11-16-2015, 08:20 PM
It was a cold day on the lake my friends. Cold enough to chill the bones. A few rugged and VERY MANLY men showed up to take on the elements and slay the fish !!
Robert, Randy, and I (aka liketrolling, Old_Coot, and LuvThemCuts) arrived around 7am to conditions that only the toughest, manliest, and therefore craziest fisherman could endure.. The air temperature was 17 degrees and the water was around 45.
The fog was very thick. In fact, we wondered to ourselves, if we got lost in this fog, would we be mist ?? (read that a couple times.. It's a really funny joke [cool] )
Or, as the immortal conversation between Yukon Cornelius and the Dentist Elf:
"This fog is as thick as peanut butter" - YC
"You mean pea soup" - DE
"You eat what you like, I'll eat what I like" -YC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p298YqG2OE
Anyway, there were just a few boats crazy enough to be out fishing at that early hour, which was just fine by us..
We launched and gradually made our way south toward Renegade. We had to go very slow because, like I said before, there was a thick fog. I would estimate we could only see about 20 feet in front of the boat. So, I kept my eyes peeled, and froze my face off. 17 degrees with the boat moving, having to peer over the wind shield of the boat to see was pretty dang cold. It reminded me of a stanza from the poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee":
"On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see;
It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee." http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174348
I would STRONGLY warn against attempting such a trek without a super duper AWESOME GPS. Which we had. It showed detailed map of Strawberry Reservoir and where were. Robert and Ralph monitored the electronics, and I monitored the fog.
Eventually, we arrived at Renegade and slowly roamed around looking for fish. We got to a likely spot, guided by Ralph, and dropped anchor. Well, we dropped a virtual anchor. Robert and Ralph both have Minn Kota trolling motors with i-Pilot installed.
You can put the thing in anchor mode, and it will use GPS to keep you in position even with the wind trying to blow you off your spot. It will keep the trolling motor going and steering you so that you maintain your precise position on the water. Ralph and Robert said they'd never own a boat without i-Pilot.
Anyway, Ralph pulled in a cutthroat on his first cast.. And on his second cast... Robert was doing the same. I, on the other hand had decided to experiment with different baits to verify that Chub was in fact the perfect food.
Science must have been more important to me than fishing, because I wasn't catching anything and those other two were pulling them in.
We were all using 3 inch white/pearl tube jigs. They were tipping the hook with Chub and slathering the jig with Pro-Cure Super Gel Anchovy flavor. Hey, I just realized I'm sounding like a commercial... Pro-Cure and Minn Kota both owe me some commission !!!
Back to our story...
As the fog gradually thinned, we discovered we were surrounded by other fishermen. They weren't really close, but there were many of them. Later in the day, when we came back to that first spot, I counted about 20 other boats in that area.
Anyway, while Ralph and Robert were pulling in the fish with Ralph's tried and true methods, I was experimenting with different methods of my own. I was trying to tip with a Night Crawler.. No luck.. Shrimp.. No luck.. Red Shiner Minow.. No luck.. Shrimp with Pro-Cure slathered.. No Luck..
The fishing kind of died after those first couple fish, so we looked around for other areas. We found a few here and there and I bit the bullet and decided that Ralph (aka Old_Coot) knew what he was talking about. I switched over to the Chub that Ralph so generously provided for us, and the Pro-Cure Anchovy flavored Super Gel slathered thick and stinky all over the tube jig. Did I mention that it is really stinky ?? This is why I was trying alternate baits. It's not that I don't think Old_Coot knows what he's talking about, it's just that I REALLY HATE stinky stuff on my fingers !!!
Chub, when frozen, goes directly from a frozen to a semi-liquid state. Slimy as all get out, stinky, and gooey !!! HOWEVER, it catches fish like nothing else, so it's worth it. I just recommend having a rag with you so you don't have 10 lbs of dried gooey chub juice and Super Gel all over your pants.. I think it took washing my hands about 4-5 times thoroughly to get the smell off them. Kind of like getting sprayed by a skunk.. on purpose.
Old_Coot expressed disappointment a few times that we hadn't found the fish. He really wanted another one of his colossal 71 fish days (and so did we), but we had a pretty good day I thought. We all caught several and had a great time socializing and enjoying the beauty of Strawberry Reservoir.
The air temperature did get up into the 40's, and we were bundled up pretty good. Toward the end of our day, the wind picked up pretty good and made for a choppy ride back to the Marina.
As could be expected, 5-6 boats were stacked up waiting in line for the marina. There is only a single walk out dock, but no room to dock your boat. Just room enough to let a guy off the boat to go get the truck.
