Meet up with Catchinon in Kamas yesterday morning a bit after 7 where we left his vehicle and carpooled to the lake. Craig wanted to try and complete the slam and I wanted to see if another was possible. Arrived at the lake around 8 to 13 degree temps, 2 groups on the lake (2 pairs of fisherman), we grabbed the sleds and headed down to the hard deck. We set up a bit further north of the area where both of us had fished on Saturday in about 14’. Craig had his electric auger and he quickly had holes drilled and down we went. Didn’t take long and we had fish below us with the action starting on the white tungsten and ratfinkes tipped with crawlers or meal worms. Action was ok until about 10 when things picked up for us and a steady pick started, rainbow after rainbow, where’s the other species. Tried all through the water column as we had marks in all areas throughout the day trying for the tigers and Grayling. Fishing close to the bottom was the best for action but all rainbows. Around 1 we decided to go try a different area and moved toward the dam, Craig drilled holes and I checked depths with the fish finder, we found an edge where it went from 10’ to 14.5 and set up there with me on the shallow side, action was slow for me at 1st with few fish showing but Craig was doing well, after 30 mins I relocated to the outside of his holes and gave it a try. It got quite and neither of us were catching, we were just about to relocate again and the fished showed up and we stayed in that area until we left around 4:30. Had to had around 50 fish between the 2 of us for the day but all rainbows, a great day in my book and got to meet and fish with another great member from the board. Thanks Craig it was a fun trip, hope to do it again soon
Details
13 degrees when we started
Ice was 7” + everywhere we were
Water temp 37.5
14-15’ of water
Still slick, cleats recommend
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Yeah, Alan, it was a fun day. I caught most of mine on a Ratfinkee and a Ratso both sweetened with (mostly) wax worms. I also got some action on meal worms and a bit of PowerBait nugget. You had your success with crawler bits. You forgot to mention that you out-caught me about 4-1 in the last couple of hours. I think you may have gotten in a micro-spot where the fish came by more because I drilled all around your spot and none of the holes produced like your's. Plus, of course, you know how to play those slip-bobbers. I hooked and hand-lined several fish while messing with the line and bobbers so I know that I must have been either not jigging exactly right with my pole or the fish were biting so subtly that I couldn't detect it. My message to anyone who goes: drill holes across the lake until you find the deepest water, around 14-16' at the lower end of the lake. My theory is that they cruise the old stream bed, FWIW. We caught almost nothing deadsticking. The other advantage you had was a fish finder. Gotta get me one of those. Oh, a couple of fish toward the end did swallow my still bait while I was exploring other holes (almost all the others were stuck in the upper lip). I let them keep the Rats. I tied on a couple of tungsten jigs and had some success with them. At least I could feel them on the line and they went down quickly. The Rats are so light you can hardly feel them, and they take their sweet time drifting to the bottom.
Yes, it was pretty cold at first and the holes were icing over a bit, but it got fairly warm in the afternoon. I took my coat off for a while and the sun felt real good on my back. Nothing like those sub-zero days we'll see later in the winter.
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Hey you don't waste many days do you? Congrats on getting another day on the ice... Whose Smitty is that in the pictures? I like it, nice sled set up...Glad you two were able to get a great day in... Sorry the other species didn't want to play... Later Jeff
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[quote catchinon]You forgot to mention that you out-caught me about 4-1 in the last couple of hours. I think you may have gotten in a micro-spot where the fish came by more because I drilled all around your spot and none of the holes produced like your's. [/quote]
I think I pinpointed your problem, you didn't drill enough holes. When someone in your party is outfishing you 4 to 1 on the ice you keep drilling holes around them until they're on a separate ice floe and then just stomp on one side and voila, no more competition.
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Lol Jedidiah I was seriously thinking standing on the bank and watching the gear as the circle developed
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Jeff so much water so little time, being able to hit such a variety of new water is way to much fun, but yes I try and get out as much as I can. All the gear in the pictures is Craig’s, the sled set up was sweet. See you tonight.
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Ice_sled gave me that and a smaller one. It is sooweet. I can't believe I ever went without one. That and the drill powered auger. I'm set to get serious now and live to tell the tale.
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[quote SkunkedAgain]Hey you don't waste many days do you? Congrats on getting another day on the ice... Whose Smitty is that in the pictures? I like it, nice sled set up...Glad you two were able to get a great day in... Sorry the other species didn't want to play... Later Jeff[/quote][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Jeff, if Craig had called me as I suggested in a PM, I COULD have been there to show them where the other species hang out. We caught all 4 last Sunday. [
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I'm so embarrassed and
that I don't know if I can go to the banquet tonight. Maybe we can work out another time.
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[quote catchinon]I'm so embarrassed and
that I don't know if I can go to the banquet tonight. Maybe we can work out another time.[/quote][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Go; do the banquet thingy. Seek solace among the party goers. We're good - for now. [cool] [/size][/#800000][/font]
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