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Full Version: Double Dip Day (Mantua and Willard 11-5-5)
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[cool][#ff0000]Hey guys, I posted this on my Utah home board, but since it is tubing, I thought I better include it here too. Gotta keep up with Zonker, now that he has gotten picture happy.[/#ff0000]
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[font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][#0000ff]TubeBabe's outta town, tired of trash talk and feeling masochistic. Drove through a blizzard a good part of the way past Ogden. Saw a couple of folks making friends with tow truck drivers. Nasty stuff.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched on Mantua about 7 AM. Air temp 30, water temp 46. Lots of coots and a few other ducks...some grebes (as usual). A few shotgun blasts around the lake. No visible surface activity. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water started out calm but had several cool breezy periods. Weeds mostly gone, but enough on the bottom that you can't work a jig very well. No visible surface activity, besides birds.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Sonared a wide area, from shallow to over 20 feet deep. No concentrations of fish anywhere. Isolated onesies and twosies up off the bottom. Occasional groups of small fish at mid depth in deep water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After an hour with no bites in deeper water, moved in shallower. Found some bitty bass in water 8-10 feet. Could not get bit on plastics...large or small. Went to small black bait bug with a piece of crawler, trying for perch or bluegills. Got a few of the bassettes. Actually got one 17" (see pic for proof).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One boat launched after I did and headed for the high hump on the east side. Either they were trolling or could not find fish because the moved a lot.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A sneaky little snow squall came up the canyon from Brigham city and started pelting me with snow pellets about 9:30. Too much fun for me. I got out, left my waders on, stuffed my tube and rods in the vehicle and headed down the canyon towards Willard.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There were two boat trailers in the North Marina lot at 10:30. One of those came in and left shortly after I launched at 10:45. I slipped on the algae at the launch ramp and twisted my knee...but did not take a swim.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temp was 51.3 degrees at launch, and 51.9 when I got out at 1 PM. I worked over the inside of the marina pretty good, with a range of jigs and lures that had produced in the past. Couldn't find any fish on sonar and there was nothing holding under the docks. I was hoping for a crappie or two, but would have settled for walleye or wiper...or even a chilled catfish. NADA...ZIP...ZIP.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Kicked and casted and dragged stuff out into the open lake. Still fairly calm on Willard. I suspected that might change. Finally, right at 12 noon, I made a cast with a little crappie jig over a hump out from the picnic area. I had a tap, but no hookup. Somewhat more optimistic, I sailed the little blue and clear sparkle tube back into the same place and let it settle. About two hops on the way back to the tube I went bendo. Line zinged off my light crappie reel and my face got a hurtin' from that Big Grin.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Turned out to be a nice 19" wiper. Yahoo. He did not have any willing schoolmates however, so after another hour of progressively less optimistic casting, I started back in. Nasty clouds full of snow were heading across Salt Lake toward Willard. The wind started picking up and I figured that was my cue to bag it. I was wored out and my knee was complaining about the pirhouette I took at the launch ramp.[/#0000ff]
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Great report, TD!

I love these kinds of stories. I was stuck at home this weekend on the day I usually fish. We had a series of storms packing high winds and mucho rain coming in from the Pacific. Even some thunder boomers at one point. I hunkered at the house but all day I was twitchin' to be fitchin'. You're photo essay was just what the doctor ordered. Other than the twisted knee, I was right there with you. Brrr. Very cold starter. Nice wiper. And hey, upon closer inspection of that LMB, I've caught a number of those 17 inchers, too.

zonker
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[cool][#0000ff]Thankee fer the kindly comments sire. Hope the weather lets you out a time or two. From my experience in that part of the country the weather forecast for the next few months is "lots of rain, with lots of showers and the possibility of ice and snow."[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I used to have a good fishing buddy in Salem and his favorite saying was that you look out the window in the morning, and if it ain't rainin' it soon will be.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here are a few pics of some of the steelies I have caught (and kept) over the years. Of course I have released a great number of them too. I practiced C&R before C&R was cool. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I don't have a picture of my all time best. It was a 19 1/2 pound chromer not too far up the Smith River in northern California. We had been fishing for three days without a hit, while the river got back in shape after major storms. As the other two guys were warming up the car to go, I hooked up on a size 6 silver hilton and the fish immediately jumped higher than my head. It was getting dark, but the guys came down with a flashlight and a net. We scooped her into the bag about a half mile down the river. Of course none of has brought cameras and we let her go after a quick weigh-in.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I hope I gave ya some steelie fever. Ha![/#0000ff]
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Yeah, your pics haven't helped lessen my addiction one bit. Makes me want to brave the storms and go out locally tomorrow and see if I can find an old summer run that might still be hangin' around before work. But the river is way up. Thanks for sharing the pics.

