Bubble up on Saturday

[Bassomatic]

Hit the Bubble up yesterday. The water was beautiful, glassy as ever. Started fishing at 7:30 and fished till about noon. We had a few small nibbles, but couldn't get anything to stay on the line. The bite was definitely not on. Talked to everyone fishing the marina and not one fish was reported. Water depth is shallow but launch is possible.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]The Bubbleup is usually one of my fave early spots too...for whities, walleyes and catfish. But last year it started out even a bit higher than this year and there was not much fishing until after the water warmed above 60 degrees and the fish moved shallower.

I'm guessing maximum depth at the end of the pipeline is less than 3-4 feet. I fished Lincoln Beach today and did not get bit in less than 6 feet of water.
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[Bassomatic]

Thanks TubeDude! You're guessing correctly, the water at the second buoy is about 3 feet and at the end, it's closer to 4. We had a few nibbles from what felt like very small fish. I watched a guy catch a really nice channel on the north side of the Lindon Harbor last week and thought it would be worth getting the boat in the water for a float. We had a great ride, but not a worthy nibble.

On top of that, my finder and my electric motor quit working on me, so looking for the holes was not doable.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]There are a lot of small bullheads and white bass in the shallower water. They can drive you wacko.

There will be some larger fish near where Battle Creek flows in north of Lindon...out from the waste sorting facility. The flowing water attracts all species, including walleyes.

Bummer about the gear problems. But better to get those out of the way before prime time fishing.

I just bought a new Humminbird Helix 5 sonar for my tube. Got tired of having problems accurately recording depths in shallower waters with other units. This one fired right up and showed depth rock solid from 1' on up. First sonar I have had in color. Love it so far. Here's a pic.

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[Bassomatic]

That makes sense. I have a good finder, it's a Lowrance Elite 4x, also a color screen. What a difference from the old grayscale! I've got some work to do to try and get everything working. Hopefully, I can get it all fixed in time for this weekend!
I think my biggest problem had to do with the electric motor. For some reason I couldn't control the throttle, as soon as I plugged it in, it turned on. It will go faster/slower, but won't stop. I spun the top with the handle around backwards for ease of use and I'm thinking that may have something to do with it. I think I just had a bad connection on the finder battery cable. Hopefully it's a 30 minute repair.

I'd really love to get some walleye action going, but I'm worried with the low water this year, they may be slow to move in. I've never caught one on purpose and would really like to target them this year.

I have a son that literally lives to fish and he needs to know what it feels like to catch walleye, and hopefully hook into 10# or bigger fish.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Sounds like a switch problem on the electric motor. Hope you get it worked out. They make life easier, when they work well. But when you don't have them you really miss them.

If the water comes up a bit you can still get some walleye during the post spawn period (after mid April) around Lindon and the bubbleup. That's where I catch a lot of my best fish most years. Last year was zippo with the low water. That's when you need to head south to Lincoln Beach to find deeper water and more fish.

That being said, I have caught several walleyes around the bubbleup in less than 3' of water. And I will likely be back trying for more at some point this spring.
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[Bassomatic]

I think you're right on the switch.

I've never fished Lincoln beach before. I'm going to have to give that a try. Depending on how many people I put in my boat, may try to get out to the Bird Island as well. Looks like the moon may be better next week for the fishing too. Sounds like this weekend was slow everywhere.
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[fsh4fun05]

Too bad I sold my 200hp outboard, it would go great with that new finder []
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Naw. A single 200 would be underpowered. I'd have to have a matching set...or maybe a single over 300.

Thanks for thinking of me though.
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[PACKFAN]

I'm looking at the Helix 7 for my boat, I've never ran anything but a Lowrance so I'm not familiar with the Hummingbird units. I did read one review on them that said the GPS doesn't accurately measure slower speeds of the boat say less than 1.5 MPH when you want fairly accurate speeds for trolling. Do you ever use speed indication on your tube or don't worry about it? Sometimes I get down to under 1 MPH when bottom bouncing maybe .6 or .7 MPH, My Lowrance will read this low. Just curious, thanks.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I got the plain vanilla Helix. No DI, GPS or speed.

I just cain't kick fast enough to get a speed reading nohow.

For what it's worth I did quite a bit of research and read a lot of reviews on the new Humminbird models. I don't recall reading anything about the poor readout at slow trolling speeds. That would be a bummer when you are finessing the fish. I know there are some that vary widely at higher speeds.

If you haven't already done so try searching out some reviews on the specific model you are looking at. Some reviewers are wacko. Others make more sense. If all else fails, direct a question to the customer service department of Humminbird.
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[PACKFAN]

Thanks TD
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