Jordanelle jiggin' 10-24-06

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]BFTer Dog-lover doesn't post a lot on the fishing board, but he PMed me that he had been smackin' some perch in the Rock Cliff arm in deeper water. When he invited me to join him in his boat, I was good widdat. He likes perch and he likes jiggin' fer 'em. I was good widdat too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We launched at Hailstone about 8ish and cruised on a light ripple back into the Rock Cliff arm. Started jigging in 30 feet of water and Dog scored the first perch...a nice phat 10 incher. Looked like a good day to come. After that we only caught a few dinks and donated some jigs to the deep brush on the bottom. Gotta pay your dues to get fish on that lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There were a few trout rising so I fired one of my pretty red-spotted silver spinners down the shoreline and smacked a 14" slimer, just to show Dog how it was done. Then I went back to jigging.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We moved in and out with the electric motor, seeing very few fish and no real schools. As it got brighter, the fish got more active and we began to score more frequently. A few times we had doubles. Along one stretch of shoreline trees we each caught feisty smallies in only about 10 or 12 feet of water, on the small jigs and spoons we were sending down for perch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Dog man pretty much stayed with using a plain 1/8 oz or 1/4 oz. jighead, tipped with worm or perch meat. Me? I took 4 boxes of bait bugs, roadrunners, spinners and jigging spoons and I rotated through most of them. The sunken brush in that area probably looks like it has been decorated for Christmas after all of the pretty sparkly stuff I donated in the pursuit of perchkind.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did catch fish on just about everything I dropped down though. Some things worked better than others. My heavy little casting spoons, like the perch urchins, did surprisingly well, both at catching perch and jiggling free from minor "brush bass" hookups. They also plummeted down much quicker than wimpy little jigs. I also tipped with either worm or perch meat. Larger strips of perch seemed to produce larger perch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the past, I have caught two fish at a time on one lure, with two sets of hooks. Yesterday I scored a first...two fish on one treble hook, both hooked in the mouth. (see pic). Yeah, they were both puny perch, but it was a double nevertheless.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Many of the perch we brought up barfed up 2" perch minnows. They were apparently really feeding up. Surprisingly, several also spit out pieces of white plastic, apparently stolen from previous anglers fishing for smallies but donating to pesky perchies. We speculated that maybe there had been a "hatch" of white plastic or something.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Before the "Lake X Zephyrs" kicked up in late morning, we were able to maintain a good vertical drop presentation. After that it became impossible to hold well and that just about ruined the perch jigging. In frustration, I fired a few more casts with the spinner and after missing a couple of hits I got munched by a good fish. Had it almost to the boat and looked down in the water to see a big brown open its mouth, shake a couple of times and give me back my spinner. Oh well. Fun, fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As we motored around, looking for a protected cove with some perch in it, I kept playing with the spinner. I got to reel in several pesky planters. Dog man finally accepted one of my spinners and we slowly trolled around the shoreline on the way back to the ramp. We both molested a number of the little tykes before trailering the boat, but didn't hit anything of size.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Although it was cool enough for some frost on the docks when we launched, it was "one layer" weather most of the day, in spite of the breezes. Had a good time and we both ended up with enough keeper perchskis to keep us busy for awhile at the fillet board later.[/#0000ff]
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[Theekillerbee]

Silly little perch...don't they know that when Pat is in da house, they should avoid little perch urchins. Nice report again TD.
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[kastmaster]

Thanks for the report! That area in the first picture looks like the place where I caught some decent perchies a few weeks ago. I was in my little canoe and I was able to fish right inside the brushes. Did my donation of jigs to the brush but it was worth it because of the size and heft of the perch that I was catching. Looks like a precursor to some good perch through the ice this year.
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[Flycasting]

Very nice. []
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[trollboy8]

