Bass Fishing 12/23

[RiverRat77]

Went out to one of my favorite softwater spots on Saturday to do a little bass and bluegill fishing. I was also going to look around for ducks and geese in the area. Anyway, got out at about seven thirty, started fishing at around eight. The water was warmer than the air so there was a pretty constant mist all day long. It made for some neat photos. I started out fishing topwater both because I knew it would work and also the day was kinda cloudy so I was hopeful that bite would be on all day. I caught a few bass fishing around the edges of the pond, throwing right up next to the shoreline tules and grass. The biggest bass I caught was a big ol mama that went about seventeen inches. You can never tell on float tube aprons... mine have all been inaccurate. Of course my waders leaked but the water was warm so my feet weren't freezing. After the topwater bite tapered off, I started trolling with a worm and started picking up some decent bluegill with the occasional bass thrown in. The bite was really light but if you went to jig your worm and there was weight, that usually meant a fish. Occasionally, I felt the bite and got a lip hookup but had to dig hooks out of a couple fish. I did keep six bluegill, some aquarium pets, and one largemouth since I promised Deadduck that I would do that just for him. :twisted: Most of my bass came on a "bone" topwater although my "Bullfrog" chug bugs are on the way.... I love Ebay. I did have one bass, kinda cool in the clear water, that swiped at my bait and missed but I was able to see the whole thing.... pretty neat. I think next time, I'm going to take video of my bait so I can get a topwater hit on video and post it up here for you guys.... that'd be pretty cool I think. Anyway, I've got some pictures of the fish. Bonus on the day... I'd just decided to wrap it up and head home, (no hunting scouting), and needed to answer natures call. So I yank my float tube onto shore, go into some tules, drop the waders and all that and am taking care of business. Then I hear this "Whew whoo" sound.... any of you that have hunted swans....know the sound. I just about fell over. I've fished this place A LOT and have never seen a swan. I look over and this huge white swan is flying across the lake... going to come right by me. Keep in mind, my waders are down, I'm wearing a brown beanie and I'm crouched in the weeds... so I'm pretty sure it didn't see me. I figure, what the heck, I'll call at it. (why, I have no idea). So I start calling at this bird as it passes me, the thing turns on a dime and starts circling like its going to land. Well, it flares before it touches down so I kept calling and got the thing to fly within 20 feet of me and it landed just on the other side of the bushes from me. Being crouched down, there was now way to get to a camera until I finished up what I was in the middle of already and there were divers on the pond that I think flushed the swan off. I heard him running and then that was it. My first thought was man, nobody is going to believe this.... LOL. :lol: So cool but it doesn't matter if anyone believes me I guess.... I know what happened out there and strangely.... that one incident made the trip for me. Here's the pics of the fish.
Topwater bass.









And some harvest pics


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[wiperhunter2]

Nice report RR77, looks like a fun day on the pond. You must be fishing in Southern Utah, are you down there for the winter? WH2
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Great report. Doesn't sound like you had any "security" problems...other than that big bird. Peeping swan.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Any tilapia?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the way, you are not supposed to post pics in your main post if they are larger than 400 pixels wide. Yours are 800. It is okay to attach them that large but don't post them inside the thread.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You need to change them or I need to edit them out.[/#0000ff]
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[RiverRat77]

Pat, I'm not sure how to change them... if I'm bringing them on from Photobucket, I normally bring them into the post with the IMG link.... is there another link I can put that will make it an attachment or do I need to save them to my files on the computer and attach them from one of those folders?? If I can't figure it out, feel free to edit them out or do whatever you need to do to make it better for the site parameters.

WH2, nah, it was out west, not in Southern Utah. I wish I had the money to drive down and fish some of the lakes that don't freeze in Southern Utah.... I think that would be a blast but I"m not that financially blessed.... especially with a wedding to plan on paying for.

