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Fishermen line up to chase Hemet lake's rainbow trout
Fishing guide Bob Caffey says Diamond Valley Lake is the 'premier holdover lake in the southern half of the state, and it keeps getting better.'
Bob Caffey is a flooring contractor, but his alter ego reveals a wilder side.
Meet Trout Only.
He's a part-time fishing guide who on this cool gray morning at Diamond Valley Lake requires only five minutes to hook and land a plump and spirited rainbow trout.
Its coloration is flawless: silvery pink sides giving way to speckled green along the back.
The fins are immaculate, the tail broad. These are classic features among the holdover rainbows for which this sprawling Hemet reservoir is steadily gaining notice.
"I've chased holdovers all over: Isabella, Casitas, Cachuma, Piru, Big Bear . . . ," the guide says, while setting lines for another troll. "But the dynamics here make this the premier holdover lake in the southern half of the state, and it keeps getting better."
To be sure, Diamond Valley Lake, though widely known for its trophy-sized largemouth bass, has developed into a unique trout fishery.
Thousands of holdover rainbows -- hatchery-born fish that were stocked in recent years and have since become wild -- thrive in a reservoir 4.5 miles long, two miles wide and nearly 250 feet deep.
Diamond Valley Lake, only 8 years old, is the largest freshwater reservoir in Southern California. Its cool depths enable trout to remain active year-round.
The larger specimens have attained predatory characteristics similar to those of largemouth and striped bass, and from late May through July are often located with those predators, pursuing shad.
"A lot of guys don't realize that these are top-line predators too," Trout Only says, after reeling in another two-pounder.
He and Barry Ogawa, another holdover nut, are practicing for the May 17 Spring Smackdown, a derby open to children and adults, benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Southwest.
They have invited me along and we have begun the day slow-trolling along the east dam.
They are bemoaning the weather, explaining that holdovers are more aggressive in sunshine with a rippled surface.
We're using nightcrawlers on six-pound-test lines with split-shot weights to keep the worms at about six feet.
Pasadena angler Mitch Marone, fishing solo in an aluminum skiff, greets us with a fresh holdover caught in the southeast corner.
A biker glides across the dam. In the south-shore treetops, a heron falls under attack by ravens. In a nearby cove, a bass angler nets a four-pound largemouth.
Trout Only says the first time he came here all he could catch were bass, while trolling for trout. Largemouth anglers have complained about so many trout attacking their bass lures.
Such are the woes Diamond Valley Lake anglers must endure.
Trout Only's largest trout? Eight pounds, he says, and there have been lots of sevens, sixes and fives.
Meet Trout Only.
Its coloration is flawless: silvery pink sides giving way to speckled green along the back.
The fins are immaculate, the tail broad. These are classic features among the holdover rainbows for which this sprawling Hemet reservoir is steadily gaining notice.
"I've chased holdovers all over: Isabella, Casitas, Cachuma, Piru, Big Bear . . . ," the guide says, while setting lines for another troll. "But the dynamics here make this the premier holdover lake in the southern half of the state, and it keeps getting better."
To be sure, Diamond Valley Lake, though widely known for its trophy-sized largemouth bass, has developed into a unique trout fishery.
Thousands of holdover rainbows -- hatchery-born fish that were stocked in recent years and have since become wild -- thrive in a reservoir 4.5 miles long, two miles wide and nearly 250 feet deep.
Diamond Valley Lake, only 8 years old, is the largest freshwater reservoir in Southern California. Its cool depths enable trout to remain active year-round.
The larger specimens have attained predatory characteristics similar to those of largemouth and striped bass, and from late May through July are often located with those predators, pursuing shad.
"A lot of guys don't realize that these are top-line predators too," Trout Only says, after reeling in another two-pounder.
He and Barry Ogawa, another holdover nut, are practicing for the May 17 Spring Smackdown, a derby open to children and adults, benefiting the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Southwest.
They have invited me along and we have begun the day slow-trolling along the east dam.
They are bemoaning the weather, explaining that holdovers are more aggressive in sunshine with a rippled surface.
We're using nightcrawlers on six-pound-test lines with split-shot weights to keep the worms at about six feet.
Pasadena angler Mitch Marone, fishing solo in an aluminum skiff, greets us with a fresh holdover caught in the southeast corner.
A biker glides across the dam. In the south-shore treetops, a heron falls under attack by ravens. In a nearby cove, a bass angler nets a four-pound largemouth.
Trout Only says the first time he came here all he could catch were bass, while trolling for trout. Largemouth anglers have complained about so many trout attacking their bass lures.
Such are the woes Diamond Valley Lake anglers must endure.
Trout Only's largest trout? Eight pounds, he says, and there have been lots of sevens, sixes and fives.
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