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\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n\r\n \r\n Hello All. I spent five great days on four different lakes over the holidays.....Fontana, Santeetlah, Bear Creek and Wolf Creek. I fished mornings for Bass....and would change over to Trout around 10-11 am each day. I found Bass easily on Fontana and Santeetlah....still chasing the bait balls and eager to take Spybaits and Damiki blade baits. They were fun to catch and plentiful.\r\n
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\nThe Trout were still Very Active and I caught many that were ready to spawn. I caught several males that were "spraying" when held.....and females loaded with eggs.....it\'s the season. I trolled custom and stock hoochies....along with Rapala\'s, spoons and spinners. By the end of the trip I was exclusively trolling hoochies and here\'s what I found.
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\nI caught far more Stocker Trout (11-14 inches) than on the previous trip and they mostly wanted the stock hoochie. The slightly larger custom hoochies produced All of the Larger Trout. I did manage a 19 inch Leroy and an 18 inch Rainbow and a few other 16 and 17 inch fish.....but this trip was more about quantity than quality.
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\nThe Fish were Everywhere! On two different Lakes.....I dropped the FishHawk Thermometer down.....and in Both.....the difference between the Surface and 80 ft was less than One Degree! It averaged 49 degrees on the surface....and 48.2 degrees at 80 ft. The Fish only needed to find Food and occupied nearly the entire water column. Take a look at the Humminbird pic and you\'ll see what was happening. I wound up flat lining about 15 ft deep for the majority of Trout caught......easy trolling!
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\n Over the last two years I have dialed it in. I have learned to locate schools, wolfpacks, groups....whatever you prefer....and my thoughts on Trout have evolved. I initially began believing they were Nomadic....and that you just trolled until one hit. Now I target specific areas and make much shorter and productive passes.....repeatedly. Over the five days, I caught 60 plus Trout and kept just a few. The action was pretty constant. The scenery was Beautiful.
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\nThe weather was Foggy and Great......in the 60\'s each day and 30\'s each night. I mostly had the lakes to myself. In the afternoons I would see a few other boats. A couple of boats wandered over to see what I was doing. It\'s a great time for Trout......Best of Luck to everyone....D
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