06-29-2023, 04:23 PM
Jon (Dirtbag) and I were at a meeting a week ago Sunday a guy was telling about all the nice trout he had gotten at Scofield the week before that. On our way out after the meeting Jon approached me and said: “We gotta go! Can you get off for half a day on Friday?” We couldn’t actually go so we settled on Thursday.
After tying up the loose ends at work and at home, we got on to the lake about 2. It had been 10 years or more since I had been at Scofield and I was excited.
The plan was to try to catch a few chubs for the freezer and then split the next 6 hours between trolling and still fishing. Things started off well as I got an 11 inch chub while Jon was parking the car and 3 more a little larger in about 30 minutes.
We launched at the ramp near the dam and started trolling. We should have seen the handwriting on the wall as we got rained on in the first 30 minutes. Being in the sheltered cove near the dam we didn’t see what was going on in the main lake.
The first trout hit a crankbait running at 1.5 MPH. It was big mouthed cut a little under 19”. The first our only produced 2 more small fish so we decided to try still fishing. Bad timing. We anchored in 30 FOW just as the next rain squall approached. 15 minutes later we were dragging both anchors and getting pummeled by the waves. The wind was changing really fast with every little bad of rain that passed. We managed one or 2 little cuts for that effort.
![[Image: First-Cutt.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/TKGyJ6S4/First-Cutt.jpg)
Jon wanted to try a spot he remembered from years ago, so when we saw the wind slowing and clearing skies, we headed over. 15 minutes later we were in heavy wind dragging both anchors. It tried to start the big motor and the wind was so loud I couldn’t tell what was happening, but it didn’t start. I jumped up front and put the electric in. I was slow going, but I got us out far enough into the bay that we weren’t going to wash ashore.
With that emergency over, I turned again to the big motor and it started right up. The waves were pounding so I just pointe the bow into them and kept it steady thinking to wait until the next calm time to try something else. Then the long handled trout net blew out and we had to make 4 circles before I could get it back in the boat. I was sure glad I had put a pool noodle on it a few weeks back.
![[Image: Net-going-over.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/9rHzc2WQ/Net-going-over.jpg)
With the bow pointed into the waves and the 150 just above an idle we were moving along at about 1.5 mph. By now we were 3 hours into our 6 hour window. After 10 minutes I told Jon: “I guess we might as well drag something while we wait this one out. So I tossed out the crankbait and a white tub jig that was rigged and easy to get at. I wasn’t paying much attention to the gear, just keeping the boat pointed into the waves when Jon said: “Hey, you’ve got one on.” “In this, you're kidding.” I said.
That started the best part of the day, in the next 2 hours we landed over a dozen cuts, mostly between 15 and 19 inches and Jon got a 20 inch Tiger that must have weighed 3 pounds. At one point just before the wind died I had 2 on and was driving the boat while Jon hooked a 3rd. Even better news was that the wind eventually died down until just before dark when we were hitting the ramp.
![[Image: Jon-s-Cutthroat-18.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/H8DWW01h/Jon-s-Cutthroat-18.jpg)
![[Image: Jon-s-Tiger-20-inches.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/Cz0MW4NZ/Jon-s-Tiger-20-inches.jpg)
![[Image: My-Cutthroat-19.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/pyzXGSDb/My-Cutthroat-19.jpg)
All in all it was a rough, but productive evening. We caught and released 20 cutts and the one tiger and I got some chub meat for the freezer. Most of the fish hit cranks or jigs, trolled between 1.5 and 2.5 mph and tipped with either crawlers or fresh chub meat.
I may go back up there, but not if they are forecasting a 20% chance of rain!
After tying up the loose ends at work and at home, we got on to the lake about 2. It had been 10 years or more since I had been at Scofield and I was excited.
The plan was to try to catch a few chubs for the freezer and then split the next 6 hours between trolling and still fishing. Things started off well as I got an 11 inch chub while Jon was parking the car and 3 more a little larger in about 30 minutes.
We launched at the ramp near the dam and started trolling. We should have seen the handwriting on the wall as we got rained on in the first 30 minutes. Being in the sheltered cove near the dam we didn’t see what was going on in the main lake.
The first trout hit a crankbait running at 1.5 MPH. It was big mouthed cut a little under 19”. The first our only produced 2 more small fish so we decided to try still fishing. Bad timing. We anchored in 30 FOW just as the next rain squall approached. 15 minutes later we were dragging both anchors and getting pummeled by the waves. The wind was changing really fast with every little bad of rain that passed. We managed one or 2 little cuts for that effort.
Jon wanted to try a spot he remembered from years ago, so when we saw the wind slowing and clearing skies, we headed over. 15 minutes later we were in heavy wind dragging both anchors. It tried to start the big motor and the wind was so loud I couldn’t tell what was happening, but it didn’t start. I jumped up front and put the electric in. I was slow going, but I got us out far enough into the bay that we weren’t going to wash ashore.
With that emergency over, I turned again to the big motor and it started right up. The waves were pounding so I just pointe the bow into them and kept it steady thinking to wait until the next calm time to try something else. Then the long handled trout net blew out and we had to make 4 circles before I could get it back in the boat. I was sure glad I had put a pool noodle on it a few weeks back.
With the bow pointed into the waves and the 150 just above an idle we were moving along at about 1.5 mph. By now we were 3 hours into our 6 hour window. After 10 minutes I told Jon: “I guess we might as well drag something while we wait this one out. So I tossed out the crankbait and a white tub jig that was rigged and easy to get at. I wasn’t paying much attention to the gear, just keeping the boat pointed into the waves when Jon said: “Hey, you’ve got one on.” “In this, you're kidding.” I said.
That started the best part of the day, in the next 2 hours we landed over a dozen cuts, mostly between 15 and 19 inches and Jon got a 20 inch Tiger that must have weighed 3 pounds. At one point just before the wind died I had 2 on and was driving the boat while Jon hooked a 3rd. Even better news was that the wind eventually died down until just before dark when we were hitting the ramp.
All in all it was a rough, but productive evening. We caught and released 20 cutts and the one tiger and I got some chub meat for the freezer. Most of the fish hit cranks or jigs, trolled between 1.5 and 2.5 mph and tipped with either crawlers or fresh chub meat.
I may go back up there, but not if they are forecasting a 20% chance of rain!
