We had a little weather on it's way in this evening, and I was motivated by the start of daylight savings, so I loaded up the float tube and headed straight for Shadow Cliffs after work. I was fishing by 5:45pm or so. Water was clear (as awlways) and I spent the first 45 minutes or so looking around and throwing my generic trout. I didn't see anything except one 3 pounder that bolted the minute it saw me. Conditions were overcast with a ripple on the water. Extremely tough for sight fishing. Finally, as I'm thinking about just going out off shore and throwing the trout around, I spot 4 good fish. Two good ones that were just cruising and two that were a little more locked on. The big two actually came right up to me about 5 feet from my fins and stared at me. I sat totally motionless just to see what they would do. One of them came very close and seemed to be looking me right in the eyes. What a trip! They were both over 10. After they swam off I concentrated on the other two. The bigger one was spooky at first but I backed off until I couldn't see her and just pitched my 5" big hammer out and shook it by the bed. After a few minutes she started getting interested and on one flip I started pulling it back and she nipped at it. A few pitches later I felt something load up the rod and I swung. She flared up and came to the surface. Whoa! I thought the fish was 4 or 5lbs but she was better than that. She jumped three times and I fought her slowly in circles for 4 or 5 minutes. The hookset was solid in the roof of the mouth and I finally rolled her over and lipped her. She weighed 7lbs 12oz on the scale. Some trout guys were nearby and they took a couple pics (thanks guys :-) ) I kicked back to look for the big ones. They were there but not at all catchable. I consoled myself by catching the 3lb male on a 5" Assalt grub. The 7 pounder came back to her bed after about 10 minutes but I left her alone. It got too dark to fish and I headed home. Daylight savings time rules!

Pics:

http://www.calfishing.com/images/daily_reports/4_8_02_rob_shadowcliffs_7-12_1.jpg

To me, this picture is what it's all about!
http://www.calfishing.com/images/daily_reports/4_8_02_rob_shadowcliffs_7-12_release.jpg