Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]Was supposed to get a newbie tuber checked out in his new tube this morning. Planned to head to Lincoln Beach. He couldn't make it so I did a "Plan B" at the Knolls.

Glassy calm at 7 AM launch. Air temp 43 and water temp already 60. Green water. Looking good...except for the early skeeters.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Kicked out about 20 feet from shore and made my first cast, with a tandem tube jig rig. Bang. First whitie of the day. Then got several more in quick succession. Then it got to be pretty fast and furious. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those little whities were plentiful and playful. Too bad they weren't just a bit bigger. Most were about 9 or 10 inches, with a few 11s. The spawn must be on. My "sushi board" apron got well creamed.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After about the first hundred, I kicked out into deeper water and tried dragging a minnow. Lots of snags in that area and I had to keep kicking back to undo them when my rig pulled tight under a rock. One rock moved...a lot. Turned out to be my first and smallest kitty...about 24 inches.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Several groups of "locals" showed up and began wading and casting for the whities. Looks like the "network" is working. They were all catching (and keeping) a grundle of white bass. They also parked all around my vehicle and took over my launch spot so that had to get out someplace else later.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I played around with the whities some more. I kept trying to find something they would not hit. If there was something that wouldn't work, I couldn't find it in my tackle supply today. I caught white bass on maybe 20 different lures...plastics, hardbaits, spinners, etc. No finesse required.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I was sitting in about 5 feet of water and casting back into two or three feet of water...and catching fish. The other guys were wading out to about 2 feet deep and casting out to 4 or 5 feet deep...and catching fish. Seemed to be a pattern. NOT.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still couldn't find any larger whities so I decided to keep a few to fillet for the scampi pan. Kept a small percenage of the next hundred. Ended up with about 30 for the fillet board.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As I was kicking around the local group, I tossed out some white bass meat on my "bead bling" rig. Pow, zing, bendo. My rod had some serious arc to it and the locals were hollering up a storm. Got them excited anyway. I kept hearing "walleye, walleye". Wrongo. It was a 27" kitty that weighed right on the nose at 8#. Heard a lot more noise when I released it with a big show.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The lake stayed quite calm all morning. Just a few clouds and a light ripple a couple of times. Not bad. Water temp had warmed up to 65 by the time I beached the tube and headed home.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Anybody who wants to catch a lot of fish can do it on the whities right now. Small jigs a couple of feet under a bobber or almost any spinner will get 'er done.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Didn't see any carp rolling in the shallows today, but did see MANY clumps of prespawners in their "dating game" get togethers. They should be all over the shoreline by the weekend. [/#0000ff]
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48133"][#63626b]KNOLLS LAUNCH RAMP.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (240 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48134"][#63626b]DOUBLE WHITIES.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (240 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48135"][#63626b]PARTLY CLOUDY.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (172 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48136"][#63626b]CARP CLUMP.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (273 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48137"][#63626b]FIRST & SMALLEST.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (211 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48138"][#63626b]WHITIE ON PURPLE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (174 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48139"][#63626b]WHITIE ON PALE PERCH.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (250 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48140"][#63626b]ROADRUNNER SCORES.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (211 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48141"][#63626b]NOT MANY BIGGER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (191 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48142"][#63626b]LITTLE BLING CRANK.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (210 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48143"][#63626b]8# OF UGLY.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (186 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48144"][#63626b]BLING'S THE THING.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (170 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=48145"][#63626b]A FEW TO FILLET.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (461 KB)
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Looks like a good day. Those monster kitties are getting me ready to go to Brownlee in a couple weeks. Ron
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[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, that biggest one really kicked my tube. Took me about 10 minutes of yo yo...up and down...to get her to crawl in my net. They can be tough.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Try it, you'll like it.[/#0000ff]
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You sound like a pusher-man. . . Just try you will Like it. You pics alone have got me interested in fishing for kitties.
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[quote Big_Mernie]You sound like a pusher-man. . . Just try you will Like it. You pics alone have got me interested in fishing for kitties.[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Okay, maybe you won't like it. But you won't know unless you give it a go.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We all have our favorite places and our favorite species...for our own reasons. But, no matter how many other species I catch...or how big...I always enjoy some good old "hand to fin" combat with catfish. There is something primal about the way they hit and the brutal battle they put up to keep from getting too close to you.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Catfish will never win any beauty contests, but they have captured the hearts of a whole lot of anglers...especially float tubers who have mixed it up with them in their own element.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Actually, I am more of a "puller" than a pusher.[/#0000ff]
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TD, what you got for this Sunday?
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[cool][#0000ff]Looks like the 17th on my calendar.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Oh...you meant what is on my "dance card". Well, I have to pick TubeBabe up at the airport about mid afternoon but nothing goin' in the morning. You wanna go wave some flies at the whities?[/#0000ff]
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Thats a great plan B. I think I'm going to take my bow out for a couple hours in my tube to get some fresh bait... I've seen those "bait balls" up on the surface on my last couple cattin trips and wondered if I could shoot them with a bow. As close as I was getting before they'd scatter, even I can get an arrow into a few of them. Plenty of bait for bobber fishin during the middle of the day. [cool] Thats funny about the locals....I didn't know the water was shallow enough that you could wade it... off the airport dike its about four or five feet deep just a few feet out and even deeper on the weedline. I might have Wendy go out with me again and see if she'll get some video... I think that'd be cool. Get some fresh bait and get her into some nice cats hopefully.
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[cool][#0000ff]The area where you, Leaky, TubeBabe and I all fished that one day is where I fished for the cats. It DOES drop off fast and there is 8 foot depth within 25 yards of shore. But, if you stop anywhere along that road along the bottom of the hill, coming in from the highway, there is a very gradual shoreline and you can wade out quite a ways. And that is where the whities come in to spawn...along the shallow rocky and brushy areas. There are pockets in the middle of some of that stuff that the whities are stacked up by the bajillions. double hookups ten casts in a row.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In that one picture of the carp I posted, they were no more than 5 feet from my tube. It was obscene watching them pucker at me. I told them I had a headache.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good luck with Wendy and the carp. I hear tell she does not have a great fondness for them...especially when they start giving her a leg massage in her tube.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]PS...the cats were still out in 6 - 7 feet of water but I am betting they will be in those reeds by this weekend. Water level is very high.[/#0000ff]
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Great Pat, thanks for the info. I'll have to see if I can get Wendy out there in breathables or something... she definitely is not a fan of the fin massage. LOL... [laugh] Thats ok though.... perhaps I can manage to shoot my bow and then grab the camera before I lose the bow. I'm sure I can coerce Kyle into a bowfishing trip as well...especially if I promise notoriety through video. [cool] I certainly have enjoyed trying to troll up some cats but I'm not nearly as successful at it for some reason. Just need more practice I guess. Can't wait for the bobber season to come full swing I guess.
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