10-18-2017, 11:06 PM
[#0000ff]Weather forecrash was good for Starvy today and I had promised myself another shot at it before iceup. So gofish435 and I made a playdate for this morning. Shoulda stood in bed.
Bad start...kinda. Coming out of the faciities at the rest area just before reaching the lake I noticed a little black and white furry critter bounding toward me. EEEP. But 'twern't a skunk. It was a cute little black and white kitty cat that someone had probably either lost or deliberately left at the rest stop. Felt bad I had nothing to feed it and definitely wasn't up to a rescue on my way to a fishing trip. Anyhooters, I am more of a dog person than a cat person. Hope the little guy found someone nicer than me. And the karma of my kitty carelessness got me later.
Tom and I got launched by about 8...after a lovely sunrise over the lightly rippled water. Air temp was a chilly 36 (as forecast). Water temp at launch was 53...warming to almost 55 by the time I came in about noon...and absolute glass.
Don't know how many times I have spouted that the first key to a good fishing trip is to find fish...active fish. Never made it past that part today. Ran down two series 27 batteries on my electric motor looking all over Rabbit Gulch for fish...any fish. Never found more than a single here and a double there. No concentrations and none of them were really active. I had several light bumps from trout, hooked a couple and landed zero. Also had one fish that felt a lot like a small walleye about halfway in before he arranged his own release. My first skunk on Starvy since an ice fishing trip several years ago. I guess it serves me right for not taking better care of the little black and white kitty.
Tom did better. He cruised over a whole lot of Bunny Gulch today too...waving his fairy wand. But his karma was more positive and he got to play with several rainbows. And just as I was getting ready to go he announced on the walkie talkie that he had just landed a 14" walleye.
I might have fared better if I hadn't outsmarted myself. I fished all the places that have produced fish this time of year in the past...and today they gave me no love. In years past the fish start schooling up in deeper water...30-50 feet...out in the channels and off deep main lake points. Not today. I wasted a lot of time trying to produce good results when there were none to produce. Insanity.
Tom started in some deeper spots but quickly moved into the shallower end of the Gulch and found some willing wainbows in water less than 20 feet deep. That is where I got most of the inquiries I got today...but the fish were all wimps...or inexperienced. No decisive chomps and then they couldn't hang on.
We couldn't have asked for a nicer day though. Can't recall many days on Starvy in which that four letter word beginning with W has not been a factor. And it is always a pleasure sharing the water with Tom. He is a class act.
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[signature]
Bad start...kinda. Coming out of the faciities at the rest area just before reaching the lake I noticed a little black and white furry critter bounding toward me. EEEP. But 'twern't a skunk. It was a cute little black and white kitty cat that someone had probably either lost or deliberately left at the rest stop. Felt bad I had nothing to feed it and definitely wasn't up to a rescue on my way to a fishing trip. Anyhooters, I am more of a dog person than a cat person. Hope the little guy found someone nicer than me. And the karma of my kitty carelessness got me later.
Tom and I got launched by about 8...after a lovely sunrise over the lightly rippled water. Air temp was a chilly 36 (as forecast). Water temp at launch was 53...warming to almost 55 by the time I came in about noon...and absolute glass.
Don't know how many times I have spouted that the first key to a good fishing trip is to find fish...active fish. Never made it past that part today. Ran down two series 27 batteries on my electric motor looking all over Rabbit Gulch for fish...any fish. Never found more than a single here and a double there. No concentrations and none of them were really active. I had several light bumps from trout, hooked a couple and landed zero. Also had one fish that felt a lot like a small walleye about halfway in before he arranged his own release. My first skunk on Starvy since an ice fishing trip several years ago. I guess it serves me right for not taking better care of the little black and white kitty.
Tom did better. He cruised over a whole lot of Bunny Gulch today too...waving his fairy wand. But his karma was more positive and he got to play with several rainbows. And just as I was getting ready to go he announced on the walkie talkie that he had just landed a 14" walleye.
I might have fared better if I hadn't outsmarted myself. I fished all the places that have produced fish this time of year in the past...and today they gave me no love. In years past the fish start schooling up in deeper water...30-50 feet...out in the channels and off deep main lake points. Not today. I wasted a lot of time trying to produce good results when there were none to produce. Insanity.
Tom started in some deeper spots but quickly moved into the shallower end of the Gulch and found some willing wainbows in water less than 20 feet deep. That is where I got most of the inquiries I got today...but the fish were all wimps...or inexperienced. No decisive chomps and then they couldn't hang on.
We couldn't have asked for a nicer day though. Can't recall many days on Starvy in which that four letter word beginning with W has not been a factor. And it is always a pleasure sharing the water with Tom. He is a class act.
[/#0000ff]
[signature]