04-20-2007, 04:22 AM
Yep, open water is here. We couldn't stand it any longer, hooked the boat behind the truck and went up hoping the warm and wind early in the week had cleared it for us. It had. My soft water long suffering paid off as first cast of the year at the Berry yielded a nice cut on a pointer (pictured). My fishing partner's (Dagnabit) first cast of a white tube also netted a fish. What a way to start! It didn't last, but we did end up boating 14 fat pretty cuts in the Renegade area between 2:30 and around 6 (pic from ramp attached). We practiced our normal early and late year techniques - shallow. The euphoria of finally having open water all to ourselves overcame the cool temps and stiff wind. Pointers caught the bulk of the fish, with a couple coming from less than 3 feet of water. Water temp is a brisk 37 degrees. There is a bunch of ice on the main body of the lake; East Portal Bay is completely open, though the ramp had a 100 yard piece of ice preventing anyone from launching there. Soldier Creek was fully boatable. The whole bay where the river comes in including Chicken Creek W and E is open. Quite a bit of ice left over by the ladders and in the middle. On the south end, it is entirely open from the narrows to the old dike (underwater) and everything south including Horse Creek and Renegade itself. Maybe a week at most and all ice will be gone. The fish we got seemed to have wintered well, as all were fat and happy, at least until they got a hook in the lip. The water is as high as I've seen it in at least 5 years and very clear for this early. Ok, I've made your plans for the weekend, have fun.
[signature]
[signature]
]