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[#0000ff]Met up with BLK and his Kat Krew about 6ish at the Lincoln Beach (Utah Lake) ramp. They worked together like a pit crew at the races and were launched and out the channel long before I was able to fire up my electric motor to hit the lake behind them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Air temp a cool 50. Water temp 70...rising a couple of degrees by noon. A bit murky because of the winds but calmed down and cleared a bit by midday.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Trolled a tandem jig rig out to my chosen cat venue. Had a couple of hits and landed a small white bass. Later I turned it into a 25" mama cat.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Had a newly made "gorilla rod" to try out. Plus I had some new fins...after donating one of my yellow ones to the fish gods on a previous trip. First cast with a large chub minnow on the new rod got me a quick bendo...on my first of several two footers...or bigger. Turned out to be a good day for gorillas.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the 25 inchers turned out to be a real challenge to get to the tube...and in the net. At the end of a long cast and a bit of a run with the bait, I set the hook and the bail on my Okuma Epixor reel came loose on one end. No quick fix. It was broken on the inside. So I had to pump and then wind the line on the spool by hand. Took awhile and almost lost a finger a couple of times when the fish became impatient with my lousy retrieval method. But it eventually crawled into the net and posed for a picture alongside the reel it had broken.
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[#0000ff]Only five or six fish were under two feet long. Another 12-15 were from 24 to 28 inches. Most of the bigger fish were dark daddy cats...some showing signs of "tough love" from the recent spawn fest. Some of the larger fish were females. And some still had eggs swelling their midsections.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Most of my fish came from about 8' of water. I wandered in and out of deeper and shallower water but the 8' zone seemed to have the most active cats.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]BLK and Krew tried several different areas. They also caught fish, including one about 27"...not by BLK. He's a good grampa. He lets his Gkids catch the most and biggest. Whatta guy.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This was a quick put-together trip to try to take advantage of a no-W forecast day. It worked. Very little breeze all morning. We were all over-funned and off the water by noon.
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Glad you made it away with your fins this time. Glad someone got that skunk out of the road for you so you could have a successful day and not feel the jinx other than losing a reel. Sorry that happened. Hoping it’s an easy fix. Great report and fun to read like always.
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[#0000FF]Thanks for the kindly thoughts. I might be able to repair the reel with some cannibalized parts from other reels. If not, it has served me well over quite a few years.
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A fine day indeed! Always fun to fish with The Dude... until about 11:00 and then the sun makes is not so fun.
We had a hard time finding fish in numbers today. I think we (I exclude myself from that pronoun) caught about a dozen or so fish. We were dragging gorilla fligs all day and in different places that had produced very well yesterday. We finally anchored up near where TD was fishing and I caught my only fish of the day. (Somebody had to captain the boat while dragging) so that is my excuse. When we finally anchored up in TD's hole we had the only other boat on the lake pull in and drop anchor within casting distance of our boat. [  ] Oh well, we were ready to quit for the day anyway.
We touched bases with TD a couple of times during the day and had to hear about all the big cats he was hauling in... the braggin' got so bad we would have to move on to another spot.
After we escaped from TD one of the boys asked me if Tube Dude really caught that many fish. I wanted so bad to tell them that he was a well known fibricator and it was most likely that he had only caught a couple of white bass, a few mudders, and maybe a carp... but, in the name of honesty, I had to tell them I was sure he caught every fish he claimed and most likely had pictures to prove it. I think that is when they wanted to go back and fish next to TD.
Oh well, tomorrow is another day and I expect to ketch a biggun' for sure.
Fish on.
BLK
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[#0000FF]I always enjoy sharing the water with you...either in my tube or in your boat. But I suspect you get tired of me whimpering about how I would be doing things differently in my tube...when i am along for the ride in your craft. But we usually bring a few to the net and we do seem to tolerate each other fairly well.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Good to see the young men so enthusiastic about their fishing. As we both know, there are lots of other things competing for their time and attention these days. Too bad they couldn't get a better guide.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Thanks again for the download on the flig supplies. Sorry that didn't work out well for you. Although the ones you showed me din't look half bad. Fish would eat them. I haven't had a chance to do an inventory yet, but when I can put a value on that stuff you can be sure I will repay in "bit-flig" currency.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Full moon soon. But my family and personal schedule are horrendous the next two weeks. You will have to do your moonlight cat sonata without me. Not sure I would be able to handle a long night on the water anymore. Used to do it all the time, but my stamina has waned a bit. Now it's tough for me to make it all the way through the 9 pm news. I call it "snooze the news".[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Say hi to the lads for me and show them some of those same old pictures I keep recycling.
