In my tube again...Woo Hooo!

[TubeDude]

[font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][cool][#0000ff]What a difference a week makes. Last week with the ice auger. This week with a tube...and not having to do my icebreaker routine. Water temp was 42.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe is in Texas for a week, so I flew solo to Lincoln Beach. On the water by 7 AM. Shoulda stood in bed. Fished shallow to deep, small to large, lures, bait, everything. No wallies or whities. A couple of halfhearted bumps. Inexperienced fish. Just didn't know how to get the hook.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Shortly after I got out on the ledges, fellow BFTer fsh4fun05 showed up in "Old Yaller". I watched him play tug of war with some of my pet rocks for awhile, hoping he didn't pull the plug so I would have to walk back in. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We finally moved close enough to chat a bit and exchange picture taking. His camera gave up so I let him use mine to shoot me.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]No action and not much prospects of improvement by 9:30. Decided to get out and move over to the flats south of the launch channel. BFT member fishwriter was waiting for me on the bank, wondering where the heck his BFT hoody was that he won last week. Tried to explain that it was not sent overnight. Sheesh.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got launched on the flats just after 10 and rigged with a minnow on one rod and casted jigs with the other. At 10:30 I got a customer on the minnow. Surprise. Turned out to be a 22" 4# channel kitty. Lots of fun on the med light spin gear I was using for walleyes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Went through most of my plastic and jig head combinations, while dragging more minnows. Had a couple of "pop and drop". Hooked another fish at 11:30. This was a 21" 3.3# channel. Also lots of fun. Fought way bigger than he turned out to be.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]Kept casting and dragging. Missed my 12:30 fish. Dumb fish didn't know how to hang on. I did get a solid hookup on the 1:30 fish though. Screamed 6# line of the drag on my light Okuma. Almost made it to the brush line along the south shoreline. But, I whupped it after a good 10 minute battle. A chunky 25" 6# mama cat.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was off the water by 2:15, so we will never know if there was a bigger one waiting at 2:30. Water temp on the flats was 45 degrees when I started at 10 and warmed to 47 degrees as I was leaving. That is no doubt why the kitties are hanging in there. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]To the best of my knowledge, I did not have a walleye hit or hooked today. They are in there but not where I was fishing. It couldn't possibly be that I was not skilled enough to catch them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those three cooperative cats made for an endurable day. Always fun to stretch your string on kitties...even when they are not your primary target. Now last year, in that same area, I had several days when I was fishing for cats, but caught several walleyes. Go figure.[/#0000ff]
[/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=14680;"][#000000] DAYBREAK ON DA LAKE.JPG [/#000000][/url](199 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=14681;"][#000000] fsh4fun05.JPG [/#000000][/url](144 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=14682;"][#000000] DUDE OF THE TUBE.JPG [/#000000][/url](135 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=14683;"][#000000] FISHWRITER.JPG [/#000000][/url](116 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=14684;"][#000000] CAT BASKET.JPG [/#000000][/url](202 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=14685;"][#000000] KITTY DINNER.JPG [/#000000][/url](244 KB) [/size][/black][/font]
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[flygoddess]

[font "Betty Noir"][black][size 3]Drove past Jordanelle yesterday and ice is disappearing, even up the channel to Rock Cliff. One or two more weeks and it will be ice free totally, which is okay with me, getting tired of that shoulder to shoulder fishing on the middle.[/size][/black][/font]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Never did enjoy "full contact" fishing. I much prefer having some space (water) to yourself, to contemplate the wonders of nature and to fully savor the fishing experience, without having to share it too intimately with a bunch of bozos. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am not antisocial, but there are some things in life that are just too precious and too personal to share/endure while bouncing off other people. I think that is one of the major appeals of fishing, to most people. The term I coined many years ago is "brain broom".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I used to have a fishing buddy who was a doctor by profession. He knew what stress was and fishing was his primary form of stress management. His favorite expression was "You can fish, or you can worry. But, you can't fish AND worry."[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Let's watch the weather and the fish activity. When it warms up on both counts, we can plan a perch harvest and a fish fry.[/#0000ff]
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[flygoddess]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Well, I was going to ask you to get a hold of me when you go tubing (seeings how I am still unemployeed and according to Alan sitting around all day eating BomBoms and watching soapies).[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I will give you BRAIN ROOM[]. I can't get him to go to some of the local waters (Jordanelle, Bountiful Pond, Willard, even Utah). Don't know why.[/size][/black][/font]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Glad to have ya tag (tube) along. Don't know how much "warm water" fly fishing you have done, but I would be glad to arrange a personal introduction to some of those "other" fish for you.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still a bit chilly for that yet, but by May it will be gangbusters on all of the above mentioned waters. Have you ever caught a wiper on a flyrod? They call them wipers because you can't wipe the silly grin off your face after you catch one.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Bring your Bon Bons. They might make good catfish bait. Not sure if the HDTV on my tube gets good enough reception for your soaps though.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Alan is okay. He just don't got an appreciation for the "big picture", fishingwise. Doesn't make him a bad person. Well, maybe it does. That's your call.[/#0000ff]
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[flygoddess]

