Goin' South

Work took me and a couple of my friends down south to the border this past week near Sonoita, Arizona. A town that produces great rodeos, vineyards, and randomly killer chimichangas. But if you keep going past Sonoita you'll find yourself a small lake about 130 acres in size where Collins Canyon, Parker Canyon and Merritt Canyon converge. There is a five mile trail that circles the entirety of the lake from which you can fish without much hinderance from vegetation. Bass, Bluegill, Rainbow Trout, and Channel Catfish are the dominant game species caught in the lake. After my team and I finished up work we decided to finish the day with some hiking and fishing.

We started at rock bluff gate where there is a small dirt parking lot to pull off and get our gear in order before making our way down to the lakeview trail. Immediately, we get to the water and see milfoil spread across the shallow flats of the lake. The temperature topped out at 80 degrees with wind gusts up to 19 mph. Not having any desire to work our way around the weeds we kept trekking on until the substrate turned from silt to cobble and small boulders. The water dropped off suddenly five feet from shore. I dawned a wacky-rigged senko on a 6' 6" fast action baitcaster. Wes immediately to my left on the shoreline was throwing a rooster tail and Cora even further down the shoreline was rigging up a small weighted jig, both on spinning reels.

I cast the senko to my right towards a steep rock cliff-face where the shore takes a sharp turn south. Before the senko reaches the bottom my rod tip bounces twice so I set the hook like a son of a bitch and bagged the first Largemouth of the day. "Works once it's a fluke" I yell out as I cast again to the same spot. Before the senko reached the bottom another aggressive bite from a 2 pound bass. I continue to walk along the shore to the rocky cliff and balance on a couple footholds. Casting further down the shore I catch two more fish, both bass at a pound each. Scurrying around the rocky edge netted me two more bass.

Our spot seemed to cool off after making several more casts so I ventured further down the shore to find a black-necked gartersnake and another cliff that looked a little more difficult to traverse with bass on a stringer. The whole time I was going further on the trail I would leap frog my way around. Taking my fly rod and gearbag with a couple bass attached to a stringer further down the trail and dropping it off, before heading back down to the rod I was using to fish with. This strategy although time consuming, allowed me to take time to soak in the landscape in between hiking. Cora caught a couple of fish on a smaller rocky cliff that we experienced later in the day. After cooling off with a dip in the lake we headed back to the truck to refuel and tackle the other side of the lake we hadn't been to yet.

We hit the most eastern part of the lake near Merritt Canyon a little after 1500. Fishing off the dock wasn't getting me anywhere. I spotted a shaded spot across the lake that appeared to be sheltered from the wind and sun. Walking along the trail there were spots on the water that the sun peeked through the trees and I find it, Bluegill City. Not a joke, I observed 100 Bluegill of various sizes within a 50 meter stretch of the lake. The only problem was, to get down to the edge of the shore where I need to cast was thick overhanging vegetation and before that, a steep hill of slippery dirt to slide down that if not traversed correctly could spook off the fish. I deploy a Maxcatch 4 wt fly rod with an orange stimulator as my dry, and a red zebra midge as my dropper. I creep down the hill on my ass to stay out of sight and quiet to make a few casts. No bites. No interest from the fish. I tie a rooster tail to a baitcaster, which doesn't last long before giving up on it. Rummaging through my bag I came across a small puck of flies I put in from earlier that afternoon at the truck. I didn't want to bring my shoulder bag with my fly stuff and a Plano bag that has my Bass lures in it. I decided to fill a cup with some flies I thought would be useful in case I wanted to switch it up. In the puck contained: 3 wooly buggers (2 olive, 1 black), 2 red zebra midges, a couple stimulators and a green/grey hopper. The wooly bugger is speaking to me, and I go with an olive color. I move back up to the trail and see that I've spooked the fish I first saw and see they have moved under a large tree right off the bank.

I slide with style to the bottom, trying not to make any noise and flip the fly out. Only making it about 8 feet from me. Wham a Largemouth takes it and ducks back into the milfoil below. I wait out the fish and pull it out of the weeds onto the bank. At this point I'm hootin' and hollerin' in my head and the words from FlyAllSZN come to mind, "Look at that fish!". A few frustrating casts go by without a bite and I decide to climb back up the hill a little bit to see where the fish are. I see a group of Bluegill about 15 feet out from where I just was. I pull out what I believe is enough line to reach and roll cast the bugger to where I thought a Bluegill would be. Two short, quick retrieves and I'm on. Whatever I catch has ducked into the weeds again. Patiently I wait for the fish to work itself out from the milfoil. A nice Bluegill about a pound and a half. At this point I'm stoked beyond belief. I back out and walk around to where the sun is peaking shining and catch another Bluegill around the same size before calling it a day.

I learned on this trip that there are some rules to follow if you fishing from shore. One: keep moving. I have learned to not work too slowly. If the fish are there the fish will bite is an assumption one must accept when adopting shoreline fishing. Two: change your lures up. This is a common mistake I fall into if I catch a fish early in the day. I'll stick to the lure that caught me a fish 5 hours ago when the conditions were completely different and the fish were reacting different. Take in all information you can to hone in on lure that work for the situation you're in. I cut off an tied 6 different lures before finding the wooly bugger that worked at Bluegill City. Three: get a damn rod holster so you can easily carry two rods while hiking around. This way you can start off with two different set ups to quickly go to instead of having to stop and tie something on the only rod you brought with. If you're in some thick shit maybe it will be easier to carry them on trail, but once you reach the water and the landscape is more open, an accessory to make you're fishing more efficient by keeping a line in the water.