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The broken reel sucks, tough way to reel in a big cat but you managed and still have all the appendages. Appears that you still have that fish magnet in your pocket somewhere, Looks like a great day. Great report and pics as always.
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Thanks for firing me up again -- been a bit down since the fiasco last Saturday. I have healing wounds from knocking my head against that wall. Oh well, I guess we'll try again this Saturday as the forecast is for light winds. Going out in little bit to see what I can do with an early morning run at the cats.
I want to try to catch some white bass at the launch area as you did last week. How do you rig for that?
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Nice work exercising all those big cats! I couldn't help but notice with your new blue fins, the red ride and all that white PVC your outfit looks ready for the 4th of July. Very patriotic of you.
Thanks for another great report. My schedule looks like yours sounds so I probably won't make it out again until early July. It does help ease the withdrawal pains when I can read your reports!
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[#0000FF]Thanks. I have been using Okumas for quite a few years now. Good reels at reasonable prices. Never had any kind of mechanical failure...until now. But "all's well that ends"...or something like that.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Fish magnet? Nope. Just gotta know where they stock it before you go. Past experience, a bit of deductive reasoning and plenty of luck all play a part too.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]You have been doing your share of cat-whacking lately too. Good on ya.
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"I want to try to catch some white bass at the launch area as you did last week. How do you rig for that?"
[#0000FF]I tried for some wee whities yesterday at the launch but nary a nibble. They are either in or out. Those I caught before were all holdovers from a late spawn last year. I just got lucky when I found them. They move around.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Yesterday there were some dimples and swirls out in the middle of the boat basin. There were also some 2" size whities popping out of the water here and there. In another month you will be able to catch plenty of 3-4 inchers around the ramp with tiny jigs and a bit of worm...or a 3 weight flyrod and a tandem nymph setup. Probably not much going on for a while yet.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Glad you like the new fins, but patriotism had nothing to do with my choice of colors. Tried to get some more yellow ones...so that if I lose another one I have a backup. Had to settle for the blue. Now that I am going out in the red, white and blue I guess I can fish for old glory. (cue a Sousa march)[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Glad I am able to soothe the itch of fishing withdrawal symptoms with my reports. It's tough work but I'm happy to help.
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Hey Pat didn’t you tell me this Spring that you didn’ need luck? I’m  .
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[#0000FF] Like other things in life. Even if you don't need it you should always be willing to accept it. Pride has no place in fishing.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF] For what it's worth, at my age I get more easily too.
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I’ve always been told that a good fisherman makes his own luck. Through trial and error, be willing to always except constructive critism, learn from those more experienced, and think and reason outside the box. Sooner or later things will start to click. You just made your good luck. Thanks Pat for all that you have shared on this site. Your willingness to train and entertain.
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"I’ve always been told that a good fisherman makes his own luck."
[#0000FF]For the most part, I totally agree. There is no real substitute for knowledge, experience and skill. But all of us "oldtimers" can remember many times and places that the rankest rookie or dumbest dimbulb caught the most and/or the biggest fish. I can too, on those good days when my reckymembery is working.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Thanks for the kindly comments.[/#0000FF]
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Yeah, yesterday I had the same experience with the bass. All the dimples were too far out for my bubble and fly. Then the only curly-tails I had with me wouldn't wiggle; live and learn (don't buy the cheapies).
How do you rig the tandem flies?
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"How do you rig the tandem flies?"
[#0000FF]I use tandem rigs a lot...two jigs, two flies or a combo with a jig and fly...or a combo with any other lure and a jig or fly. See the attached for some diagrams. If you can tie a blood knot you are all set.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Only time I drop back to a single lure or fly is when I am fishing large active fish...like wipers. I have had wipers take both lures and then I usually lose either one or both to line breakage or knot failure. Two big wipers going in opposite directions put a lot of strain on 6 or 8# leader. Otherwise, I have caught lots of doubles on perch, white bass, trout and even walleyes on a couple of occasions.
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