Literary accounts of fishouts in the recent past,
to make you sorry you didn't go.
Roostercomb Ranch, May 27th-29th
Roostercomb Ranch, May 27th-29th
The second Roostercomb Ranch bass trip was also filled to capacity. Along for the fun were: Greg Foy, Marla Lytle, Harry Schoonbaert, Sophia Zadubera, Loren Kitamura, Chris Walters, Jack, Max and Richard Lyness, Marc and Cammie Shaw, Jim Harmon and Heidi Theodore, Bob and Kennette Roberts, grandsons Sam and Jeff Miser, Dick Stipes and me (Cecilia). Scott Wilkinson's wife, two daughters and good friend Todd also joined us for the first time.
Each trip to the Roostercomb Ranch has been different, but has never failed to provide plenty of outdoor adventure, fun and the unexpected. This trip was no exception. Heidi arrived without her suitcase of clothes and immediately went on a Casa de Fruta shopping spree. Then her 4-WD broke down, later to be towed out of a smelly, gooey, muddy hole. On the last day her battery went dead at one of the ponds. Marla (as Lee Fitzsimmons did last trip) walked back to the ranch house for help.
With a cooling weather front, the fishing was fair to good with many 12-inchers, but with some bigger bass in the 2-5 lb. range. My grandsons pulled out lunkers using Senko worms on spin-rods, losing a few monsters that broke off after powering their rods straight into the weed beds. On Sunday two foursomes hiked to the Henry Coe St. Park ponds outside the ranch, Jack Rabbitt and Paradise. A small rainstorm blew in, catching everyone by surprise. The fish-catching ceased momentarily, but then the sun reappeared and the damsel and dragonfly hatches re-ignited.
We enjoyed outstanding breakfasts and dinners prepared by all the teams: Greg Foy and crew whipped out omelets, bacon and pancakes; the Lynesses dazzled us with their culinary magic, and Marc Shaw made his homemade Rum Sauce cake, and once again Margaritas flowed till there were no more. - Cecilia Stipes
We met in Susanville and proceeded to Five Dot, a 7,500 acre working cattle ranch, located in Long Valley at 5,000' elevation. The road into the lake was a little tough for some of the low clearance vehicles, but we all made it! As we set up camp the wind greeted us while we pitched tents and inflated float tubes.
That evening we caught fish up to 24 inches and had lots of excitement with the big hits. The next morning everyone enjoyed a good number of hook-ups. The fish were very cooperative with some jumping three or four times. Wind blew a few folks off the water and fishing was hard exercise for the rest of us. We had more fish, hits, bumps, and LDRs [Long Distance Releases] than most us had ever enjoyed in a single day, with fish reports and tales by everyone in the evening. The second night we had high winds that rocked the house. We awoke to clear, calm skies wondering if John and Norm had blown away - they slept under an open canopy. The last day we fished the lake hard with fish showing us their stuff by their aerobatics, many unbuttoning. We got on the water early to get in as much as possible before the wind had its way with us again, seeming to slow the fishing.
By mid-day camp was being broken down. Some people had planned to leave early and the rest of us decided to follow suit with darker clouds moving in.
Thanks for the memories, Betty, John, Norm, Tim, Jim, Jonah, Ray, Gary, Tony and Dave. - Tom Donovan
This was a fun-filled day shared with Dave Jensen, Tom Bradley, Elaine Cook, Bill Seaman, Dick and me, Cecilia Stipes. After meeting early for breakfast at Casa de Fruta Restaurant, we headed for the ranch across the highway. The only obstacle of the day began at the beginning when we discovered the gate was locked. Fortunately, Madelyn Bourdet was home, gave us the key and we were on our way having lost only half an hour.
The morning was foggy, a cool 53¡F, but it didn't seem to matter to the fish. Dave and Tom were first to hit the water. In a matter of minutes, Tom caught four bass in eight casts using the shimmering Clouser minnows he tied the night before. This set the trend for the day. Dave tossed out his frog imitation popper, getting take after take. Elaine went to the upper pond, cast along the edges of reeds and caught several bass even before getting in her float tube. Bill Seaman had great success on the upper pond too, landing many large bass ranging from 14 to 17 inches. Dick had repeated success using a deer-hair mouse imitation that produced a fish with every cast. I was lucky too, landing a few 17" bass tucked in behind reeds. But I think Tom pulled in the largest bass ( 3-lb) on a surface popper mid-day. It put up a good fight, which brought a big grin to his face. Elaine found a tantalizing and very rewarding challenge behind a curtain of reeds and mucky weeds that produced 16 takes.
It was difficult to quit fishing when it was as good as it was, but fatigue and lack of daylight finally forced us off of the water. - Cecilia Stipes