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Well TD I couldn't even come close to your day at Big Sand Bay[  ]. Couldn't find the crappie at all. Still trying to figure out the new eagle 168, but it is still very nice[cool] Caught a 19" trout and a small walleye and had 5 good hits. Water temp was 47 deg. I guess I am just going to have to have some "catchin" lessons. Did you stay on the south bank or the north bank when you were there? I need some crappie in the freezer[crazy]
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Nice report Michael. Thanks for sharing it with us. I especially like the scenery around you.[cool]
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks for the report. Looks like there is more green in the water and more white on the hills than when we were there. The water temps have also dropped a bit. That's probably why you did not find the crappies. They scoot to deeper water when it cools down. They might go to 50 feet or more. Best time to catch them is in May or June, when they are inshore spawning...or in the early fall like we did, while they are actively feeding and still shallow.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We are planning a BFT two day campout overnighter up there in late May or early June next year. Several of the Utah tubers have expressed an interest and we would like to have you and any other Idaho folks there too. We will be watching the water situation and the early fishing reports to help us decide the best time for the trip.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Oh yeah, when we were there we stayed mostly along the south bank. I would like to spend more time there and explore up along the steep rocky banks to the north as well. That is a big part of the fun of fishing new areas...finding the often short stretches of shoreline that hold big fish populations. You never know what it is that attracts the fish, but if you find them it can be great fishing. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That is how it is with the crappies. They can be stacked up on one spot for one day or several days in a row...and then move out to new spots. Sometimes you have to look for them on every new trip. That's why it is important to have a good sonar and know how to use it well.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks TD
How do you determine your settings on your Eagle?
Also were you bouncing the bottom all the time or reeling in at different levels?
Do you cast out and let it sink all the way down then bring the jig in or count down some before retrieving? These questions are for all fish in general not just crappie. Actually you are the only one I know who caught the willy crappie out there at salmon. I had only heard talk before.
I am excited to fish with all you guys and gals when you come up.
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[cool][#0000ff]There is a "demo" mode on the 168. Turn it on and keep advancing the menu until you come to it. That will show you some of the options.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the good things about the 168 is that it is simple. Once you get the basic settings, you just turn it on and off...unless you like to mess with things.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Most of the default settings will work fine. But, when you first turn it on, there is the option to keep the back light on. If you want it on...because of low light or cold conditions (helps keep the unit warmer), push the up arrow to keep the light on. Then you push the menu button to clear the screen.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One setting you will want to set to your own liking is the display screen. You can choose to have the fish icons on or off. I prefer to have them on, rather than the inverted V display. You get more false readings with the fish icons, but you also get more real fish echos. If you are not moving fast, you will not get good Vs, so that type of display is no good. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After that, you can play around with the power settings, etc. Again, the default settings are usually okay.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We were fishing with several different techniques when we were there. Early, I was throwing a spinner a few feet off the bank and reeling it parallel to the shore. That got both smallmouths and trout. Casting the spinner out into open water, letting it settle and then a slow retrieve back in worked for trout too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As it got lighter, I switched to some of my gold colored roadrunners, with orange eyes. With a piece of worm on them they caught all species...from 5' deep to bottom bouncing in 12 to 14 feet. Most of the walleyes and larger perch came off the bottom, by bouncing jigs tipped with perch meat. A couple of the walleyes and several crappies came on a dropper jig a couple of feet up off the bottom. Crappies usually suspend at least a couple of feet off the bottom. Sometimes the best way to fish them is to drop to the bottom and then reel back up a few turns.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The only place I found any crappies was right at the end of the south bank, just at the end of the point. They were really schooled up in there. If I had wanted to fish for them I could have filled my basket. But, I was after walleyes, so I moved back into an area where I had been doing well on those.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Next spring, look for areas where sandy and rocky shoreline merge...or where there is flooded brush or stickups. That is where the crappies will gather to spawn, and will hang around if there is food in the area. After the perch spawn in March or April, the crappies will move in to shallower water to feed on the baby perch too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We will stay in touch and definitely will let you know when we have some firm plans.[/#0000ff]
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What weight of roadrunner were you using? It seemed I could only get down to the bottom with a large jig head, and you never had any worms on? When TB used the bobber method did she use a slip bobber and a hook or jig and worm? I tried the slip bobber with a small jig. Do you make your spinners too?
