Lake Camanche was named for a little town in Iowa. One that I can only guess was named for the Native American tribe Comanche’s. The similarities between the two are unmistakable. In world war two the United States used the Comanche to send messages so the Germans could not decipher top secret messages. Well trying to figure out the right pattern on Lake Camanche is just as hard.
PREFISH
On pre-fish day my son wrecked his truck, no injuries just a pissed off pine tree.
TOURNAMENT
We arrived at the lake a little early (could have slept two more hours) that’s ok. At safe light we looked at each other and said what do you think right? So we turned right, one of the things I do when I’ve never seen a body of water is try to find a part that looks familiar. I spotted this little area that had some grass coming in which reminded me of Berryessa. I picked up my favorite top water bait and started chunking. About ten minutes in I looked up and saw this small bush in the water, told my partner that’s a perfect place for this frog. I pitched it as close as I could and about three twitches later one of the largest swirls I had seen in awhile took the frog down. I waited for the line to get weight but it never came, she had missed. What I saw of her put my estimation at around seven pounds a true monster.
For the rest of the day I threw my frog with no results. As we worked up river I started throwing a spoon and started catching small fish. This was becoming a frustrating tournament. I knew all I needed was one fish to be in the classic, it wasn’t looking good.
At noon I spotted a nice arch on the hummingbird, I dropped the spoon down bam my first keeper a one pound spot. With my spirits lifted a little we headed back towards the main body. After fishing a couple spots on our way out of the river we headed to the south marina area. There is a nice flat up there with lots of grass so we found. This looked promising I started with the frog no takers then I picked up my crankbait first cast stuck what felt to be a good one three head shakes later it won the fight. Tried for awhile longer with the crank no more takers, worked the whole area for about an hour nothing.
At this point we decided to head back to the area we started; maybe the big girl was back? She wasn’t but I looked over the area and saw two large dark spots, with the wind blowing over them I thought it looked good for top water. Out came old faithful, (my frog) first cast 2lber two casts later 2 and a 1/2. THE FROG DID IT AGAIN!! Saved my day or at least put me up on enough people to secure a classic spot.
One of the best things about this season was getting to compete every month against some great people. There are some who are really good fisherman others are learning. No matter what level of fisherman they are, I haven’t met a bad one yet. We are all part of a family of people who go out in good weather, bad weather, cold, heat, and everything in between to pursue a passion, if just for a few hours we get to let our dreams come to life. Some days we win some we lose, but when you’re on the water with your son, daughter, wife, husband or best friend the place you finish doesn’t seem to matter as much. The memories you made are worth the price of admission.
Good luck to all those who made the classic, those that didn’t it has been great getting to know you hope to see familiar faces next year along with some new ones.
