It's the Terrible at Fishing radio show on Gold
Country Radio. Here's your fishing expert and
host, Michael Ruffino. Welcome back to Terrible
at Fishing. What a week I've had. And we had
free fishing weekend last weekend. And I really
hope that everybody enjoyed that. Let me tell
you something about Free Fishing Weekend. It
happens a few times a year, and Lake of the Woods
really capitalizes on it. This last weekend was
the happiest day of the year, which was Saturday.
They had a children's fishing event for which
they put big old trout inside a pool for the
six and under and those with special needs. and
then they screened off or netted off part of
the marina and put the rest of the fish in there.
And of course later in the afternoon, anything
that wasn't caught gets released into the lake
there. And we'll go over stocking schedules in
the second portion of tonight's broadcast. But
if you were there, You witnessed an amazing thing.
Over 700 children. And that is a record for Lake
of the Woods. Over 700 children. Now, that's
not just 700 smiles. That's mom and dad smiling.
That's grandma and grandpa smiling. And strangers
are smiling. You're doing it more than once.
You see, there is nothing more joyous or memory
-producing than seeing a child catch a big fish.
It is something if their long -term memory is
kicking in. they'll remember the rest of their
lives. It is definitely something that adults
will remember for the rest of their lives. Not
only did they catch, but they cleaned it, cooked
it. I mean, it was magic. And I hate to use that
word because I don't really believe in magic,
but in the wonderment, you know, the impressive
definition of that word. I hope you witnessed
it last weekend. I really do, and you would have
really enjoyed it, no doubt about it. So that
was Lake of the Woods, and Lake of the Woods
is a great destination for anybody right now
to go fish. Water is warming up. Bass is starting
to get a little excited. The trout are there.
It's really a great, great time for pan fishing,
trout fishing, salmon fishing, bass fishing,
even cat fishing. I mean, you go to the southern
end, you know, catfish are all over those lily
pad, that soft bottom back there. It is pretty
good. And, you know, lily padding. I just love
that stuff, you know drop a Senko right in between
you know BAM Now something else that is kind
of crazy and I told you this last week that I
was thinking about getting a E -bike an electric
bike and it's a pedal assist and I was a little
worried still am I guess but about my balance
issues. And because I can't drive, I can't, you
know, I'm kind of stuck at home. But now that
my e -bike came on Monday, and after putting
it together, and if you go to Terrible at Fishing,
you'll be able to see some of this on YouTube.
Go to Terrible at Fishing on YouTube. You'll
see which bike I got. It comes from a company
called Berkta. I know, never heard of it. But,
when I, I want to, you know, divulge a little
bit here into biking. I called manufacturers
and those that got back to me and those that
answered their phones were put on my short list
to buy from. There was quite a few. Most did
not. Most did not call me back or answer their
phones. And that worries me because I'm big on
customer service. And so I purchased a Birkdale
bike. This is an e -bike with two motors, one
at the front wheel, one at the back wheel. It's
all -wheel drive because I'm a big guy and I
live on the hill, all right, above downtown.
So if you ever looked at 2nd Street, 3rd Street,
etc., those are really, really steep streets.
And if you're going to pull a 300 pound man up
that grade, you better have some power. So the
bike arrives, I put it together. It looks like
a motorcycles what it looks like I mean, it's
a lot bigger than I thought and it's what they
call a fat bike which kind of fits a fat guy
and So it's got fat tires four inch wide tires
and that is You know why they call it a fat bike.
It's got a very big battery on it So I can it's
a long -range bike so I could take it to fishing
holes So this is the first time on it scared
the critter out of me. I mean it just this thing
launches like you ain't never seen anything launch
and but the cool thing about it is that I could
choose between the two motors or both motors
and the two motors are different sizes so I could
choose relaxed, fast, and rocket ship. And if
you watch some of the videos I've been posting
on my YouTube channel, you'll see that I'm learning
it. And even though I'm still scared, I'm getting
less scared. And once I get comfortable about
riding this bike, I will take it fishing. Now
I'll be out on the coast this past this next
week and we're going to go to Lincoln. So, maybe
I'll be able to figure out some fishing over
there, and maybe do some deep sea fishing. I
haven't gone deep sea fishing in eons. So, we'll
see what I can do. And so, we won't be freshwater
fishing this next week, maybe over the weekend,
I don't know. But, it's going to be quite challenging.
