11-16-2008, 01:08 AM
[cool][#0000ff]Just had to go "field test" some of those Grantsville grayling (carp minnows). Figured Willard might be a good place to soak a few. Took TubeBabe and a couple of bags of the new minners and headed north.
Only 27 degree air temp when we launched at the north marina about 8. Water level is up almost a foot since last month. Water temp was 43 at launch and 46 when we came back in around 1. Clear and calm all morning. Wunnerful for tubers.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We started dragging one of the "carp emerger patterns" on one rod and pitching plastics on the other. I got the first fish, a "cookie cutter" kitty of about 15 inches...on a red and chartreuse plastic tube jig. Hit hard and fought well...in COLD water. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Amazingly, TubeBabe caught her first fish on the same tube jig...about a 17 incher. And those were the only fish we caught on lures all day.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It took a while to start getting bit on the carp minnows. But, once the sun came over the mountain, we both began to get "inquiries". The fish were either very tentative in the cold water...or else they did a "gulp and go"...swallowing the bait quickly. We both donated a lot of minnows to "inexperienced fish" that didn't know how to play the game right.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The upside is that we kept busy and it was definitely not boring. We both caught a few decent sized kitties...with my 22 incher being the biggest. TubeBabe's largest of the day was 19 inches.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Had a couple of bonus catches on the carplets. TubeBabe finessed a 13" smallie that kept picking up and dropping her minnow. Of course she kept it. Hey, Bassrods, YOU TELL HER. I gotta live with her.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The highlight of my day was a porky and purty 22 inch walleye. First walleye I have landed from Willard this year in spite of spending many early mornings slinging all kinds of stuff specifically for those toothy critters. Just supports the claim I always make that there are far more walleye caught by accident than by design.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]At one point, TubeBabe and I were working back toward each other, to make a tackle handoff or something, and she suddenly went bendo on both of her rods. She rassled in the first cat, scooped it in her net, put her first rod in a holder and then brought in the second fish. Scooped it up in the net along with the first kitty and had a "double dipper". The ha-ha part was that she had gone almost an hour without a bite at that point and then does a double take. Sheesh.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I had tossed back a couple of fish, keeping 7, and figured I would have no trouble bringing in the 8th and last fish. It had been pretty steady. But, just as we kicked back away from each other, a brisk cold west breeze came up and somebody un-rung the dinner bell for the fishies. We still saw lots of fish on the sonar screen, but they all had their little mouths closed and their middle fins upraised. You have to know how to read your display to determine that. Doesn't show up on a flasher.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We fished almost an hour after the west wind came up without a bite for either of us. Headed for a Smith and Eddies stop and then headed home to the fillet board.[/#0000ff]
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[signature]
Only 27 degree air temp when we launched at the north marina about 8. Water level is up almost a foot since last month. Water temp was 43 at launch and 46 when we came back in around 1. Clear and calm all morning. Wunnerful for tubers.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We started dragging one of the "carp emerger patterns" on one rod and pitching plastics on the other. I got the first fish, a "cookie cutter" kitty of about 15 inches...on a red and chartreuse plastic tube jig. Hit hard and fought well...in COLD water. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Amazingly, TubeBabe caught her first fish on the same tube jig...about a 17 incher. And those were the only fish we caught on lures all day.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It took a while to start getting bit on the carp minnows. But, once the sun came over the mountain, we both began to get "inquiries". The fish were either very tentative in the cold water...or else they did a "gulp and go"...swallowing the bait quickly. We both donated a lot of minnows to "inexperienced fish" that didn't know how to play the game right.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The upside is that we kept busy and it was definitely not boring. We both caught a few decent sized kitties...with my 22 incher being the biggest. TubeBabe's largest of the day was 19 inches.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Had a couple of bonus catches on the carplets. TubeBabe finessed a 13" smallie that kept picking up and dropping her minnow. Of course she kept it. Hey, Bassrods, YOU TELL HER. I gotta live with her.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The highlight of my day was a porky and purty 22 inch walleye. First walleye I have landed from Willard this year in spite of spending many early mornings slinging all kinds of stuff specifically for those toothy critters. Just supports the claim I always make that there are far more walleye caught by accident than by design.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]At one point, TubeBabe and I were working back toward each other, to make a tackle handoff or something, and she suddenly went bendo on both of her rods. She rassled in the first cat, scooped it in her net, put her first rod in a holder and then brought in the second fish. Scooped it up in the net along with the first kitty and had a "double dipper". The ha-ha part was that she had gone almost an hour without a bite at that point and then does a double take. Sheesh.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I had tossed back a couple of fish, keeping 7, and figured I would have no trouble bringing in the 8th and last fish. It had been pretty steady. But, just as we kicked back away from each other, a brisk cold west breeze came up and somebody un-rung the dinner bell for the fishies. We still saw lots of fish on the sonar screen, but they all had their little mouths closed and their middle fins upraised. You have to know how to read your display to determine that. Doesn't show up on a flasher.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We fished almost an hour after the west wind came up without a bite for either of us. Headed for a Smith and Eddies stop and then headed home to the fillet board.[/#0000ff]
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42080"][#63626b]LOOKIN GOOD.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (159 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42081"][#63626b]TUBER'S DELIGHT.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (237 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42082"][#63626b]EARLY COOKIE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (147 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42083"][#63626b]BIGGER COOKIE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (214 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42084"][#63626b]22 PLUS.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (172 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42085"][#63626b]TRUE 22.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (235 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42086"][#63626b]CARP EMERGER PATTERN.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (132 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42087"][#63626b]CARPLET CHOMPER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (219 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42089"][#212126]C'MERE YOU.jpg[/#212126][/url] (300 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42090"][#63626b]DON'T GET NO BETTER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (252 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42091"][#63626b]DOUBLE DIPPER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (246 KB) [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=42092"][#63626b]DINNER GUESTS.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (292 KB)[signature]
