[cool][#0000ff]Man, it was below freezing when I launched in the dark at the Island boat ramp on Deer Creek this morning. No ice in the guides but smack spang near. Water temp was 57...only warming a little over a degree by noon.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Newly planted hatchery pets were popping the surface all over the lake...and the popgear trollers were out in force to thin the herd. Almost everybody was catching them...but only a couple of fish I saw were bigger than the "footlongs". Lotsa guys seemed pretty proud that they got their limits before heading in.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I dinged a few dinks my own self...dragging a fly on a bubble and tossing spinners. A lot more hits than hookups from those little inexperienced slimers. And a few didn't know how to hang on long enough for a hug and a release. Didn't keep any. Didn't even waste the pixels on a photo. Waiting for the bigger ones that never showed up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Gave up on trying for a decent troutski and started working the sonar and some jigs for the marks on my sonar screen. Saw a lot more than I caught...as usual. Not much to see in less than 20 feet of water. Most early blips were at least 26 to 30 feet deep...and my first perch came from about 34 feet. A whole school of dinks and underfooters. Went through a lot of worms feeding and educating those little bait thieves.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked out off a spot that usually produces some decent perch and saw some likely prospects on sonar. Dropped down...THUMP...hookset, tug tug. Felt like a BIG perch...or a small smallie...or maybe a walleye. S'prise! A porky 14" crappie! First one I have ever caught in Deer Creek. Last one too. No other slabs came to play.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked all around that area and got some half footer smallies, one small largie and another silly slimette who wanted in on the vertical jigging action. Took a picture of the little largemouth but not any of the smallies. Ho hum.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still seeing marks on sonar in that area but the active fish either got caught or wised up. I moved out into deeper water. At 44 feet I saw a school of fish on the bottom and got a whack on my jigging rod. As I was reeling up the fish my double dropshot rodtip dived to the water and I had a double of respectable perch. Only double of the day. Biggest just under 11 inches.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A few more rattle rattle dinkster perch bites and then a solid CHOMP. More weight. Not a perch but a 15 inch walleye. ALL RIGHT. That made six species for the day...a "super slime".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Didn't catch a grundle of any species. Caught the most perch and trout. Nothing spectacular but that crappie was really noteworthy. Deer Creek has really been serving up some exotics this year...white bass, channel cats, bullhead cats and now a crappie. Utah Lake east.[/#0000ff]
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I always enjoy reading your posts. Keep them coming. I love your picture of the boat trolling right next to your line. I've had too many similar experiences. I couple of times someone in a boat would see me catch a bigger fish and then come park right next to me. I'm not one to cast extra long distances with my fly pole, but I could put my fly in the middle of their boat. Anyway thanks for the report.
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Wow that does look early
and cold. Do you have nav lights on your tube? [
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[cool][#0000ff]Naw. I just hold a lighted flare between my teeth.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I don't launch until it is light enough to see. The flash on my camera makes it look darker...and it was a few minutes later before I launched.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]However, if I fish at night I DO hook up the required lights. But, I seldom fish after dark any more. Too many wackos and I catch all the fish I need during non-vampire hours.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Naw. I just hold a lighted flare between my teeth.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]lol, thats funny. I put my flare in my.........well, lets[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]not even go there.[
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[#0000ff]Peter[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Might be a good cure for hemhorrhoids...or NOT.[/#0000ff]
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Wow nice report. Been years since I was at deer creek. Never tubed it though. Looks like DC is coming along. Also looks like most of the power squadron have finally left the water to the anglers.[cool]
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[cool][#0000ff]MOST of the power squadron...but not all of the idiots. I was trying to fish a spot just off the island. Seems it is on the maps as the ONLY place boats can go through on the way to wherever else they want to go. Every time I started to see fish or get bit a boat would go right over top of my spot...and usually between me and the shoreline a few yards away. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]First it was tinboat trollers. Then it was a boat full of wet suited water skiers on the way out to run the banks on the other side...where other anglers were fishing. Then it was a diver who anchored up, went over the side and started diving near where I was fishing. All that on a huge lake with lots of room, but they all had to come look at the wacko in the float tube with a lot of rods and a motor. And amazingly almost every one of these dimbulbs motored between me and the shoreline I was fishing. Is there a boating rule I don't know about that makes it illegal to go around a tuber fishing along a shoreline?[/#0000ff]
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[quote TubeDude][cool][#0000ff]MOST of the power squadron...but not all of the idiots. ................[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]First it was tinboat trollers. Then it was a boat full of wet suited water skiers on the way out to run the banks on the other side...where other anglers were fishing. Then it was a diver who anchored up, went over the side and started diving near where I was fishing. All that on a huge lake with lots of room, but they all had to come look at the wacko in the float tube with a lot of rods and a motor. And amazingly almost every one of these dimbulbs motored between me and the shoreline I was fishing. Is there a boating rule I don't know about that makes it illegal to go around a tuber fishing along a shoreline?[/#0000ff][/quote]
[#ff4040][cool]From Utah State Parks Boating Laws and Rules April 2009
(10) The operator of any vessel may not exceed a wakeless speed when:
(a) Within 150 feet of:
(i) Another vessel;
(ii) A person in or floating on the water;
(iii) A water skier being towed by another boat;
(iv) A water skier that had been towed behind the operator’s vessel
unless the skier is still surfing or riding in an upright stance on the wake
created by the vessel;
(v) A water skier that had been towed behind another vessel and the
skier is still surfing or;
(vi) A shore fisherman;
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(vii) A launching ramp;
(viii) A dock; or
(ix) A designated swimming area; or
(b) In an area designated as a wakeless speed area.