I've got to fit the bike for my fishing rods
and fishing gear. So we're starting a new playlist
on terrible fishing called Bike Fishing. Yeah,
bike fishing, because evidently that's a thing.
People take their bikes to go fishing, which
is what I'm going to do. Who would have guessed?
I'm always behind. Always behind. So there's
a new playlist called Bike Fishing. I put all
the bike stuff there. And we'll cross over. I
have multiple playlists on certain things. And
you'll be able to see how I'm fitting my bike
and where's the spots that I like to fish and
spots I'd like to discover around Klamath Falls.
and Lost River is one of those good spots. Sprague
River is another good spot. The Williamson's,
etc, etc, etc. It'll be interesting. This will
be, this is my new adventure. I'm learning how
to ride this thing, and I've got all the safety
gear, and because, you know, just like anybody
who rides a bike, you fall down every once in
a while. And being in my 60s, We just don't want
to break a bone. I recently broke a bone, but
that was on the water. I broke my sternum. I
don't even know what a sternum was. Sounds like
something you put a motor on. But that's what's,
you know, that's what's coming. That's what's
coming. Now the beautiful thing is, is that the
bass are waking up. And not only are they waking
up, they're post -spawn. And this is really exciting
because as we go through the next segment, all
these fishing reports, or stocking schedules,
you're going to find that Hyatt Reservoir is
really kicking up really well right now. As well
as Howard's Prairie. And Four Mile, I've gotten
scattered reports from Four Mile. But Lake of
the Woods is good. I mean, just take the family.
Have fun. Good pizza at the marina. Fish Lake
is doing very, very well. Willow Lake doing very,
very well. I mean, to be honest, there's a lot
of really good places. You're going to you're
going to you're going to have the best year on
lakes Gerber Willow Valley Thompson kicking it
and It's just going to be one of those great
years now rivers are just There their maximum
capacity. It's really tough to fish a river right
now so But you can do it, you know but they're
at full flow right now. So their CFM or cubic
feet per minute are just massive. So you're going
to be fishing fast, fishing light, and hopefully
be catching some really good stuff. Now we're
also getting pretty good reports over at Rocky
Point and Harriman's and you know you fish between
Rocky Point and Harriman's right along that shoreline.
There are huge, huge fish there. And you can,
if you know how to do it, this time of year fly
fishing would probably be working the best. If
you're using spinning gear, go very light and
go very small in a fly design. So you can actually
fly fish with the spinning gear. So what you
do is you put a slide bobber on it. You know,
like a bubble bobber, but this time you're not
going to put water in it. And you're going to
put that bubble bobber on your line, and you're
going to put a barrel connector on it. And then
you're going to give yourself five feet or so
of really light line with a fly on it. What ends
up happening is that when you cast that, the
bubble bobber will stay on top of the water and
the fly will will continue out and the line will
pull through the bubble bobber and You're basically
fly -fishing is what you're doing. You're basically
fly -fishing with a spinning gear. I don't know.
I don't know it's called You know Mock fly -fishing.
I don't know We'll call it mock fly fishing,
but you could do it. I've done it and it works
It really works and you can so everybody can
catch fish over there, but I will tell you They
are big and old for a reason. These are smart
smart fish and Yes, you can catch 10 15 pounders
up there. These are these are personal best fish
so between rocky point and Harriman's You can
have a great time. You can do some shore fishing,
but, you know, take a kayak or a float or something.
And there's a channel there that's about 8 or
10 feet deep. That's where they are. You'll look
over your boat. You'll look down there. There's
like 50 of them. And they're massive. They're
like sharks. And you're thinking to yourself,
how come I ain't got one on a hook yet? Because
they're smart. They're smart fish. So, I'd give
that a shot for y 'all. I mean, it's not that
far away. And, you know, between, you know, Harriman
is a great place to have lunch. And I've never
eaten at Rocky Point, but, you know, they got
a restaurant, too. But, you know, you got a public
launch right there, you know, and it's real simple,
easy access. And, you know, it's beautiful. they
even got the kayak um trails there you know so
have fun i mean really have fun so that's kind
of my my input about some of the fishing that's
going on right now i want you all to stay tuned
because we're gonna go over the stocking schedule
in this next segment so take care and we'll see
you back in a couple minutes This is Dave. Dave
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started. Radio, small budget, big reach, real
results. I turn in the radio from my old car.
