Fishing Forum

Tuesday I got back from a marathon fishing trip. A friend of mine volunteered but he had no idea what he was in for.
We started out at Brown Sugar Reservoir like we did last year. But this year the fish were just small. This was my biggest fish and it had a 6" carp in it's belly.




After boating 25 fish on Friday night and Saturday morning I called it quits. I told John I quite I am heading for the cathouse. We might not catch as many but we will get some good ones.

So we packed up and headed for Sugar cube creek. We got to the area of the first float and spent the night there. We hooked up with the shuttle service aka my cousin [angelic] and we were ready for the first float, 15 miles. John is very new to pontoon boats and has only sit in one one other time. Last year I took him to Brown Sugar Res. So the thought of a 15 mile first float was a concern for us both.

John was the first to hook up with a nice fish.




After then I started to catch fish.








This fish was the beast of the day. 32" 12 pounds. I saw it on the fish finder and thought it could be a small sturgeon. I took a sturgeon rig just in case. He bent my sturg rod pretty good for a cat.





At the end of the day I had caught only 8 fish. I released 5 fish that were 27 to 32 inches long. My buddy John caught 2 fish. Both were over 24" but just could not get the bites to turn into a catch. The water was fast enough where we were fishing that you had to set the hook hard and hope they didn't go up stream.

The start of day number 4. We headed for a place I had never floated before. We took off on a 5 to 6 mile float. Again John hooked up with the first fish. Then I put on a cat catching seminar.








The Habitat I found in this section was utterly amazing. I was stunned by what I found and was happy to see all my winter research pan out. I Caught 22 cats and released all of them in this stretch. I caught another 8 fish that were between 27" and 30". John was using the same gear as I was and he got 1 fish. I didn't know what to say. the only difference was he was using a different type of hook. he was using some kind of big steelhead and salmon hook. I was using 4/0 and 10/0 Gamagatsu. He said he got TON's of bites but just didn't get them hooked. I told him many times he could try my hooks. I also told him I was changing out hooks about every two hours.

We had over 25 miles in the boats over the 4 days. John got 8 fish total I got 55.
I felt bad for him and he knew it. He told me that with the time and effort I put in he would not expect any other outcome. I do think he would have done better if he would have been using a different hook. Also this was his first time to use an ultra light rod for catfish. Setting the hook on a big cat with a real limber pole can be tough.

He bought that pontoon from me so I think he had a good time no matter what. Now if I can get him into using that boat more. Ron
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Sounds like a great trip! Im jealous.
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wonderful report. Thanks for sharing.

Windriver
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Ron, that looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing!

My bite to catch ratio has improved a lot since I switched to 4/0 Gamakatsu octopus circle hooks. I think I have missed only one bite. I hope your friend has some of those next time he goes with you.
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Impressive. I'm getting my first 'toon next week. I think I'll do the Walters to Marsing stretch first. Any tips or insight for that section?
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Looks like a fantastic trip and great photos
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Nice report and pretty fish. Thanks.
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If your brand new to a pontoon I would go somewhere with no current to learn how to handle the boat. Looking on google earth your looking at almost 20 miles. I would have a motor along just in case. If the wind picks up your spending the night on an island. Get some time in the dle before you give it a try and be super careful. Ron
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Walter's Ferry to Marsing is too long a float if you intend to do any fishing. I fish that area almost every weekday. I run up about 4 miles in my jet boat and drift and fish my way back to my launch site and it almost always takes 5-6 hours.

If you want to take out at Marsing, put in at the Hope House ramp. If you want to put in at Walter's Ferry, take out at the Map Rock ramp.
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Gotcha. Thanks for the advice, I'll take it. So, I know the Map Rock ramp but not familiar with the Hope House. It must be on the highway, rather than Map Rock?
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The Hope House is found about 4 miles upstream from Marsing on the Owyhee County side of the river. The F&G Department calls it Marsing access, and there is a "Sportsmans Access" sign on the highway. It is a good ramp.
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Wow, now that's an epic trip if I've ever heard of one. Nice job.
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Wow Ron, that looks like fun.
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