Tubin' Jordanelle 7-17-07

[TubeDude]

[cool][size 2][blue]Tubing two days in a row is tough on us old guys. But, I will do almost anything for the board...and fellow BFTers. That's why I agreed to a daybreaker on Jordanelle with Flycasting, after doing one the day before at Yuba. I may be growing "older", but I still got stamina.

We launched at Rock Cliffs about 6:30. Air temps several degrees cooler than the 80s in the valley, with clouds showing a hint of potential raindrops. Only a slight breeze though. OKAY. Water temps were 70 at launch and only a couple of degrees more about noon, when we departed.

I began by tossing my usual small plastic jigs. Scored a couple of perchettes and then a 12 inch smallie. Fun, fun on the light rod and 4# line. Nothing but bitty perch for quite a while after that. Unless you count the chubs. Lots of them in there again today. Lake X tuna.

The water has dropped a couple more feet since last week and the spots where the larger fish were holding is now too shallow and weedy. Had to use the sonar and go looking. Took us a couple of hours of shopping and dropping but we finally found some larger perch and some smallies mixed in. Had lots of fun for a couple of hours.

It was mostly calm with occasional light rain drizzles. Really nice and cool after leaving the hot valley. It came down hard enough a couple of times to get our shirts wet, but we never got cold.

We both ended up catching about three quarters of a bajillion perch. Most were small, with some only about 3" long. I had to shoot a picture of one of them that took the casting spoon I put on to "catch some bigger fish". I think we both had 15-20 "basket perch"...over 10 inches. I had a couple over 12, with most about 10-11 inches...and porky. Much healthier fish than those we caught in Yuba yesterday.

Flycasting caught the largest smallmouth of the day, at 17 1/2 inches. It really whupped up on him with the ultralight rod he was using. Had to stop by the urgent care center on the way home to get treatment for the silly grin on his face.

The Lake X "canoe armada" hit the ramp just as we were trying to come in about noon. No consideration for others, knocked my stuff out of the way and one guy snagged up on the line on one of my rods in the holder and just about broke it. No apologies. Just..."We have to launch too." Glad we had our fun and got off the lake before we had to listen to the "bang bang" of oars on the tin boats.

Good to fish with ya again Tyler. Always good company and usually good fishing.
[/blue][/size] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27685;"][#333366] MORNING MAGIC.jpg [/#333366][/url](176 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27686;"][#333366] RAIN DIMPLES.jpg [/#333366][/url](150 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27687;"][#333366] EARLIE SMALLIE.jpg [/#333366][/url](147 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27688;"][#333366] FRISKY FIFTEEN.jpg [/#333366][/url](184 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27689;"][#333366] DROPSHOT PORKY PERCH.jpg [/#333366][/url](177 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27690;"][#333366] REE DICKLEOUS.jpg [/#333366][/url](153 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27691;"][#333366] LAKE X TUNA.jpg [/#333366][/url](176 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27692;"][#333366] PERCHIN' IN THE RAIN.jpg [/#333366][/url](162 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27693;"][#333366] TYLER'S 17 INCHER.jpg [/#333366][/url](321 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27694;"][#333366] TYLER'S PERCH BASKET.jpg [/#333366][/url](267 KB) [/size][/black] [black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black] [black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=27695;"][#333366] CROWDED RAMP.jpg [/#333366][/url](278 KB) [/size][/black]
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[Wildcard]

As usual TD, nice job! Great pics as always!
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[lavaman]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeet! Pat, you sure know how to get into them! I hope I'm half as successful when I'm your age!

