Magic Fish part 1

My wife and I were fishing at a small lake in Santa Fe Dam park 10 miles east of Pasadena. It was the middle of November, and we were experiencing the weather So. California is famous for, a warm and sunny fall day. This is one of the lakes the Calif Dept of Fish and Game stocks with trout in the winter and catfish in the warmer months. It is close to a million people and gets heavy fishing pressure, but it's close by, and the park like setting makes it a perfect place for a quick getaway.

We had been fishing for about an hour and had caught several nice trout. Because of the heavy fishing pressure this small lake gets you have to use very light line to be successful, as the fish that aren't caught right away quickly become wary.

We were using ultra-light spinning gear. The reels were spooled with Berkley Vanish, a fluorocarbon line in 2# test that I have used to catch trout up to 13 lbs with. Fluorocarbon is a line that is almost invisible underwater and I would recommend it in any situation where you have clear water and spooky fish. Our rods were 6ft light action models. Our rigs consisted of a small float and a very small split shot that had the float only about 20% above the water, this gave us casting weight and allowed us to make long casts and since the floats were mostly underwater, the fish felt no resistance when they pulled it down. The distance to the hook is adjusted up and down depending on water depth or the depth you get the most bites at. Early and late in the day, closer to the surface, and during the day close to the bottom. The hooks were #18 laser sharp models. I always use laser sharp hooks as they give you 50% more hookups than regular hooks.

We were using red worms for bait. The floats bobbing in the light breeze gave the worms an up and down swimming action that most of the species of fish in the lake found irresistible.We made our casts upwind and let the breeze drift our baits downwind, at the end of the drift, reel in and make another cast just a little closer or farther. This way you are searching different areas, when you start getting bites continue casting to the same area until the action slows, then cast to a new area.

This cast was no different than many others I had made, the float stopped then slowly sank out of sight, I gently lifted the rod tip as I turned the reel handle, ( with light line and small sharp hooks there is no need to set the hook, the hook will penetrate when the line comes tight without danger of breaking the light line ) as the line came tight and the fish felt the hook, it took off in a powerful run, my rodtip was pulled down to the water and I had to run along the shoreline to keep up with the fish. What was this?

I had never hooked such a large powerful fish in this lake...