05-17-2010, 02:01 AM
I got a wild hair Friday morning... it was dreary and windy and cold in San Francisco, and I checked the Burney report and they were forecasting really nice weather for Fri/Sat/Sun. About 8AM I started packing and was on the road by 9AM, on my way to Baum Lake.
I arrived there Friday afternoon and lo and behold my friend Gary Lee was there in the parking lot with his float tube. He'd been there since Tuesday and was camping in the Cassel campground where I was planning to camp.
He offered to share his site with me for my tent, so after setting up camp in Gary's site I fished a couple hours, nada. Strapped the Scadden Outlaw Rampage to the rack and went back to camp. We went to Angelina's REX Club for dinner because it was like 9PM and La Fogata (best Chile Verde in the known universe!!!) was closed. Nonetheless, dinner at the REX was very good.
Next morning Gary and I were the first on the lake at about daybreak. Fished a couple hours for nothing, then nibble nibble nibble WHAM. Caught a 21" (MeasureNet rules!) big fat rainbow in spawning colors, using a #12 Denny Rickards AP Emerger stripped slowly on an intermediate line, which is the same fly I caught 17 on one weekend there and also the same fly I caught my personal best rainbow at the dam at Baum on. Good fly!
It was funny... after I got the big one in the net (and it only took about 3 minutes or so to land him), he looked like he was dead. I tried reviving him but it looked like he was gone. I asked Gary if he wanted him and Gary said "sure". I don't like to kill them and don't like to eat them, but I know Gary likes to eat them (he had about a 16 incher in his cooler from the day before).
Gary paddled over and was digging out his stringer when I noticed the fish's mouth was moving just a little. Mind you, I never took him out of the net and only had his head out of water long enough to get the hook out. I held him in the net facing the current and after a minute or so he started flaring his gills and there was some tail movement, so after another minute or so he looked OK to release and I had to rescind my offer of the fish to Gary, and I let him go. No pics of the fish, I was too concerned with reviving and releasing him... Gary's my witness though! Nice fish!
After that all I could do was three 8-12" dinks at the inlet from Crystal lake. Gary and another guy (who had a new Scadden Outlaw Renegade) both had slow fishing on Saturday although they had both done well earlier in the week. There was also a Freestyle H3 on the lake that day.
It started raining around 3PM so I called it a day, and naturally after getting my boat all packed up in the rain, the rain stopped. I was tard though, and went back to camp and read for a while, then went to La Fogata and then back to camp where I read a while then went to bed early. Got out of there about 7AM and drove back to San Francisco.
I gotta say, I am liking the Outlaw Rampage boat more each time I use it. It maneuvers SO easily with the oars (especially with the 6 1/2 foot Sawyer SSTs I bought to replace the too short aluminum oars). It's comfortable for hours at a time, it's easy to land fish in because it is so stable that leaning over to get a fish isn't a concern.
Now that I have worked out a way to transport it to and from campsites without breaking it down (I have a Yakima rack on my Honda Civic that I bought for my pram, but it works great for the Rampage), it's way less trouble to get on the water the next day than the pram, which has to have everything removed from it before I can transport it.
I don't even mess with the pressure, since I inflated it in the heat of the day and at the end of the day and overnight the temp gets cooler and the pressure goes down. I leave the seat and the side bags on, remove the fishing gear and anchor and I can easily put it up on the rack by myself. A couple straps and I'm done. I wouldn't transport it long distances this way... although I could, but to and from the campsite which was less than a mile of dirt road it was fine. Next morning, reverse and I'm on the water fishing.
When I go camping & fishing with the Rampage, the whole mess fits in my little '97 Honda Civic and I get 35MPG on the freeway with everything inside. With the pram on top I get 20MPG and lots of wind noise.
I'm sold. This is a really nice boat.
[signature]
I arrived there Friday afternoon and lo and behold my friend Gary Lee was there in the parking lot with his float tube. He'd been there since Tuesday and was camping in the Cassel campground where I was planning to camp.
He offered to share his site with me for my tent, so after setting up camp in Gary's site I fished a couple hours, nada. Strapped the Scadden Outlaw Rampage to the rack and went back to camp. We went to Angelina's REX Club for dinner because it was like 9PM and La Fogata (best Chile Verde in the known universe!!!) was closed. Nonetheless, dinner at the REX was very good.
Next morning Gary and I were the first on the lake at about daybreak. Fished a couple hours for nothing, then nibble nibble nibble WHAM. Caught a 21" (MeasureNet rules!) big fat rainbow in spawning colors, using a #12 Denny Rickards AP Emerger stripped slowly on an intermediate line, which is the same fly I caught 17 on one weekend there and also the same fly I caught my personal best rainbow at the dam at Baum on. Good fly!
It was funny... after I got the big one in the net (and it only took about 3 minutes or so to land him), he looked like he was dead. I tried reviving him but it looked like he was gone. I asked Gary if he wanted him and Gary said "sure". I don't like to kill them and don't like to eat them, but I know Gary likes to eat them (he had about a 16 incher in his cooler from the day before).
Gary paddled over and was digging out his stringer when I noticed the fish's mouth was moving just a little. Mind you, I never took him out of the net and only had his head out of water long enough to get the hook out. I held him in the net facing the current and after a minute or so he started flaring his gills and there was some tail movement, so after another minute or so he looked OK to release and I had to rescind my offer of the fish to Gary, and I let him go. No pics of the fish, I was too concerned with reviving and releasing him... Gary's my witness though! Nice fish!
After that all I could do was three 8-12" dinks at the inlet from Crystal lake. Gary and another guy (who had a new Scadden Outlaw Renegade) both had slow fishing on Saturday although they had both done well earlier in the week. There was also a Freestyle H3 on the lake that day.
It started raining around 3PM so I called it a day, and naturally after getting my boat all packed up in the rain, the rain stopped. I was tard though, and went back to camp and read for a while, then went to La Fogata and then back to camp where I read a while then went to bed early. Got out of there about 7AM and drove back to San Francisco.
I gotta say, I am liking the Outlaw Rampage boat more each time I use it. It maneuvers SO easily with the oars (especially with the 6 1/2 foot Sawyer SSTs I bought to replace the too short aluminum oars). It's comfortable for hours at a time, it's easy to land fish in because it is so stable that leaning over to get a fish isn't a concern.
Now that I have worked out a way to transport it to and from campsites without breaking it down (I have a Yakima rack on my Honda Civic that I bought for my pram, but it works great for the Rampage), it's way less trouble to get on the water the next day than the pram, which has to have everything removed from it before I can transport it.
I don't even mess with the pressure, since I inflated it in the heat of the day and at the end of the day and overnight the temp gets cooler and the pressure goes down. I leave the seat and the side bags on, remove the fishing gear and anchor and I can easily put it up on the rack by myself. A couple straps and I'm done. I wouldn't transport it long distances this way... although I could, but to and from the campsite which was less than a mile of dirt road it was fine. Next morning, reverse and I'm on the water fishing.
When I go camping & fishing with the Rampage, the whole mess fits in my little '97 Honda Civic and I get 35MPG on the freeway with everything inside. With the pram on top I get 20MPG and lots of wind noise.
I'm sold. This is a really nice boat.
[signature]