Willard Wednesday Trifecta 6-3-20

[TubeDude]

Weather forecrash looked doable for a tube.   Met up with fellow tube-nut Lee.  Both launched by 6:30.  Air temp 58.  Water temp 67...warming to 70 by late am departure.

Seemed like a lot of boats launching early with us tubers.  But it quieted down and never got too bad today.  Except for Lee.  He had motor problems that put him off the water early without any fishing.

I didn't see much on sonar for a long time.  Worked shallow to deep...12' out to 22'.  Finally found a few fish in an area that has produced before.  I had rigged one rod with a new white "snarl rig"...a floating white body and beads with a white and silver "snarl" blade.  I put a white Gulp Minnow on the single hook.  The other rod was rigged with a chartreuse perch snarl rig...with crawler...the one that had scored a couple of wipers and a cat for me last week.  First fish came at about 7:30...a cantankerous 21 inch wiper...on the white combo.  At about 8 am I got bit again...this time with a healthy 19" walleye...also on the white on white.

Then I started having some issues with my motor mount.  One side of the mounting bracket had worked loose and the motor was moving around on the mounting plate.  I was a long way offshore and had to get back to shallow water to get out and tighten everything down.  Worked my way just inside the channel and into a spot I could get out, stand up and make the necessary corrections. 

Just as I sat back down in my tube I was hailed by a female voice.  JJAnnie and crew had come over in their boat from the north marina to pick up some goodies I had for them.  Got to meet the new furry first mate...Rosie.  She is a cutie.  They had a nice 5# wiper and a cat at the time we met up.  They headed back north afterward and I am sure they got more fish.

I played around for a while near the south marina...working some shallower spots that had produced about this time of year in the past.  Picked up a 14-15 inch "small-eye" on my chartreuse perch with crawler rig.  Then I put up one of the snarl rig rods and started working a "pistol Pat" wobble jig head with a white Gulp Minnow.  Had a couple of whacks and then hooked my first and only kitty of the day.  A three species score...trifecta.

Made an early day of it.  Nice weather all the time I was there.  Not too many boats, but there were a few big play boats heading in as I was heading out.
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[doitall5000]

Hay pat when your out there from the south marina do you work around the Rock piles??

[muirco]

Nice day! Glad you got some!

[TubeDude]

Hay pat when your out there from the south marina do you work around the Rock piles??

Nope.  I have made a couple of trips around them...at different times of the year.  Nada.  Same for reports from a couple of other guys who I respect for their knowledge of electronics and fishing techniques.  Best I have done is a couple of lost catfish.  But I can catch more and bigger cats in a hundred other spots.

At some time they may become regular hangouts but at present they do not seem to be a reliable gathering spot for numbers of fish...of any species.

[FatBiker]

Hi Pat, sorry I missed you
. I started at the north marina about seven. A couple hours and nothing so I ran down to the feedlot. Finally found some dumb kitties in about 20 FOW. By noon, the skierss run me home. Let me know when you're headed this way and I'll break out the big tube.

[TubeDude]

Hi Pat, sorry I missed you
. I started at the north marina about seven. A couple hours and nothing so I ran down to the feedlot. Finally found some dumb kitties in about 20 FOW. By noon, the skierss run me home. Let me know when you're headed this way and I'll break out the big tube.

Yeah.  We gotta stay in communication now that you are back in business.  Not sure what the next week holds but I'll be sure to let you know the next time my compass (and float tube) points north.

Gotta sample you on some of those "hookless fligs" with snarl blades.  

[wiperhunter2]

Nice report Pat, sounds like you mount issue cost you some fish but at least you got it fixed and were able to carry on. Did the eyes come from the deeper water you fished?

[TubeDude]

Nice report Pat, sounds like you mount issue cost you some fish but at least you got it fixed and were able to carry on. Did the eyes come from the deeper water you fished?

First one came from 21 feet of water...straight out from the feed lot towers.  Also had a couple of crawler strippers and another hit or two on the white Gulp setup.  Some inexperienced (or too experienced) fish out there.  Also saw more marks out there than anywhere else.

The second (smalleye) came right on the edge of the channel...on the south side...as I was moving back out to do more fishing.  Depth showed as about 16' on sonar.  But didn't see much or catch anything else other than one catfish from 20 feet of water.

In past years, I have caught quite a few walleyes fairly close to the rocks during June...in water 12 - 15 feet deep.  They are in major feed mode after spawning and when water temps reach 70...but before they get much over about 75.  By the time water temps hit 80 the wallies stay deep during the day and feed more at night.

