A few hours at the South marina today

[wiperhunter2]

With all the rain in the forecast this week we thought we would give it a try in a window we saw this morning so we drove up to the South marina and fished from shore. This was the first sight we saw as we were driving in.



We got down to the parking area near the ramp and saw this as we walked around the point toward the channel.




When we got to the channel side we both casted out pink a nd either fire tiger or pale perch fligs, with chub for bait. Around 9 am I looked at the sky and saw this.



Within a few minutes Ira had the first cat on his line, a nice 23 incher, then it was pretty steady for the next two hours, with cats up to 24", then the calm was over and the sky looked like this.



Between the second and third hour the catching slowed and it rained lightly but we missed the worse of the passing storm. We ended up with 6 cats, one over 24" and a nice 12" perch.



On the walk back to the truck Ira found the huge mussel and it was alive, anyone ever seen one this big? I had no idea they got this big.




Took a few pics of what is below the water at the boat docks.

[TubeDude]

Excellent.  Looks like a bit of new water coming in might be pulling some fish into the channel.  When I was there last week I saw very little on sonar in the channel and didn't get a sniff on my offerings.   

And you guys proved that fligs can work for bank tangling as well as afloat.  And mid September is about when I start catching perch almost every year...even though they don't start schooling up much for another month or so. 

All in all, sounds like a good outing.  You caught fish and didn't have to worry about launching...or dinging your boat.  But now you'll be sending an army of happy harvesters down to line the banks.  Way ta go...hotspotter.

[wiperhunter2]

We do what we can, lol but I have no doubt Willard can take the pressure and if those happy harvesters can handle the mosquitoes and the flies like we did, I say more power to them. One other observation, they were putting in a pump to pump water out of the channel into the channel on the other side, you should have see it, it was quite an operation with back hoes, dump trucks, pipe trucks and trailers, even a bow and arrow was used to get a line across to the other side.

[TubeDude]

We do what we can, lol but I have no doubt Willard can take the pressure and if those happy harvesters can handle the mosquitoes and the flies like we did, I say more power to them. One other observation, they were putting in a pump to pump water out of the channel into the channel on the other side, you should have see it, it was quite an operation with back hoes, dump trucks, pipe trucks and trailers, even a bow and arrow was used to get a line across to the other side.

It was nice of them to put on a free show for you.  But I prefer watching and listening to the sounds of wildlife around me...not watching and hearing heavy machinery.  But as long as the fish are biting, I can deal with it.

[wiperhunter2]

We do what we can, lol but I have no doubt Willard can take the pressure and if those happy harvesters can handle the mosquitoes and the flies like we did, I say more power to them. One other observation, they were putting in a pump to pump water out of the channel into the channel on the other side, you should have see it, it was quite an operation with back hoes, dump trucks, pipe trucks and trailers, even a bow and arrow was used to get a line across to the other side.

It was nice of them to put on a free show for you.  But I prefer watching and listening to the sounds of wildlife around me...not watching and hearing heavy machinery.  But as long as the fish are biting, I can deal with it.

That's funny because that's exactly what I told Ira, too much noise. By the way have you ever seen a mussel that big at Willard or would you consider that a clam? Up until Ira pointed that one out to me the biggest I had seen, was the size of a quarter.

[TubeDude]

That's funny because that's exactly what I told Ira, too much noise. By the way have you ever seen a mussel that big at Willard or would you consider that a clam? Up until Ira pointed that one out to me the biggest I had seen, was the size of a quarter.

I'm guessing it is a fresh water mussel.  Most fresh water clams are much smaller.  I wasn't aware that there was a population of fresh water mussels in that river ecosystem, but it ain't like you find them just laying out on the ground a lot.  However, If you were to do some digging with a spade fork in shallow water you would probably be surprised at how many you could find. 

There are large freshwater mussels in many waterways around the country.  In the past there were commercial harvesting operations on some the big eastern state rivers.  They dredged up boatloads of the mussels and turned their shells into buttons.  

If you haven't already done so, you might send that pic to Chris Penne and ask for any additional input he might provide. 

PS...Those things make great bait in some places.  Used to catch some big (and rare) green sturgeon on the Klamath River in northern California...on mussels even bigger than the one you found.  Hooked the meat from two or three of them on a big hook and let it soak in the bottom of a big pool.  Those big pucker lipped fish just loved them.

[wiperhunter2]

That's funny because that's exactly what I told Ira, too much noise. By the way have you ever seen a mussel that big at Willard or would you consider that a clam? Up until Ira pointed that one out to me the biggest I had seen, was the size of a quarter.

I'm guessing it is a fresh water mussel.  Most fresh water clams are much smaller.  I wasn't aware that there was a population of fresh water mussels in that river ecosystem, but it ain't like you find them just laying out on the ground a lot.  However, If you were to do some digging with a spade fork in shallow water you would probably be surprised at how many you could find. 