Go country radio on Friday night. Terrible at
fishing, but it feels just right. Welcome back
to Terrible at Fishing, everybody. We're gonna
go over the stocking reports. It seems like,
you know, ODFW's website's got some hiccups at
the moment, but I think I got it working. So
let's look. at a few of the lakes that we have
simple access to. And let's see what we got here.
That's not right. So yeah, they're having a few
issues at the moment. So we're gonna see what
we can get here. And Okay, Lake of the Woods.
You know that they're stocking pretty regularly
at Lake of the Woods. So, on the 23rd to the
27th, Lake of the Woods is getting 300 trophy
trout added. 300 trophies on that one. So, again,
you want to sort of keep an eye on that. You
know that last week they got, well, actually
on the 16th through the 20th, they've got 670
legals and 300 trophies. So this next week they're
getting 670 and 300. The following week they're
getting 300 trophies. Lake of the Woods is getting
a lot of fish. Now Four Mile next week is getting
2 ,000 fish, 1 ,000 legals, 1 ,000 trophies.
So that is going to be really good. If you haven't
gone to Forum, I'll give them a shot. And Lake
The Woods, you know, last week they got the 1270
for the children's event and about a third of
those were dumped into the lake on Saturday.
So that's what you're looking at right now. I
see anything else I see in this. Alright, we're
going to go to Southwest. Oh my goodness! Southwest?
You know, there's a lake called Lake in the Woods.
I don't even know where that is. Evidently, somewhere.
Alright, we got Fish Lake. Now, Fish Lake, last
week they got 2 ,500 Legals. So, they got a lot
of good ones there. Metco Pond. So Medco Pond
this next week is getting 1 ,100 legals. Remember,
I keep talking about Medco Pond. It's a great
place to have a nice day with the family. Lost
Creek Reservoir. Lost Creek Reservoir next week
is going to get a slew of legals. 10 ,000 legals
and 1 ,500 trophies. So, that's Lost Creek Reservoir
next week. It's got 10 ,000 Legals and 1 ,500
trophies. That's substantial. That's substantial
right there. Alright, let's go to another zone
now. Lost Creek. I would also suggest, too, that
you would try out Emigrant Lake. Emigrant Lake
is really peaking up right now, you know, for
not just bass, but again, it is probably the
best crappie lake you could go pan fishing in.
They got big, big crappie in that lake, and abundant,
too. that's probably one of the best lakes that
you could go ahead and go ahead and work. I love
that lake. You know, it's over in Ashland and
it's got a lot of launch areas, a good dam you
can just have a good time at. So, all right,
we're going to go to our map now. Maps, maps,
maps. Gotta love maps. Alright, we're going to
go to our maps. Again, I would want you guys
to visit some of these other places that you
don't normally go like Hyatts and Howard's Prairie.
Hyatts and Howard's Prairie are two great, great
reservoirs that are working really well right
now. Especially Hyatt. I think everybody forgot
about it. Because remember during the drought,
the Hyatt Reservoir went bone dry. I mean, if
you looked it up on the map, it would have said,
Missing on it. I know. A whole lake missing.
Well, it's back. And it is, it is busted. they've
put so many fish to revitalize that lake. And
you're talking good fish because when it went
dry all the ucky fish died. So Hyatt Reservoir
is a really good spot to hit. Also, you know,
I've also enjoyed fishing a very small lake over
in Medford. It's called Agate. Agate Lake is
just a tiny little reservoir. And Agate Lake
is a good spot for panfish and some bass. Now,
remember going over to Willow Lake. If you go
to Willow Lake, which is just past Fish Lake
to the right, and Willow Lake itself, if you
want the bass, work the West Bank. Work the West
Bank. It works really, really well. As for emigrant,
I found the best panfishing over an emigrant
is right there's a there's a ramp that has the
skullers, you know, the really long skinny row
boats and They launch right at that ramp and
if you go in front of that ramp by about 500
yards Oh my goodness, you'd be catching every
drop you're going to be catching, you know, some
really nice panfish. Really nice panfish. So
that's Emigrant Lake. And I would, yeah, I'll
be hitting that baby. I mean, I mean, if I could
drive, I can't drive. My bike won't go that far.
