I’ve been a gear head for most of my fly fishing years, always looking for the better rod or flies, the newest lines, the best boat I could afford and electronics -lots of electronics. The first fish finder I ever owned was a Fish Lo K Tor flasher (the little green box). One of the…
Saturday Jan 23, 2021 -For most of the week, it looked like the weather would prevent me from fishing Friday through Monday. It seemed like everyone was fishing the Forebay with some success on my work days this week. Friday was blown out and it looked like rain and wind from Saturday to Monday. The…
Perhaps the most memorable clip of film and music I have ever heard, that brings tears to my eyes everytime I hear it, especially in these dark days, is from Richard Harris at the end of the movie Camelot (1967). Arthur stumbles across a young boy who begs to fight in the “last” battle and become a…
Sunday January 17, 2020 Perhaps the best January Forebay Trip ever, yesterday Ken Oda and I fished O’neill Forebay and found large schools of good fish cruising the shallow depths of the Forebay. I was very excited to have Ken in the boat yesterday. It is not often enough for me after knowing him…
Sunday Jan 10, 2021 – I’m beginning to think that 10 days into 2021, this year is going to be crappier than last year but not so the fishing at O’neill Forebay. I dont remember a past January day on O’Neill Forebay that was as fun as today with my good friend Don. It didn’t…
Friday January 8, 2021 – The first work week of the year flew by for me in anticipation of fishing the lake this weekend. Even though the reports as of yesterday suggested I should go to the Forebay instead, I decided to see if I could go back a week later and duplicate my…
Friday Jan 1, 2021 – The Season of Covid continues into a brand new year. This year on the lake has been a unique experience for me. I owe the lake my sanity. Fishing alone on the lake is probably the safest place I could be both physically and mentally and for that I am…
Saturday December 26, 2020 – Don and I managed to get out on San Luis Reservoir before the rains. It started out pretty bumpy in the morning and we both knew the cold weather might make it tough to catch fish but we were both optimistic and managed to catch a coupled nice fish. We…
Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, the mission to Remember, Honor and Teach is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as at more than 2,100 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea and abroad. To honor Nicholas Gray , we celebrate the placing of a…
Friday December 19, 2020 – Last week on the forebay with Tony Yap was a pretty fantastic as December days go. I thought that it was perhaps an accident that things went so well and I was anxious to get back to forebay to test some things we discovered on our last trip. The day…
Friday Dec 11, 2020 -I have known of Tony Yap for many years but today I had the pleasure of fishing with him for the first time on O’neill Forebay. It was a day to remember. We had a great day on the water today despite heading to the lake at 7:00 with wind…
December 5-6, 2020 -We have only made a few camping reservations this year. The first two were in March and April when the first shelter in place order was given in California. The week the campgrounds opened up again, we were lucky enough to make a quick reservation. each trip we have learned more about…
Friday Dec 4, 2020 – The Fishing at San Luis and the Forebay was getting pretty tough over the last couple week as the first rains and cold nights came rolling through the second half of December. Yesterday, California announced another massive stay at home order. Hopefully, they wont close boat ramps and As far…
November 25-30 – One of the best things we did a couple years ago is purchase a fractional ownership at Fairmont Heritage Place. Originally we purchased it to use the membership for the excellent deals on Suites at Fairmonts all over the world as well as preferential treatment at property restaurants, golf courses and other…
Sunday November 22, 2020 -The water temps on the forebay are down to 52 degrees after the first rains of the winter this last week. Ice covered my truck as we departed from my house at 7:00am. The ramp was busy this morning with more than 15 boats and at least as many Kayaks. We…
Saturday November 15, 2020 -Fishing is the perfect escape and isolation from politics and covid. Out there on the lake, alone and focused is the most peace I get these days. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with a Vaccine around the corner as I prepare to hunker…
In retrospect of all the presidential elections I actually voted in , I could be the ultimate cooler, having voted for almost every loser in the last 10 elections. I was in desperate need of some stress reduction today and a good day of fishing helped me realize that whatever happens tomorrow, I’m going to…
Gina scored a Sunday Night at Half Moon Bay State Park Campground and we headed over for a quick get together with Mark and Phoebe. I brought my golf clubs again but we got a late start to the campground and ended up in traffic on Highway 92 again. When the beach gets warm, the…
Friday October 16, 2020 – Sometimes I see people launching when I’m taking the boat out and I wonder if they are going to do better than us fishing late. They launch to fish a couple hours before sunset. It reminds me that great day can happen in a couple hours of a hot…
Monday October 12, 2020 -The problem with advanced electronic sonar is that you can’t blame a slow day on lack of fish. Instead you have to invent new excuses not to be catching fish when you can see them all around you and they just aren’t interested. Sometimes they just don’t eat. I should…
Monday Oct 5, 2020 -The best wind day of the week had me excited to take Don Chesnek out to the racks for some non dink action. Last time we fished , I could only guide up a bunch of dinks from the forebay channel while Vaughn was landing 20 lbrs Everything was right today. …
Friday Oct 2, 2020– Just when 2020 couldn’t get any weirder, The president was diagnosed with Covid-19 last night. The Lake wind predictions have been outright wrong the last couple days. Perhaps smokey air acts differently because its thicker and heavier. I decided to take a chance on a pretty windy forecast and hit…
September 27, 2020 – After nearly a year of owning the Lance Trailer, I’m feeling more comfortable taking it locally for a single night of camping. Its been a fun few week adding some improvements to the trailer. Gina loves camping at Half Moon bay even if its only for a night in a non…
Sunday September 20, 2020 -I forgot what its like to catch lots of fish in the forebay and yet feel like there was something missing. I caught over 25 fish today but only 4 fish were 18 inches or bigger. The forebay conditions were nearly ideal – warm weather, no wind, good weedlines, and water…
I find it very helpful to see what you are casting too from the air. Often you loose purpose when you dont consider the context of where you are fishing. Where the fish position themselves in the this weedy mess depends on many factors such as temperature, wind and current speed and direction. Imagine yourself…
