Terrible Trio on Huntington 6-4-06

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]After 4 years of cyber friendship, I finally got to meet BFTer Lloyd Eldredge yesterday. We finally ran out of excuses for not fishing together and joined up with kentofnsl for a combo tubing and boating excursion on Huntington. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lloyd and Kent launched the PortaBote and I fished from my tube (of course). Kent was not too pleased with Lloyds reference to his "pride and joy" as a "Porta Potty". And so the day began.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Air temp was about 50 and the water temp at launch was 54...later warming to about 57. The water has come up a lot but is still about 10 feet from high water...and the snow pack is just about gone. No visible runoff coming in. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The "summer pattern" seems to be setting in on Huntington. Lots of small fish rising, to take the carpet of tiny insects on the early morning water. Didn't see any large fish hit the surface all day. And, a high percentage of the fish we saw on sonar were suspended at middepth, throughout the lake. Usually an indicator of neutral and non-feeding fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That turned out to be the case for all of us. Trolling or retrieving spinners or other lures did not produce. Kent and Lloyd found a short-lived "boil" next to shore right after we got on the water, and got a few small fish on lures before it ended. But the rest of the day was tough fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I went through a variety of small jigs and spinners, getting only a few light bites for the first hour. I finally kicked my way into one of my favorite areas and found some fish on the bottom in about 20 - 24 feet of water. I began vertical jigging with several colors of small jigs, tipped with either crawler or small redside shiners. Lots of light hits and did score a few 10" -13" tiger trout. They are sure not as pretty in the summer as they are later in the fall.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The morning started out glassy calm, but by 9 a steady west breeze was blowing (standard on Huntington) and I had to keep kicking to maintain position. After switching to a favorite chartreuse roadrunner jig, tipped with half a minnow, I began getting more hits...and hooked several larger tigers. At least three of them were over 16", and all went through the same routine. Chomp, fight hard all the way to the surface, run a few yards away from me, jump and spit the jig. I don't think any other trout fights harder for their size than Huntington tigers. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A little later, Lloyd was awakened from an afternoon snooze in the boat by an 18" tiger that slammed one of those little chartreuse jigs and beat him up pretty good before agreeing to be netted and put on the stringer. That fish got top honors for the day. Good on ya, Lloyd.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We all caught a few of the smaller fish, and they were fun, but the bite was not nearly what it is during cold water times. Part of the reason is that the insect hatches sustain the fish through the summer and they are not quite so desperate for food. A couple I kept for the pan yesterday were so stuffed with tiny black bugs that it is a wonder they even bothered to smack my jigs. Probably an instictive reaction to the color and flash of the little roadrunners. I know I missed a lot more than I stuck...and I sure saw a lot more on the sonar than I got hits.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We adjourned from Huntington about mid afternoon, in favor of taking a brief shot at Electric Lake...for cutts and minnows. Just as we got there, the building clouds let loose with a blast of wind and a spatter of rain. The west end of E Lake chopped up and the shoreline turned muddy. No minnows to be seen and only got two among three traps in over an hour. Also, no bites for Kent or Lloyd, who fished while I worked the banks with the minnow traps.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Great day on the water with two good friends. [/#0000ff]
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[Kent]

Yep Pat, it was a fun day on Huntington. It was fast fishing for a short time casting into that boil. Reminded me of the wiper boils on willard. You sure schooled us on how to catch mostly-disinterested fish.
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[LloydE]

Pat,

The fishing was a little tough, but the opportunity to fish with the "master" was great!! I had a terrific day with good friends in a beautiful area of the country. I learn something from Kent everytiime I go fishing with him as well, although he probably doesn't realize it. He has great fishing instincts.

By the way, I'm a true believer in that chartreuse roadrunner you created. You know that I have the roadrunner mold, but I would appreciate a copy of any written documents you might have, providing some details on how you created the body and how you were able to come up with that glittering chartreuse color. Once I started using that "critter" things began to get more interesting for me.

