Fish Rash at Mantua 7-23-05

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, you read it right...fish rash, not swimmer's itch. We wore waders to keep from getting swimmer's itch while tubing today, but we should have worn kevlar gloves to protect our hands from fish spines and sharp gill covers. HAMBURGER.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched before 6 AM from the sand beside the launch ramp. Several small fishing boats going out about the same time. Started catching bluegills within a few feet of launching. It never stopped.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We eventually kicked out about a hundred yards beyond the bouys, past where the weed line is visible from the surface. We pitched just about every type and color of jigs and plastics in our boxes. Couldn't find anything they would not hit. Caught fish near the surface, at middepth, over the weeds and straight down in deeper water. It just didn't seem to matter.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Didn't even try to count. I am guessing that we both caught somewhere between 150 and 200 fish each. Most were bluegills. We kept about 30 or so each. Lots of perch, some to 11 inches. We brought home a bunch for both scampi and for the bait supply. I got maybe 20 small bass, with a 13 incher about the largest on the small jigs and light rods we were using. Saw some bigger ones cruising around and a big ol' biggun followed a perch to TubeBabe's tube and got her nervous.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The water was calm and beautiful...until the power squadron hit the water about 9 AM. Water skiers and jet skiers apparently cannot read the no swimming signs and ruined the morning solitude. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We could have been off the water by 9:30 without missing much. The noise slowed the fishing and a brisk offshore breeze made it difficult to fish with the "finesse" tactics we like to use with light tackle. We stuck it out until about 11 and hit the shore, where I got talked out of a dozen crawlers by a dad who had forgot the worms and was supposed to be helping his kids to fish. I'm an old softy I guess. I even gave them some ice to keep the crawlers cool in the warming morning sun, and some insulated foam to wrap them in.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Even before working those fish over on the fillet board my hands hurt. Lots of spine punctures and some slices from the gill covers of the perch. Fish rash.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got even with about two pounds of their fillets though. Whomped up a batch of "po' man's shrimp", with garlic, butter and fresh hot French bread for dinner. It did ease the sting, but added the discomfort of a distended midsection. BURP.[/#0000ff]
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[kastmaster]

Thanks for the report, TD! Man, now I'm getting the 'itch'/'rash' to hit Mantua soon. Those 'gills look mighty good.
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[garbageman]

sonds like a great trip! I think were going to try mantua from the boat next week. Any advise on what to use?
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[Theekillerbee]

From the looks of things, you really put the smack down on the slabs! Thanks for the report Pat.
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[hashbaz]

Can you offer any hints about catching bigger Bluegills? I took the canoe up thursday in the same area and could only catch 3-4in bluegills. I tried a bigger jig with a piece of worm, and the worm would only last about 15 seconds before the tiny bluegills had it off!

If you don't mind sharing, what are your [#0000ff][size 1]"finesse" tactics[#000000][size 2]?[/size][/#000000][/size][/#0000ff]


PS waterskiers won't get swimmer itch. The microscopic parasites (or whatever) can actually tell the difference between someone who is thrashing around from waterskiing and someone who is just swimming. (does anyone else have a hard time conveying written sarcasm?)
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[pennyfarmer]

Thanks for the report. I may be going up tomorrow. I finally got my motor running and pumping water at the same time. I think that it still needs some adjusting but hey I can't complain cause of all the things that went wrong with it.

