Q&A WITH A TEENAGE TROUTHEAD

At the age of 14, Darren Soo Hoo is already an accomplished angler. At a young age his father Jeff introduced him to fishing. Darren says that fishing is in the Soo Hoo family blood. This does not come as a surprise, as Jeff has been a charter boat captain in the Bay Area for many years. He is now the proprietor of Soo Hoo Sportfishing (925899-4045; soohoosportfishing.com), a six-pack charter boat specializing in Delta striped bass trips during the spring and fall. Darren helps his dad on the boat during striper season. However, during the winter offseason, he is usually trout fishing and having great success. Writer Mark Fong caught up with Darren to discuss his love for suburban trout fishing.

Mark Fong How did you get started in fishing?

Darren Soo Hoo My dad would always take me fishing, even when I was really young. He would take me to the local lakes like Lafayette Reservoir or (Walnut Creek’s) Heather Farms Pond, or we’d go out in the bass boat.

MF What do you like best about trout fishing?

DSH I’ve been seriously fishing for trout for about three years. One day in the winter I went to Heather Farms to go bass fishing and I noticed that they had planted trout. I saw all the guys were using mini jigs and spoons, so I started looking into that. I asked my dad about it and then I looked through the tackle caution: collecting JDM tackle can be addictive. Just ask me how I know.) we had in our garage. So the next day I went back out with the gear I found and I started fishing and caught a few. I just fell in love with the whole mini jig and spoon thing. The feeling of the bite with the ultralight tackle for the (CDFW) fish is pretty fun.

As far as baits are concerned, JDM trout hard baits just flat out catch fish. The attention to detail, technical nature and quality is first rate and is unlike most anything available domestically. Without a doubt, the high-tech nature of this Japanese-produced tackle has been a major factor in driving a huge wave of interest in the pursuit of suburban trout.

MF What are your favorite ways to catch trout?

DSH My favorite way for fishing for trout is definitely mini jigs and spoons. A mini jig is just a small plastic baitfish on a jig head. I fish a lot of spoons made by Suburban Trout. Both are really easy and offer simple ways to fish, and you don’t need a lot of tackle. I go out there with limited tackle; I bring a kit of mini jigs, my spoon box, my terminal tackle and maybe a few trout worms. I am really into (Japanese domestic market) tackle. I first started with trout, but now it’s swimbaits and baitcasters too.

MF What type of gear do you use?

DSH I use ultralight spinning gear. The rod I‘m fishing for mini jigs is a Phenix Mirage 771. The spoon rod is a Daiwa Kage 7-foot, 1-inch ultralight. I use 1000 Shimano Vanford spinning reels spooled with 2-pound mono or sometimes 5-pound braided line with a 2-pound mono leader.

MF What is your personal best trout?

DSH My personal best trout is about 7 pounds that I caught at Lake Camanche last year. I caught it on a 3-inch Senko with a 1/32-ounce jig head.

TROUT-SPECIFIC SOFT PLASTICS

Southern California trout anglers have long utilized small soft plastic baits to dupe monster trout from their local pay-to-play lakes. These anglers have adapted well-known bass techniques such as the drop shot, jigging and the split shot and applied them to trout with great success.

As trout are very different from bass, this has created a need for troutspecific baits. Soft plastics designed for how I learned to trout fish,” Darren says. (DARREN

MF What are your favorite trout fisheries?

DSH I like Heather Farms; it’s really close to the house. I’ll go there for a few hours, go get lunch and come back. I also like Del Valle and Lafayette. Those are probably my favorites.

MF What is your best advice for a new trout angler?

DSH That’s a tough one. I would say go out there and put the work in because that’s how I learned to trout fish. Watch the other people around you; if they are catching fish, ask them what they are doing and be observant. You can watch YouTube videos, do some research, put in the work and eventually it’s gonna happen. MF bass are for the most part too large. In addition, trout are responsive to different bait shapes and colors as well. As a result, a small regionalized cottage industry of soft plastic bait makers has emerged, producing everything from small trout worms and mice tails to tiny mini jigs and minnow imitators.

INFORMATION PARADOX

Back in the day, anglers relied on word of mouth and print media to get the latest fishing reports or to learn about new fishing techniques. Today, with search engines, social media, online forums and YouTube videos, anglers have what amounts to a seemingly infinite amount of information at their disposal. Regionalized innovation and techniques are now just a click or swipe away.

Simply put: It’s hard to keep new baits, hot techniques or secret fishing spots under the radar. An angler who knows how to successfully research and vet information can significantly shorten the learning curve. Just remember that for every really good piece of information you may uncover, you may have to sift through a great deal of content.

For me personally, I can say that I have never been more excited about fishing for trout than I have in the last few years. I can’t wait to see where the sport goes next. CS

32nd Annual Isabella Lake Fishing Derby

April 1 - June 4, 2023 kernrivervalley.com • facebook.com/LakeIsabellaFishingDerby

ENTER TO WIN! $250 Early Bird Drawing Deadline March 22, 2023

Sponsored by Fred Clark A Farmers Insurance Agency

32ND ANNUAL ISABELLA LAKE FISHING DERBY PREMIERE SPONSOR

ENTRY INFORMATION

Adult: $40 / Youth: $15

PRIZE OPPORTUNITIES

500 Tagged Trout Tag Values $20-$10,000

• Early bird registration deadline is Wednesday, March 22, 2023 by 5pm

• Online registration closes Saturday April 1, 2023 at 7am

• No entries will be accepted after 7am on Saturday April 1, 2023. No exceptions.

• Derby Headquarters: Chamber of Commerce is located at 6416 Lake Isabella Blvd., Lake Isabella, CA. 760-379-5236.