07-07-2006, 11:42 AM
[cool][#0000ff]One of my favorite expressions has always been "Fishing is always good, even when the catching isn't". As we have discussed on this forum before, tubing and tooning provide the utmost way to observe and enjoy all of the sensory pleasures of each fishing trip, even if the catching part is not always outstanding.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I took a brief (not my choice) trip to Willard Bay yesterday morning, to try to get to play with some more wipers. It turned into one of those days that were visually enriching, even if the fishing aspects took a left turn.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I launched just before 6 AM, as the sky was getting that nice pink/orange glow in the east, on the other side of the mountains. The water was calm and I had reason to hope, even though we had been having the "monsoon" storms for the past few days. They were mostly an afternoon thing anyway. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The air temp was 72 and the water a warmer 75. Perfect for tubing "wet", with no waders. Also perfect was the fact that the customary "welcoming committee" of the swarms of midges and mosquitoes were almost completely absent. Wonderful. I did spray down with repellent, just in case, but I did not have to wear my headnet to get past the shoreline swarms.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As I kicked my way out into deeper water, I took time to shoot a few pics of the developing daybreak. Mama Nature always seems to reward those who get up early enough to enjoy this show. One little extra was the flight of cranes that flew lazily overhead on their way to the feeding grounds at the Bear River Bird Refuge.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Before I even made my first cast, there were light breezes rippling the water. They came in first from the south, then changed to the east and then the north. After fishing for awhile, they turned around and started in again from the south. I looked south and saw a bank of ominous clouds and hoped they would not come in my direction. Didn't work. They came after me.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The fickle and elusive wipers did not seem to be hanging out on my part of the lake yesterday. Boaters in other areas were rewarded with good catches from the "boils" that developed when feeding wipers cornered large schools of shad. I did not get even one whack on the different lures I kept sailing out into the water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]On my second rod (I have a two pole permit) I was dragging a minnow. The small channel cats kept me busy unhooking them, rebaiting and casting back out. I probably caught 12 or 15 before the wind picked up, keeping only two or three that had been hooked deeply and had to have the hook cut off.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As the south wind started building, I decided to keep a few more cats, to take home my limit of 8. I got them quickly, by drifting along with the increasing wind and dragging my bait on the way back to my launch site.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The good news was that I had been fishing upwind from where I needed to get out, so I did not have to fight the wind on the way back. That is unusual. I often have to exert myself just to get back to home base. Yesterday I was able to "hang ten" and surf right onto the shoreline where I had launched. Lots of flowers still blooming to welcome me back.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I had my fish filleted at the cleaning station and was back home in Salt Lake by noon. An abbreviated trip, but a good one by most standards.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I took a brief (not my choice) trip to Willard Bay yesterday morning, to try to get to play with some more wipers. It turned into one of those days that were visually enriching, even if the fishing aspects took a left turn.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I launched just before 6 AM, as the sky was getting that nice pink/orange glow in the east, on the other side of the mountains. The water was calm and I had reason to hope, even though we had been having the "monsoon" storms for the past few days. They were mostly an afternoon thing anyway. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The air temp was 72 and the water a warmer 75. Perfect for tubing "wet", with no waders. Also perfect was the fact that the customary "welcoming committee" of the swarms of midges and mosquitoes were almost completely absent. Wonderful. I did spray down with repellent, just in case, but I did not have to wear my headnet to get past the shoreline swarms.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As I kicked my way out into deeper water, I took time to shoot a few pics of the developing daybreak. Mama Nature always seems to reward those who get up early enough to enjoy this show. One little extra was the flight of cranes that flew lazily overhead on their way to the feeding grounds at the Bear River Bird Refuge.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Before I even made my first cast, there were light breezes rippling the water. They came in first from the south, then changed to the east and then the north. After fishing for awhile, they turned around and started in again from the south. I looked south and saw a bank of ominous clouds and hoped they would not come in my direction. Didn't work. They came after me.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The fickle and elusive wipers did not seem to be hanging out on my part of the lake yesterday. Boaters in other areas were rewarded with good catches from the "boils" that developed when feeding wipers cornered large schools of shad. I did not get even one whack on the different lures I kept sailing out into the water.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]On my second rod (I have a two pole permit) I was dragging a minnow. The small channel cats kept me busy unhooking them, rebaiting and casting back out. I probably caught 12 or 15 before the wind picked up, keeping only two or three that had been hooked deeply and had to have the hook cut off.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As the south wind started building, I decided to keep a few more cats, to take home my limit of 8. I got them quickly, by drifting along with the increasing wind and dragging my bait on the way back to my launch site.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The good news was that I had been fishing upwind from where I needed to get out, so I did not have to fight the wind on the way back. That is unusual. I often have to exert myself just to get back to home base. Yesterday I was able to "hang ten" and surf right onto the shoreline where I had launched. Lots of flowers still blooming to welcome me back.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I had my fish filleted at the cleaning station and was back home in Salt Lake by noon. An abbreviated trip, but a good one by most standards.[/#0000ff]
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