[bugbaybum]

Finally made it out there yesterday from 0900 to 1300 and caught one 20.5" wiper and one 15" walleye. Lost 1 wiper and 2 walleye within 15' of the boat. One walleye was at least a 2-footer and had a mouth as big as a softball. All walleye fooled on perch pattern crankbaits at 2.4-2.6 mph. Wiper liked the lipless shad pattern crank.
 

[MWScott72]

Pat-
I noticed you have a registration sticker on your tube. Can u elaborate on that? Is a tube with motor (or any flotation platform for that matter) considered a "boat" therefore requiring registration? Never thought about this, so the photo caught my attention.

[TubeDude]

Pat-
I noticed you have a registration sticker on your tube.  Can u elaborate on that?  Is a tube with motor (or any flotation platform for that matter) considered a "boat" therefore requiring registration?  Never thought about this, so the photo caught my attention.

Yep.  Utah is pretty set on making float tubes and other small watercraft as taxable as possible.  I suppose even an egg beater used to propel your float tube would make it fall under the rule that if it is motorized it requires registration.  Doesn't matter how expensive your tube and/or motor.  Still requires you to pay as if you had a big gas motor.  Pains me every year when I have to pay the equivalent of over 1/3 the value of my motor in registration fees.

Same situation with the invasive species certificates.  When it comes to complying with those rules "If it floats, it's a boat".

[a_bow_nut]

Finally made it out there yesterday from 0900 to 1300 and caught one 20.5" wiper and one 15" walleye. Lost 1 wiper and 2 walleye within 15' of the boat. One walleye was at least a 2-footer and had a mouth as big as a softball. All walleye fooled on perch pattern crankbaits at 2.4-2.6 mph. Wiper liked the lipless shad pattern crank.
 



Is that you Retch?

I hope to find some of those down there tomorrow afternoon.

[Tin-Can]

Hope they are still willing to go after something. Plan to hit the water shortly after sun up if the wind will stay down a few hours.

[MWScott72]

Pat-
I noticed you have a registration sticker on your tube.  Can u elaborate on that?  Is a tube with motor (or any flotation platform for that matter) considered a "boat" therefore requiring registration?  Never thought about this, so the photo caught my attention.

Yep.  Utah is pretty set on making float tubes and other small watercraft as taxable as possible.  I suppose even an egg beater used to propel your float tube would make it fall under the rule that if it is motorized it requires registration.  Doesn't matter how expensive your tube and/or motor.  Still requires you to pay as if you had a big gas motor.  Pains me every year when I have to pay the equivalent of over 1/3 the value of my motor in registration fees.

Same situation with the invasive species certificates.  When it comes to complying with those rules "If it floats, it's a boat".

Amazing.  Coming from OK, it pained me for many years to pay a State Park entry fee at just about every lake in the state it seemed.  They definitely hit you for just about everything in this state!

[SkunkedAgain]

Pat, can you explain how your new snarl rig is set up. Do you weight it to the bottom and the snarl blade and float raises your offering to the danger zone? I assume you slow troll them as usual. Sure looks like you have found a setup for the wiper and eyes that works well. Congrats Jeff

[TubeDude]

Pat, can you explain how your new snarl rig is set up.  Do you weight it to the bottom and the snarl blade and float raises your offering to the danger zone?  I assume you slow troll them as usual. Sure looks like you have found a setup for the wiper and eyes that works well. Congrats Jeff

Thanks.  My "snarl rigs" are set up pretty much like a regular crawler harness.  But instead of using all beads, I put a 1" "hookless flig" in the middle.  This adds buoyancy.  There are small floating beads on the market that other anglers have been using to make CH rigs for years.  But mine got my Utah colors.  I am also adding glitter to some super beads I have been collecting.

Obviously, with an electric motor and a float tube I can't troll for hours at high speeds.  But I can fish all depths of the water column by adjusting weight, length of line out and speed.  And even when many fish are active and will smack fast-moving stuff there are always some that will accept something attractive at lower speeds.  I have been using weights as small as 1/4 oz. and moving at less than 1 mph speed.  But I keep changing things up as I go...letting out a bit more line or reeling in a bit...speeding up and slowing down...using more or less weight, etc.  

I'm still experimenting with sizes, colors, blades, bait setups, etc.  So far I have been happy with the votes I have been getting from the fish.  I have only spent a few hours total in fishing these things but I have already got more wipers and walleyes than I did last year.  Catfish?  They hit them too.  But there are lots of ways to catch kitties.