lived in Foster City at the time).

Sold the Zodiac and bought a 19' Bayliner center console with a 150hp Force engine. Used that in SF Bay, out of Pillar Point, from Monterey harbor and out the Gate for Salmon, Rockfish, and Albacore trips. Had a lot of fun on that boat until I capsized it in a gale one morning out at the Deep Reef (long story, involves lots of stupidity on my part).

After the Bayliner was capsized and totaled, I bought the nicest boat I have ever had, a brand new Skipjack 25 Fisherman. I outfitted that thing to the teeth with all Furuno gear, including color fishfinder, radar, loran. Even had autopilot. No GPS, it wasn't invented yet. Had Penn downriggers, outriggers, and meat lines. We used to drag 8 lines for albacore and had them all go off at once on multiple occasions.

Another trip involving bad judgement and stupidity, and I decided no more ocean for me.

Switched over to fly fishing in streams and lakes. Used float tubes and a Scadden Rampage inflatable to fish Lake Davis, San Pablo Reservoir, Martis Creek Reservoir, Baum Lake, Hat Creek, Fall River, Feather River, Yellow Creek and other places with my fly rods.

Quit fishing altogether for 10 years or so. Recently moved up to Angels Camp from The Pit (SF Bay Area) and have started fishing again. Bought a nice 14' Klamath with a 15hp Suzuki 4 stroke, fished it but quickly found it to be too small and not stable enough for my taste.

Just a couple months ago, bought a Klamath 16 Alasakan with a 50hp EFI 4 stroke Mercury.

Thanks for reading all this!

[SuperD]

Welcome! With Kokanee season over it is pretty quiet around here for a while. There are some members here that fish New Melones and Berryessa so there is some info. that you can glean here during the season. In the meantime, feel free to shoot some bull or share some tips on fishing or whatever. Knowledgeable people here too if you need some off season boat maintenance.

Dave

[ronco]

Welcome, I used to live in the Bay Area 1957 to 1981. Moved north to Elk Creek, in 1990 moved to Colorado. I've been to a lot of the places you named.
I had a Aunt and Uncle that lived in Angels Camp and still have cousins there, small world.