We didn't want to wait for all the boats, so we headed for shore and Robert drove his boat up to the bank and Ralph jumped off into the water and headed up for the truck. That guy's much more limber than I am, and I think he's got several years on me. I'm pretty sure Robert's in better shape too and he's broken 70 already.
Anyway, we backed off a ways to give the other boats room while we waited for Ralph to get the truck. A few minutes later, Ralph was backing the truck down the ramp and stopped half way. He was waiting for another boat that was taking forever to load up. We looked and figured that Ralph had room next to the other boat and were wondering why he didn't just back down into the water. Ralph started doing a dance on the ramp. Well, he was gesturing something to us. I thought it was a rain dance, but Robert didn't think so. We watched him do his jumping and gesturing for a couple minutes, and then he went back to the truck cab. At that very moment, my cell phone rang.. "Who could that be" I wondered to myself. Sure enough, it was Ralph. He told us that the truck had a flat tire and he wanted to know where all the tire changing stuff and the spare were.
We headed back to the dock, which was clear by now, and I let Robert off while I took his boat out to await the tire changing. It was Robert's truck, so he knew where everything was. Anyway, I think Robert is even more limber than Ralph. He jumped out of the boat onto the dock so fast, I though he was going to slip right into the water. But he maintained his footing and they went up the ramp to fix the tire.
I took the boat back out and waited for them to finish up. It was a bit choppy out there and a bit cold, but not too much of a problem. The boat was being tossed all around and I was glad that it wasn't a small dinky boat. It weathered the waves just fine.
Eventually, the tire change was done and I headed back to the dock and made one attempt to pull onto the trailer with Robert's boat. But with the wind blowing, it was hard to get the right angle, and I didn't want to dent Robert's boat, so reversed from my trailering attempt and went to the dock to pick up Robert. I let him trailer the boat and he did a good job. He just got the boat kinda on the trailer and used his motor to shove the boat on the rest of the way. Tied it all on with the hook at the front of the boat, and Ralph pulled us up the ramp.
GREAT DAY OF FISHING all around. Some fun hiccups and a great time had by all. I look forward to any future opportunities to fish with Ralph and or Robert. You guys are great company, and really know your stuff when it comes to fishing Strawberry. Plus you each have REALLY COOL boats that are awesome !!
I'm thinking I may be done fishing for the year, but I might make another trek up there. Just not sure.
See ya all later,
Curtis (aka: LuvThemCuts)
[signature]
Robert, Randy, and I (aka liketrolling, Old_Coot, and LuvThemCuts) arrived around 7am to conditions that only the toughest, manliest, and therefore craziest fisherman could endure.. The air temperature was 17 degrees and the water was around 45.
The fog was very thick. In fact, we wondered to ourselves, if we got lost in this fog, would we be mist ?? (read that a couple times.. It's a really funny joke [cool] )
Or, as the immortal conversation between Yukon Cornelius and the Dentist Elf:
"This fog is as thick as peanut butter" - YC
"You mean pea soup" - DE
"You eat what you like, I'll eat what I like" -YC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p298YqG2OE
Anyway, there were just a few boats crazy enough to be out fishing at that early hour, which was just fine by us..
We launched and gradually made our way south toward Renegade. We had to go very slow because, like I said before, there was a thick fog. I would estimate we could only see about 20 feet in front of the boat. So, I kept my eyes peeled, and froze my face off. 17 degrees with the boat moving, having to peer over the wind shield of the boat to see was pretty dang cold. It reminded me of a stanza from the poem "The Cremation of Sam McGee":
"On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see;
It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee." http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174348
I would STRONGLY warn against attempting such a trek without a super duper AWESOME GPS. Which we had. It showed detailed map of Strawberry Reservoir and where were. Robert and Ralph monitored the electronics, and I monitored the fog.
Eventually, we arrived at Renegade and slowly roamed around looking for fish. We got to a likely spot, guided by Ralph, and dropped anchor. Well, we dropped a virtual anchor. Robert and Ralph both have Minn Kota trolling motors with i-Pilot installed.
You can put the thing in anchor mode, and it will use GPS to keep you in position even with the wind trying to blow you off your spot. It will keep the trolling motor going and steering you so that you maintain your precise position on the water. Ralph and Robert said they'd never own a boat without i-Pilot.
Anyway, Ralph pulled in a cutthroat on his first cast.. And on his second cast... Robert was doing the same. I, on the other hand had decided to experiment with different baits to verify that Chub was in fact the perfect food.
Science must have been more important to me than fishing, because I wasn't catching anything and those other two were pulling them in.
