Thinkin' Pink at Lindon 4-20-12

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]TubeBabe is in California til Monday. Can't go fishing over the weekend...yardwork and fambly. So looked like Friday was it...and Lindon looked like the best of the worst after the storm cycle.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched at 6:30 am. Air temp 42 and water temp 53. Come on warm weather.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Very little on sonar inside the harbor. Paused to hit the points of the dikes on both sides of the channel entrance. No love. No fish on the screen either. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Flipped a mental coin to see which direction I would point my tube...south to the bubbleup or north to Battle Creek area. South won...temporarily.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Motored on high speed to the buoys and started looking for fish. Fishy desert on sonar. Nary a blip. Worked up and down and in and out the buoy line. Got one small whitie on one of my new tle wobble jigs. Then a long dry spell before getting a few more white bass. A couple more on the red and chartreuse TW jigs but most action was on a little pink tube jig on a 1/16 oz. pink wobble head. I kept changing up sizes, shapes and colors but that was about the only thing that was getting any love.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Never could find any schools or concentrations of fish...of any species. And all I could catch were white bass. No hits on minnows or crawler rigs fished on the second pole either.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About 9:30 they started in with the artillery again over at Camp Williams. That usually shuts down the fast fishing. But I hadn't had a hit in over a half hour anyway. So I decided to bottom bounce some jigs along as I worked my way back to the harbor, and then over to the area around Battle Creek.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Not long after leaving the line of buoys at the bubbleup and setting my trolling motor on low drag speed I had a solid whack on one of my tandem jig rigs. Hoped for a walleye but this one had whiskers. A good fight but it got to swim away. Not keeping anything besides a few whities today, for a dinner for one.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Stopped to work the rocks at the mouth of the harbor on the way to Battle Creek. Should kept going...and going...and going. Nada, zip, zilch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Nothing doing in the channel of the creek either. No hits, no runs no arrows.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Moved further north and put on a floating jig head (flig)...red and chartreuse...with a crawler. That's a good producer for walleyes...at times. Not today. I did get a lot of whacks but I am sure they were mostly white bass. I did catch one nice whitie on the flig.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]While dragging the flig I continued to cast with the plastic tandem rig I had been using at the bubbleup. I guess a couple of the whities followed me and joined me in my tube...again on pink.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just about the time I had finished my sandwich and was contemplating getting my tube up on plane and heading for the ramp...I got another good chomp on the plastic. The fish fought differently. Looked different too. My third species on pink...a bullhead (mudder).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I took a few minutes and worked the inside of the harbor in several areas. Saw a few more fish than in the morning but they all had their little mouths closed and their middle fins upraised on the screen.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temp had gone up to 55 just after noon. With a warm weekend it won't be long until we stay above 60 degree water and the fish will come back from winter vacation.[/#0000ff]
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[Jazzperch1]

as always good report and good pics, thanks TD
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[lavaman]

Maybe I missed one of your past posts, but I do believe that's the first time I've seen a mudder hit a jig. Pink even.

Crazy days!

Nice report, TD!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I've caught quite a few on plastic. They ain't proud. They eat anything...the Mikeys of the fish world.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Can't remember catching any others on pink but I have caught several on the purple and chartreuse grubs I fish for walleyes. Here are a couple of pics.[/#0000ff]
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[Fische]

I fished out at the bubble up, Lindon harbor and AF harbor on monday with similar results. Altough, I marked gobbs of fish at the bubble up. Water temps were 52-55.
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[wagdog]

Oh man I've caught quite a few bullhead catfish on jigs. Last year I couldn't make them stop hitting my 3 inch grubs. I was using red/chartreuse, junebug/chartreuse, etc. Wait till the water warms and more fish get in spawning mode. I guarantee you that you can catch bullheads on jigs in lots of colors. Just add a little bit of crawler and they'll put the hurt on it.

Did the whities at the bubbleup prefer a slow retrieve or did you get them vertical jigging, Pat? Were the white bass all males that you kept? They looked on the more slender side but I could be wrong.
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[SBennett]

Pat,
Thank you for letting me visit tonight. I really enjoyed soaking up some of your knowledge. Your jigs were exactly what I was looking for and I can't wait to try them.
You won't believe my luck after I left your house. I was headed home when I saw a guy having a yard sale. He was just cleaning up because the sun was going down. I stopped just in time and lo and behold I bought a jig mold from him for $5. It's just for round heads but you have inspired me to make a few of my own.
Question for you, before you pour the jig should a feller coat the mold with some type of release?
Thanks again, Shane
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[TubeDude]

"Did the whities at the bubbleup prefer a slow retrieve or did you get them vertical jigging, Pat? Were the white bass all males that you kept? They looked on the more slender side but I could be wrong."

[cool][#0000ff]Up until my last two trips the white bass have mostly been fat and healthy...and some with recently eaten minnows in them. The fish caught on the last two trips have all been empty and some have been on weight watchers. I ended up keeping 7 yesterday. 2 were females and the rest were males...all ready to rumble. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Since I was seeing more fish suspended about mid depth than hugging the bottom I would bounce my jigs for a ways along the bottom after completing a cast. Then I would reel up through the water column, with a jigging motion. I caught fish both ways. Also got a few on the rod dead-sticking straight down from my "quick draw" rod holder.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As usual, I saw a lot more than I caught but I did not see the numbers typical of the bubbleup. Still no flowing water. I think a lot of the fish are in the Jordan River and starting up the tributaries. There are some good catches of healthy fish coming from several spots along the Jordan.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the first of May I think there will be a lot of good reports from all the usual places. Plenty of fish this year and they are generally a bigger average than last year. And, as you guys proved, there are a few tug-worthy size too.[/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Congrats on scoring the mold. If you wanna bring it by I can help you customize it to get the bigger barbs you like...maybe even double barbs. I can also walk you through the pouring, trimming and painting processes. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yes, there is a spray graphite product for treating molds before pouring. But on a simple round head jig mold it is more messy than necessary. Again, if you wanna bring it by I can run a few jigs through it and show you how quick and easy it really is. Here's something to study first. There will be an entrance exam.[/#0000ff]
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[MisterCompletely]

We could almost accuse you of copy-and-pasting your last Lindon report! But thanks for that report, it's always helpful and appreciated. []
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Almost. The fish have been changed to protect the guilty.[/#0000ff]
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[ripnlip]

Shane, PM sent
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote lavaman]Maybe I missed one of your past posts, but I do believe that's the first time I've seen a mudder hit a jig. Pink even. [/quote]

Heck - even I've caught a mudder on a jig, RC Killer even - in your stomping grounds - it's all about the worms...me thinks. Red's always a go to color...though in that muddy marsh.

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Though I also find a bit of flash in the murk helps - especially when a bit of chop is bouncing my bobber . . . the hammered gold is my go to in muddy water.
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Anudder great report TD. Glad you're getting your float on.