Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]I helped LloydE get his new Fat Cat tricked out last week and he has been sleeping with it every night since. Thought we better get it broken in so we headed for Starvation early this morning. Should stood in bed awhile.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched about 7. Water level has dropped about 6-7 vertical feet since two weeks ago. Air temp was 50 and water temp 63 at launch...66 later when we got out at 1 PM. A leftover full moon hung in the sky to the west.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Only a light breeze on the water and no fish on sonar. We hit it hard...in and out, shallow and deep. Nada, nip, zilch, zero. At 10 AM I had caught two small perch and Lloyd about the same. Then a small school of walleyes went through about 30 feet deep. Lloyd got two nice 20 inchers and I scored a fat 16 incher. That was it for the day on wallies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We could have gone home then, but Lloyd was glad we didn't. Right at noon he gave the whole lake yodeling lessons as he got beat up by a purty 22 inch Starvation brown. He was glad that he had heeded my advice to carry a bigger net on his new tube.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I caught a few more perch, as did Lloyd. My "third species"...for the HAT TRICK...was a chub. And, what a chub it was. About 13 inches of ugly and tumors (see pic). Wasn't sure I wanted to handle it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A couple of motor homes and trailers full of "revelers" showed up with their PWCs about the time the walleye started biting. The walleye stopped biting as soon as the power squadron hit the water. But, it was all our fault for fishing in their lake and getting in their way.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As the afternoon easterly breezes started up, we went in and filleted the fish. Then we spent an hour digging out of the 30 weight mud left behind as the lake drops. Looked solid earlier and was fairly level. But, we got some exercise working our way back to solid ground.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lloyd got his new Fat Cat "blooded" in fine fashion. We didn't catch as many fish as on our last couple of trips, but his three 3-pounders definitely made his day. [/#0000ff]
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40430"][#63626b]MORNING MOON.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (170 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40431"][#63626b]ROD RACK SUNRISE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (205 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40432"][#63626b]LOW TIDE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (234 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40433"][#63626b]LLOYDS NEW RIDE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (206 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40434"][#63626b]BROWN BAGGER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (269 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40435"][#63626b]ONLY WALLIE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (227 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40436"][#63626b]TUBED PERCH.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (214 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40437"][#63626b]FLOATER RIG PERCH.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (236 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40438"][#63626b]CHERNOBYL CHUB.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (224 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40439"][#63626b]STARVATION SUCCESS.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (289 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40440"][#63626b]LLOYD ASHORE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (337 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=40441"][#63626b]THREE 3-POUNDERS.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (271 KB)
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Nice tube. looks like a good day on the water. Lots of fun.
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[#0000ff]LloydE knows a good dinner coming up with that big wide ![cool][][/#0000ff]
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TD,

as usual great recap and pictures to bring it to life.. but as usual I have a question.. what causes those tumors on that chub you caught??

MacFly [cool]
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those chubs are OLD...some over 20 years. Since the explosion of walleyes, smallmouth and perch in that lake, the chub population is at a standstill. The big ones still spawn every spring, but the fry are slurped up before they can mature and spawn themselves. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In short, old fish are more subject to diseases and deformities...just like people. I have caught lots of them with sores and lesions on them, but that was the first one with such a pronounced tumor.[/#0000ff]
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thanks for the info.. I guess it sucks getting old for fish as well.. :-).. but have to say those were some ugly tumors and was hoping it was not something in the water or the water conditions that causes it..

MacFly [cool]
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Every trip to Starvation this year (five or six I believe) has been different: the water conditions, the weather, the fish behavior, the fishing strategies we have used, etc. I guess that observation is no surprise to anyone. However, it is a reminder to all of us that there isn't any one lure or fishing strategy that will work all of the time on a particular body of water. I think that is one of the fishing challenges that makes fishing an enjoyable pastime for me.

I have a Crestliner boat that I purchased when it was new. I have enjoyed the boat, and I suspect that I will continue to enjoy it. However, I have found that I enjoy fishing from a float tube more. For me the challenges are greater and the catching rate is greater. I started fishing from the doughnut tubes and didn't like it much. When I purchased a U-shaped tube (Kennebec) I began to enjoy fishing from a float tube. When I learned to add rod holders and a sonar to the tube, from TubeDude, I enjoyed the experience much more. After awhile I purchased a Fish Cat 4 tube. For me, the enjoyment increased again. However, I began to notice that TubeBabe and TubeDude moved around the water better than I did. They were also in the water faster than I was, and they had all kinds of freedom on their tubes that I didn't have in mine. I finally figured out that there were at least three things they had that I didn't have. They had better fins to propel their tubes, they were higher on the water, and they had more conveniences on their tubes than I had. I had already spent more money on float tubes than I wanted to spend, but I finally decided to goup one more step. I purchased a Fat Cat (I would have purchased a Super Fat Cat, but for my weight I determined that a Fat Cat would be just as good.), and I purchased some Mares Avanti fins. Then I took advantage of TubeDude's offer to help me with the rod holders, sonar setup, apron setup, etc. Yesterday I had the opportunity to try it all out. I couldn't have been more pleased-- everything worked out great. I had more room, I was higher on the water, I had all of the conveniences I needed so I could concentrate on fishing, and I could manuever better in the wind.

I could have saved myself a lot of money if I had known earlier what I now know about my personal float tube needs. I now have two float tubes I will need to sell. However, I am happy with the end result.
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WTG Fellas
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