30 Days

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Well, it's been 30 days since the last post on this board. I guess everybody is wimping out.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Not me, I already hit some open water in Utah, in early January. Of course, I had to drag my tube to the water through the snow. Here's a link to the post on the Utah board. [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=178414;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]TUBE SLEDDIN[/url][/#0000ff]
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[cat_man]

Yeah Pat it's been rather quiet around here lately - for sure.

I'm now in my LAST semester of school!!! Can't wait to have free time like real people!!
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[tubeN2]

Some of us are still lurking around. The crazy weather here can't make up it's mind. 40 degree nights 74 degree days.

I like the tube sled for snow. I need to come up with one for mud. We got 22 inches of rain in the last 2 weeks. That make for tons of mud and no fishing.[]

We will get out soon.[cool]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I guess arks don't qualify as float tubes, huh? [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Man, you guys have really been gettin' it. Hope everybody is okay.[/#0000ff]
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[Bassmaster-ND]

I was wondering what all the tubers were doing. It's been too quite in here.

Nice report. Great pictures!

It's been too dang cold up here to do anything with windchill temps 20 below most of the time. But looking at the weather forcast there is supposed to be a "heat wave" in the week ahead. I'll believe it when I see it[]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, this is the time of year in the cold country when we need to find something to do, to keep from jumping off our float tubes. I use the time to make up a lot of new jigs, wrap or rewrap rods, organize lure boxes and all that other stuff you never have time for when the weather is good and the fish are biting.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also do a lot of daydreaming, about trips I have made to the Sea of Cortez, or other warm spots.[/#0000ff]
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[Bassmaster-ND]

Cool pictures!!

I'm actually going to go fishing tommorow! It will be the first time in a month!! Its questionable whether or not I will use my tube. I'm going to lake nelson (the power plant lake) and I dont want to have to deal with steam in my face while in my tube. I already did that earlier this winter...not much fun when you cant see anything[]. But I will bring it along just incase their isnt any steam[].

I fixed my fishing lure "addiction" today.. I went and spent $30 on new lures. Bass jigs and crankbaits!

I'll report on how I do tomorrow.
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[tubeN2]

I finally go to abandon the ark idea. The sun finally came out and the birds are singing once again. We didn't get to tube yet but we did do some boat fishing around the channel islands. Caught lot of Opaleyes and monster blue perch.

The tubes will be back in the water as soon as the lakes are redefined and cleared of some of the major debris.[cool]
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[Bassmaster-ND]

We went to lake nelson (a power plant lake) and there was steam from the water all over the place sence the water was 65-70 degrees and the outside temp was like 5 degrees. Craig was 10 yards away from me and I couldnt see him there was so much steam! And it was windy as hell..making it about -20 below.

To show you how cold it was: When we first made our first casts, our fishing line froze right away..make it hard to cast. And also the worms were frozen in the first 5 minutes. Not much fun. We fished for like 30 minutes and then Craig slipped and his foot fell in the water and it froze as soon as he took it out! So by then we were both ready to go.

But I did have a decent sized bass on....except he got off when I lifted him out of the water

So....I think I'll wait until its nicer out...like 20 degrees and no wind to go again!
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[tubeN2]

There is nothing like quick frozen fish. That's what I miss the most about ice fishing.

Be sure to let us know how you do on the next trip. You may even consider tubing that spot. You can attach a small beacon on your FC4 so that you can be spotted easily.[cool]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Yep. Ya can't beat fun. Us crazy fishermen do some wierd stuff for enjoys.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have fished in similar conditions...when I was younger and more foolish. Now I try to plan my trips for conditions in which I can at least avoid hypothermia and not hurt myself. Well, sometimes.[/#0000ff]
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[Coldfooter]

