The pup was itching for adventure, so Daddy-O-bliged.
Couple hours before sunset-in. Had thought about a spot on the river, but company was there. A friend I don't mind crossing lines with, but with the pup in tow, didn't want her tromping his gear, or stealing his bait.
So I opted for Plan-B, a bit more out of the way. Out of the way enough that my rod holders I'd left behind at my last visit were still there - woops. Guess it was dark when I left last.
Secret Spot:
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Had dug some carp minnows from deep in the freeze, and they still seemed plump and juicy. Took a few quick tosses, but no inquiries, so I ventured out farther. First time trying my telescoping rod holders, and they fared well. Quite taller than I'd given them credit for. Makes a difference when they are fully extenzed.
Hooked up a minnow, with a belly nip, and sprinkle of secret sauce on one rod, and tossed a shrimp on the barb-e. Sat back on my bucket and waited for the good times to roll. Wasn't long before they were ringing my bell, and hooked into a lunging belly roll. Hauled in a nice almost 2 footer. Already got my starters on the contest plate, so no banner pix.
Mud Cat:
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Pup was having a good time romping in the mud and running in the reeds, but took a reel interest at the floppers. Been trying to teach her fetch, but also need to teach her the bobber is NO! No bait for you!
A pair of critters:
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A bass boat went cruising by, and Misty was having a riot when the waves hit shore. Guess she's never seen that before, cuz she was chasing every slap against the mud line. What a maroon!
Lap Dog:
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She's still getting used to the idea that a day in the mud means getting necked in a warm shower after. (I take her collar off!)
Not a whole lot of action, but nice to invite a hot date home for dinner. No whoppers this day, but at least I'm keeping my streak alive.
Cajun Dish:
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I figured the fish may bite last night, but I haven't gotten my taxes ready yet so I was privileged to work on them last night. Keep thinking one year I'll do them early when the fish won't bite for me, but it wasn't this year. Glad you caught supper and that looks very tasty by the way. Looking forward to Saturday when the tax fun will be over for another year and I get to try a new pole out for the first time. Going to have to start avoiding that Walmart close out bin. Just wanted a spool of 15 lb leader and ended up with quite a few more dollars spent. Oh well, I'm excited to try a nicer spin rod, hope it will be worth it. Hope I can break the cat Skunken and start catching a few. Anywho glad ya kept the streak alive. Later J
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Dude -- that plate looks good enough for Hells Kitchen.
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I know what you mean. I went in there looking for a quart of oil last summer, and ended up leaving with a nice micro guide crankbait rod from Falcon. It was about $60 off of retail so I couldn't say no. It soon became my favorite rod for small squarebills and lipless cranks. I even caught that bass in my avatar on it.
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Ditto what Greg said. I can add the "Roasted Butternut Squash Agnolotti" - pasta was from the discount bin too. I can't stomach that premade stuff at full price, rather make it myself. Roll your own.
Hell's Kitchen is right the way I slap on the Slap You Mamma and Cajun spice! There's a party in my mouth!
Kids used to try to ban me from passing the fishing isle, but I outsmarted them, ship them off to the candy/cookies or electronics while I snuck a run over "by" housewares.
Damned red tags! And the way Walmart plays - 2c off, and it's a "markdown" - spare me. But sometimes.
Gotta watch some of those "sales" $4 each, or 5 for $20, you do the math! (psst, it's a plow to get you to buy more, not less)
Hit RoundRocks again, thought I'd clean out the Maniac Plastics, but someone beat me to it. Same one who wanted the ice tent I got. Set it up in the yard, and that was the best $70 I've spent in a long time. Pup kept circling, she wasn't sure what to make of it, but finally made the leap, jumped in for belly rubs. Such a peach!
Learned that RR sale had been on since Feb - at 80%, but it still wasn't moving, until - after ice season. Go figure - wish I'd known, guess they had quite a bit more, but no more. Stopped by the "antique" shop - cracks me up to see a $3.50 original sticker on an item (mirrored ball) with THEIR tag asking $25. Shoot - that ain't no collectable!
Jeff - they should be firing up this week with the warm trend. Taxes sure got more complicated for me this year. Sorting out partial year business, I'm probably gonna get flagged for an Audit! (I shouldna said that!)
And here I thought you were working....or is this what you do WHILE at work?
Kids.
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Garden is planted, so heading out to try my luck at Cutler. Too good of a day to stay indoors.
"here kitty kitty....."