PS It was also impressive to see how you have improved your talents in "tricking out" a float tube over the last few years.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks Lloyd. I will email the step by step pics on how I create the "PBJs" (Painted Body Jigs). I originally developed those for ice fishing, so that I could add glow to the bodies, as well as the heads. But, they have proven to be good in several styles on many waters and many species, throughout the year. I am attaching a pic of some of the other styles and colors.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The "special" chartreuse color on my jigs is a custom mix of both chartreuse yellow and chartreuse green. It is about 2 parts yellow and 1 part green. It seems to be much deadlier than either of the other colors used "out of the jar".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The glitter is some of that "shimmer dust" I get from the candle making supply place [url "http://www.rusticescentuals.com/glitter.html"]LINK TO SOURCE[/url] where I get a lot of my fancy effects glitters. See attached pic.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You have a copy of the jig. The tail is of chartreuse CCT fibre [url "http://www.barlowstackle.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=6&User_ID=4101926&st=2132&st2=65745409&st3=68988572&Product_ID=2370&CATID=61"]LINK TO BARLOWS[/url] and a few wisps of chartreuse Krystal Flash. You had also asked about those "sickle hooks" from Matzuo. I use those a lot these days. [url "http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/horizontal-pod.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20166-cat20291&rid=&indexId=cat20291&navAction=push&masterpathid=&navCount=1&parentType=index&parentId=cat20291&id=0017776"]HERE IS A LINK[/url][/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I don't have any "writeups" on making the PBJs but I will be happy to fill in any gaps by email if you need further assistance.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once again, it was great to finally meet someone with whom the bonds of good friendship had long ago been firmly established. Ain't modern science wunnerful?[/#0000ff]
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[mactuna]

Nice report Pat. looks like alot of fun. Those Tigers are lighter in the spring and summer ?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Definitely purtier in the fall and winter months. While tigers are a true sterile hybrid...with neither males or females...some exhibit more male tendencies and tend to darken up...like their brookie and brown parents. The colors can be outstanding.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]See the two attached pics from early last November.[/#0000ff]
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[southut46]

Here are a few pictures of some tiger trout we caught a couple weeks ago on the Boulder that are much more colorful. Is this due to location or what?

[Majja]

Wow those are all some very pretty fish.
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[Flycasting]

Those are some great pics! You should post them up in the trophy room!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Definitely some pretty fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is always amazing how many differences there can be in the exact same species of fish...during different times of the year and especially from different waters. There are many factors that can influence colors:[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temperature and clarity, depth at which the fish "hang out", season of the year (spawning or false spawning), the fishes' diet, water chemistry, etc.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Most folks who fish Huntington have come to expect more drab colors in the warmer months and prettier coloration beginning when the temps drop in the fall. [/#0000ff]
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[trout_slayer]

Where abouts is that??? High Uinta's??? Nice Tigers, I have yet to catch one and am still trying to figure where I am going to fish this weekend.
TS
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[trout_slayer]

That boat looks really familiar. Were you fishing Strawberry over Memorial day weekend???
TS
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[southut46]

That was on the Boulder Mtn. about three weeks ago.
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[trout_slayer]

Sorry I should have clarified. I am not familiar with the Boulder Mtn. are. Where about in Utah is that? Directions? Is there a lot of high mountain lakes up there like the Uinta's??? Thanks again.
TS
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[southut46]

Sorry, the Boulder Mtn. is in southern Utah just west of Capital Reef and north of Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument. The area loosely referred to as the Boulder Mtn. is made up of the Aquarius Plateau, the Escalante Mtns, the Griffing Top, etc... You can access the area either through Loa or Teasdale in Wayne county if you are coming from the north, or there are several roads that take you up from Hwy 12 out of Escalante and Boulder. Depending on your definiition of a lake there are hundreds of little pools of water some no more than ten feet deep or less. It has long been known as a trophy brook trout fishery but they have started planting other species such as tiger trout, splake, greyling, and cutthroats for a variety of reasons on of the major reasons being that in some lakes the brookies were so succesful spawning that the population stunted and many lakes had large numbers of stunted fish. Any internet inquiry will garner you numerous outfitters that provide guided fishing trips or contact the Escalante or Teasdale Ranger disctrict of the Dixie National Forest for maps and specifics about the area. Hopefully this is helpful.
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[Kent]

No, I wasn't fishing Strawberry (or anywhere else) over Memorial Day weekend. BTW -- I use my larger boat on large lakes, and use the Porta-Bote on smaller bodies of water like Huntington.
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[trout_slayer]

Thanks for the info South. Maybe one of these weekends I will make a run down there. From the pictures you posted it looks like a very scenic place to fish!!! You have anymore pictures from up around that area?
TS
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[trout_slayer]

Had to have been someone else then with the same kind of boat. Just caught my eye by the design. Kind of weird yet cool in the same sense!!!
TS
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