07-14-2006, 09:37 PM
[cool][font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][#0000ff]Worked out a meetup thing for a tubing/boating get-together on Willard Bay this morning, with PACKFAN and his wife. Boy did they pick a nice morning for fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I launched in the NE corner about 6 am. Air temp 65, water temp 76. No waders needed. Yeah. Bring on da heat. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There was a nice pink glow when we launched. No W and no bugs. Don't get much better than that. Well, it woulda been nice to get to play with a couple of wipers but they were playing elusive today. Saw a few small ones hit the surface early, but no boils.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Threw lots of plastics and hardbaits but no wiperkind. As soon as I started dragging a minnow I got kitty-smacked though. TubeBabe had got two small cats and I got one before Mr. and Mrs. PACKFAN cruised up in their nicely appointed Crestliner.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The kitties weren't real active until the sun came over the mountains and hit the water about 7:30. Then we all got some hits and brought in a few small kitties. Just after 8 it really turned on for awhile and everybody was reeling in the small channels. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I got one small male channel that was the smallest "daddy cat" I have ever caught. He had the head and the skinny body...and the colors...of a spawning male just off the nest. He was thin and went back into the water, as did about 15 - 20 other small cats, from 12" to about 15".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]During one hectic half hour session, I was fishing two bait rods and had 4 consecutive "doubles"...fish either hooked or running line on both rods at the same time. PACKFAN was cruising over to take a "
y shot" when I got the last double. Both rods took off at the same time. I set the hook on the first fish and then put the rod back in my holder. I then set the hook on the second fish and reeled it in. The first fish kept trying to spin my tube around as I unhooked the one I had already brought in.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Only a couple of PWC on the water (starting at daybreak). No pesky skiers. There was one old guy dragging a worm harness around for walleyes, in his red Tracker. He couldn't stand watching me catch fish after fish so he dragged his gear close by me and actually hooked a small cat right under my tube.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Both TubeBabe and I released several times more than we kept, usually keeping only the kitties that had swallowed our hooks. By 10 AM, we were both had seven in the basket, and needed only one more to limit. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As I put away one of the bait rods, and picked up a rod rigged with tandem small plastics, I saw some surface disturbance nearby. No big boils or heavy splashes, but looked a lot like small wipers mopping up on some of the newly hatched shad fry. About my third cast I had a whack and brought in a scrappy wiperette. Looked like one of this year's plants. Saw more of them splashing but did not hang around very long to try for more. Now, if they had been six pounds, instead of six inches, I woulda been all over that.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Mr. and Mrs. PACKFAN seemed to have a good time with the bitty kitties too. In fact, they were the primary target today, rather than wipers. I think they were able to collect enough for a decent fish fry.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Great to meet up with you guys again.[/#0000ff] [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17252;"]![[Image: image.gif]](http://www.bigfishtackle.com/images/gforum/files/image.gif)
[#333366] DAWN GLOW LAUNCH.JPG [/#333366][/url](184 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17253;"][#333366] PACKFAN'S RIDE.JPG [/#333366][/url](135 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17254;"][#333366] MR. & MRS. PACKFAN.JPG [/#333366][/url](129 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17255;"][#333366] SMALL SKINNY MALE.JPG [/#333366][/url](173 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17256;"][#333366] WALLEYE DRAGGER.JPG [/#333366][/url](164 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17257;"][#333366] WIDDLE WIPER.JPG [/#333366][/url](155 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17258;"][#333366] TUBERS' TAKEHOME.JPG [/#333366][/url](220 KB) [/size][/black][/font]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I launched in the NE corner about 6 am. Air temp 65, water temp 76. No waders needed. Yeah. Bring on da heat. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There was a nice pink glow when we launched. No W and no bugs. Don't get much better than that. Well, it woulda been nice to get to play with a couple of wipers but they were playing elusive today. Saw a few small ones hit the surface early, but no boils.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Threw lots of plastics and hardbaits but no wiperkind. As soon as I started dragging a minnow I got kitty-smacked though. TubeBabe had got two small cats and I got one before Mr. and Mrs. PACKFAN cruised up in their nicely appointed Crestliner.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The kitties weren't real active until the sun came over the mountains and hit the water about 7:30. Then we all got some hits and brought in a few small kitties. Just after 8 it really turned on for awhile and everybody was reeling in the small channels. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I got one small male channel that was the smallest "daddy cat" I have ever caught. He had the head and the skinny body...and the colors...of a spawning male just off the nest. He was thin and went back into the water, as did about 15 - 20 other small cats, from 12" to about 15".[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]During one hectic half hour session, I was fishing two bait rods and had 4 consecutive "doubles"...fish either hooked or running line on both rods at the same time. PACKFAN was cruising over to take a "
y shot" when I got the last double. Both rods took off at the same time. I set the hook on the first fish and then put the rod back in my holder. I then set the hook on the second fish and reeled it in. The first fish kept trying to spin my tube around as I unhooked the one I had already brought in.[/#0000ff] [#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Only a couple of PWC on the water (starting at daybreak). No pesky skiers. There was one old guy dragging a worm harness around for walleyes, in his red Tracker. He couldn't stand watching me catch fish after fish so he dragged his gear close by me and actually hooked a small cat right under my tube.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Both TubeBabe and I released several times more than we kept, usually keeping only the kitties that had swallowed our hooks. By 10 AM, we were both had seven in the basket, and needed only one more to limit. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As I put away one of the bait rods, and picked up a rod rigged with tandem small plastics, I saw some surface disturbance nearby. No big boils or heavy splashes, but looked a lot like small wipers mopping up on some of the newly hatched shad fry. About my third cast I had a whack and brought in a scrappy wiperette. Looked like one of this year's plants. Saw more of them splashing but did not hang around very long to try for more. Now, if they had been six pounds, instead of six inches, I woulda been all over that.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Mr. and Mrs. PACKFAN seemed to have a good time with the bitty kitties too. In fact, they were the primary target today, rather than wipers. I think they were able to collect enough for a decent fish fry.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Great to meet up with you guys again.[/#0000ff] [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17252;"]
[#333366] DAWN GLOW LAUNCH.JPG [/#333366][/url](184 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17253;"][#333366] PACKFAN'S RIDE.JPG [/#333366][/url](135 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17254;"][#333366] MR. & MRS. PACKFAN.JPG [/#333366][/url](129 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17255;"][#333366] SMALL SKINNY MALE.JPG [/#333366][/url](173 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17256;"][#333366] WALLEYE DRAGGER.JPG [/#333366][/url](164 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17257;"][#333366] WIDDLE WIPER.JPG [/#333366][/url](155 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17258;"][#333366] TUBERS' TAKEHOME.JPG [/#333366][/url](220 KB) [/size][/black][/font][signature]