The guys on the other Forum had a Wiper day and if I recall they didn't do to well (undergunned I think), but, I got my 10' 8wt and 3 6wt. that I think can do the job. I did catch a 22" cat out of Bountiful and what a trip. He hung on the bottom like a brick.
I like to fish.....(period) and any kind, anytime, and anywhere. That is why I was asking about the Jordan River. Within walking
distance, but very muddy water all the time. Glendale area.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I use a 9' for 7/8 with a fast sink shooting head. Left over from my California steelheading days. Your 10 for 8 should get the job done nicely. No size 32 bitty bits here. You gotta make some long casts with big flies sometimes. A good weight forward "oversize" line can work well. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also, no sissy stripping for wipers. You need to haul that fly in. You can't strip it too fast for them to catch it if they light up on it. Can you say "double handed strip"?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Wipers are never a sure deal, even for the specialists who troll for them almost every day and know the fish well. Fishing from a tube, toon or from the shore, you have to time it right to find the fish. They move around a lot. Then, you have to find them feeding. When they start chasing shad up into the rocks in late summer, occasionally "boiling", you can hook up every cast until they move on.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You definitely gotta make wipers a MUST fish this year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Cats on flies? Yeah, baby. I have caught a lot of them. They are sight feeders in clear waters and will smash flies. Even in stained water they will find a fly with their sensitive lateral line.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Crappies are readily catchable on flies, as are yellow perch. However, some of the most fun on flies are white bass. They have really thinned out on Utah Lake this past year, but when they are plentiful you can wear your rod arm out on them. They smack flies hard and fight bigger than they are. What's more, you often hook up with a stray walleye, catfish or even big carp while flinging flies down there. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This time of year the Jordan is not quite so muddy most of the time, but it is still not the best water for fly fishing. The fish are not topwater feeders and sinking your flies can get frustrating and expensive with all of the debris in most sections.[/#0000ff]
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[flygoddess]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#40a0ff][size 3]I do have some great larger flies, but there is something to be said about getting 6-8 dozen flies in a sewing thimble[][/size][/#40a0ff][/font]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]How about throwing a fly big enough to give you a concussion if it smacks you in the back of the haid?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Onliest thing I know about thimbles is that my (dearly departed) mama used to thump me on the melon with one when I got outta line. That smarts.[/#0000ff]
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[zonker]

Nice report and nice pics, Tubedude. Glad you finally got some open water. Those are nice catfish and, coming out of the clear, cold water, are probably going to be good on the table. Happy to see you got out. I like fish/fishing pictures.

zonker
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey Uncle Z, how are ya? Wondered if maybe you had hooked a big steelie and it had pulled you out to sea.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Have you got any steelhead fishing in or have the rivers been out of shape with all the water?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I can personally testify that those kitties taste mighty fine.[/#0000ff]
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[zonker]

I kinda fell out of the steelheading this year. We had such lousy conditions with all the high water that I turned my attention elsewhere. Crowds were focused on the few remaining lower water locations which, in effect, made to crowding even worse than normal. Haven't been fishing at all for much too long. We've had some great conditions on our local river over the last week and a half. Some of the "regulars" have been parked along the river, but I've been paying my dues with the flu that everyone else seemed to deal with earlier in the winter. Yuk. Haven't felt much like doing anything. I'm hoping that will change very soon. I've about missed the good winter steelheading but I'm very much ready to so some tubing with my fly rods for trout. Also, the summer steelies in our river will be showing up soon. I might revive the bug at that point.

I'm looking forward to this board lighting up more and more as you icebound tubers begin to thaw.

z~
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Sorry to hear that you've been ailing. Almost unAmerican to go through the winter without getting the bug. TubeBabe and I both had bad colds through most of January and almost everybody we know has had at least one session with cold or flu. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hope the sun comes out for you soon and that there are some tube-friendly waters waiting for you. I would really like to get up there for some of the summer steelies. I used to fish the Lewis, in Washington for them. They get bigger up there than in most waters. The fish that came up the American, when I lived in Sacramento, were seldom over about 3 or 4 pounds, but they fought like ten pounders.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Our weather in Utah is supposed to be "Oregon-like" for the next week or ten days. Thanks for sending it our way. As soon as it gives us a break, I'll do my best to generate some more pictures for your viewing pleasure.[/#0000ff]
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[zonker]

Thanks for the sentiments, Tubedude. I think I'll survive. Gotta pay the dues like everyone else.

Pictures. That's what we need when we can't fish.

z~
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