WEEKEND REPORT

[TubeDude]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Well, whadaboudit Arizona fishermen? Anything to be thankful for over the Turkey Day weekend? I know the weather was wierd and a lot of us had "responsibilities" that kept us off the water, but we would like to hear anything you have to report.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Winds made boating tough for the bassin' fraternity, but there were some decent smallies and wallies taken the past few days. They like sloppy water and low pressure. Largemouth were another matter. They have seemed to be sulking a lot the last week. Been a few big trout eaters taken in Saguaro and Canyon, but the occasional topwater action was just about non existent last week.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Trout are being taken by bank anglers fishing the standard bottle baits and small spinners. Fly flingers have been enjoying occasional action too, with some releasing twenty or more trout in a morning session. I hear that both Canyon and Saguaro are due for more trout this week. [/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Small dark nymphs and emergers subsurface seem to be the best producers. In spinners, try silver blades with something hot red or orange...beads or plastic tubing. I make my own little inline spinners and use a single hook wrapped with fluorescent red or chartreuse chenille. Hot orange works too...as does black and yellow.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Hey Critters, have you been chasing any trout or northerns in Parker Canyon? If not, do you at least have any current info for us?[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Anyone been to Alamo lately. That poor pond is sorely in need of some water, but continues to produce bass, cats, crappies and nice bluegill.. Before the storms it was kicking out quite a few fish, but there weren't many people fishing it. It is a low elevation water and tends to stay warmer longer in the fall and warm up faster in the spring.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]I am thankful Thanksgiving is over. Took two weeks out of my fishing schedule, to prepare, serve and clean up after a big out-of-town crowd. Now maybe I can get back to the serious stuff. See you on the waters.[/size][/font]
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[AZBassman]

TubeDude/All

Apache Lake

Went yesterday/Sunday to see if I could get on a good bite for a upcoming tournament my partner was fishing. After fighting off the fog in the morning fishing around the marina which produced a few smallies on inline spinners/ripbaits. after the fog cleared out we headed down toward the damn and started pitching jigs for some of the deep largemouth, low and behold we started catching some nice smallies in the 3+ pound range. Some of the time the jig wont even touch the bottom before one of the smallies would grab it and just hold onto it, so you had to be paying attention to any strange movement of your line cause most of the time I wouldnt feel anything through the rod. We left the lake around 5:15pm with boating over 15 smallies and one largemouth that weighted close to 4lbs. We concentrated on the steep rip rap banks toward the damn on both sides of the lake, we would position the boat around 30-40ft deep and cast the jigs horizontally to the shore. We picked up most fish in the 25 to 30 foot range as the jig was falling through the water column. All and all the fishing was fair but real tough to notice a bite so if you go make sure you have yourself a good rod that can notice any movement of your bait, just a tip. So yall go out and give it a shot and let us know how ya did.

Fish On
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[TubeDude]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Hey, I'm glad you got in the prefishing. Hope you found a pattern that will hold up for the tournament. If it won't compromise the "top secret" findings, can you give us any hints on colors, sizes and/or makes of lures? Don't blow it for your boatmate. Of course there is a lot of the kind of shoreline you mentioned and I'm sure you made marks on the water wherever you found the fish.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Those tough days when you have to almost strike by instinct really help sharpen your skills. An average basser would have fished all day and gone home crying about weather fronts, time of the moon or something else that kept them from getting bit. Every fish you stick under finesse conditions is a fish well earned.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]A couple more questions: Did you record the water temps and did you see anyone bring in trout, yellow bass or walleyes? They should be getting active too.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Thanks for the good report.[/size][/font]
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[AZBassman]

Just to let you all know that last post was from me, I had just forgot to sign on when I was using a different computer.

Sorry all

Fish On
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[TubeDude]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]You didn't fool me. I knew right away you weren't Bill Dunce.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Appreciate the update.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]I'm going to start accumulating a collection of posts on most of the major waters in the state...and a species by species archive too. If you want to dash off a few lines on any subjects near and dear to your heart they would be welcome. I know that AZBassman has a soft spot in his heart for Apache, since that's where his biggest largemouth came from, so I expect some words of wisdom from him on Apache.[/size][/font]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]How about the rest of the "specialists" out there. Let's start some new threads on the different lakes and the different species. I would especially like to get some stuff on both the north and south part of the state. And, let's not forget out oceanfront property along the Colorado River. Lots of good fishing along the river. Any anglers plugged in over there?[/size][/font]
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