Jordanelle 2 report

[Hellsangler69]

Even if Petty4life and yper and son wipe out the perch population at Jordanelle today still managed my 20 fish on perch . LOL Fishboy and Road both came up today too . I ended up with 10 smallies from 8" to 16.5" . 3 nice toads . Perch fishing really slowed down this afternoon . Maybe we are making a difference . I think I still nailed about 100 perch . Just lots of work to get them . I managed a good sunburn too . I'll try and get some pics up tomorrow . Heres a pic of the bait bugs I was using until I broke them all off . The one on the right is the big bass getting bait bug until it snagged up and broke off . I got to remember to tie up 2 of these next time instead of just one . LOL


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[FlyFishingMoose]

Nice bugs! Between you abd TubeDude both of you guys can rig me up anytime.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]I never rig someone else on the first date...and I always practice safe rigging.

To HA69: Nice looking Roadrunners. Are those commercial paint jobs or your own models? That chartreuse is a good color. When the water cools off, I suggest either tieing the chartreuse bodies on a hot red or orange head...or using a hot red eye in place of the black one.

Are you using sonar to try to keep your jigs above the brush...or just dropping and hoping? I think I could probably make a lot of money by setting up a floating baitbug shop out over the brushy areas. I hear tell that some of those bushes down there look like little Christmas trees with all the fancy decorations donated by fishermen.
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[loanfish]

Where can I get some of these or the materials to make my own?
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[Hellsangler69]

Hey Tube , those are commercial paint jobs . I been fishing with just a curly tail on them and always replacing it after they rip it up . Just thought it would be nice if I didn't have to throw money away on curly tails . When I first seen your pics on the bait bugs I believe it was ice fishing season . So I got it in my head to only use them on hard water . I started using them at Pineview this summer . So I thought they might work at Jordanelle too . I been having a hard time finding them in Salt Lake with just the jig head . I have place a order with Cabelas and should get them in a week now . I have now went thru 25 pack of them to decorate the shrubs with and share with others . I been catching the bass with just letting it sink and then working it back to the tube (sometimes just reeling it or jigging it back ). The perch will hit it working it or vertical jigging and seem to hook up better that way . Its been kinda funny how I will cast for a while and then just let it sit down below my tube and will hook bigger perch this way . I've only been fishing in shallow water 3'-10' with them at Jordanelle . I have used my fishfinder to find some of the under water structure , but most of the time you can see it in shallow water .

I bought some of the powder paint in a glow . I was wondering what you thought was the best way to paint them ? Powder paint or vinyl paint ? I just wondering about paint getting on that swivel . I would guess for the eyes some vinyl paint would be the way to get that done , but for the first coat of paint on the entire jig head .
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[road]

Funny you should say that TD. I put on one of yours in chartreuse with a hot red head and a silver spoon. I can now say that I have caught the biggest smallie yet. 18 inches and between 5 and 6 pounds. Man was she a brute! FB2 said don't land it yet dad wait til I get the camera out. So I waited (good thing it was well hooked), and he got a few pics.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]There's no helping you if you drop these jigs into the brush, but if you can avoid snags, you will save a lot on plastics by using the bait bug concept. I have finally retired some jigs after catching easily over a hundred fish on one...and then I just rewrap the jig head (after I get back home) and I'm back in business.

I pour two kinds of the Roadrunner heads. One kind has the barb, for holding on plastics. The other kind has no barb and is for tying dressed jigs. There are quite a few colors available commercially, but nobody matches some of the custom colors and glitter paint jobs I have developed. If you do not yet pour your own heads, buy the unpainted and make your own.

I just emailed you three separate writeups on painting jig heads, putting eyes on and using glitter paints. There should be enough info in there to answer most of your questions.

It would seem that painting the Roadrunner heads would be more difficult, with the swivel poking out. In fact, it is slightly more difficult, but not so bad once you get used to the proper procedure and learn where to start each brush stroke to avoid getting paint in the swivel. At first, just don;t think you have to paint every bit of the head. You can leave a small unpainted area around the swivel without affecting the attractiveness of the head. As you get better and develop control, you will find it easy to get a complete coverage with minimal messups.

As you will read in the writeups, I have tried just about every type of paint possible to use on jig heads. I have tried the powder paints and found them to be durable and solvent resistant...but a pain to use for a large batch of jigs. And, I usually do large batches at a time. One of the big hassles is poking the paint out of the eyes when the paint has cooled and hardened.

Plain old nail polish will work...as will the enamel paints you can buy in craft shops for model making. However, you need to coat them with a layer of clear epoxy paint...both to make them more resistant to solvents in plastic lures and to keep them from chipping so easily when bounced off the rocks.

The vinyl jig paints are good too, but are also helped by a clear top coating of epoxy paint. By the way, if you merely put on a coat of epoxy paint and set the jigs somewhere to dry, they may take many hours to finish curing hard enough to use. But, with most epoxy paints, if you heat the painted heads in the oven for about 20 minutes...at 160 degrees...the epoxy will be hard and glossy...ready to use...and with no running or sagging.

Any jig head I am going to leave basic white or black, I paint those colors with epoxy paint, and then maybe vinyl paint for the eyes...with a top coat over the eyes with clear vinyl. If I am going to paint chartreuse or hot red, I first paint a base coat of vinyl white. Always use white under fluorescent colors. The third coat is clear epoxy.

