Fishing Forum

The alarm went off at 5:15 and an hour and a half later we woke up and were on the road by 7:15 (oops). We drove past Chicken Creek and stopped for a second to take a couple pics of the ice and tooners there.

[inline "Chicken Creek Ice 01 (Small).jpg"]

[inline "Chicken Creek Ice 02 (Small).jpg"]

[inline "Chicken Creek Ice 03 (Small).jpg"]

Then we hopped back in and continued on to Soldier Creek. As we turned off of the main road, my cute little morning-sick wife politely requested that I pull the car over NOW! (What a trooper! [])

Once business was settled drove a little farther down the road, parked, and walked down the hill to one of our favorite little summertime spots. People already there--drat! We set up a little further past them and were amazed at how much ice was not there!

[inline "Open Water at Soldier Creek (Small).jpg"]

Plus, there was hardly any wind...very nice! (The small waves are from boaters.)

[inline "More Open Water at Soldier Creek (Small).jpg"]

You can see the ice way back there past the ramp (full zoom).

[inline "Distant Ice at Soldier Creek (Small).jpg"]

We threw some woolly buggers, pistol petes, kastmasters, minnow-type plastics, and then some lemon twist powerbait. A couple bites, but no takers. My wife saw what looked like a pretty good sized cut follow her pistol pete up to shore, but apparently it was only curious, not hungry.

[inline "The Wife at Soldier Creek (Small).jpg"]

We didn't give it much of a chance there though, as we thought our luck might be better back where the ice was just pulling off, so we packed back up and drove back over to the Ladders. There were several guys out in tubes and toons there as well.

[inline "Unknown Tooner (Small).jpg"]

Most of the little action we saw at Soldier Creek had been with the powerbait, so we cast some out. About 5 minutes later, BAM! The fight was on! A couple times, it felt like the fish had run me into a bush or something, but luckily he hung on.

[inline "The Fight (Small).jpg"]

The struggle was pretty short, but he fought good and hard! A nice fat rainbow about 22 inches long and just over 3 pounds.

[inline "Fat Rainbow 01 (Small).jpg"]

[inline "Me and the Fish (Small).jpg"]

It was the first fish of the year that we actually had the camera ready for. We snapped a couple pics and let him back out.

Even though it was kinda slow, it was a good break from papers and cramming for finals! A couple more weeks and I can finally start to hit it for "reel"--bring on the open water (and my new ODC 420)! [cool]
[signature]

That just looks too tempting. I think I might just have to sneak on up there tomorrow!
[signature]

Beautiful pics! Scenery no wind and a nice 'bow. Sounds (and looks) like a great day! Thanks for the report, I can't wait to get up there.
[signature]

I WAS UP THERE AS WELL. GOT UP THERE AROUND 7AM AND FISHED RENEGADE TIL 130. CAUGHT THREE MISSED ONE ON A OLIVE WOOLYBUGGER IN THE MORNING THEN IT SLOWED. THEN I MISSED THREE WITH A WORM AND MALLOW(HOOK WAS TO SMALL, COULDN'T SET IT?). THE BAY NEXT TO RENEGADE IS COMPLETELY ICED OFF AND YOU CAN USE THE RAMP. MY BUDDY MISSED ONE ON A WHITE WOOLY AND GOT ONE ON THE WORM AND MALLOW. WE WERE OUT IN A CANOE. THE WIND DID STAY AWAY SAVE A FEW LITTLE BREEZES. ALL IN ALL A NICE DAY.

That is a beautiful rainbow! You should definitely post it on the trophy board. Thanks for posting!
[signature]

thanks for showing the pics of the open water and the ice. nice looking bow also. later chuck
[signature]

Great lookin' bow! Thanks for the report and the pics.
[signature]

My wife and I took our tubes up there tonight from 5 tlil 7:30 at chicken creek west and didn't have any action. It was still nice to get out there. What does everyone use for spring fishing? We kill them in the fall but I haven't figured out this spring thing.
[signature]

uh oh looks like i'm heading up ere tues.-weds who's down
[signature]

[cool][#0000ff]Great report, Bro. When are you going to get a tube out there?[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As others have said, that was a really pretty pic of the 'bow. Just for the record..."she" is a he. You can tell by the longer lower jaw. Females usually have smaller faces. The guys are the big mouths among trout.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

Thanks for the heads up there, TD. This has been my first lesson in fish gender! I went back and changed the post so I wouldn't hurt the bow's feelings. I know I'd hate to have my gender mixed up in print! []

In answer to your question, finals start for me this weekend and go through Wednesday after that (the 25th). Before that I've gotta write 3 big papers and cram like crazy, so unfortunately fishing will be out of the question till then. As soon as I'm done, though, I'm up and running! Is there any chance you might have time Thursday-Saturday sometime to help me get set up w/my sonar & stuff?

Got my new tube, waders, fins, sonar, and a bunch of small tackle boxes--just need to put 'em all together now! Only thing I still haven't picked up yet is my new baitcasting combo, but I've got it all picked out (just need to scrape together a little more dough)!

Thanks again for the generous offer...let me know when would work good for you and I'll plan accordingly!

(T-minus 10 days and counting...) [cool]
[signature]

[cool][#0000ff]PM me with your open schedule times and I will shoot you my address and directions.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Keep your priorities straight. NO...not fishing...for now. Get the education thing done and done right. Plenty of time in the future to enjoy the benefits.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

Sounds good, I'll let ya know. (And just to avoid confusion, by Thursday-Saturday I meant of next week, after it's all over with. As much as I'd like to at times, I can't seem to talk myself or my wife into the idea that fishing trumps school!) []
[signature]

It's great to hear that revenge is being plotted on fish from such a young age...the future is bright! [cool]
[signature]