Me and a friend went out and got quite a few a few days ago. What a blast.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You are right about the baitstealing abilities of those bluegills. But, I only used one worm all day on Saturday. Why? Because after I went through that first worm, in about two minutes of tipping jigs with it, I switched to tipping my jigs with small pieces of perch meat.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I had some perch fillets (skin on) left over from trips to Jordanelle last year, so I thawed a few and precut them into 1/4 inch wide strips, salted them and squirted on some crawdad oil the night before our trip. The best size strips are about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, and you hook them once (skin side first) near the end of the strip. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Perch meat is legal now in Mantua, and is probably the best thing to use wherever it is legal. It is tough and almost all species love it. I had stretches on Saturday of over 20 fish on the same piece of perch meat before I replaced it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I used mostly 1 1/2 inch plastic minijigs, in clear sparkle, smoke sparkle, motor oil, root beer and white. I used small curly tail grubs in the same colors. But, many of my larger bluegills and perch (and my largest bass) took a black and chartreuse minijig with one of my custom colored heads...black with a chartreuse eye. You can see it in a couple of the pics.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]While I did get a few large 'gills by dropping straght down, and vertical jigging in deeper water, most of the chunkier ones hit casts out away from my tube. In fact, many of them hit almost as soon as the jig splashed down, or at least before it had sunk very far.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the keys to successfully fishing small jigs is to stop the cast with your finger and flip the bail immediately. Keep the line tight and watch the line where it enters the water. Many strikes (even from big fish) are mere ticks or twitches on the line. If you do not set the hook immediately, they spit it out and will seldom return. In short, you don't wait for a major chomp and surge...although some of them do hit that way.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When fishing shallow, or over weeds (in Mantua???), you need to use light gear and light jigs. I used an 1/16 ounce head for dropping down below me, in deeper water, but seldom used more than 1/32 oz. heads for casting. They sink slower and look more natural to the fish, and stay in the strike zone longer before "bringing in the salad".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did fish jigs below a bobber over the weeds several times. I used anywhere from 3' to 5' of line between bobber and jig, depending on the depth of water over the weeds. I did score some decent bluegills, several good sized perch and a couple of bitty bass on the bobber rig. However, I personally like the challenge of casting and finessing them in hand to fin combat.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are quite a few small plastics that will get bigger bluegills and perch, as well as bass up there. Two and three inch Reapers, Pulse Worms and especially the Charlie Brewer Slider Grubs (with the little paddle tail) work quite well. Only problem is, with the Slider Grubs is that the small fish nip off the tail too often. But, in their sparkly green, smoke sparkle and brown pepper colors, the fish smack them pretty good, even when not tipped with bait.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did not take any with me to try yesterday, but I am betting that small spinners fished shallow, above the weeds, would also score some good fish. I have done well on small Roostertail like spinners in the past. Blacks, greens and browns...even white...with either silver or bronze blades will get thejob done.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You gotta figure that the larger gills have been around longer, and some of them have been hooked before...and either got away or been released. The bigger ones are either smarter or just more wary. While it is true that even the littlest and most inexperienced anglers can score the occasional bull bluegill, you have a better shot at bringing home enough for the fillet board if you finesse them a little.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'd like to think that I am smarter than the average bluegill, but when you can look down in the water and see big ol' bigguns swimming around, ignoring everything you offer them, it humbles ya a bit. I readily admit to feeling a wee bit of frustration when they won't even sniff one of my custom baitbugs or hand colored plastic creations.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That's one of the things I find attractive about fishing for those little tykes. They DO fight harder than most fish their size, once hooked, and even though they can be gullible, there are plenty that act cagier than any old streambred brown trout. They got it all. If bluegill ever got over five pounds, few anglers could land them...and a lot of trout and bass fishermen would never chase their former loves again.[/#0000ff]
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[ProvoRiverFool]

Nice haul! Wish I were dining at your house last night! Those delectable little BG fillets are right there with walleye in my book!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Still got a bunch more bluegill fillets, plus some perchies. Gonna make up some ceviche today and do some scampi and some shrimp-rice baking before the holiday weekend is over. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You're right. The fillets are small, but well worth the effort in processing them. The small blade on my electric fillet knife makes the filleting go fast, and TubeBabe finishes the rib cage removal on our two person assembly line. It really doesn't take that long.[/#0000ff]
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[Carp_Punisher]

[#505000]Nice work there Pat, it almost looks like you need a bigger basket!!![/#505000] []
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Nah...that basket is 19" by 30". It will hold a limit of channel cats all over 4#, with space to spare. There were about 35 or 40 bluegills and maybe 25 perch in there. Still a lot of room left. I would hate to have to fillet all of the bluegills that could fit in there at one time.[/#0000ff]
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[hashbaz]

Pat, thanks for the tips and techniques!
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