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Yup they know what they are doing in there, knock $30 off the price of a rod and they know you'll buy it, then you have to have a reel and line to finish it, so what they lose on the rod they more than make up for on the reel and line... since you won't put a marginal reel on a nice rod and you need good line too... But I am really looking forward to trying that set up it seems so sensitive that it's got to be nice feeling those light taps...Anyway glad I'm not the only one that get's bit by that bait.... Catch ya next time.... J
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Good luck Lava.... Man garden in already that's great!!! I got some peas and spinach up, but lots to go.... Good luck...J
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I think enough heat this week might get them going enough I can catch one, but it will take a dumb one... Hopefully they will get into my regular sloughs so I can find a couple... Guess I'll soak bait next trip instead of troll so I can catch one... Anyway catch ya later.. J
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It didn't work out for them with me. I got the rod for $60 off and then went and ordered a Lew's high speed reel off of ebay to go with it. I love that combo.
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Sounds like a nice set up... I sure can't wait to try mine, it seems like it is so sensitive that I hope that will help me feel the slightest nibbles, not that I will be able to hook them any better, but at least it will get my blood pumping sooner... My old rods have such slow action that the fish can take the groceries back home before I know I have a bite.. Looking forward to what this will do for me... Sure hope I get these dang taxes done soon, it would have been way more fun fishing tonight instead of looking up receipts and interest statements... Well hopefully I'll be done Friday... Later J
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Slow action rods can be great for crankbaits and the like, but a high modulus, faster action rod should definitely help with sensitivity. If you use braid, it increases that sensitivity even more. I hope you get to test it out soon. I'm lucky in that my stepfather is an accountant, so he always does our taxes for us. I still ended up owing this year, but at least not as much.
I have a few new combos that I'm itching to try. One is made with IM10 graphite and I have it set up with braid, so I'm really eager to see just how sensitive that one is.
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I know your work schedule limits your fish time, but are you planning on getting after the fish soon? Idaho again this summer? I almost bought a season when I went steelheading, but that limits my family and friends that fish with me as well so I didn't do it. I know I'll do at least one more three day Idaho trip but beyond that I wasn't sure so I didn't do it, hope I don't regret that decision. Well I look forward to your reports this summer, good luck. J
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Indeed I am. I picked up an Idaho license on Friday. I pestered the slimers up at Oneida and got about 40 in a couple of hours.
Today I'm probably going to regret it, but I have all this new bass gear I need to try out, so I'm going to chase some largemouth.
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Sounds good, were you fly flippen on the slimers? Hope those old bass will wake up for you. I hope to some year learn where the bass hang this time of year. Seems like if ya know where to find them, the bass will play, but I have a lot of learning to do there. Good luck. J
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Yeah I was mostly nymphing. There were a lot of midges and blue wing olives hatching, and I found several large pods of fish actively feeding. I took a few on top, but I didn't have very good dries for the situation, so I just used nymphs and emergers. Even during a hatch it seems like a lot of fish are feeding subsurface. It was fun because once I found a pod, I could catch 10-20 out of that one area. I would have caught more, but a storm blew up the canyon and I got sick of rain, snow, numb hands and the wind wrecking my drifts.
The bass can definitely be temperamental this time of year, and today was no exception. The water was in the low 50s, which should have meant game on, but there was a lot of wind and cloud cover that rolled in right when I got there and it seemed to shut them down. Most of the year that fires them up, but this early when they're very tentative about becoming active, it seems to shut them off in my experience. The water was rather green and murky too which didn't help. I can typically catch them in clear water down into the 40s, but I had one of my rare skunking sessions today. Oh well, it was good casting practice anyway. I did do some scouting of other water while I was out and found some other places with cleaner looking water. I'm going to try one tomorrow.
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Sounds like fun times, except for yesterday, but did you get to try the new equipment? How did it perform? Hope today will give you a good turn around. So do you ever nymph for bluegill? I tried it one spring and it was crazy hot. Don't know if it was timing or method, but I haven't repeated it lately. But I really haven't tried either to be fair. I need to carry a fly rod with me more often, but I usually tend to go one type of fishing or the other and somedays I just pick the wrong method. I need to figure out a new rod holder design for my toon. TD have any PVC ideas for a flyrod holder? Anyway good luck today and have some fun. Later J
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The murky water in Oneida is directly related to the Black Canyon white-water flows. All that silt and over winter junk comes right on down. It also affects the flows below Oneida dam for anyone that fishes there too. Trouble is people aren't expecting it below Oneida.
Check out these flow rates from the two dams.
Grace:
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Oneida:
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Nasty if you are wading the river down there!
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