(11) The operator of a motorboat is responsible for any damage or injury caused by
the wake produced by the operator’s motorboat.
[/#ff4040][cool][#4040ff]So if they're wakeless, they're within the law it looks like. Ain't no different in Idaho. Buy a boat, add water and a certain percentage become a-holes.[/#4040ff] [#4040ff]And with the state population growing, it's not going to get better. [/#4040ff]
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Maybe since many people that fish from boats focus on trolling the deep water, they think you are fishing on the deep side of your tube. That way they are trying to be polite and go around you on the shore side so as not to disturb your fishing. Unless it bounces off the side of their boat they aren't going to get it!
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[cool][#0000ff]I am well aware of the wording of the rules. But I doubt that many of the boaters can even READ. At least they "pretend" to know neither the rules of navigation or the implied rules of good sportsmanship.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I used to get a lot more agitated and react more verbally...and otherwise. Now I just accept it as a part of the "pristine" enjoyment of fishing. Maybe I take a picture once in a while. And when the doofus in the boat asks why, I simply reply that I am writing a book on stupidity and I want their picture for the cover. Actually, sometimes I use stronger language and make reference to parts of the anatomy lower than the brain.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Us old guys don't need any more elevated blood pressure. [/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]"THINK" is a pretty strong word. I doubt that some of them are capable of conscious thought. They just do whatever they want to do without a care for what they might be doing to somebody else's fishing enjoyment.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]And there have been more than a few boaters over the years that make strong turns inward from the open lake to deliberately buzz me or harass me in my float tube. Only two craft on the lake and they get "lonely".[/#0000ff]
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What about marker buoys? Attach hazard warnings for more emphasis. If that don't work, then some strong nylon cord between should tangle power props. Oops, can I go there?
Pon
[quote cpierce]Maybe since many people that fish from boats focus on trolling the deep water, they think you are fishing on the deep side of your tube. That way they are trying to be polite and go around you on the shore side so as not to disturb your fishing. Unless it bounces off the side of their boat they aren't going to get it![/quote]
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But , allot of times no law has been broke.
I know boats get close to us, but more in interest in the boats.
I know if I didn't come to this forum and I saw "a float tube with several poles and a motor and all the PVC accessories" my curiosity of what the heck is that would get hold of me[cool]
But I have had my share of boaters that want to see how bad they can rock my boat...LOL
I generally fish deeper water, so the fish are not scattered to my knowledge and a boat passing. In fact if they are trolling, sometimes they bring the fish to me.[laugh]
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I was out in my tube one day on Hyrum Reservoir and I got a little scared for myself. The motor boat pulling a skier was getting a little too close for comfort and what was even more dicomforting is that it was at full throttle and the idiot pilot was not looking where he was going but where he had been. It was nice to know that the skier biffed it before he got too close to me so the boat had to stop. I agree that most do not think before they do and when they do think it is pretty much not with their brain.[mad]
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Well, I tell you what- float tubing/fishing in the same waters that people pull skiers or just power boat
around is just crazy......
I would look for a lake without that kinda watersports.
Just my 2c.
Peter
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My experiences have not been that dramatic. Sure a little annoying but they really don't get that close to be a threat, at least my experience.
But then I use to love to water ski so I like watching.[cool]
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"I would look for a lake without that kinda watersports."
[cool][#0000ff]Me too...but there are no lakes reserved exclusively for float tubers. We have a lot of lakes in Utah but they are all "multi-use" waters...for anybody who wants to use them...with very few restrictions. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The problem is that many of the lakes with the best fishing are also the lakes that are most appealing to the power squadrons. However, it is often other fishermen...in boats...that are the worst offenders when it comes to trolling over your lines or running between you and the shoreline. I can't believe how unsportsmanlike some anglers are...and they will scream like wounded eagles if you encroach on their spots or come too close to where they are fishing. Kinda double standard stuff...like men and women.[/#0000ff]
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The answer is easy, go to places where the power squadron can't go. That would be some sections of rivers or more isolated lakes without ramps. That's one of the greatest advantages of having a float tube in the first place, IMHO. These waters are more virgin, and tend to have large numbers of high quality fish, though perhaps smaller. Even if not, just the beauty and lack of irritation alone is worth it. The access may be a little more distance and difficult. But TD, being the master of PVC, can maybe figure something out. Anything in Utah like the Sierra Lakes we've been seeing pictures of?
Pon
[quote TubeDude]"I would look for a lake without that kinda watersports."
[cool][#0000ff]Me too...but there are no lakes reserved exclusively for float tubers. We have a lot of lakes in Utah but they are all "multi-use" waters...for anybody who wants to use them...with very few restrictions. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The problem is that many of the lakes with the best fishing are also the lakes that are most appealing to the power squadrons. However, it is often other fishermen...in boats...that are the worst offenders when it comes to trolling over your lines or running between you and the shoreline. I can't believe how unsportsmanlike some anglers are...and they will scream like wounded eagles if you encroach on their spots or come too close to where they are fishing. Kinda double standard stuff...like men and women.[/#0000ff][/quote]
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