There are large freshwater mussels in many waterways around the country.  In the past there were commercial harvesting operations on some the big eastern state rivers.  They dredged up boatloads of the mussels and turned their shells into buttons.  

If you haven't already done so, you might send that pic to Chris Penne and ask for any additional input he might provide. 

PS...Those things make great bait in some places.  Used to catch some big (and rare) green sturgeon on the Klamath River in northern California...on mussels even bigger than the one you found.  Hooked the meat from two or three of them on a big hook and let it soak in the bottom of a big pool.  Those big pucker lipped fish just loved them.

Good idea, I'll send the pics to Chris. I think the only reason Ira noticed it was because the water level had dropped so much it exposed it and he thought there was another one just off shore because he was seeing some bubbles coming up from it. Maybe that's why wipers love mussels so much, because they are naturally in the lake.

[TubeDude]

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If you haven't already done so, you might send that pic to Chris Penne and ask for any additional input he might provide. 

Good idea, I'll send the pics to Chris. I think the only reason Ira noticed it was because the water level had dropped so much it exposed it and he thought there was another one just off shore because he was seeing some bubbles coming up from it. Maybe that's why wipers love mussels so much, because they are naturally in the lake.
[/quote]
I was guessing that the mussel was probably exposed by the receding water level.  When I was a kid in Idaho I fished on a little creek that ran through Idaho Falls...Willow Creek.  It has since been diverted and dammed...and is now Ririe Reservoir.  But in those days whenever the creek level dropped very low in the late summer some of us kids would wade up and down the creek picking up those mussels. 

I seriously doubt that freshwater mussels are a significant part of the wiper diet.  I suspect that the attraction to mussels that make them such pushovers for the mussel-dunking crowd is a genetic instinctive thing inherited from their striped bass side of the family.  Salt water stripers eat lots of mollusks in their natural environments. 

But there is no accounting for tastes.  While on a temporary work assignment in the New Orleans area I was taken fishing for stripers...using chicken guts.  And the local stripers munched them like candy.  Can't figure out where and how they might have acquired a taste for catfish bait.

[Mr. J]

We do what we can, lol but I have no doubt Willard can take the pressure and if those happy harvesters can handle the mosquitoes and the flies like we did, I say more power to them. One other observation, they were putting in a pump to pump water out of the channel into the channel on the other side, you should have see it, it was quite an operation with back hoes, dump trucks, pipe trucks and trailers, even a bow and arrow was used to get a line across to the other side.




Just a note about the pump. Past low water years a pump has been put in at the same location to provide water to the wetlands; Harold Crane and Rainbow unit. From your description, it sounds like they may be installing a more premiant pipe.

rj

[wiperhunter2]

Just a note about the pump. Past low water years a pump has been put in at the same location to provide water to the wetlands; Harold Crane and Rainbow unit. From your description, it sounds like they may be installing a more premiant pipe.

rj

Thanks Richard. It was amazing the amount of gravel or dirt they hauled in there to prepare the area for that pump. We were wondering what they were doing at first but when they brought in the pipe, then the pump, there was no doubt what they were doing. About 18 years ago they brought in a similar pump and put it in the SW corner.

[wiperhunter2]

Here is a link Chris sent me about those mussels, I guess they are called Giant Floaters:
https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail....IMBIV54030

[Bduck]

Too bad there is no gooey duck which is a saltwater clam of the Pacific northwest. Proper spelling is Geoduck. 

[TubeDude]

Too bad there is no gooey duck which is a saltwater clam of the Pacific northwest. Proper spelling is Geoduck. 

Yeah.  But those things are tough to get.  I also miss gapers, pismos, razors and cockles.  Lotsa good clammin' along the Pacific coast.

[Bduck]

My dad spent a lot of time on the coast and mastered gooey duck collecting. He even taught a couple Utah friends the art 

[Mr. J]

Just a note about the pump. Past low water years a pump has been put in at the same location to provide water to the wetlands; Harold Crane and Rainbow unit. From your description, it sounds like they may be installing a more premiant pipe.

rj

Thanks Richard. It was amazing the amount of gravel or dirt they hauled in there to prepare the area for that pump. We were wondering what they were doing at first but when they brought in the pipe, then the pump, there was no doubt what they were doing. About 18 years ago they brought in a similar pump and put it in the SW corner.

The pump out on the south dike was put in to supply GSL with the fresh water they need. They are allocated shares to help process their extractions from the big lake. There is a pipe under the dike that feeds the canal on the south side of the road just before you get to the south west corner. Interesting that the canal goes right through wet lands but none of it is drawn to flood the wet lands. I remember the pump out there, just cant remember how long ago. Can't remember too much about yesterday either.

rj