I decided to take a trip down to Choke Canyon with my good friend Gary Freeman. Many of the FOM Tourney anglers will know him from the FOM staff while some of you ABF guys who have been around a while may remember him from some of the Saturday Morning Tournaments or the Grilled Halibut cook out at the 2006 HHJ finale tournament.
We rented some of the shelters/cabins at Calliham for a couple nights and basically camped in the park chilling out and cooking when we weren’t on the water. It worked out pretty good and I’d recommend it to others who want to fish Choke Canyon on a shoestring budget. Anyway, here’s a breakdown of each day we were there.
Weather: There was a minor cold front that came through a day before we got there. Our first fishing day started out cool (40F) and then warmed up to (80+F). No wind, an absolutely beautiful blue bird day. The winds picked up out of the south on the second day at about 10-15 with gust to 19 or more. Temps starting in the mid high 50s warming to 80s. This weather remained that way until we left on day 3.
Water Conditions: The lake seemed to be a few feet low. Not exactly sure what the norms are but we could tell by looking at the water lines on the bank that it was low. Temps all over the lake started out in the 68 degree range and by the afternoon hours reached 70-71. Not sure what the normal clarity is for Choke but we observed it to have a brownish-olive green stain with about a foot visibility before we lost sight of our lures.
07APR09 Tuesday
It turned out to be a beautiful day with glassy calm waters and warm weather. Caught a fish on the very first cast at the jetty next to the ramp that morning but as the day wore on it became apparent that it was going to be a slow day of fishing. We only boated 12 fish between the both of us. The biggest was caught by Gary and it weighed 3lbs 13 oz. All fish were caught with lightly weighted TX rigged plastics (Hogs, honchos, and beaver type baits). We fished 3 fingers, Possum Creek, Jetties at Calliham ramp, and South Shore.
08APR09 Wednesday
The wind picked up out of the south and so did the fishing. The wave action really helped us out today. We boated 24 fish all ranging in the 1-2 lb range with a handful of 3’s mixed in the bag. The highlight of the day was an 8lb 5oz chunk that I caught at the beginning of the afternoon session. Most of the guys that know me know that in the past few years that April is usually my big fish month. An 8lb choke fish isn’t a bad start to keeping the tradition alive. Again we used T-rigged plastics (Honchos, rattle snakes, and beavers). The areas we targeted were 3 fingers and Willow Hollow.
09APR09 Thursday
Our last morning on Choke Canyon didn’t produce any hogs but we did manage to boat the same 1-2 pounders that we’ve been catching the past few days. The wind was about the same as it was the prior day. We started a little differently by cranking some submerged grass with shallow divers early. This produced a few quick fish in the boat. As the sun got higher we went back to using plastics that had been working the past few days. We pulled off the lake around noon with a finally tally of 15 fish for the day. All fish were caught around 3 Fingers and Calliham.
Overall it was a great trip done on the cheap. We caught fish but just couldn’t get the legendary Choke Monsters Bass bite going.
8lb 5oz Bass
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Some of Gary's fish
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Calliham Shelter #16
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Sunset view from the Shelter
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We rented some of the shelters/cabins at Calliham for a couple nights and basically camped in the park chilling out and cooking when we weren’t on the water. It worked out pretty good and I’d recommend it to others who want to fish Choke Canyon on a shoestring budget. Anyway, here’s a breakdown of each day we were there.
Weather: There was a minor cold front that came through a day before we got there. Our first fishing day started out cool (40F) and then warmed up to (80+F). No wind, an absolutely beautiful blue bird day. The winds picked up out of the south on the second day at about 10-15 with gust to 19 or more. Temps starting in the mid high 50s warming to 80s. This weather remained that way until we left on day 3.
Water Conditions: The lake seemed to be a few feet low. Not exactly sure what the norms are but we could tell by looking at the water lines on the bank that it was low. Temps all over the lake started out in the 68 degree range and by the afternoon hours reached 70-71. Not sure what the normal clarity is for Choke but we observed it to have a brownish-olive green stain with about a foot visibility before we lost sight of our lures.
07APR09 Tuesday
It turned out to be a beautiful day with glassy calm waters and warm weather. Caught a fish on the very first cast at the jetty next to the ramp that morning but as the day wore on it became apparent that it was going to be a slow day of fishing. We only boated 12 fish between the both of us. The biggest was caught by Gary and it weighed 3lbs 13 oz. All fish were caught with lightly weighted TX rigged plastics (Hogs, honchos, and beaver type baits). We fished 3 fingers, Possum Creek, Jetties at Calliham ramp, and South Shore.
08APR09 Wednesday
The wind picked up out of the south and so did the fishing. The wave action really helped us out today. We boated 24 fish all ranging in the 1-2 lb range with a handful of 3’s mixed in the bag. The highlight of the day was an 8lb 5oz chunk that I caught at the beginning of the afternoon session. Most of the guys that know me know that in the past few years that April is usually my big fish month. An 8lb choke fish isn’t a bad start to keeping the tradition alive. Again we used T-rigged plastics (Honchos, rattle snakes, and beavers). The areas we targeted were 3 fingers and Willow Hollow.
09APR09 Thursday
Our last morning on Choke Canyon didn’t produce any hogs but we did manage to boat the same 1-2 pounders that we’ve been catching the past few days. The wind was about the same as it was the prior day. We started a little differently by cranking some submerged grass with shallow divers early. This produced a few quick fish in the boat. As the sun got higher we went back to using plastics that had been working the past few days. We pulled off the lake around noon with a finally tally of 15 fish for the day. All fish were caught around 3 Fingers and Calliham.
Overall it was a great trip done on the cheap. We caught fish but just couldn’t get the legendary Choke Monsters Bass bite going.
8lb 5oz Bass
Some of Gary's fish
Calliham Shelter #16
Sunset view from the Shelter
