02-24-2016, 10:20 PM
[#0000FF]I'm back in the float tube again. (Apologies to the late great Gene Autry)
Headed for Willard Bay's south marina this morning. Noticed water still coming in from the canal. Also noted the water seems to have come up a few inches since I was there last Friday. There is now water under the front of the docks and the level is up to the edge of the rocks along the dike. Maybe there's hope?
My tricked out tube was the only craft out of the south marina this morning. But the ramp area is wide open and a small boat could launch easily. The edge of the ice is at least 1/4 mile north and south from the entrance...and probably a half mile or more straight out.
Air temp at launch (8 am) was a chilly 25 and the water temp was way up to 38. Warmed to 45 and 39.5 respectively by the time I left about 1 pm. Water was an off color greenish brown...with big chunks of floating bottom junk (carppoop?)
Got launched without slipping on the ramp algae and motored over to the middle of the channel. Rigged a minnow on one rod and had tandem plastics on the other. Looked at my sonar and saw the message (low voltage). About that time it beeped and the screen went blank. What I said is (blank) too. I just topped off that battery last night.
Checked the battery and sonar connections. Good. Turned it back on and it worked...for about 30 seconds. Then beep and blank again. More (blanks). Took the little SLA battery out of the tube pocket and slipped it inside my sweatshirt. Thought maybe warming it up might help. It did...but only for more 30 second displays.
I accepted that I would be fishing blind. Used to do it all the time and still caught fish. But I sure am dependent on underwater eyes these days. Since I know the bottom around the south marina pretty well I decided to just go for it...and check the touchy sonar once in a while just to maintain depths.
They say even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. I guess the same holds true for blind tubers...and fish. Over the course of covering a lot of water...and "enjoying" the nice warm air and water...I managed to find a few silly kitties that wanted to welcome me back to Willard.
I continued to drag minnows and cast worm flavored jigs...from about 6' deep out to over 12 feet deep. The latter area was a long ways straight out from the marina entrance. Most of my bites came from about 9-10 feet of water...when I could check with the recalcitrant sonar.
I did not get any hits fishing at mid depth or in shallower water. No crappies, walleyes or wipers were harmed in the making of this report. All of the fish that bit were caught. A rare day of no missed hits and no lost fish. Count my blessings. I caught a total of 10 catfish. 4 were released...all under about 15 inches. I kept 6 others that were from 17 to 20 inches. Plenty for a couple of kitty fry-ups for TubeBabe and myself.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Headed for Willard Bay's south marina this morning. Noticed water still coming in from the canal. Also noted the water seems to have come up a few inches since I was there last Friday. There is now water under the front of the docks and the level is up to the edge of the rocks along the dike. Maybe there's hope?
My tricked out tube was the only craft out of the south marina this morning. But the ramp area is wide open and a small boat could launch easily. The edge of the ice is at least 1/4 mile north and south from the entrance...and probably a half mile or more straight out.
Air temp at launch (8 am) was a chilly 25 and the water temp was way up to 38. Warmed to 45 and 39.5 respectively by the time I left about 1 pm. Water was an off color greenish brown...with big chunks of floating bottom junk (carppoop?)
Got launched without slipping on the ramp algae and motored over to the middle of the channel. Rigged a minnow on one rod and had tandem plastics on the other. Looked at my sonar and saw the message (low voltage). About that time it beeped and the screen went blank. What I said is (blank) too. I just topped off that battery last night.
Checked the battery and sonar connections. Good. Turned it back on and it worked...for about 30 seconds. Then beep and blank again. More (blanks). Took the little SLA battery out of the tube pocket and slipped it inside my sweatshirt. Thought maybe warming it up might help. It did...but only for more 30 second displays.
I accepted that I would be fishing blind. Used to do it all the time and still caught fish. But I sure am dependent on underwater eyes these days. Since I know the bottom around the south marina pretty well I decided to just go for it...and check the touchy sonar once in a while just to maintain depths.
They say even a blind squirrel finds an acorn once in a while. I guess the same holds true for blind tubers...and fish. Over the course of covering a lot of water...and "enjoying" the nice warm air and water...I managed to find a few silly kitties that wanted to welcome me back to Willard.
I continued to drag minnows and cast worm flavored jigs...from about 6' deep out to over 12 feet deep. The latter area was a long ways straight out from the marina entrance. Most of my bites came from about 9-10 feet of water...when I could check with the recalcitrant sonar.
I did not get any hits fishing at mid depth or in shallower water. No crappies, walleyes or wipers were harmed in the making of this report. All of the fish that bit were caught. A rare day of no missed hits and no lost fish. Count my blessings. I caught a total of 10 catfish. 4 were released...all under about 15 inches. I kept 6 others that were from 17 to 20 inches. Plenty for a couple of kitty fry-ups for TubeBabe and myself.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
