07-30-2009, 02:25 AM
[font "Times New Roman"] Monday was my birthday. For a couple of weeks I have been planning another float trip we could take in our tubes. My last trip was to Milner Lake for catfish on a 3-mile float trip. I only got three cats on that trip but I learned a lot. Well for my birthday I wanted to go where Jacob and I would have a SMOKIN chance at some good sized cats. I talked to Dan the guy that went with us to Milner and asked him if he was interested. He said he was and I started to do some homework. What I found was the river around Weiser looked like it would be a good float trip. I also found a spot where I could launch and where I could take out and it was all on public land. I also found that the trip was going to be just a hair over 5 miles. Dan knew people in Weiser and soon we had a ride back to the truck. All we had to do was make a call as we were heading to the take out spot. [/font]
[font "Times New Roman"] We met up with a young man that had NEVER been tubing before. He had also never caught a catfish before, and to top it off after we asked him to go with us he said it was a “trip of a life time”. He was a good kid and his name was Ian. I don’t think he gets a lot of support at home from his folks for going fishing. Money is tight and they live off what they can. I took my daughter Katie’s camo tube for him. We got a set of waders loaned to him and the rest of the stuff we dug up here and there.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"] We got to the launch area at 5:30 am. Air temp was 68 degrees water was 74. Dan was the first one in the water and he got the first cat, a 20” kitty. Dan is a very good bass fisherman but has been a little slow on the uptake for cats. After that first fish Dan had about a 5 hour dry spell. We fished down the bank and soon I told the guys I wanted to cross the main channel and fish the first island. The current was strong in this section and we were cruising at over 2 mph. As I came out of the current I hooked up with my first kitty of the day. At first I thought I snagged bottom and then I took off. After a good fight Dan took pictures of my fish for me. Jacob was next with a 21” fish that liked to strip line of his light rod. We fished to the end of the island and soon I wanted to cross again to the next island. I headed out to the center where the water was faster and only about 3 foot deep. I got another hit, this time on my ultra light. This cat stripped off about 40 yards of ling QUICK in the fast water. I kicked back to Jacob and after a street fight with this fish Jacob took the picture of me and the kitty.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"] We all went through a dry spell at this point. The new kid Ian had yet to catch a fish. We fished an eddy that looked good but we never got a fish. I saw a BIG cat sipping bugs off the surface but never did get it to bite. We left that spot and Jacob was the next to hook up, and he landed a nice little kitty. I never got that chance to cross to the other island because I hooked that fish with my ultra light. So I headed across, and about the center of the river I got a MONSTER hit but lost the fish. Jacob followed and so did Dan and Ian. Ian had a poor tube for this kind of float and he just wasn’t experienced with kicking. Well he was washed a mile down river before he could get to the shore. In the mean time he hooked up with his first catfish on his first float tubing trip. We caught back up with him and I suggested we just get out in the channel and float. That seemed to be the place where we were getting bites. For the Next couple of miles we hooked up with fish after fish. I landed another 26” fish and everyone got a fish.[/font]
The total for the trip was Dan 2 cats, Ian 2 cats, Jacob 2 cats, and me with 10 cats, ( I released 5) and 1 bass. The last picture is of my float tube as I was getting out of the river. I added a cooler holder to the back of the seat. It was a good trip we fished right at 5 miles. I wished we had shot for 10 to 12 miles instead of 5. I will have to give that a try next time. It was a great way to spend my birthday. Ron
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[font "Times New Roman"] We met up with a young man that had NEVER been tubing before. He had also never caught a catfish before, and to top it off after we asked him to go with us he said it was a “trip of a life time”. He was a good kid and his name was Ian. I don’t think he gets a lot of support at home from his folks for going fishing. Money is tight and they live off what they can. I took my daughter Katie’s camo tube for him. We got a set of waders loaned to him and the rest of the stuff we dug up here and there.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"] We got to the launch area at 5:30 am. Air temp was 68 degrees water was 74. Dan was the first one in the water and he got the first cat, a 20” kitty. Dan is a very good bass fisherman but has been a little slow on the uptake for cats. After that first fish Dan had about a 5 hour dry spell. We fished down the bank and soon I told the guys I wanted to cross the main channel and fish the first island. The current was strong in this section and we were cruising at over 2 mph. As I came out of the current I hooked up with my first kitty of the day. At first I thought I snagged bottom and then I took off. After a good fight Dan took pictures of my fish for me. Jacob was next with a 21” fish that liked to strip line of his light rod. We fished to the end of the island and soon I wanted to cross again to the next island. I headed out to the center where the water was faster and only about 3 foot deep. I got another hit, this time on my ultra light. This cat stripped off about 40 yards of ling QUICK in the fast water. I kicked back to Jacob and after a street fight with this fish Jacob took the picture of me and the kitty.[/font]
[font "Times New Roman"] We all went through a dry spell at this point. The new kid Ian had yet to catch a fish. We fished an eddy that looked good but we never got a fish. I saw a BIG cat sipping bugs off the surface but never did get it to bite. We left that spot and Jacob was the next to hook up, and he landed a nice little kitty. I never got that chance to cross to the other island because I hooked that fish with my ultra light. So I headed across, and about the center of the river I got a MONSTER hit but lost the fish. Jacob followed and so did Dan and Ian. Ian had a poor tube for this kind of float and he just wasn’t experienced with kicking. Well he was washed a mile down river before he could get to the shore. In the mean time he hooked up with his first catfish on his first float tubing trip. We caught back up with him and I suggested we just get out in the channel and float. That seemed to be the place where we were getting bites. For the Next couple of miles we hooked up with fish after fish. I landed another 26” fish and everyone got a fish.[/font]
The total for the trip was Dan 2 cats, Ian 2 cats, Jacob 2 cats, and me with 10 cats, ( I released 5) and 1 bass. The last picture is of my float tube as I was getting out of the river. I added a cooler holder to the back of the seat. It was a good trip we fished right at 5 miles. I wished we had shot for 10 to 12 miles instead of 5. I will have to give that a try next time. It was a great way to spend my birthday. Ron
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