I must admit I miss relaxing in the tube. But I will also add that the last tubin' run we made to LB was a tad nippy for my liking. Guess I'm just not build to spend a lot of time setting in ice water, it caused to many pit stops.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Wee Wee (Oui Oui). It seems like you have to "download" about three times as much as you took in before you launched. Cold water and active kidneys are a bad combination. And, ya can't just make a yellow X on the water like when you are ice fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yeah, we will get out again, but maybe in warmer water. Although I do hear the call of the walleye, with all that open water. I have taken them every month of the year. Ya just gotta watch your liquid intake and stay close to a stretch of less populated bank.[/#0000ff]
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[ALAN]

Hey Pat, on the picture marked "San Carlos haul", are those Trigger fish there in front? They look like ones I used to catch in Cabo many years ago. When it was still a dirt road if that gives you a clue on how long ago.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Right ye are, me lad. Them be triggerfish. They are almost considered nuisances in the Sea of Cortez because they are so plentiful. But, on light tackle and from float tubes they are a hoot. Anything over about two pounds will just about haul you overboard. And, you don't wanna get your anatomy close to those nasty teeth.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I used to drive the length of Baja in the dirt road days too. Camped on some of the beaches and "went native" I always took some bags of rice and beans and sometimes stayed with Mexican farm families for days. Good people who appreciated everything they had...even when they had nothing. They sure appreciated the fish I donated.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Don't know how long it has been since you been to Cabo, but it is yuppieville now. You have to go a long ways up the East Cape to find anything affordable.[/#0000ff]
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[ALAN]

I was down there in 1973. A buddy of mine and I took our motorcycles down the Baja. Figured we'd be gone about a week since we only took $150.00 a piece. Well, it was six weeks later that we came back into the U.S. We watched a lot of the locals fishing and they didn't have poles, reels or any gear. They just had a spool of line with a weight and the hook on it, swung it over their heads and tossed it out. So thats what we did. Talk about a blast! We would put almost any kind of scrap on the hook and could catch a Triggerfish. Then we would cut the Triggerfish up and use it for bait. The strangest thing I caught was a big old eel. Can't tell you how big it was. I was pulling my line in with my head tourned talking to this youg lady we met when she let out a scream. It starteled me and when I looked at my line there was about 2 feet of an eel that was about 3" in daimeter on the rocks. It startled me also so as soon as there was any slack in the line there it went. Went down to the bottom and wrapped its self around a rock and it was all over. Tried for a long time to get it to realese and even left it alone for an hour or so but it wasn't giving up. I finally just cut the line and let it be. Al
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[JapanRon]

Hey TubeDude,

Hadn't heard from you so long that I thought that we would find you next spring with your lips frozen to the air filler on your tube... Oh ... about 30 feet deep on that one last perch hole of the Fall.

As TubeN2 as mentioned..... the water is so nasty, cold, dirty, filthy (brown trout subspecies) from the run off from Los Garbage that I wouldn't take my tube out! Fresh water ponds not much better but yes there is fishing there that won't get you a guest shot on the World's Ugliest Mutants.

JapanRon
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]No worries about the tubester, Ron san. My mama din't raise no fools. I also plan my trips around more hospitable conditions. I have been knowed to launch under less than ideal weather and temp conditions, but I am generally properly attired and in no risk of becoming a tube-sicle.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have been following the neverending weather siege in your area. Bummer. All the flood water and muddy inflows really shut down the fishing. Been there, done that. It would have been the same if I had stayed in Arizona. They have gotten a bunch of flooding and mudding there this winter too. All the rivers are overflowing and the lakes are chocolate. They needed the water. Now they need an ark.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here in Salt Lake, we do it right. Tons of snow in the mountains, for the skiers, but hardly any snow in the lower elevations. I have not had to run my snow blower even once this winter, while they have almost 200 percent of normal snowpack in the mountains. Hopefully the spring runoff will replenish our drought lowered reservoirs without causing any flood damage.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Our lower elevation reservoirs are rising nicely and are already free of ice. I am ready to begin my tubing season either this weekend or next. The walleye and white bass are hitting in Utah Lake, and the different species in the other lakes should be willing too. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All I gotta do is watch out for one of those sudden spring freezes so that I don't get iced in. That can just ruin your whole day.[/#0000ff]
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