You know what drives you nuts when you love something
so much and you can't partake in it? So I'll
be over at Lincoln. We never stayed at Lincoln.
And so we're going to be over there. And hopefully,
you know, I can catch a boat out of Newport or
someplace. Or if Lincoln's got a boat, I don't
know. Never been there. And maybe I can get out
there and see what I can do. and do some recording,
put it on my terrible at fishing, and have a
good time out there. I don't know what y 'all,
you know, for any of you that have been out there,
I'm still new to the Oregon coast. I really am.
I don't know the Oregon coast to save my life.
And I was born and raised in California, so Southern
Cal Guy, Santa Barbara. I mean, that's where
I was born and raised. near Santa Barbara. You
all probably never heard of Lompoc, but Lompoc
is a little town. But I would try some of these
spots. You know, there's one spot you will see
me at because I could take my bike there. It's
over on Lost River and it's called Crystal Springs
Park. This is where the dam is at for Lost River
and it's where Crystal Springs Road goes over
it and this particular you know body of water
here from the dam up really good fishing especially
for the bass so I'll be taking my bike over there
and be doing a lot of fishing over on the Lost
River and Lost River's got a lot of really good
fishing so I would give that you know Again,
good spot. Easy shore fishing too. Really good
shore fishing. Agate Lake is a great shore fishing
lake too, man. You don't need a boat there. Also
Willow Lake, Agate Lake, and Crystal Springs.
Those are great shore fishing lakes. Really good
shore fishing lakes. If you go to Rocky Point
at that boat ramp, there is a dock there, a fishing
dock, and turn directly to your right 90 degrees.
If you go directly to your right at 90 degrees
and then cast forward, that right there is a
really good hole. There's a hole out there about,
I don't know, 50 feet, and the trout like to
like to sit in there, and you can probably catch
a nice trout on that area right there. Then,
if you want, you could just head up past Rocky
Point into the river area and see if you can't
get something right out of the river. Some really
good spots up there. Really good spots. So, and
then if you can get a boat, go to the mouth of
the Williamsons. You know, that's a really good
spot. You could float the river between Waterwheel
RV Park put in there and pull out at Sportsman's
River Retreat. There is a bend, you know, as
it goes north and then it bends south. That bend
is spectacular. spectacular on the North Shore
for catching some red bands and some panfish.
It is really a good spot. The red bands love
that spot and you'll be surprised at what you
catch there. Wood River also is really, really
good for the brown trout. Again, brown trout
on the wood are epic. And then the Sprague River.
I've never fished the Sprague, but I'm hearing
good things about it. I'm going to have to do
that this year, although it's all a matter of
being able to get there this year for me. So
we're going to be working. I'll be working the
coast, maybe do some ocean fishing, but you guys
will be working the local lakes. And as I learned
my bike, an electric bike is kind of scary. It
kind of goes when it wants to, and I pedal. because
I have to get thinner, but it is really, really,
really, really, really, really intimidating for
an old guy who hasn't ridden a bike in ages.
I did rent a bike from Zax a couple years ago,
and I didn't like it at all. You know, those
$7 ,000 treks? I don't like them at all. But
I didn't fall, and I didn't hit any trees. And
so, good for me, right? I'm probably going to
make that up in this bike. But I want to thank
you guys once again for tuning in to Terrible
at Fishing. I want you to, you know, please support
the community radio and all the people that advertise
and have shows on community radio. We all do
it to help you all out. And as for, you know,
my YouTube channel, I just broke 2 ,000 subscribers,
yay! And go to YouTube and look up Terrible at
Fishing. And then you'll see me on this strange,
big, knobby, wheel, fat bike around town. Say
hi. You know, I'll dress it up. Try to make it
obvious. Right now, a buddy's got my truck, so
you'll see Terrible at Fishing driving around.
He's probably not terrible at fishing. That's
me He's got my truck while his is in the shop,
so I want to thank you all for tuning in and
I wish you all tight lines as you go out there
That was terrible at fishing the radio show with
fishing expert Michael Raffino Check out terrible
at fishing on YouTube Tune in next week for the
next episode and more great fishing tips terrible
and fishing Fridays at 7 p .m.. On gold country
radio