Those transitional blues...

Hit Lopez Lake near the Cali coast (Arroyo Grande) for the first time in nearly 11 years. Last time I was there it was early October and it was for our club championship, in which I took second place. The deep water jig bite was outstanding, and on day two, managed to jump from 13th up to 2nd with a nearly 28lb bag…it was a great time. This lake really set up nicely for how I like to fish…and I’ve often wanted to come back, but seriously low water levels (up until last year), kept me away. With the lake at nearly full capacity, and some beautiful weather forecasted, it was time to return. This trip was 3 days of camping, hiking and hanging with the girlfriend on the water. That transition is in full swing, and a cold front that ended less than two days prior made for some tough fishin. Regardless, I found some and even though I had to really work for em…in all honesty, the challenge was welcomed. First two fish came surprisingly shallow on a Gika-rigged Dolive Beaver (Zero Dan), but never made it to the boat. One jumped off at the last second, and I broke the second off in some cover (10lb Sniper…yeah, I like to live on the edge). After that, it was a 110+1, Pointer 78 DD, and standard 110 that did damage along with smaller spoons, T-rigged craw baits and underspins. Largies, Smallies and Crappie all came aboard.

Nothing big, but the beautiful weather and scenery always compensate for lack of quality size fish…

The Designo Leggera, X7 Super Eiger, Jota Slant (Dorrum Stick Tune), EG Super Cougar, X7 EM and Poison Ultima did the most damage. Almost all had Steezies on board aside from the Ultima which had a ‘16 BFS XG/Avail spool/ZPI handle and knobs aboard. That Avail spool is absolutely amazing in there, and it was tough to put down.