Meetup on Mantua (Utah)

[TubeDude]

[cool][font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][#0000ff]Out4Trout invited me and TubeBabe to join him for a long overdue fishing trip on Mantua this morning. TheKillerBee trailered down his toon and joined up with us tubers at the ramp about 6 am. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lovely morning. Air temp in the mid sixties and the water temp was 74 at launch. No boats or bank tanglers when we launched, although that changed quickly. Lots of folks had the same idea for the holiday weekend. They wanted to save gas money by staying close to home.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All of us started dragging in little bluegills and then a few small perch. Couldn't find any larger bluegills or perch. Had a couple of decent sized perch (11"-12") arrange their own release just before reaching the tube. On two different sessions, I brought in twenty small bluegills on twenty short casts.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We all changed jigs and presentations and tried different depths around the weeds to try to find bigger fish. We all caught a few bitty bass, but nothing over about 14". The little ones were fun on light tackle but they liked to dive into the masses of weeds and sometimes got loose or broke off. On a couple of fish I eventually brought them up, but with a faceful of salad.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We all had early commitments. TKB left the water first, about 10:30. As the breeze started to come up, and the power squadron began to descend upon the lake, TubeBabe and I slipped in to shore too. 04T wasn't far behind. He was on the hook for some honeydos.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Always enjoyable to fish that little lake and the conditions were perfect. It woulda been nice to catch some larger fish, but there were plenty of small ones to keep us busy. In a couple of spots the small bluegills swarmed in front of me in the clear water and I was able to get a shot of one actually munching my jig. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Oh yeah, check out the pic of my new tricked out ride...with the painted shark jaws and the BFT flag flying proudly.[/#0000ff]


(This post was [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_editlog;post=270095;"][#000000]edited[/#000000][/url] by TubeDude on Jul 1, 2006, 2:40 PM)
[/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17027;"][#333366] MANTUA DAYBREAK.JPG [/#333366][/url](132 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=17028;"][#333366] TKB ON MANTUA.JPG [/#333366][/url](218 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=17029;"][#333366] O4T & TUBEBABE.JPG [/#333366][/url](185 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=17030;"][#333366] O4T LARGIE.JPG [/#333366][/url](242 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=17031;"][#333366] GANG OF GILLS.JPG [/#333366][/url](165 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=17032;"][#333366] BASS SALAD.JPG [/#333366][/url](192 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=17033;"][#333366] HIGH WINDS.JPG [/#333366][/url](114 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=17034;"][#333366] TRICKED OUT TUBEDUDE.JPG [/#333366][/url](259 KB) [/size][/black][/font]
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[zonker]

Nice report, TD. Made me feel like I was there. I'm still stuck in a lack of fishing mode. Hope to break out of it soon. Hope... hope... hope...

The pics were great. What a calm day!

Those shark teeth and the flag really set you off as a... I'm not sure what. A bigger target? A flamboyant tuber? An expert who really knows what he is doing? Anyway, cool art. I predict you'll start a fad.

z~
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks, Z. Hope the pics help ease the pain of your forced fishing abstinence. I don't know the reasons for your "condition" but I feel your pain and frustration. My personal best wishes for being able to get back on the water soon. Take two casts and call me in the morning...or not.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You like my new "decorations", huh? Not trying to start any new fads. Just having a good time and attempting to show other tubaholics that there are some other things we can do to "customize" our rides. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the process of looking for design ideas, for both the shark teeth and the flames, I looked in on some motorcycle customizing websites. Now those folks (motorcycle riders) know how to customize. I chuckled to myself as I contemplated how it would look if all tubers and tooners started doing that kind of "decorating". Man, we could have fashion shows and all that.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]What I have found is that there are several kinds of paint that will work well on the nylon and PVC covers. After that, the only limitations are our imagination, creativity and artistic ability.[/#0000ff]
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[Bluegillman]

Ha, those bluegills are what I see at "my" lake too, they too follow me around. Free food?[]
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[zonker]

Tubedude,

My fishing abstinence is for a good cause - a "higher calling" shall we say... I've been getting good reports from locals on the fishing. I hope to join them soon. Mrs. zonker and I have a week planned for the end of July. I'll chase some kind of fish during that time, LW.

It occurred to me that you wouldn't want to paint a set of those teeth on the bottom of your tube. The fishies might be a little put off by something that looks like giant predator teeth, though it might be an interesting experiment. Painting some kind of forage fish on the bottom might work, though. I'm such a lousy artist that if I ever start some such "exterior design" I'll probably have to enlist someone who has more ability than I have.

[cool]I still am waiting to see if you start a fad. The first guy who painted flames on his car fenders or motorcycle tank must have received some funny looks at first.

Keep up the pioneering, my friend.

z~
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[roadkillmac]

That's a 20 footer.
25 ....Three tons of her.
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[JapanRon]

Hi TubeDude,

'Jaws' looks great! But .....I wouldn't come fish the salt up in Central California during the Great White mating season.

It might be ...... love at first Bite!

JapanRon
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I was hoping that my "creature" was homely enough that it would not attract "that kind" of attention. Not sure I could convince a lovesick shark that I have a headache.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Anyway, I can just have TubeBabe follow with her "Flame-thrower" (see pic).[/#0000ff]
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