OK, just so you know to keep reading, yes, I caught one, and it was a good one too...... but Oh my Lord what I saw !!!
First thing at about 9am, I'm throwing the trout along this long, steep area near the dam. I make a long cast straight out and crank pretty hard, holding the rod tip under water, to gain as much depth as possible. Then I ease up on the speed, just enough to hold the 8 or 10 ft of depth I had gained. As the lure starts to come into view (visibilty is about 7 ft right now in that area..... amazingly clear for San Mudlo) I see a big dark shadow closing in from behind ! The lure gets to within 3 ft of my rod tip, where ordinarily I would be picking it up for another cast. But I pause..... the lures starts to drift straight up from there to the surface...... and this hog charges it !!!! WHAM ! She grabs it tail first, spins a 180, and proceeds to give me the biggest drenching you can imagine ! Most of the water was right in my face too ! Of course I slam back on her, but she does not have the hook in her mouth and I just rip it away from her. After that, no more hits or follows for like 4 hours.
So now I'm in a completely different area near a steep rocky drop off into deep water. I cast my trout down the shoreline into a little pocket of shade and start to retrieve........ Out of the blue, a monstrous bass of 15 to 16 lbs rushes out and nails my trout ! I set the hook, but again, she does not have it in her mouth I make another cast to the same area. As I start my retrieve, I see not only the 15 to 16 that I just missed, but two more that were at least 13 to 14 lbs following it ! The trout gets to within 6 feet of the boat, at which point the biggest one cuts off the other two and grabs my trout by the tail again ! Another set... another miss This is getting bad.
Time to switch up here. I come around to this little shaded pocket from the other side, and Oh my Lord !...... There are 4 bass sitting in a 6 foot diameter area.... 3 of which are at least 13 to 14 lbs, and one is every bit of 15 to 16 ! Needless to say, I am beside myself !
I take my medium weight rod with a jig and madman craw trailer and flip out past them, then slowly work it up to them. As it aproaches, one of the "smaller" 13 plus fish rolls to one side and noses down at my jig..... Tick.... Wham ! But again I don't hook up !!! Ok now, being a trophy hunter takes a lot of patience and persistance, but this is getting rediculous !
I decide to put on a sinking swimbait to see if that will trigger a bite. I chose the old sinking Castaic 8 incher. Again, I cast it out past them and let it sink. I then start hopping it up towards them. On the final hop it comes up between them and arches back down, landing right in front of them. Imediatly they all start moving and stirring and one of the "littlest" ones goes down towrds my lure..... Pop..... Wham ! I set back hard and my rod tip stays down !!! Yea buddies !!! FISH ON ! She runs and jumps, and I know she is a good one ! After a great fight I put the scoop on her...... and then the lure falls out of her mouth into the net ! Geez ! That was too close. Anyway, she was another beautiful hog, of 13.2 lbs ! But buddies, the first one that drenched me was probably a little bigger.... maybe 14, and this ones biggest girlfriend was at least 15, probably closer to 16 ! I really believe that with just a tiny bit of luck, I could have landed 3 Largemouth bass, for close to 45 lbs !!!

Like Swimbait says..... "The fine line"

Simply amazing.

Thank you Lord for another awesome trip.

Peace,
Fish

Photos: www.trophybassonly.com/id99.htm