Family water-skiing trip to Lake San Antonio in Central California. This year the fish wanted a little bit of alcohol in their diet :)

We arrived Sunday, July 6 around 4:00 pm. It was HOT!!! After un-packing I walked down to the shore to make a few casts with my son Pierce. Our bait of choice for the past few years has been the 3 inch Blue Shad colored Big Hammer swimbait. Since it has produced so well for us in the past we pretty much planned to use that. But, with the recent popularity of the color "Sexy Shad" (that looks identical to the Big Hammer color #63 "Bay Smelt" - which came out about 5 years before "Sexy Shad") I decided to give Bay Smelt a shot. The lake level is very low - probably the lowest I've ever seen it. I started fishing from the shore to the left of the Lynch launch ramp. Within 10 minutes I had my first smallie (about 14 inches). Great fun! About 15 minutes later I hook up again (on Bay Smelt) with a nicer fish that turned out to be in the 17-18 inch range. Fished for a few more minutes before Pierce wanted to go back to the cabin.

That evening we took the boat out (ski boat - no trolling motor - not quite the perfect fishing vessel) to set up our day camp in Bee Rock Cove. After setting it up we quickly went over to the South side of the cove and got a couple more smallies. My sister got one on Blue Shad and I got one on Bay Smelt.

July 7th: The next morning we took the boat out early and only got one small bass on the 3 inch swimbait!!!! I couldn't believe it. After the success yesterday I figured it would be wide. We launched out of the Harris Creek launch ramp and fished the entire Harris Creek cove. Mark and Zack stuck to the Blue Shad and Bay Smelt swimbaits while I played with a bunch of different baits. Fished the Lucky Craft pointer the most for nothing except for one follower that wouldn't commit. I did notice that there were lots (I mean lots) of shad this year - very small ones. Later at our day camp I was only able to manage one more small bass.

July 8th: New game plan. This morning we launched out of Lynch and went North. I started off throwing a blue/chrome Rat-L-Trap which has worked well for me in the past. My nephew Zack was using a 3 inch Margarita colored swimbait. I figured a completely different color (bright green) might set the swimbait apart from all the shad just enough. Within 15 minutes Zack hooks up with a nice fish that is taking line (striper?). Sure enough he lands a decent striper. Fished the area for a few more minutes for nothing, then ventured into a nearby cove where I get a nice largemouth on the Silverside colored Buzz Hammer. Later mid-day fishing at our day camp in between water-skiing runs the fishing was much better - more like previous years. I ended up with 6 nice smallies and missed several more - all on the 3 inch Margarita colored swimbait.

http://www.swimbait.com/gallery/stripedbass/photos/stripedbass-eggleston-zack-080708-010.jpg

July 9th: New game plan again. Launched out of Harris Creek with the plan to fish the Margarita swimbait. Fished a few spots in Harris Creek for nothing. Ran over to Bee Rock Cove where Zack hooks up with a nice smallie on the 3 inch Margarita followed by another decent one a few minutes later. Then came my highlight of the trip. We were fishing a steep rocky bank on the South side of Bee Rock Cove. I was alternating between the 3 inch Margarita colored swimbait and Margarita colored Buzz Hammer. I cast the Buzz Hammer near a fallen log and it moves about 6 inches when a nice bass jumps completely over the bait and misses it entirely. I continue to reel and when the bait is about 4 feet from the boat it gets SLAMMED!! One of the most vicious top-water strikes I think I've ever gotten. It was awesome! My guess is the fish was upset that she missed the bait on the first try and then chased it down.

http://www.swimbait.com/gallery/smallmouth/photos/smallmouth-eggleston-zack-080709-010.jpg

Not the best trip we've ever had but still good. Some nice highlights and the challenge of figuring out what they wanted was fun.