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[Wasatch801]

TD, you guys did much better than Matt and I did there last week! We had T-storms that we had to wait out, then it cleared up. But we had a real hard time finding the fish. We fished about as deep as 15-18 feet (usually shallower) with mostly bites from chubs and perchlets with a few smallish bass thrown in. They definitely have moved out of the usual haunts of the Rock Cliffs arm. How deep were you guys fishing to get success? The past two trips here have really frustrated me. Guess I'll borrow my bro's kayak and really cover some deep water next time!
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[Flycasting]

Most of the fish we caught came in 8-10' of water. Didn't see many fish on the finder at 12-15'. [cool]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]When the water levels are dropping, every day is a new day. The fish can really move around. A lot of the movement is dependent upon the baby perch. That's what the smallmouth and the larger perch are feeding on. The fish we caught were barfing up tiny perchies less than 2" long. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When the water was up into the grass, at the far east end of the lake, that is where the little perch were hiding and the bigger fish were holding. Now, the water is dropping fast and the forage perch are moving out into deeper weedbeds and around thick brushpiles. Yesterday, most of our better fish came within a few feet of big weed clumps or thick brush. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You really need good sonar and some good prospecting techniques to locate fish. You will not be able to see the baby perch on sonar. They are usually inside cover. But, if you find those humps with weed beds (inside the buoys, not too far from the road, off the north side) then work the whole area around them. Once you find where the larger fish are holding, toss out a marker buoy, for close visual reference, and work the fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the shallow (8-10') water where we got most of our fish this trip, vertical jigging was not always a good technique. The bigger fish were taken by casting a short distance, with light jigs, and then a slow retrieve just above the bottom. But, if you touch the bottom, you need to bring up your jig and remove the green algae that is coating everything now. It kills the bite on your bait or jigs.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In most cases, if you are catching small perch you should keep moving until you find where the larger ones are hanging out. But, if you find a good area, with lots of feed, you will catch all sizes together. Yesterday we were catching two or three year classes in the same 20 square foot area. And, as you can see in one picture, using larger lures did not always make the difference. However, I seemed to catch more large perch and fewer chubs by tipping my jigs with perch meat rather than worms.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We worked through the whole perch migration cycle at this time last year. We found some "go to" spots that usually produce a few fish each trip, but it always seems to take some looking to find the one or two larger schools of bigger fish.[/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]WHEN YOU ARE MY AGE????? How old do you think I am? I am probably younger than you but fishing DOES age you faster. All the fishing I have done has burnt me out beyond my years. It's kinda like a "dog years" thing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]SHEEEESH!!!!! Young whippersnappers.[/#0000ff]
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[Like2Fish]

Hey T.D.,

I may have missed the update but how are the seat mods coming on your new rig?

(Haven't posted much 'cause I haven't been out much this last year ---- but I sure enjoy the V______ (virtual? vicarious? voluptuous?) great reports!)

L2F
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I have been fighting to get a comfortable ride on the H3 ever since I got it. I finally took out the lower seat cushion to check it. It is defective. It should have parallel corrugations, to provide a flat cushion with anti-slip lateral ridges. Mine did not have the corrugations.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the attached picture, you can see the back cushion (with corrugations) and the seat bottom cushion...with only a couple of functional divisions. It blows up like a balloon instead of a seat...just a big "whoopee cushion". Very uncomfortable when fully inflated, and when partially deflated it turns soft and lets me slide out the front.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Working to get a replacement. Thanks for asking.[/#0000ff]
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[trowtslayr]

Great report, enjoy your storytelling talent, not saying that your telling stories you just have a great nack for reporting and i appreciate your detail. I'm not a tuber actually have a fear of dangling my legs in water(shouldnt of watched Jaws so many times) but love to read about fishin in any form. I do have a pontoon which i take out every now and then but mostly sit in the comfort of my boat, well as comfortable as a 15t alum can be, mine isnt too bad though. Thanks for sharing!
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[Theekillerbee]

Nice to hear about many year class perch being caught. I was afraid they were on the downward trend, but that seems to be reversing nicely. Thanks for the report.
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[tomegun]

Ol Doc Bee, there has been nuttin' wrong with the perchies at Lake X-Ever! The fish have adjusted, but the people are too stupid to make the same adjustments. I've seen no lack of perchases in any year yet. I guess you have to live up there to find them.

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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks fer the kindly comments.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lets work on those pictures of yours and get some in the trophy room.[/#0000ff]
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