There were no security issues out there... I just removed all my valuables and stashed them in another area. When I left, there were five vehicles in the area, two diver trucks, two duck hunting parties and myself. There was an odd looking guy standing next to a little red sedan off to the side of the road by the main road into the parking area that looked a little "sketchy" but I didn't stop to ask him what he was doing out there. Other than fishing the lake, I did have my truck in sight fishing the little ponds for bluegill and Tilapia. Score, no gills, oddly enough and some pretty hefty little tilaps.... looks like they're taking over those ponds at least... wonder how long before they've crowded out the lake residents?? [shocked]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I fixed these for you. If you want to post pics, it is a good idea to put copies into a file folder called "To Post". Once you have copies and don't have to mess with the originals, you can crops and enhance the pics...and downsize them if necessary.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have ACD photo software. I right click on the picture and then do the light balance thing, crop it if necessary and resize it to fit. Then you go through the Browse, open and attach sequence on your post. That attaches the pics. Now you hit the post button. After that you have to bring up your post and click on edit. YOu have to open each pic, click on copy and then paste it into the thread. That can take some time for 11 pics. You can shorten it by opening two windows...one of the original post with edit open...the other window with the post so that you can open each picture one by one. It can be confusing. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'll be glad to help when you need it. Now go fishing and get some more pics.[/#0000ff]
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[Mc_Lennon]

Nice report. Good to see the fish are atleast still out there. I need to make that trip sometime in the near future. Did you see any of the pigs swimming around the shore in the morning?
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[RiverRat77]

The scuba folks have some sort of rope rigging around the dock/ladders area so I didn't float tube over that way..... The part I did fish in was a little deeper although I did see a couple largies right at the dock. I usually only topwater fish around the North side unless I'm night fishing with topwaters and then the south side has been pretty good to me. Didn't make it down the outlet this time.... hope the Tilapia don't wind up crowding out the bass and gills. The tiny bass I caught just had the beginning of eggs in her, really small strings but they were starting..... no eggs in the gills although I did find a couple patches of worms/parasites in one of the fish I cleaned. Those tilapia are kind of nasty to clean with all the bloated guts/plant matter in their stomachs. I'd like to get some bigger ones though.... maybe have the divers hook me up with some down there... feed em a cheese ball with my hook in it. LOL. [cool]
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[Majja]

I did not know Talapia was a fresh water fish.. I like them. Maybei will have to go out there adn give it a try. This way I will not have to wait until spring to try out my new Fins I got for xmas.

Thanks for the great report

Majja
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[fsh4fun05]

Hey Riley, I was out there last Tuesday. I had the place to myself. The morning was great but tapered off around 1pm. That road is getting awful. I never made it to the outlet either. 14 deg when I got there and 19 when I left. BRRRRRRR. Oh, and I'll make sure to watch my step next time I go out there [].
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[raymariner]

Nice fish. I looked over the threads and I couldn't figure out the name of the lake and where it is. It looks like everybody knows about it. I like to try fishing in this place, it looks beautiful and the fish is even nicer. Would someone give me a direction? Thanks.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Check your PM file. I sent info.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That is a small lake with no management. It can not stand too much harvesting. There are already people who take home coolers full of fish from it.[/#0000ff]
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[RiverRat77]

One thing you can and should take out that will probably only help will be the Tilapia.... I took home five from the gill ponds just because I wasn't catching anything else and they seem to have doubled in size since the last time I fished those ponds. Figure they're the reason the gills are gone. Oh, finally fried up the filets last night, Leaky style, and they were delicious!!!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I plan to make a tilapia harvest run after the first of the year. They have really increased and grown too. They will definitely outcompete bluegill. They are very aggressive in protecting their own nests but are effective in raiding the nests of bluegills. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Tilapia feed on all kinds of both vegetation and aquatic insects, as well as the fry of other species. They are more efficient scroungers. They grow fast, fight hard and really are good eating. No reason not to fish for them and to keep all you catch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Because the main lake is deeper, with more bass to keep them in check, the tilapia will have a tougher time dominating in there. There will be fewer but bigger tilapia in the main pond. I look for some in the five or six pound range to come out of there within a year or so.[/#0000ff]
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