I have to admit that your report is disheartening on many levels. Mostly because I was trying some of the same techniques in some of the same places with no luck. Second, because I posted a report on Jordanelle and didn't get a single response. I guess what I have learned is that I need to take the 'Dude out on dad's boat and have him give us a little clinic on how to get into the bass and the perch at Jordanelle. I know this sounds silly, but I am, quite frankly, tired of catching rainbows up there. It also seems that you were probably a little further up Rock Cliff then we went. We never went further than about 50 ft past the bouy line. Anyway, you have an open invitation TD.[]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Sorry if I rubbed salt into the wounds. Fishing any lake effectively is usually a matter of learning it well and then getting lucky and finding the fish on any given trip. The best way to learn the lake is to go with someone who can show you the best spots and techniques and then keep learning and practicing on your own.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I would be happy to join you guys for a show and tell session. Gotta issue the disclaimer that the trip could just as well be disappointing this time of year. Some days are better than others. At the very least, I could probably demo a few lures and techniques that usually work...when the fish are there and cooperative.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Based upon my past experience with Lake X, and what I experienced yesterday, I would bet that I could have launched my float tube at the ramp and could have been into perch within a hundred yards. Depth and food are the two key elements right now. That means that you have to find the perch fry, hiding in underwater growth, and then you will find the larger fish. You can't usually see the small fishies on the screen, but if you find larger fish hanging around structure then you will probably have found a feeding area. And, there will probably be both perch and smallmouth in the immediate area.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We started fishing in 30 feet of water yesterday, because that is where Dog-lover had success on a previous trip, a few days before. We also caught fish up to 37 feet deep. But...we also drifted in closer to the shoreline a couple of times and hooked some of our largest perch in only about 15 feet of water. That is also the depth we found some smallies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the keys to our success was having good sonar. Another was having a good trolling motor and a skipper that watched the sonar and stayed on the motor controls to maintain position when we found fish. If I had been in my float tube, I would have made it easier on myself by also having and using a couple of marker buoys. It is very helpful to have a close by point of visual reference and to be able to maintain exact position. The hands free position control of tubing is one of the things I enjoy about it and it often means that I can score more fish than boaters fighting breezes and electric motors while trying to concentrate on fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yesterday was not a "drop shot day". The fish were holding tight to the bottom and were not aggressive. We had to drop our jigs right on the bottom and then raise them no more than about six inches. Also, they did not respond to a lot of jigging action. They usually hit on a "dead stick" after we jiggled the lures just a wee bit. And, the hits were more like ice fishing hits...very light and tentative in many cases. Some of our largest fish felt like 2" minnows hitting the lures. But, hooksets are free so we used a short wrist snap on all touches. Sometimes the fish were small. Other times they put a good bend in the stick. Still other times we had only "a branch office".[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]Fishing for bass and perch in warm weather is "can't fail" stuff. That's why Lake X is so good for kids and newbies in the late summer. Anybody can catch 'em. However, during the transitional time, like right now, you really earn every fish you catch. And, even those who are supposed to know what they are doing do not always fill the cooler with perch fillets.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]PM me with your schedule of a proposed trip. I will cancel my golf match with Mr. Bush and my candlelight dinner with Condie and we will gang up on those sneaky fish.[/#0000ff]
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[Out4Trout]

[cool]That sounds like a heck of a lot of fun, Pat. Glad you guys got into 'em. I can't wait to icefishing for those little perchies! They are so much fun. Too bad the smallies don't bite that well under the ice...
I know that you've caught your fair share of big browns over the years, but it seems like I've read other reports from you where one of those big lake x browns decides to play with you until you get him close and then he flips you the bird right at the tube/boat. Kind of funny, those slimy rascals are!
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[doggonefishin]

"I know this sounds silly, but I am, quite frankly, tired of catching rainbows up there."

No need to get discouraged. Fall is the best time at lake X for trout, but not the other species. It is easy to forget that Jordanelle is a pretty good trout pond too. Come next spring, the bass will be back, and easier to catch than they are now. TD gave you some good advice on the perch, you should be able to get a few of those if you are determined to chase them now. Just keep it slow and near the bottom or in structure. Good Luck
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[KeepCasting]

Perch Sandwich anyone? We'll be heading there early next week. Hopefully the crazy weather doesn't ruin everything. Using Wildcard's birthday as an excuse we purchase the Nesco Tumble Drum Fish Scaler...can't wait to use it on them hard to scale Perch.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]That looks like a nifty contraption, but why would you want to scale perch when they are so quick and easy to fillet and skin?[/#0000ff]
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[tomegun]

To nail the bigger factory pets, throw rattle traps(lipless cranks) and jerkbaits. The bigger slimers have been coming up for about 3 weeks now both brownasaurus and bowcephuses.

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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Good to know. I had heard that some guys were trolling bass lures to hook the bigger trout. Last year there were a couple of brownaholics who scored some bigguns with big Rapalas trolled deeper on downriggers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We were just messin' around. I had a big box of my homegrowed spinners and every time I caught a fish on one, I took it off and tied on a new one. Only had one gold bladed spinner that did not get a fish.[/#0000ff]
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[trollboy8]

As I mentioned in my report, we definitly had lots of hits on Rapala DT 6's, Fat Raps, and size 11 Original floaters
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