Starvation Return Match 6/18/08

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]After everything bad that happened last Friday the 13th, we decided to give Starvation another chance today. Walked outside at Dark Thirty and saw a big chunk of cheese (full moon) in the sky. I thought "Oh great, a ready made excuse if we don't catch much." No worries. Went anyway.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I launched our tubes at Knights Hollow (Saleratus Wash) about 7 AM...after spraying away the pesky skeeters. Air temp 60 and water temp 61 at launch. Water level seems to have come up almost a foot in the four days since last Friday. Dirty water is pouring in from the pipe.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe headed to the rocky point just south of where we launched. I headed south, across the inlet channel. She scored a small smallmouth within minutes. I had a large walleye on a few minutes after that but it was inexperienced and did not know how to hang on. Those were our last inquiries for a couple of hours. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We kicked all over Saleratus wash...marking inactive fish and getting plenty of exercise in the STRONG 2 mph wind. The forecast misplaced the decimal point again. More like 20 mph. It would lay down for a few minutes, giving false hope and then whooosh. Tough kickin' again.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did have a brief bit of excitement when I cruised in close to the trees along the north side of the wash. A large head came directly at me across the water and I just knew it was the aquatic equivalent of BIG FOOT. Nope. BIG TAIL. It was a curious beaver. Dove just before it got to me and didn't see it again. TubeBabe said she had seen it earlier down the shoreline.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I kept changing around, using all of my previously successful jiggies and jinglies. Banged a couple of smallmouth on the pale perch jigs, but no wallies. I finally picked up the rod I had rigged with my NEW offering...a diving crankbait I had painted in the "pale perch" pattern...but rigged Carolina style. I put on a pale perch colored 1/8 oz. spinner body, as a sliding sinker, above a swivel and 3 feet of line, to help take the med running crankbait deeper for walleye. (See pics). [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I were fishing fairly close together over an 8 foot hump, quite a ways offshore. I used the walkie talkie to tell her about my new experiment. A few seconds later, I was showing her a nice smallie that had voted for it. After two more smallies and a walleye, she got up close and personal to get me to rig a setup for her. She ain't bashful about gettin' in on my experiments, and heaven help me if I do not take enough to supply her too. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After that, we were fighting both wind AND fish. We both ended up with a few walleyes and caught quite a few smallies. My biggest smallie might have been 15 inches and my biggest walleye was a pretty close copy of the 19" eye I caught last friday. The trick was to lob the "Carolina crank" rig downwind, let it settle to the bottom and then keep it working just enough to wiggle the rod tip. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those fish in Starvation sure do like that pale perch color combo. That is where I first began playing with it a couple of years ago and since then I have been making it on quite a few different lures and even some flies. Works in almost every lake we have tried it...especially in Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir, in Idaho. Had a 7 species morning on it up there last fall.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Shortly after 1 PM, we agreed that we had all the fun we could stand with that wind. TubeBabe was toast. So, rather than kick all the way back to the vehicle, we just let the wind blow us into shore and I walked the half mile or so back to get the car and bring it around to rescue the fair fishin' maiden. I know, WHAT A GUY.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temperature when we got out was up to 64, but we did not find any active perch today. We fished from 12 feet to 35 feet. We saw "suspicious" schools near the bottom but they all had their little mouths closed and their middle fin upraised on the sonar.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still, the day ended much better than our last trip. TubeBabe caught fish too, we didn't run over our cooler (cookies) and our car didn't blow up on the way home. Life is good and getting better. [/#0000ff]
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[mactuna]

Looks like you did well, Nancy said nice fish. Good color you were using.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Water temps went from 61 at launch to 64 at 1 PM.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Depth? You ready for this? Almost all our walleyes were caught in less than 10 feet of water. In fact, I lost one that would have been five or six pounds that I hooked right on shore. The wind took my cast and blew it almost in the rocks. I immediately started cranking the reel and WHAM. I thought it was a big smallmouth or brown until it came up and opened it's big mouth, gave a could of shakes and gave me my lure back.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also had about a 14 incher that came up off the bottom in 8 feet of water to take the lure almost right at my rod tip as I was fast cranking in to make another cast. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We saw suspended fish all over Saleratus, but they would not hit the cranks, spinners or anything. Maybe a night bite with the moon phase.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Thanks Nancy. You catch purty fish too.[/#0000ff]
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[Out4Trout]

[cool]Now THAT sounds like a MUCH better day than last Friday. Congrats on the fishies, especially that fattie walleye. Sounds like a great dinner at the tubehome tonight. Those pale perch colored lures look awesome.
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[mactuna]

Thats what we were thinking, this friday all night again.
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[lavaman]

"[#0000ff]I lost one that would have been five or six pounds that I hooked right on shore."

[#000000]Pat, you're slipping! You're supposed to keep those big 'uns hooked! Our buddy Geoffrey would be proud!

That's a great lure- that pale perch variety. Seems to be the ticket for you wherever you go. Fishies beware!