Where do you like your sensitivity set and if you change it what determines that? Do you like using the zoom?
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[cool][#0000ff]I consider myself to be a light tackle specialist. I seldom use lures as light as 1/32 oz. except in very shallow or clear water. I probably use 1/16 oz. more than others...for fishing up to 10 or 12 feet deep. For getting down more quickly, when vertical jigging or fishing deeper water, I use 1/8 oz jigs a lot. Only in deep water (over 20 feet) or when I need a larger lure profile, will I use the heavier 1/4 oz. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I seem to recall that most of my fishing that day was with 1/8 oz. roadrunners and jigging spoons. They are heavy enough to get down quickly, and to maintain good feel, but not too heavy for "finesse" fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe was fishing with a round red and white bobber. She hung about 5 feet of line below it and attached a small split shot a foot or so above the bait hook...with a worm. I fish small "bobber jigs"...plain jig heads on Matzuo hooks. They are only about 1/32 oz. but add both weight and color.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I use several different kinds of bobbers, depending upon my mood and what I thought to include in my tackle assortment. I like the Adjustabubble floats with the twist rubber core, as in the picture, but I use plain old red and white bobbers, slip floats or anything else I need to get 'er done.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]See attached pics.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I do not use the zoom. I usually keep the sensitivity at about 75% and rarely mess with it. Too high and you get a lot of "clutter" on the screen. Too low and you do not pick up small fish targets on the edge of the cone. That is something you can experiment with, when you know you are over fish and want to see the variable readouts at different settings.[/#0000ff]
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Wow nice pictures....snow....not over here yet! I tried to go tubin last Sat and Sunday but never got a change to do that. The air temp around here was a record warm at 90's. Almost was gonna put the tube away for the season. Son went out yesturday (Monday) and said water's warm just like it was in August. Nights around here is starting to be coolish...... Haven't made up the mind to do tubing or bowhunting....
Last pic, that water looks pea soup or is it the photo?
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Yes Salmon does get a very high alge bloom through most of the summer.
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Well I got down there this Sat. afternoon, and I caught two of those crappie and a couple of nice trout. It started out breezy but finished beautifully. Heard a loon calling and the canadian geese were coming in as the sun went down. I was light on pictures this time, but did get some of the fish.
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... those are some good looking fish.. looks and sounds like it was a good day...
MacFly
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Now to figure out how to be succesfull with the fly rod.
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That is easy. Leave it hanging in the rack and use a spinning ro casting rod. Hehe O have not used one form my tube but I bet if your casts were a little on the week side You could always lay out enough line and troll it, using Woolly buggers and such. I an sure FG or Dryrods will be buy to offer some good advice.
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[cool][#0000ff]Nice going. Glad you got some crappies. Now you KNOW they are there. At least a couple WERE.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks TD, You have been a great help.[cool] Interesting though I haven't caught a bass or a perch there yet. I have only the 1 walleye and 4 of the pike minow. However I did have a blue back trout(kokanee) on but lost it as I went to net it.
I love the hunt in fishing and the trying of many lures and things. I am hoping to be productive with the fly rod on the crappie next time. Figured I'd use some snonkers and othe streamer types.
