Lake Elsinore

[Bendo]

So there I was, sitting in my Truck, with nobody anywhere. I had arrived at 5:30 am to meet several Kayakers on a quest for the elusive Lake Elsinore Wipers. I asked Siri to navigate me to Launch Pointe. My Nav System led me to a large launch ramp in the pitch black night. A sign said they open at 8am. Strange. I rigged up the three rods I brought, a huge number for me as I usually just bring my “ Kill Stick”. The clock ticked and I’m on Facebook trying to contract somebody, anybody from the Crew. At 6:20am a Spectrum work Truck drives in and I ran him down, scaring the Hell out of him when I knocked on his mirror. “ Am I at Launch Pointe?” I asked. The flustered Technician laughed and said it’s right next door, but about a half mile to drive it. So I go to the correct Launch Ramp, it’s Open, pay my $10 and I’m ready to launch on a beautiful overcast morning into not that Cold 62.4 degree water. Nobody to be seen, they all launched and took off. The Lake has two distinct personalities. The East shore has deeper water, with lots of cover in the water, bubble diffusers close to shore, and tons of baitfish intermixed with some larger models posted below them. I threw out a #7 Flicker Shad and started to troll thru the clouds of baitfish. Not a touch. I varied speed, length of line out, pulsing the lure with Rod Sweeps. I trolled this area for about 1 1/2 hours with not another Soul in sight. I get a “beep” on my phone and it’s a message, they are all on the East side of the Lake. So I head across the Lake, it’s 7:45 on a Saturday morning, and I I’m dodging Jet Boats, Wake Boarders, and small Ships plying the middle of the Lake. It was a long run, peddling my Hobie 14 at 4 mph, it took quite a while. I’m in the Zone. There are Six Kayaks spread out, all trolling at 1.6 to 2.1 mph. I scoped around and pick a line following the 16 foot contour, an area where the Thermocline hit the rising bottom of the Lake. Piles of baitfish seemed to be concentrating along this line. I trolled, and trolled. I sped up and slowed down and did all the trolling tricks to get bit for nothing on my Flicker Shad. I finally switched to a plug called a “Live Fingerling” in Rainbow Trout. It ran a little deeper and I would bounce of the bottom from time to time, and I trolled. I heard a yelp and one of the other Yakers had hooked one and it was a pretty tough line singing fight and he put the net on about a 6 pound Wiper. Another had caught 8 Crappie on a #5 Flicker Shad in Chrome. I was still hitless. I worked shallower and bumped bottom hard in water as shallow at 8 feet and back to the 16 foot line. On the South East side, it is that deep all they way across the Lake. Heading North, about 100 feet off shore, I was in 14 feet when I had a hard strike….but no Fish. Six needle sharp hooks, and I missed him. So I concentrated on that area and got two more hard strikes but just couldn’t hook them. The wind started to pick up around 12:30 and I peddled and trolled North, into the breeze, back to the Launch Ramp, arriving around 1:30. I did not catch a Crappie or a Wiper. 3 were caught and 8 Crappie by the other Yaks. Most in the first two hours, when I was in the wrong area. One of the guys told me the Wipers perk up in May-June as the water warms. They typically land several 6-10 pound Fish a trip. So I’m not thru with this place, the water was in good shape, there was tonnage of baitfish, I just guessed the wrong way and, to be fair, I was 20 minutes late to the correct Launch Ramp, I wasted the best time of the morning fishing the West side. To sum up this trip. Up at 3:30 am, to the Ramp by 5:45, waited around until 6:20 at the wrong ramp. Launched at 6:35, trolled until 1:30, Home at 3:30 for not a Wiper. I’ll give it a a couple of months and try try again.
Pics are my Trolling track, the Lure that got bit, Kei with a Wiper.

[Midnightpass]

Sorry about the skunk... But that's fishin'... At least you are giving it a hard effort...
Butch

[foulhook]

Nice try, I've gotten all my wipers on East side or North Side

[Bendo]

Damn! Foulhook, you mean I had a chance? I didn’t get bit on that side but it sure felt fishy. I ran plugs thru there, slow trolled some small white Swimbaits, then my “ace in the hole” ZMan Trout Trick in Golden Lantern, for not a touch. Just one of those days for me….

[risentidefishing]

Damn! Foulhook, you mean I had a chance? I didn’t get bit on that side but it sure felt fishy. I ran plugs thru there, slow trolled some small white Swimbaits, then my “ace in the hole” ZMan Trout Trick in Golden Lantern, for not a touch. Just one of those days for me….

Did you see anyone doing any good on the green bass? Apparently the population has perked back up since they put the aerators in