Just came back from my first time fishing the Gorge from 6-24 to 6-25. As far as the drive, it was a nightmare getting there and going back. But to my report- All
the days were brutally hot, close to 100 degrees I believe. Using the info from this forum, we primarily fished the Anvil and Buckboard areas. We tried the Pipeline
and Linwood Bay areas too, but we just trolled through. All the macks caught were released. Between the two of us, it went like this:
Day 1: (1) 19" koke, about 5-6 macks, one being about 6 lbs. We were at depth of 48-52 feet in the Pipeline to Anvil area. I caught all my fish on a green hoochie
behind a 5" Double D dodger and a scent chamber filled with Bloody Tuna/anise. When the bite slowed, I tried numerous other lures, colors and a larger dodger, but the
bite was off.
Day 2: (1) 17" koke, about 5 macks between 2-3 lbs. in the Anvil area. I caught the koke and some of the macks on the green hoochie and my buddy caught the others on
various other lures which I wasn't keeping track of. Went back out late afternoon and trolled the Linwood area (east end) and picked up a 8" koke which was released.
Also in that area, picked up a mack and a 14" koke. Again, using my go-to green hoochie at 50 feet depth.
Day 3: Buckboard area near an island that had a lot of seagulls and other birds on the east end of it. The island was to the south of the boat ramp and we trolled in
an east-west direction. (1) 14" koke, (2) 18" kokes and 5 or so macks. Also caught a 16" rainbow. Again, I used my green hoochie and my buddy used something else.
About 50 feet depth. One of these kokes was larger than the one caught on day 1; it was the largest I've ever caught, I'm guessing about 4 lbs. The other 18" koke
was the largest my buddy ever caught.
Day 4: Buckboard, same area as described above. Only two macks caught and released. I used an orange/pink hoochie with a silver smile blade ahead of it. One caught
at 45 feet the other at 65 feet. Kokes were gone which spelled the end of our trip.
In regards to the fishing, the kokes were amazing due to their size; CA has nothing on FG. We laughed at all the macks we caught. We couldn't believe how often they
got hooked. Normally, we would have bragged to our other buddies if we did that in CA, but we were specific on catching kokes.
Now to the nightmare which I will summarize: We left about 5 hours late due to my miscalculation on dates. Buddy calls me up as he was headed toward me and said a
leaf spring broke on his boat trailer. Being that I was in the Sacramento area, I got the info on his trailer and made a bunch of calls to boat and trailer shops to
locate a replacement; no luck. I gathered tools then drove 50 miles to my buddy. He found a trailer shop about 4 miles from him. He needed a block of wood to insert
into the axle to limp it to the shop. I went to Lowe's and bought an 8' 4x4 wood post and a hand saw. It was 95 degrees. The wood was cut and duct taped to the
axle. We make it to the shop and stayed there for several hours and had two replacement springs installed. Drove for most of the night but had to stop at a rest stop
in NV to sleep for a while.
Next morning we were on our way again. Almost out of NV and the right rear tire on his truck blows. Spare gets put on and arrangements were made to get two rear
tires installed in Salt Lake City (didn't want one oddball tire). Get to the shop and tires get put on. Finally, get to Lucerne and fishing portion begins.
Start heading back to CA. Prior to Reno, buddy feels the trailer vibrating. Stop and see one of the tires was cupped badly. We believed it was coming apart
internally. It was 6:45 pm and find a tire shop just about to close. Buddy has 3 new tires installed (spare was also replaced because he had to get a different size
than the orginal tires; it looked like the replacement leaf springs did not bring the ride height to specs bringing the tires too close to the fenders).
My buddy's luck... his leaf spring breaks on the road and he's only 4 miles away from a shop that handled the repair. His prior arrangements made while on the road
made the two tire replacement streamlined the delay in Salt Lake City. After deciding to stop in Reno to find a tire for his trailer, we took the nearest exit and
found a shop a 1/2 mile from the highway. Wow...
Other than the breakdowns, the trip was a success. It took 34 years to get this off my bucket list. I want to come back, but the drive was way too long. If I get a
boat again (mine was stolen several years back), I would do the drive with a bit more planning. I want to thank all to replied to my original post. All the info
gathered made the AIS stuff and licensing easy; I was fortunate to have found this forum.
