Well, I got out fishing Saturday for only the second time since we went to Flaming Gorge in March. Joatmon helped me figure out some of the electrical issues I've had with my boat (a new battery and getting the ground on right worked wonders) Friday evening. (You know, BOAT really stands for bring out another tool.) Brett got to the state park early and caught several wb and kept three for fresh catfish bait. I had a few chores to do with the boat so I didn't get there ontil later in the morning. Brett had talked to Richard and Vi at the docks when thay had launched earlier. We could see a black-looking boat a good way down the lake toward Bird Island and buzzed over to see if that was them. They had caught a few but no bumpers. We turned around and were going to stroll back toward the harbor but, best laid plans of mice and men, the electric motor was dead in the water. So we ran back up the lake and positioned ourselves to take advantage of a light west wind to do some drift fishing. I don't think we aver got going over .5 mph but that worked well enough that we ended up catching 9 fish. Brett did way better than I did, catching a couple of 29"ers and a 27.5". My three were rather modest-sized; don't know if I will even post them because in the several days I have left I'm sure I'll catch some over 25.5 inches. I probably would have boated a few more but for technical difficulties. I think I had some dullish hooks and sun-weakened line. One good fish I got up near the boat but he spit the hook back at me. All the ones I netted were lightly hooked in the whisker area. I'll make some changes and should be okay when I head out today.
The water temperature was about 49° when we started and rose to 50 before we departed at 5:30. A light jacket or heavy shirt kept me reasonably warm all day. Water depth was about 5 feet in the harbor and out in the lake. I thought that the channel would be the same but got some readings on the way back in that were less than three feet; I may have not been in the groove then though of course I kept it between the bouys.
Brett used Santee rigs and I used fligs. I don't think it made a lot of difference as we both got about the same number of bites though his circle hooks may have helped his hook-up rate over the sickle hooks on the fligs. It seemed that the cats preferred smaller baits than the big ones we use earlier in the season.
By the way, some of you have been wondering what kept me from fishing for so long. I was never going to be one of those old men who sit around swapping stories about their illnesses, so I haven't said much. But here goes. In the spring I started having kidney stone problems. When the urologist saw I had a number of stones he scheduled emergency "surgery." They didn't cut me open but used a tube that went through my urethra and ureters. He lazer-blasted almost all of them but had to stop short of getting the last one because my blood oxygen levels had dropped dangerously low. I had a stress test that turned out good. It took a long time before I even felt half-way decent. Not too long ago I developed symptoms which alarmed everyone. I couldn't walk straight, was dizzy and even fell down a couple of times and I had strange twitches in my fingers. My regular doctor diagnosed that I wasn't getting enough oxygen overnight. We added some oxygen to my C-PAP and the symtoms went away after a few days. I have since seen a cardiologist and a pulmonologist who have adjusted some meds and are monitoring my bp; and I'm scheduling a sleep study so I can get my C-PAP set up correctly plus getting an updated machine. I've had a few other less serious issues that have kept me feeling lousy, too. Hopefully I'm cruising into calmer health waters and should be back in time to tackle the ice-fishing contest whole-heartedly. (I think there's a pun or two in there somewhere.)
The water temperature was about 49° when we started and rose to 50 before we departed at 5:30. A light jacket or heavy shirt kept me reasonably warm all day. Water depth was about 5 feet in the harbor and out in the lake. I thought that the channel would be the same but got some readings on the way back in that were less than three feet; I may have not been in the groove then though of course I kept it between the bouys.
Brett used Santee rigs and I used fligs. I don't think it made a lot of difference as we both got about the same number of bites though his circle hooks may have helped his hook-up rate over the sickle hooks on the fligs. It seemed that the cats preferred smaller baits than the big ones we use earlier in the season.
By the way, some of you have been wondering what kept me from fishing for so long. I was never going to be one of those old men who sit around swapping stories about their illnesses, so I haven't said much. But here goes. In the spring I started having kidney stone problems. When the urologist saw I had a number of stones he scheduled emergency "surgery." They didn't cut me open but used a tube that went through my urethra and ureters. He lazer-blasted almost all of them but had to stop short of getting the last one because my blood oxygen levels had dropped dangerously low. I had a stress test that turned out good. It took a long time before I even felt half-way decent. Not too long ago I developed symptoms which alarmed everyone. I couldn't walk straight, was dizzy and even fell down a couple of times and I had strange twitches in my fingers. My regular doctor diagnosed that I wasn't getting enough oxygen overnight. We added some oxygen to my C-PAP and the symtoms went away after a few days. I have since seen a cardiologist and a pulmonologist who have adjusted some meds and are monitoring my bp; and I'm scheduling a sleep study so I can get my C-PAP set up correctly plus getting an updated machine. I've had a few other less serious issues that have kept me feeling lousy, too. Hopefully I'm cruising into calmer health waters and should be back in time to tackle the ice-fishing contest whole-heartedly. (I think there's a pun or two in there somewhere.)
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
dle again... Been sort of a weird year again this year... One of these years we'll get back to a more normal schedule... to where we can get back together as a BFT group... Went to work for a group picnic last month and hardly recognized the group I work with... Fuzzy faces and long hair has made a come back and guys looked different too... Anyway hope we see you on the pond soon, if not on the hard deck somewhere along the trail... Later Jeff
