“Ok everybody, smile…”

I don’t know how many times I’ve exited at Indian Truck Trail to hit Corona Lake. I couldn’t even give you a round-about number. What I do know is that I frequently find myself thinking about that little stretch of road when I’m stuck at work or busy at home. The thought of turning on the right-hand blinker and pointing my little wagon off the 15 freeway and flying under that sign will creep into my brain and shortly thereafter, a smile spreads across my face…of course I lie to my wife and/or boss about the source of my smirk, but really, do they need to know every dumb thing that I think about? It may seem ridiculous to some that an offramp could impart any form of glee in the heart of a fisherman, but others out there that share in this addiction will know EXACTLY what I’m talking about and will probably have a sign, or a tree, or a building or a _______ of their own that sparks the same emotion in them. The anticipation, the excitement of being “almost there” is one of my favorite aspects of fishing and like Pavlov’s dogs, all of the fun that has followed making that silly little turn over the years has solidified in my silly little brain that “Indian Truck Trail = a REALLY good time”. Yesterday, after a long and ridiculous week at work, I found myself salivating with excitement as I made that very turn in the pm sunlight…Pavlov would have been proud.

I got to the lake for the afternoon session and parked at JD’s point. Weather was gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky and with a slight west/northwest breeze blowing across the lake, the wind was perfect for taking me and my float tube right to where I wanted to fish with minimal kicking effort on my part. For those interested, that would be right about here…

Turns out that being “one with the wind” (aka being too lazy to kick across the lake on my own) was a one way ticket to where the fish were because I didn’t have to move from this spot until I was tired of pulling on fish. First cast got slammed and following that initial flurry, untouched baits were far rarer than baits being destroyed on 1-5 minute soaks. The nightcrawler/marshmallow combo was my go to and I threw it until I wanted to try a different brew…

Good grief that stuff is disgusting. That gross little container holds chunked fresh mackerel marinated in a delectable little brew consisting of 50% garlic scent and 50% hog wild. I call the chunks 50/50 bars and yesterday, they were SLAMMING them. Flylined on a 2/0 hook in free spool with the clicker on, that stuff would hit the bottom and you could just sit back and listen to it getting tossed around by the whiskered critters below. Eventually one such critter would get greedy, would hold on to it for a few seconds too long, take that one “chug” too many, and BLAMM-O!! Game on!!!! What an absolute BLAST!!!!

What was really fantastic to see yesterday is that about 1/3 of my fish were caught in OPEN water away from the structure. I’ve made it a point to soak a bait on a second rod far away from structure over the past few weeks and have been lucky to receive a nibble if it wasn’t in the trees. Yesterday there was a substantial change in that trend which is great to see, especially with the bigger fish going in. Most of the shore anglers I saw had fish, I saw a few caught just during the time I was launching and loading, and on my kick back in, I passed a pontoon boat that was pretty noisily excited about back to back fish munching hot dogs in the middle of the lake (funny group of guys!). I still highly recommend to everyone working in tight to structure as that continues to consistently produce, but throwing a big, smelly bait in the opposite direction, away from the trees would NOT be a bad idea!

I wrapped up my day long before the sun went down. Packed up and on my way back home, I was blessed with another opportunity to watch the sun go down over the Santa Ana Mountains. Made it home safe to an excited-to-see-me wife, shared with her about how “insane the fishing was” until I saw the look of “you lost me 30 minutes ago” in her face, took the dogs for a walk around the ‘hood and called it another awesome day. And to share it with you guys, I put another little video together showing everything but my time with the Mrs.!! The bend and pull these fish put in the rod is just insane and seeing it on film makes me want to get back out there…NOW! You’ll also be able to see right where the wind planted my butt just in case you’re looking for a spot to hit the next time that you’re out there.

As always, I appreciate you guys reading this stuff. Hopefully you’re able to pull out some tid bits that will help the next time you decide to hit it. All of your comments, pm’s and email have been unreal and it would be great to share some water with you. Always feel free to come up and say “hi” if you see me out there. I’m always happy to share a spot and would really dig the company! A monster THANKS as always and with that…ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!