Another road trip.

[fast_randy]

I took Shawn to Hawkins this morning. It was so weird because there were 2 pound trout swimming by constantly three and four feet from the bank. I think cutthroat. We tried for two hours to get them to bite. I'm not kidding, hundreds of fish swimming by and not eating nothing that we had. It is kinda known for a power bait lake. But I tried every color. You could see your power bate and the fish swimming by ignoring it. And worms and minnow and all kinds of lures. We finally gave up went to Deep Creek. Where we both got a three pound Rainbow on castmasters.

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Add image won't let me post a picture right now. Maybe later.

[gofish435]

Thanks for the report.  That can be maddening when you can see them, and they just aren't interested.
Hawkins can be a fun little pond when it's full.  The inlet area holds some good fish, but the trick is keeping them out of the weeds.

How are the water levels at those two reservoirs?

Do they still not allow boats/float tubes on Deep Creek?

[meancuznalfy]

Hmmm, sounds like they are spawning or getting ready to spawn so they seem to get lock jaw, might try a Marabou jig, used to catch them on those when they were shallow like that.

[wiperhunter2]

Way to beat off the skunk, lots of driving again, it sounds like. I've never heard of you guys ice fishing on either lake, have you ever tried them during the Winter?

[fast_randy]

Yes, Curt. I have ice fished Hawkins. I didn't do any good because I didn't have any power bait. As I was leaving I talked to a guy that had limited out with it. Since then I have made sure to have some wherever I go.
Hawkins is a little low still. The water is below the boat ramp. And Deep Creek is about 20 foot below high water mark. Still lots of water and bank fishing only.
We also fished Twin Lakes for for a bit before the wind got to bad. We were the only ones on either lake. And we couldn't get a bite.

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I just remembered another time I ice fished Hawkins. I have a Vexlar camera that I was playing with. I end up not liking or using the camera much. The weight of the camera and Sonar being so easy to use. I did see a nice trout come up and grab my jig with the camera. The only fish I ever got with that camera.

[wiperhunter2]

Yes, Curt. I have ice fished Hawkins. I didn't do any good because I didn't have any power bait. As I was leaving I talked to a guy that had limited out with it. Since then I have made sure to have some wherever I go.
Hawkins is a little low still. The water is below the boat ramp. And Deep Creek is about 20 foot below high water mark. Still lots of water and bank fishing only.
We also fished Twin Lakes for for a bit before the wind got to bad. We were the only ones on either lake. And we couldn't get a bite.

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I just remembered another time I ice fished Hawkins. I have a Vexlar camera that I was playing with. I end up not liking or using the camera much. The weight of the camera and Sonar being so easy to use. I did see a nice trout come up and grab my jig with the camera. The only fish I ever got with that camera.

The most useful time I fould when using an underwater camera was when the bite was very light, then it made the difference between catching them and not catching them. They were just tapping the jig or mouthing it for a split second, so once I could see them take it on the camera, my catch rate really improved.

Did you try any spinners at Hawkins? In the past I've found that even when all else fails, I can usually get bows to bite when I put a small piece of worm on a spinner.

[fast_randy]

I didn't think about a spinner. I know I had mepps and panther martins in my box. I forgot the corn, that might have done it. I tried mostly combinations of powerbait and worms at Hawkins. I do love corn. At Blackfoot Reservoir, where the big rainbows are hungry, I thread several pieces of corn up the hook, onto the line. Then I put a couple powere nuggets up onto the line. Then a white marshmallow. Then a night crawler.
Don't laugh, it works. Some guys from Shelly showed me it many years ago when I was just using worm and marshmallow.