Great pics as always. Never fished Starvation...maybe one day.
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[mactuna]

Missing out on some good action right now.
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[sewfish]

thanks for the report. We're thinking of goimg to Starvation tomorrow, Thursday. Hope that it's as kind to us as it was to you.
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[DUKMAN]

Anyone fishing the Catch-a-cure fishing tourney this weekend? Should be a good time for a good cause.
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[mactuna]

Good luck sewfish, we had a good time Saturday. Salaratus wash was hot.
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[LloydE]

Pat,

You just have a most creative mind, and when you use your creativity with the fishing knowledge you have acquired thoughout your lifetime of fishing, fascinating things happen. No wonder you always catch fish! Plus, you bless the lives of others who aren't as creative as you are. Great new lure. It seems to be especially effective when fishing from a tube.

Great report and pictures, as always.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks for the kindly comments, Lloyd.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is easy to think like a fish when you have worms for breakfast. YUK.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you are up for Willard tomorrow, PM me and we will work out the details.[/#0000ff]
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[bassrods]

Did you look or find any bass beds????

With the full moon and temps like they are they should be....

Nice pictures, Starvation looks like a small F Gorge...
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Much of Saleratus wash is still "stained" from all the chocolate coming in through the pipe. But, visibility pretty good along the south edges. Still, couldn't see deep enough to see any beds. Did get most of our smallie strikes in shallow water though. They are moving in even if they haven't set up housekeeping.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am guessing that there are probably some protected coves that have a bit warmer and clearer water and that there will be "romantic" smallies to be targeted there.[/#0000ff]
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[LloydE]

I'm ready. PM sent.
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[metal_fish]

Pretty Brave to be throw a tube on starvation! Had a tent trailer blow over when we were camping a few years back. Looks like it payed off! Great looking fish! Your lure setup seems to be working well. May i ask what the purpose of a carolina rig for a crank is? I am just starting to use cranks rapala's etc.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I have been tubing Starvation since the mid 1970's. If you watch the weather reports...and don't trust them...and be careful...you shouldn't get it trouble. Good advice for all waters.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Crankbaits come in all sizes, shapes and colors. Some are topwater or shallow runners. Some are floater/divers. Some suspend at whatever depth you quit reeling. Some dive to several feet and others dive many feet deeper. It usually depends on how the lure is weighted and the size, shape and angle of the "bill".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I began using weight to sink floating crankbaits over 30 years ago. I experimented by putting a floating size 5 Rapala on about 3 feet of leader, with a 1/4 oz egg sinker on the line, above a swivel. I would cast it out into about 20 -30 feet of water, where the bass were schooling during warm summer days and letting it sink to the bottom. Once it got there, I would give it some slack to let the floating lure rise up a few feet. Then I would crank it down quickly with the reel handle and let it go again...if it did not get clobbered. Something about the "injured fish" action that got the bass all hot and bothered.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Since then, I have used the same system to troll floating or shallow running crankbaits much deeper than they would normally run. Other anglers hook a crankbait behind a downrigger ball, on leadcore line or behind a set of pop gear. Same thing. Get the lure into the ZONE to catch fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Fishing from a float tube...or shore...you can't hope to cast far enough to get even a deep diving crankbait deep enough to run for any length of time in the zone where fish might be holding...when they are anything but shallow. So, you need to add weight without messing up the action of the lure.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You can get 'er done by just pinching on a split shot...or even by adding a dropper and tieing on a small weight of some kind. You can add a torpedo sinker, with loops at either end, and tieing the line on one end and the leader/lure on the other.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of my favorite ways to add weight to a crankbait is to tie a leadhead jig a couple of feet ahead of the crank. This not only adds weight, but an additional fish attractor. Fishing for wipers this way has resulted in some doubles. But, otherwise the fish will sometimes hit the jig and other times hit the crank. However, with this rig, you are more prone to get snagged if there is structure on the bottom. A slim sinker on the line is the best way to get the extra depth without increasing snags.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I generally prefer to fish crankbaits that are designed to run at the depth I need to fish...or a bit higher in the water column. The ones in the picture will dig down to about 6 or 7 feet, after a long cast and a fast "crank down". They dig in the mud in shallower water, which can sometimes be effective...if you don't find a snag. In deeper water, the fish will sometimes come up a couple of feet to hit the lures, if they are in an active mode. If the fish are sitting on the bottom, in 12 to 15 feet of water (typical of walleyes), they usually will not come that far up for a crankbait. You gotta bang them on the nose with it. That is where sinking a lure to their depth can make a difference.[/#0000ff]
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[metal_fish]

Okay I understand now so say if i were to have a small lure like a spinner of spoon and i needed to get it further out and deeper could i put it on a carolina rig? Or would it mess up the action?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]A lot of anglers clamp a split shot a foot or two above a spinner...or spoon. It does not affect the spinner action at all. For spoons and hardbaits, the weight CAN change the action. The closer to the lure you put the weight, the "tighter" the wiggle. Some guys actually like to use a short leader on some lures...especially kokanee lures...to make them wiggle faster but in a narrower area. If you lengthen the leader up to about 3 feet...like I was doing...it does not seem to affect the action much.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There is really no reason you have to mess with a fancy rig. All you need to do is add a split shot or two and you are good. Just be sure to adjust your retrieve to keep the lure running above the snags but deep enough to catch the deeper fish. That can take some practice and you need to know the feel of your tackle.[/#0000ff]
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[kochanut]

im going to try that rig for the fish that are here in ams pond! i hope a catch a big one like the SFC did a few weeks ago!
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