We were all using 3 inch white/pearl tube jigs. They were tipping the hook with Chub and slathering the jig with Pro-Cure Super Gel Anchovy flavor. Hey, I just realized I'm sounding like a commercial... Pro-Cure and Minn Kota both owe me some commission !!!
Back to our story...
As the fog gradually thinned, we discovered we were surrounded by other fishermen. They weren't really close, but there were many of them. Later in the day, when we came back to that first spot, I counted about 20 other boats in that area.
Anyway, while Ralph and Robert were pulling in the fish with Ralph's tried and true methods, I was experimenting with different methods of my own. I was trying to tip with a Night Crawler.. No luck.. Shrimp.. No luck.. Red Shiner Minow.. No luck.. Shrimp with Pro-Cure slathered.. No Luck..
The fishing kind of died after those first couple fish, so we looked around for other areas. We found a few here and there and I bit the bullet and decided that Ralph (aka Old_Coot) knew what he was talking about. I switched over to the Chub that Ralph so generously provided for us, and the Pro-Cure Anchovy flavored Super Gel slathered thick and stinky all over the tube jig. Did I mention that it is really stinky ?? This is why I was trying alternate baits. It's not that I don't think Old_Coot knows what he's talking about, it's just that I REALLY HATE stinky stuff on my fingers !!!
Chub, when frozen, goes directly from a frozen to a semi-liquid state. Slimy as all get out, stinky, and gooey !!! HOWEVER, it catches fish like nothing else, so it's worth it. I just recommend having a rag with you so you don't have 10 lbs of dried gooey chub juice and Super Gel all over your pants.. I think it took washing my hands about 4-5 times thoroughly to get the smell off them. Kind of like getting sprayed by a skunk.. on purpose.
Old_Coot expressed disappointment a few times that we hadn't found the fish. He really wanted another one of his colossal 71 fish days (and so did we), but we had a pretty good day I thought. We all caught several and had a great time socializing and enjoying the beauty of Strawberry Reservoir.
The air temperature did get up into the 40's, and we were bundled up pretty good. Toward the end of our day, the wind picked up pretty good and made for a choppy ride back to the Marina.
As could be expected, 5-6 boats were stacked up waiting in line for the marina. There is only a single walk out dock, but no room to dock your boat. Just room enough to let a guy off the boat to go get the truck.
We didn't want to wait for all the boats, so we headed for shore and Robert drove his boat up to the bank and Ralph jumped off into the water and headed up for the truck. That guy's much more limber than I am, and I think he's got several years on me. I'm pretty sure Robert's in better shape too and he's broken 70 already.
Anyway, we backed off a ways to give the other boats room while we waited for Ralph to get the truck. A few minutes later, Ralph was backing the truck down the ramp and stopped half way. He was waiting for another boat that was taking forever to load up. We looked and figured that Ralph had room next to the other boat and were wondering why he didn't just back down into the water. Ralph started doing a dance on the ramp. Well, he was gesturing something to us. I thought it was a rain dance, but Robert didn't think so. We watched him do his jumping and gesturing for a couple minutes, and then he went back to the truck cab. At that very moment, my cell phone rang.. "Who could that be" I wondered to myself. Sure enough, it was Ralph. He told us that the truck had a flat tire and he wanted to know where all the tire changing stuff and the spare were.
We headed back to the dock, which was clear by now, and I let Robert off while I took his boat out to await the tire changing. It was Robert's truck, so he knew where everything was. Anyway, I think Robert is even more limber than Ralph. He jumped out of the boat onto the dock so fast, I though he was going to slip right into the water. But he maintained his footing and they went up the ramp to fix the tire.
I took the boat back out and waited for them to finish up. It was a bit choppy out there and a bit cold, but not too much of a problem. The boat was being tossed all around and I was glad that it wasn't a small dinky boat. It weathered the waves just fine.
Eventually, the tire change was done and I headed back to the dock and made one attempt to pull onto the trailer with Robert's boat. But with the wind blowing, it was hard to get the right angle, and I didn't want to dent Robert's boat, so reversed from my trailering attempt and went to the dock to pick up Robert. I let him trailer the boat and he did a good job. He just got the boat kinda on the trailer and used his motor to shove the boat on the rest of the way. Tied it all on with the hook at the front of the boat, and Ralph pulled us up the ramp.
GREAT DAY OF FISHING all around. Some fun hiccups and a great time had by all. I look forward to any future opportunities to fish with Ralph and or Robert. You guys are great company, and really know your stuff when it comes to fishing Strawberry. Plus you each have REALLY COOL boats that are awesome !!
I'm thinking I may be done fishing for the year, but I might make another trek up there. Just not sure.
See ya all later,
Curtis (aka: LuvThemCuts)
[signature]
