3 pairs on Starvation 8-2-09

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Had 3 couples hit Starvation at Rabbit Gulch this morning. TubeBabe and myself, jnbsigma and his wife Becky...and Mr. and Mrs. LloydE in their motorized raft. She is not a tuber...yet.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water level is about 3 feet down from max high water. Still high for this time of year. Water temps 62 at launch and 64 at 1 PM departure. Light breezes all day...first from the west and later from the east.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Had to look hard to find fish. Nobody was getting bit until I scored two quick walleyes out in the middle of the channel, toward the shallow end...but in 32 feet of water. Both "teen-inchers"...14" and 15". [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Didn't get my first perch until about 8:30...a 9" throwbacker. Finally found a few fish within a small area and tossed over the marker buoy. Whacked a bunch of 9"ers and a half dozen over tens. Most fish were coming on my "fligs"...floating jigs...rigged with a 6 inch dropper about 2 feet above the sinker. Got them on both the fire tiger and the pale perch colors. Also got a few on red plastic when I stopped to vertical jig.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I hollered at everybody else to come fish my area to pick up some perch. That about did it for me. Only got a couple more there but the other folks scored a few. Cool.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I also got to rassle a couple of big ol' chubs. One was over 15". I lost another that was even bigger.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I got one more walleye...a "footlong". TubeBabe also got one about that size. Justin and Becky each got a few nice perch and becky got a teen incher wallie. Outfished the old man. Way ta go girl.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]LloydE and his bride anchored up a couple of spots and got a few decent perch, along with a bunch of small ones...next years basket fish. Lloyd's wife also got the only walleye from their craft. Too small to keep...which is saying something for Lloyd. He likes his wallies. They were still out when TubeBabe, myself, Justin and Becky hit the beach to go home. Not sure what they ended up with. Hope they got enough to make it worthwhile.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]The last week of summer before school starts brought out the power squadron this week. PWCs were racing around and a couple of big wake boats were making the tubing much fun, especially in the building breeze.[/#0000ff]
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[albinotrout]

Sounds like you did better than me. Today was skunk at jordanelle.
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[Therapist]

Two questions for you TD.

1. Are you using a brush brush or an air brush to paint your 'fligs' ???

2. Where are you getting the foam bodies that you are using ???

[TubeDude]

[quote Therapist]Two questions for you TD.

1. Are you using a brush brush or an air brush to paint your 'fligs' ???

2. Where are you getting the foam bodies that you are using ???[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]I use vinyl jig paint to paint them, so I can't use an airbrush. No way to thin that stuff enough to run it through the fine holes and still get decent coverage. And, the designs are tough to paint with an airbrush too. Thus, a regular brush...of different sizes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I buy popper foam cylinders from Barlows[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][url "http://www.barlowstackle.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&User_ID=5942100&st=1133&st2=62944107&st3=67507261&Product_ID=2665&CATID=61"][font "Times"][size 3]Soft Foam Cylinders[/size][/font][/url][/#0000ff][#000000] [/#000000]

[#0000ff]I use the 1/4" for the small fligs and 3/8" for the larger sizes. I cut them to length and then use a small dremel sander to round the ends. I slit them with a razor blade and super glue them to the hook shank. Then I paint them. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The ones in the pics are new models, without tails. They are on size 2 Matzuo aberdeen hooks and seem to be just the right size for most applications. They are small enough for perch but big enough to attract walleyes too...especially with a half a crawler trailing off the hook. They have enough floatation to keep the crawler well up off the bottom.[/#0000ff]
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[LloydE]

Cherie and I had a great time yesterday. We didn't have any fligs with us--stupid me! When we found fish we stopped and jigged, but most of the fish were suspended.

Cherie is ready, I think, to try out the float tube!

The company was great. The fishing was fun. However, I am now addicted to the float tube, and since my fishing skills on the tube are improving I was a little envious of those fishing in a tube.

Bottom bouncing worked great last year when Cherie went with me the first time. We caught large walleye and many of them. However, I had a little trouble with the motor yesterday and I couldn't troll at the speed I wanted. In retrospect, I also think our bottom bouncers were a little too light with the existing fishing conditions (motor and water)

We trolled a few crankbaits after you left. Crankbaits (walleye divers, etc.) are better in the early morning than in the afternoon, but we did catch one perch on a Reef Runner Deep Little Ripper (Red Hot Tiger color).

Great experience with my wife. She had a great time, and I did as well.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You missed the final fun. We had to jump start Justin's car so he could go home. "Somebody" left the lights on.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Glad that Cherie enjoyed herself. Yes, we have to get her in a tube. But it should be someplace where there is good fishing within easy kicking distance of the vehicle and no WIND. That can kill the enjoys for a newbie tuber very quickly.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]No fligs? See if you get any more of my new stuff. The fish were in a neutral mode yesterday. None of the fish I filleted had been eating...ANYTHING. So the slow suspended presentation of the floating jigs was ideal for getting them to "yawn". But, interestingly, many of the takes were aggressive and some fish even swallowed the whole jig.[/#0000ff]
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[LloydE]

I had the other "goodies" you gave me, but somehow in the packing I neglected to put in the "fligs."
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[Therapist]

So the Vinyl paint does not react with the foam and melt it !!! Most excellant !! I will have to give it a try !!!

[TubeDude]

[quote Therapist]So the Vinyl paint does not react with the foam and melt it !!! Most excellant !! I will have to give it a try !!![/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Nope. The solvents in that paint are powerful and the thinner can be used to remove other paints and glues, but it does not react at all with the foam. Nor does it bother the hot melt glue I use to finish off the ends or lengthen the body.[/#0000ff]
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[jnbsigma]

Hey TD, thanks for a fun day on the water and for letting everyone crash your hot spot. Becky and I had a great time which was made even better with a few tasty take-homers. Hopefully next time we won't be quite so rusty (forgetting batteries and bouys, leaving lights on, etc.) []

It was also nice to see TB again and to meet LloydE & Cherie. Good times all around!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]It was good to see you guys again too. Now that you live in British Columbia it is tougher to get together for a quick floatilla.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Check in the next time you are going to be back in the area and we will put something else together. But I suggest you make a checklist for yourself of the semi important things to bring. (needle needle)[/#0000ff]
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