I don't release all my steelhead. I feel free to keep the hatchery, finclipped ones, though I don't always do so. With the kids all gone, it's just Mrs. zonker and me. We're still eating off of a freezer shelf packed full of kokanee fillets from one of my "other" fishing passions. We had a banner year here for these little salmon. Limits in the local lake are 25 per day. If you do well that makes for a lot of fish. Some of the best tasting fish flesh I know of.

I appreciate your hard work on this forum and your labor of love. I've never seen anyone so consistently devoted to the float tube before. It's a great inspiration.

If you lived in Oregon or I in Utah, I bet we'd be fishin' buddies.

z~
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[cool][#0000ff]Those kokes are indeed some fine eating. A lot of fun to catch too. I have played with them several places around the west...from Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho to Folsom Lake in Californis, with a whole lot of other places in betwixt. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We have some good kokanee waters in Utah. Probably the best is Flaming Gorge. This past year was pretty good, with lots of fish over 5#. How big are they running in your area these days? I think it was Green Peter where I fished them up there, but the fish were about 16" at best.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I never started out to be a tubeaholic. I fish all different ways...boatin' and bankin' included. I just always seemed to prefer the solitary (and usually more effective) tube fishing. Over the years I have learned enough about it that I can "download" a little to help others. Fun...fun...fun.[/#0000ff]
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Green Peter is my "home" lake for Kokanee. Fish this year ran to about 18 inches - which is exceptional for GP. They typically run 12-14 inches in a good year. Since the lake isn't particularly rich in plankton and the ODFW's planting is augmented by some natural spawning in several tributaries, the fish population is usually fairly high. It makes for smaller fish but more of them. Thus the generous limits. When things come together just right and fish are a bit larger than normal, a guy's freezer can fill up to capacity fairly quickly - a very pleasant predicament to be in. I've only been seriously fishing Kokes for about 4 years and my experience is primarily on GP, East Lake, and Paulina. My 14 foot aluminum boat is all set up with electric and manual downriggers, rod holders, sonar, trolling motor, and all the other stuff that helps catch the little beggars. (The extent of a man's toys!)

This year was a good jigging year. Fish were concentrated in the area of the dam at GP. There is a large boom stretched out across the face of the dam to keep out driftwood and terrorists. Tying up to this boom and fishing vertically at about 60 feet proved to be a better method than trolling because there wasn't so much time spent out of the fish zone. I was tempted to use my float tube in that situation but always ended up launching the boat instead due to the sometimes high winds.

BTW, I used your jig making instructions and a Do-it mold to make some of those slab jigs you described. I also added some diamond jigs to the mix. Both proved to be deadly on the Kokes with a little corn on the hooks to sweeten the deal - especially ones coated with the new longer lasting glow in the dark paint flashed with a camera strobe.

Since you have me in a picture mode, here are some shots from earlier this year:

The boat:

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The targets:

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The bounty:

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Maybe enough for now.

z~
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[cool][#0000ff]Nice. I used to jig for kokes on Folsom Lake, from a little cartopper. I would be "harvesting" while the guys dragging lead core would be zippo. Some of them deliberately dragged their rigs right under my boat while I drifted. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also used corn, maggots and even single red Balls O Fire eggs on my jig hooks. I make a lot of jiggie thingies that work for those sweet eatin' little critters. Heavy on the hot pink glitter, but both hot red and chartreuse work too.[/#0000ff]
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OK. You got me going now.[cool]

I've had good success on Buzz Bombs, Nordics, Gibbs Minnows, my own homemade slabbers and diamonds. Now the question...

Do those guys on the top row of your pic catch Kokes? I'd think they would.

I usually need to jig that sinks well to 40-65 feet. Maybe they wouldn't go deep enough. Any thoughts?

z~
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[cool][#0000ff]Those "Roadrunners" are indeed some great jigging tools. You can either lift and drop them, to make the spinner work, or you can just shivver and stop them. The blade flashes and vibrates to call in the fishies, and the bait and color seal the deal. The strikes on those jigs are harder than with less active jigs. They work to provoke "reaction bites", when the fish are neutral or negative...but when they are active and aggressive...LOOK OUT.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I pour all of my own stuff and I modify my jig molds so that I can make any size head on any size hook. A 1/8 oz head will sink slowly to the depths you fish, but is more of a finesse approach. However, I can make a 1/4 oz. head on a size 6 hook if someone wants it. Let me know what size head and hook you want to try and I will make you some to introduce to your Oregon kokes. My recommendation would be to go with some 1/8 and 1/4 oz. on size 4 and 2 hooks. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I can also pour them using the new red Matzuo fine wire jig hooks. I have found that the Utah fishies love them, but don't have any pics other than this one.[/#0000ff]
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Tubedude,

I'd love to try a few samples of your jigs. I think the 1/4 oz. would be the best since I usually go at least 3/8 oz. with slab type jigs to get down quickly in deep water. A size 2 or 4 hook would probably work.

The Koke season is off right now so it might be a little while before I get to try them out. I usually start fishing for them in late April or early May. I'll send you a PM with my address.

Thanks much.

zonker

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