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[cool][#0000ff]Spring will be the best time to try the flies. When all the fish are coming in shallow, as the water warms and spawning gets underway, the crappies are much easier to find and to catch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have caught bajillions of crappies on flies. I have always done better on smaller patterns than with big flies, like zonkers. Wherever crappies are found they like stuff about 1" to 1.5" long...and even smaller. Some of my best crappie action on a fly rod has been with small dark trout wet fly patterns. But, they also like brighter colors. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I tie a whole series of flies I call "over and unders"...with bright and/or contrasting stripes on top and bottom. I also have a line of marabou flies that I use not only for warmwater species but trout love them too. Probably one of the best all around patterns for crappies, trout and many other species is the "silver hilton". This is a favorite steelhead pattern in the northwest but is a good general blackish fly for almost any water and any species.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When the crappies are schooling in the spring, I often fish a tandem fly rig. I may use a chartreuse as one fly and either a white or black fly as the second. I keep changing around until I find a pattern. When they are thick and active it is not unusual to score doubles. At that time I usually fish them on a sink tip line, since you need to sink it a bit, but not plummet to the bottom.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Perch are usually close to the bottom, in slightly deeper water, but they also come much shallower in the summer, and may be caught on flies too. However, they will go after larger streamer patterns...along with the little smallmouths that you usually find in the same areas.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I will plan to bring a flyrod when we come up next year and see if we can put a hurtin' on those fishies with a multi tackle approach.[/#0000ff]
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I really likes those flies.. they look like they would be easy to tie even for a novice like me.. your variations on colors and patterns looks great.. I especially like that silver hilton.... I got a few others to tie that I have the material for but in the future Id be interested to say the least to get the recipes for those flies from you if you dont mind sharing them...
MacFly [cool]
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[cool][#0000ff]Glad you like the goodies. Here are some pics of other flies I tie. I long ago gave up on messing with "pocket lint" foo foo flies. Got tired of losing fish to small stuff. I prefer to serve up something substantial, to catch something substantial and to have a large enough hook to hold them rather than just hooking the slime in their mouths.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The standard "recipe" for a silver hilton is to use mallard flank feather for the tail, black chenille ribbed with fine silver for the body, grizzly hackle tippets for the wings and front hackle and black thread for the head. Pretty simple tie. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have several different variations I tie. I have some small barred grizzly marabou feathers I sometimes use for the tail. I also sometimes use a wisp of red...either wing feather or Krystal Flash. I also sometimes tie them on red hooks. For the body I use black tinsel chenille...with silver tinsel built in. I do use the grizzly hackle tippets for the wings, but I make them a bit longer and more of a streamer configuration than the originals. I use 3X long hooks on most of mine, rather than the standard wet fly hooks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I once caught a 19 pound steelhead on a size 6 silver hilton. I have been hooked since. I have taken them all over the country and I have caught just about every species you can imagine on them...including some salt water fish. I tie them on everything from size 12 to size 1/0 hooks...from standard wet fly to 4X streamer. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you tie in enough hackle, and dress them with floatant, you can fish them as big black terrestrials. However, I almost always fish them sunken...to represent aquatic invertebrates of some kind. I don't think there is anything they match closely, but they create a good silhouette and swim well.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For the over and unders, I first tie in my choice of tail material...fur, feathers or synthetics...or a combination. I then tie in the ends of the material I will be using for the top and bottom striping. Sparkle braid works well and comes in a lot of different effective colors. I like red or blue for the top stripe and white or silver for the bottom. Of course, depending upon the body color and the color of the tail and hackle, you can use chartreuses, gold, black, hot red, hot orange, etc. The big attraction is the lateral stripe and the contrasting colors. Helps a lot in stained water or low light conditions.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I use plain old chenille or tinsel chenille for most of the bodies, but may use metallic "craft cord" from the hobby shop. I use a lot of that. There are some really good colors available.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You will note in the attached pictures one of my own inventions...the "boss-a-bou". It is a hybrid between the "boss" fly tie, effective on salmon in bright colors...and the wooly bugger. You tie it the same as a bugger only instead of palmer tieing the body hackle you wrap it big and bushy at the front. That helps it "push water" and create more vibration. If you have good live hackle, it also swims nicely and pulses when you strip it with the right rhythm. Our big troutskis in Utah absolutely go nutso for a big white bossabou tied with some rainbow sparkle braid either as a back stripe or wrapped as a ribbing. It really looks like a small rainbow trout or some other white edible morsel.[/#0000ff]
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TD,
Thank you for the lesson [  ].. I had noticed that in the original post you had what looked to this novice eye a variation of the bugger that I can easily identify..lol..... but have to say I really like that bugabou pattern.. all of them look easy enough to tie.. for me is just getting the time and materials.. lol. .and then close my eyes and take a shot...
... I know you have been putting together a book.. or are putting the finishing touches on it.. do you include you fly ties in it.. or do you have a pdf file on your patterns and techniques??? ..
.. thank you again for the lesson and examples.. great looking flies...
MacFly [cool]
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