June 11-14, 2003
by Cody Byrne
With intentions of a nine day trip gone when the truck broke down we were able to get out for a few days of chasing browns in northern California. With increased numbers of people at the campgrounds and on the water you could tell summer was here. We were able to catch and release eight browns up to 24.5" running downriggers. It was fun to get out on the water and will be the last trip for at least eight weeks for me.
May 14-17, 2003
by Cody Byrne
We had a chance to fish a new lake in northern California. While it was a learning experience we were able to manage nine browns which were released, you can see photos of some of the better fish on the California photo page. The old two stroke outboard was hurting and it looks as though the summer will hold a new Honda four stroke for our boat.
January 3, 2003
by Cody Byrne
The first trip of the new year proved tough but we did catch fish. For the most part we encountered very muddy water with the visibility about eight inches as a result of many recent storms through the area. At least the first day on the water proved to be successful. Good luck to everyone in their upcoming adventures in 2003.
November 14-17, 2002 -- Lake Almanor, California
by Cody Byrne
On Thursday morning we made it up to Almanor for several days of brown fishing. The wind came up quite strong Thursday afternoon and blew well into the night. Because of the wind we opted to fish the west shore north of the Canyon Dam ramp. Thursday afternoon I caught our first brown in twenty feet of water ripping a custom painted Rapala with a strong north wind. Later that evening I lost a nice fish when it jumped about twenty yards from the boat, on the next pass I hooked up again on the same Rapala landing a nice brown that went twenty-two inches but had an eleven girth. It was a nice fat fish.
Friday was very slow for us. I only caught a salmon while fishing for browns on a Rebel and missed a brown the whole. My father, Mike Byrne, may have caught a brown but I do not remember. There were a lot of pond smelt up near the surface at dark though. When we got back to the ramp Richie Hight was there to fish the lake this weekend as well.
Saturday morning turned out to be better but there was a heavy fog on the lake. Brad Stout was waiting at the ramp and fished the morning with Richie in his boat, they ended up in the Hamilton Branch landing some browns. My father thought he had hooked into a good brown but it was actually a seven pound squaw fish that hit a slow trolled Rapala. That morning I hooked up with a couple of browns on two different custom painted Rapalas. Saturday afternoon and evening Richie invited me to fish with him and I landed a small brown and missed some others on a Rapala from earlier in the morning, he missed some fish and ended up with a smallie. Brad and my father fished together that afternoon and had better success with Brad getting into the browns and my father losing some fish.
Sunday morning we fished for less than three hours. I landed a very small brown and a nice rainbow along with some other fish my father caught. With fifteen minutes to go my father offered me the shoreline side of our run which resulted in a nice twenty-two inch hen brown that had a ton of eggs running out of her. That fish hit on a custom painted Rapala ripped very close to shore. Richie and Brad also ended up landing some fish at other parts of the lake.
The water temperatures ranged from 48ºF-52ºF on the surface. The fishing was not as good for the browns or smallies as in the spring but we did catch some nice king salmon. Overall it was a fun trip and getting to spend time together with friends is always well worth the trip. Take care.
November 10 & 11, 2002 -- Lower Twin, California
by Stephen Higa
On Sunday morning, November 10, 2002, my partner, Tom Tamanaha of Redondo Beach, California, caught an 11.5 pound female brown trout. The hen ate a #13 floating, silver and black rapala at about 10:30 am. We were ripping (top line trolling) in about 12 of water near the marina.
We hit the water at about 7:30 am under cloudly skies with strong winds and light snow. Perfect brown trout weather. The lake was covered with full white caps and boat traffic was minimal. Before hooking the big fish, we caught 5 or 6 other smaller browns. Later that afternoon, the winds picked up to the point where the lake was completely blown out with wave generated spray blowing sideways across the lake. After it calmed down a little at about 3:30 pm, we resumed fishing and caught 1 brown for the evening.
On Monday morning, we started fishing by 6:30 am and caught several fish including a five pound rainbow. Tom caught the five pound Alpers trout on the same rapala used to entice the trophy brown. I caught my biggest fish of the trip, a 2 pound brown, on a rebel a little later in the morning. All fish were caught and released on top lined rapalas or rebels. Unlike the previous day, when it was windy and rough, today was relatively calm and flat. So once the sun came up, we switched to Rago Generic Trout plugs on the downrigger and trolled near kokanee salmon schools located in the west end of the lake. Although we graphed numerous monsters, we were unable to entice any strikes. At about 3:30 pm, a light breeze came up, so we started ripping the banks with rapalas and rebels. We caught one brown at about 4:30 pm.
