Lincoln Beach 4-29-15

[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]Arranged a meetup with BLK (Boatloadakids) this morning at Lincoln Beach. Me in my float tube and he in his boat...had just settled down for a long springtime float. (boo...hiss)

We launched together but went different directions about 6:30 am. Air temp 45, cool breezes, water temp 55 open lake. Water cooled to 53 by about 8 while the chilly breezes were rippling the water...but warmed up to about 58 by the time I left at noonish.

BLK motored to a favorite kitty spot to the southeast. I fished my way over to an area off the point...slinging plastics and cranks for postspawn walleyes. Din't find none.

Picked up an occasional wee whitie on small plastics while dragging bait on the second rod. Worked big S turns from about 5 feet deep out to 8 feet deep. Had some inquiries on the bait and brought in about a half dozen cool cats. All in the mid twenties (inches) with the biggest maybe going 25 inches and the smallest just over 20.

We had agreed to bring walkie talkies and touched base about mid morning. BLK had also been catching a few no-brag kitties. But better than the previous few days during storms, etc. Water had been chocolate the day before but was starting to clear a bit today. Should be good in a couple of days if it stays calm.

Only one or two other boats out of Lincoln Beach today. A couple of bank tanglers and dock dunkers inside the harbor. One claimed to have been catching some largies in the warmer shallow waters of the channel. It was 64 inside when I came in.

BLK was still on the water when I came in. Couldn't raise him on the radio so will have to let him give his own report. Good to see him again today, even if it was ever so briefly.
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[TheCarDoctor]

Thank you for the report. How deep was the channel? I'm considering taking my boat out on Saturday but I'm a little nervous about low water.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Averaged about 3' deep most of the way. Deeper where it bends to go out. There was a pretty good sized boat launching as I was leaving and they did not have any problems at all. There is also a little deeper "scour hole" at the end of the ramp.

Late last fall the depth dropped to about 18" and then gradually came up to about 3.5 feet before they opened the gates at the pump house. Hopefully the last rain will extend launchable time a bit but once summer water use kicks in it won't be long until us float tubers will own the lake again.
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[albinotrout]

Good news good news. My plans will work nicely. Thanks!
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[Boatloadakids]

TubeDude-- Nice to fish with/by you again. It was a really nice day today and the kitties were bitin' for me. I was watching for you to come in so I could catch you and compare notes/catches but you were able to sneak past me.... hope it wasn't something I said??[]

I ended up with eight cats and a mudder. My best cat was a 25 incher. Lost a couple at the boat that I did not get a look at but I will assume they were 30+ inchers. I had the best luck using white bass young'uns. I was getting a lot of itty-bitty nibles that I suspect were white bass trying to eat white bass.

Quite a bit of carp activity today too. I took my bow with me but forgot to take it out of the truck.

Fun day and it should only get better as long as we have water. My best water temp was 62 degrees when I left about 1 o'clock. I am coming to the realization that I may have to resort to fishing from a tube or toon before too long.[pirate]

Again, good to fish with ya. We'll get the really big ones next time.

BLK
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[albinotrout]

Nice. This helps my decision out greatly.[]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]You must have had your radio turned off. I kept trying to holler on ya. It wasn't anything you said. It was what you didn't said.

White basslets worked best for me today too. But that "new stuff" I brought to try also scored a couple and a couple more pop and drops. It seems to be on the approved cat chow list.

No mudders for me. Had a couple of pickups and drops that were suspicious. Not like full blown cat chomp and go. Also, as I told you on the walkie talkie I had a bigger fish on the plastics that arranged an early release. I was thinking walleye but it could have been one of your 30 inch cats too. The rule TubeBabe and I have is that any lost fish can be anything you say it is...if nobody else sees it to dispute you.

I didn't see much carp activity today besides the big fat females going airborne to shake loose their eggs. No carp clumps or dating clubs. But it was cooler water out where I was on the open lake. Usually more protected and slightly warmer where you were...with some warm seeps in the area to help. I was going to bring my bow today and left it home. Good I did. Wouldn't have done me any good. Maybe next week.

Hope the water levels stay up, but the offer is still open for you to try the tubing thing whenever you get a hankerin'. That up-close-and-personal "hand-to-fin" combat thing in a tube is a lot of fun when you hook a big ol' biggun. Especially when they try to wrap your legs and hogtie you before you can get them in the net.
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[Boatloadakids]

Pretty sure the problem was my radio. I haven't used it since the deer/elk hunts last year and it has just been sitting on a shelf. I think it had enough gas for our first conversation and then slowly died. I should have checked the batteries. Next time.

I have your offer to use one of your super-duper tubes in my memory bank for future reference. The offer is appreciated.

There was plenty of carp lovin' going on in the shallower and probably warmer water where I was fishing. A couple more warm days and they will be doin' their thing everywhere. I'll have to make an afternoon trip out there so I can take my crew out shooting. They love to shoot carp from the boat.

Fish on.
BLK
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[SkunkedAgain]

Sounds like s good day for you two, even if Ya did go different directions. I agree with Pat on the tubes/toons being great platforms for catching kitties. Way more fun than the boat or bank tangling IMHO. Give it a try BLK they are a lot less hassle than the boats and give you more control. Thanks for the reports. Later J
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