Our 11th annual charity trout derby is underway! Tickets are just $5 and benefit the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Prizes include trips to Lake Camanche, fishing tackle packages, trips to sporting events, boat rentals, and more. You can get the full details over at NorCalFishing.
 The whole event is generously sponsored by Pradco’s Yum Bait.
We had a photographer, Rick E. Martin, come this last weekend and he took a few excellent pictures of the lake. The lake looks great and I really think he was able to capture that. Take a look!
We’ve had an excellent Winter and Spring in terms of fishing, especially for trout. The spots that stuck out (and continue to stick out) for me are the dam and the pond. If memory serves we had three fish over ten pounds in the span of a week from the dam. Plus, the pond keeps spitting out five+ pound fish with regularity. Here’s one of them:
 
And from what I hear from all the bass guys, there’s going to be an excellent bite for them as well. It’s definitely been a special fishing year.
 If you want to get weekly updates, just pop over to norcalfishing.com and sign up. The reports come each Monday and you’ll only get the ones you’ve asked for. And it’s totally free! The reports come from people at the lake who are talking to anglers and passing on what’s been working.
This article by Tom Stienstra is in the Chronicle today. It’s a GREAT assessment of the situation that California is currently facing (much more so than the one I wrote a while back). And the individual breakdowns of what Quagga and Zebra mussels can do to eco-systems, pipelines, and recreational boating are pretty eye-opening. Â
We’ll be at the Sacramento RV Show this weekend which is being held at the Cal Expo center. We’re raffling off more La Fuma recliners and passing lots of good information. Come by and see us! I’m including a picture (like I tried to do last time) so you can more easily identify us.
Show hours are 10-7 on Thursday & Friday and 10-6 on Saturday & Sunday.
This event is still a month or so off, but it’s never too early to start gearing up for a fishing derby. The dates this year are Friday, April 25 through May 25, 2008. We raised the donation amount to enter from $3.00 to $5.00. Oh, and we added Diamond Valley Lake as an eligible spot. Hopefully those two factors will really help us raise even more money than last year. I think a goal of $10,000 is reasonable. We’ve selected the IAVA as our charity of choice for this year.
 It’s always a tremendous amount of work on our end, but it’s one of the most fun times of the year. We’re busy gathering prizes and getting all the administrative stuff together. You’ll be hearing more about it, but like I said, it’s never too early to start thinking about (and practicing for) a derby. Â
We’re holding our annual free easter egg hunt this sunday! Admission to the egg portion of the day is actually free, you just have to pay for day use if you’re planning on staying longer. Our staff will be hiding the eggs and kids of all ages are welcome to come and do their best detective work to find them. They’re mostly filled with candy, though a few certificates for prizes in them. And we’re also giving out $1 off coupons to the stores!
How’s that sound for an easter sunday?
I went over to youtube today and did a quick search for Camanche. The results are interesting, though not too far from what you’d expect. Lots of people in their boats and families on vacations, etc.
 We’ve also got our commercial that aired last year (and will be airing again this year). I’ll save you the trouble of going all the way to youtube, can you can just watch it here!
I just happened to be at the lake the day this fish was caught last Spring. This picture is actually on our website, but it’s a pretty remarkable fish and looked way bigger in person. I think it was 3.06 lbs which is just ounces away from being the state record. The poor guy who had caught it was devastated. I think he actually went into the slumped-over-hands-on-knees position when he saw what the scale said. It was only temporary though. I mean, how often do you get a fish like that? And it might even be a better story since he didn’t break the record.
 The good news? He put the thing back which means it’s still out there for you.
 