For glitter paints, I use the clear vinyl paint as a base and mix in the colors of glitter I want. I keep adding glitter a little at a time until it is fairly thick. Make only a small batch, and keep thinner handy. Use a plastic drink straw or eyedropper to add a couple of drops of thinner as needed to keep the mix useable. If it is the proper consistency, it is more spreading than painting. Work quickly and quit working with the brush as soon as you have coverage. Rotate the coated jig head in your fingers while blowing on it for a half minute or so. The surface will set up quickly and you can hang the jig hook on something to allow the vinyl paint to finish drying. I use empty plastic margarine or topping containers, and drying time will be only a half hour or so. Then you can add eyes and finish with epoxy.

The types and colors of paints available today is overwhelming. But, there are only a few basic colors I use most. White, Black, Chartreuse and Hot Red are the colors found on the majority of my jigs. I also use a fair number of solid dark red...in conjunction with white, yellow or black plastics and baitbugs. I also make both solid purple and purple with red eyes.

Of course, I do a lot with glitters too..silver, gold, rainbow, opalescent, green and blue. I just received some new "hot colors" in hot orange and hot red...and some bright yellow/chartreuse that I am anxious to try this fall or under the ice. I will be making up a batch of my "perch urchins" and flattened sinker jigs soon, in anticipation.

Anybody else that would like the writeups on anything to do with jig making and painting, PM or email me and I'll send you what I got.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, Road, my friend, If the fish was that big, the picture probably weighs at least a pound. Hope you can post it soon. Always love to see those big smallies...and the s they create. Had to have my surgically removed when I caught a 6# 15 ox. smallie in northern Cal a few years ago. Heck, I giggle when I catch a fiesty 1 pounder on light tackle. They sure do stretch your string and bend your stick good.

Sounds like you guys are full fledged members of the "gorilla flotilla" now. Have you wrestled with any big cutts from the Berry in your donut yet? It will soon be time to go after those big ones. Wish I could be there.
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[Hellsangler69]

Here's some pics . Some didn't turn out to good .

Fishboy 2 in perch mode



Mess of perch



and a smallie that I can't get to fit in my camera lens .


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[Hellsangler69]

Thanks for the info . I need to pour my own jigs as much as I go thru them . I plan on making some perch erchins before ice season and will be ordering some lead spoons to be painting soon .Sams Club got the christmas stuff in the stores now . All I need is some hard water to go with it . Come on ice !!!!!!!!
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Don't know what you got to swap, but I still have several hundred of those double ended long sinkers I bought on a closeout from Smith & Eddies a long time ago. I pound them flat with a hammer and then decorate them with wither prism tape or glitter or paint...or a combination. All you have to do is decorate and then add a split ring and hook.

Here's a pic of the basic sinkers...real cheap...and then the pounded models...followed by some decorated ones. I am low on all my colors right now, but will have a full arsenal within a couple of months...with some hot new colors.



By the way, I invented these for perch in deep water...in Deer Creek and Yuba. But, over the years they have caught just about everything in every lake they have been fished. A couple of Bear Lake fans do well on the deep cisco during the winter too. They drop like a rock, but still have some flutter when you work them, because of the flattened surface. With their weight, they make it possible ot maintain good "touch"...as long as you have good line, rod and sensitivity. Amazingly, I have caught a lot of fish on them by just slipping on a piece of perch meat, dropping it to the bottom, lifting a few inches and then propping the rod across a bucket (ice fishing).
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[Hellsangler69]

More pics and some that I took last weekend .

Morning sunrise at the "Nelle"



and the water early in the morning



My bass boat beached



BFT perch party with stormy skies .



Before and after pics of Jordanelle from the view area .





OK the slide show is over !!!!!!!!!
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[Mueske]

HA69, TubeDude, others,
I went to Jordanelle with the kids today for the first time. My daughter caught her first perch from a boat and her first smallie today. We lost no jigs but I had to work hard at least four times to retrieve them from the bottom. With our late start we had to put up with a lot of skiers and PWCs almost splashing us constantly, totally ignoring the 150' rule. The closest encounter was with the Coast Guard Auxillary (or whatever they're called) barely avoiding our drifting boat and that of some skiers. We had to wait at least an hour to load the boat due to everyone else doing the same on account of the small storm. I'm sorry if anyone had to circle 'cause I was overdue in leaving the temporary dock space, but I was idling in the parking lot with lots of others. Please tell me this doesn't happen often or my twins will not be able to fish their new "favorite" lake. I only saw one other guy cleaning fish who said he had three trout. The one I noticed looked to be about 24". All of the other people traipsing through the cleaning area were startled to see me cleaning fish on their way to the water closet. Saw an interesting thing at I-80 eastbound mile 152 in Silver Creek Canyon: a guy was parked along the road in his black Explorer, sawing antlers off a bloated buck. Breaking two laws (parked along a freeway, taking the antlers) but with the stench you had to give him an A for effort.

Kevin
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[road]

Well TD to be honest the Berry hassn't been real kind to me this year []. I had my first skunk in nearly 30 years there a few weeks ago. Just goes to show you no matter how well you think you know a body of water it can make ya look silly. I have had a few nice cutts but nothing tto write home about. I am now waiting for the cooler weather, I know when it cools the fish drool just to bite my hook LOL. I am still after that 15# bow I know is there.
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