Cisco on the big blue

[fish_or_die]

Made the journey up to the family cabin friday night, got the wood stove going, ate some grub and bundled in under the covers waiting for the morning to come.

Up by 7 and we were socked in with fog so we took our time getting out on the ice. By the time we got there around 8 there was already a city on the rock pile so we picked a likely spot, dropped our jigs down and within minutes I had my first cisco ever! cool looking little fish! My wife hooked one right after that and got it to the hole before realizing it was a fat 19" turquoise blue cutthroat! Holy cow what a beautiful fish! [inline clip_image002.jpg]

After that the cisco were pretty consistent, we'd watch the finder and there were always fish at the bottom but occasionally a huge school would come through, you could feel them bumping into your line, and the graph would go dark from 40' to 10'! I really wish we had a camera to see what a school like that would look like, must be incredible!

We got bored with that eventually and moved out to deeper water to try for more trout. in 85' we still saw schools of cisco but only had one trout hit, again the wife pulled up a beautiful fat bear lake cutt. Dang girl, I'm going to stop taking her if she keeps catching more than me![inline clip_image001.jpg]

We moved back in for a bit and caught a few more cisco for the fryer around noon, still lots and lots of fish down there. [inline clip_image006.jpg]
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We've always heard about the cisco disco so we had to make a jaunt over and see what it was. Lots of people, lots of big holes but most of the cisco were tired of playing for the day. We snagged out a few from groups of 10 or so that would swim by, makes you realize how many there were on the rock pile because these were HARD to snag! I even netted one with my rubber trout net! That was good enough to call it a day, so we headed back to the cabin for a nap and a movie, good trip!

Thanks to all those who offered their advice!
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[setthehook]

looks like it was fun. Trout fishing has slowed way down everywhere on the lake only managed one cut
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[fish_or_die]

We didn't see anyone else with a trout and only talked to one group who said they'd caught one, we must have gotten lucky!

I need to get a BFT flag to mount to my sled so I can find people from the forum when I'm out
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey nice job. Looks like you figured it out pretty well for a first timer. We hit the east side and my nephew had his limit of Cisco in 2 minutes 14 seconds. Took me about an hour I netted a few and snagged the rest to make it last a little longer. Fun trip the kids love it as always. Wow what a crowd though. Looks like half the state showed up. Catch ya later. J
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[fishing4thehog]

Looks like you figured them out also.. Heres a couple of photos ..[cool] Enjoy
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[wiperhunter2]

Hey Jeff, did you make it over to get any of the eats, that were at the South end of Cisco beach? Did Yote make the drive over with you?
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Alas I did not make it out. Got cursed by that evil 4-letter word - starts with "W" busy times with tax forms.
Then I get some bozo texting me cisco pix.

Nice report there f-or-d.
Little green I am, envy you I do. Fun trip indeed.
Like the fishy-photo-layout.

So anyone know how much longer they're likely to keep running?

[wiperhunter2]

There will likely be some still hanging around this weekend but the numbers will be fewer. They seem to hang around in the deeper water for a little longer but BLFG is the man that would know for sure. Too bad you had to work, it was a fun time. Here are a few pics from my trip up there.
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[SkunkedAgain]

No we didn't go for the viddles we just caught our bait and headed home to the remodel project. I didn't hear from Yote so I don't know if he made it over there or not. Guess I'm a little sidetracked lately. Did you hang out for the festivities? I didn't see any BFT banners so I guess there wasn't any club things going. Lots of fishermen there though. Goto run Catch ya later. J
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[SkunkedAgain]

Looks like you must have been there a little later in the day than I was. It's sort of a fun thing to do. I wish I could go back but I guess I better get my projects finished first. With all the new snow, ice fishing is about to get more difficult for me. May have to break out the snowmobile or take less gear. Catch ya next time. J
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[fish_or_die]

jeez, I bet those were a hoot to bring up through the ice!
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[wiperhunter2]

We arrived at 8:30am got our cisco by 9 then went up and got some food, my son arrived at that point from Bosie, ID so after we ate, we went down an watched them get their limit. We took some of those pics as we were leaving around 11am. They were cooking Cisco at 8:30 when we arrived, so did you leave before 8:30? We did see a lot of cars leaving as we were arriving.
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[SkunkedAgain]

I think we left between 8:30 and 9:00 so we probably crossed paths. So did you eat your Cisco or keep them all for bait? I wanted to try a few smoked but didn't have time to get them ready so I froze mine for bait. Guess I have to eat some or fish with a few before I can go catch anymore Cisco. Or is there a higher possession limit for them? Well I guess I need to get things done at home so I won't get another chance to catch more but I'd sure like to. Well good luck and hope to run into you again soon. Later J
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[wiperhunter2]

I smoked 20 of them and kept 10 for bait. They taste much better deep fried but what doesn't[]. No higher possession limit for the cisco, just 30 per year.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey thanks for the info. Sorry they weren't the best smoked. I've heard if ya deep fry them fairly well that you can eat them bones and all. Is that true or am I getting my leg pulled a little? I really don't like fish bones in my meal but Cisco are too small to have much luck filleting so I usually use them mostly as bait or a side snack with a real fish dinner. What did you find with yours? Later J
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[RILEYFISH]

That is true. Then you eat them just like French fries.
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[SkunkedAgain]

And the bones don't drive ya nuts eating them? J
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[RILEYFISH]

Not really no, just make sure you fry them really well. I have only eatin them when Scott has prepared them at the disco in years past. Each time I had them, they went down like candy.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Cool I'll have to try some that way. So you gut and scale them and put on some breading and fry them up. Sounds like a new got to try deal. Thanks J
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[RILEYFISH]

That's it, scale, gut, chop off the head. Eat tail and all.
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