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I've been talking to TD for a while on fishing the South Marina when the ice comes off. Went out this morning and it was mostly gone so I went back and got my tube. Launched from the end of the point between the marina and the channel. Wide open all the way to the lake and the lake was also clear. Spent a couple or three hours dragging Fligs and throwing plastic. I had one silly Kitty get all the way to the tube before he came unbuttoned. Skunk for me today. I'd guess that by Monday, the ramp will be clear and you can get your boast in the lake. Today, you'd have to punch through 30 feet of rotten ice to get the open water.
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Thanks for the report and pics Larry, won't be long now. Too bad that cat gave you the slip, what bait were you using with the Flig?
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Hay Larry, I've got a trout fly fishing only fool to take out can't wait to show him how those cat fight. Thanks for your reports.
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Curt, a chartreuse gulp minnow.
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Man, I kept looking over my shoulder expecting to see the banana boat. Better earn your buddy, he won't look at slime rockets the same way.
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I've never hooked a wiper on fly, but I know it will be the best fight of the year. Bring it on brother
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Thanks for the update, I went past the inlet Sunday morning, was glad to see they are dumping water into the bay, with the (so far) dismal snowpack.
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Way to go Larry, you hung up the ice gear or just trying something different? Tubing in January doesn't always happen. Later J
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Jay, I'll hang in on the ice as long as we can stand on it. Taking the time to Bear Lake Thursday.
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I keep debating about Bear Lake on Thursday myself. Looks like only day with winds under 10 mph. Shouldn't take off work right now, but might do it anyway. Good luck. Jeff
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No Banana boat yet, still got ice. I have been anticipating the ice coming off Willard then the banana boat starts getting dressed for the season. Hope to see you out there.
Richard J
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[#0000FF]Glad you were able to launch. You shoulda had some left-handed blue-eyed minnows. I know a guy who has some and might share a few next week.
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TD - what is a left-handed blue-eyed minnows? I am too much of a newbie to know if this is a joke.[  ]
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[#0000FF] Ahhhh Glasshoppah...are you ready for such Jedi knowledge? (Sorry to mix my movies)
Don't want to take the shine off the mystery but they ain't nothin' more than plain old chub minners. But it sure is a hoot to fun with the pesky wannabees on the lake that keep askin' "Whatchauzin?"
And when they ask how can you tell whether they are left handed or right handed...or blue-eyed, etc....I just  and say something cryptic like "If you gotta ask, you will never know."...or maybe "That's above your security clearance."...or "I could tell ya but then I'd have to kill ya." Of course you gotta be careful these days. You never know who is "packin'" and what it might take to set them off.
In truth, proper care and preparation before freezing...and then freezing in a little bit of water to remove all air bubbles...are the most important things to insure that your LHBE minnows are as attractive to the fish as possible. 4 year old freezer burned and mushy minnows do not work nearly as well as the good stuff.
There are a few folks here on the board who have had the experience of dunking the LHBE minnows. Most will agree...they work purty good.
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Hey TD - Thanks for sending me your wonderful write up on minnows. Some day I might graduate to catching my own, but first I just need to learn to fish well. So if I buy the stuff at Sportsman's Warehouse, what is the best type of chub package to buy? Is it the stuff that comes in a vacuum packed bag on the shelf or is it something they sale in the freezer? thx
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TD - I just searched on-line at Sportsmans. The only minnows they had were "emerald shiners". From your write up, I learned that shiners will fall apart easier than chubs. These shiners came in a jar or a vacuum bag. Which would be best to buy?.
Cabela's also offered a bag of "flat-head" minnows (whatever that is).
Neither store offered "left-handed" only "right handed", lol [laugh]
Do you have a suggestion on where to get the best off-the-shelf option for small natural minnows?
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Right handed green eyes one suck! Now them left handed ones are magic!
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[#0000ff]The availability of minnows has changed over the past few years. There used to be "Minnow Man" minnows available in all Sportsmans and several other outlets. That operation had permits to harvest chubs and redside shiners for commercial resale and they kept their outlets well supplied. It used to be common to be able to find packages of minnows separated by size, etc.
One of the major sources of those minnows was Strawberry Reservoir. For years it was possible to throw a castnet around the docks and get enough chubs and shiners in one throw to provide bait for several trips. But as the lake changed...with heavier plantings of minnow-munching cutts...and the slot limits...the minnow dynamics of Strawberry changed also. First, the redside shiners all but disappeared from the lake. Next, with the cutts mopping up the smaller chubs it became difficult to find enough of the "bait size" ones to make it worthwhile to even throw a cast net.
Today there are still numbers of chubs in Strawberry, but most are too big for most cutts to dine on. They continue to spawn each year but the predatory big trout slurp up the young before they get very large. It is possible that in the future Strawberry will become like Jordanelle and Starvation...once overflowing with chubs of all sizes but with a declining population as older chubs died out and there was less spawning.
Starvation was once choked with chubs. But the introduction of walleye and smallmouths worked too well as an eradication program. Within a few years, the newly introduced predators had eaten up all the edible sized chubs and began to stunt. If perch had not magically found their way into Starvation the walleye and smallmouth would have "starved". There was still a population of "chubosaurus" sized chubs...that continued to spawn each year. But none of their young survived very long and the big ones gradually died out from old age. There have been no chubs captured in DWR nets or by anglers for several years now.
DWR has an absolute passionate dislike of chubs. Most of that is based upon the fact that chubs easily outcompete planted rainbows for available food resources...without the rainbows eating chubs. So rainbows do not do well in chub-infested waters. Other species suffer from chub competition too. This is especially true of smaller sized trout that rely on the same food as the chubs. It is tough for them to grow big enough, fast enough, to someday be able to add chubs to their diet.
In many waters there are periodic rotenone treatments to eliminate chubs or other undesirable competition with hatchery pet trout. If chubs were not as hardy as they are, they would have long since been completely eradicated from Utah. That is unfortunate for fish that need fishy forage for growth and survival. It is also unfortunate for anglers who rely on having a chub supply for their style of fishing.
Bottom line? No longer enough chubs to sustain a commercial fishery. Result? We have to rely more on still available redside shiners...that are not as good for bait once frozen. They degrade and turn mushy...and many fish seem to not like them as well. Ditto for fathead minnows. Chubs will outfish them in side by side comparisons on most waters.
Preserved and bottled minnows? My experience is that most fish do not respond well to the formaldehyde or other preservatives in which they are packaged. Fresher is always better.
If you do find minnows in the freezers at tackle outlets they are usually not vacuum packed...with no air inside. Instead, they are usually just laid on a foam pad, wrapped with clear plastic wrap and frozen. They are surrounded by air and are subject to freezer burn. And the longer they are in the package the more they are likely to degrade. You can't buy up a bunch and keep them in your own freezer with any hope of having good bait for an extended period of time.
About the only way to get LHBE minnows is to hunt up places to find live chubs, net some and then properly prep and freeze them for maximum firmness and freshness. I often end up with a few leftover packages each year...and when thawed more than a year after packaging they are usually in near-fresh condition. At least the fish still vote for them. That's the best you can hope for.
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Hey TD - Have you ever done a side by side comparison (fishing two rods at the same time) with LHBE Minnows and cut bait (from mackerel etc.)?
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[#0000FF]On trips when I am seeing few fish on sonar...not enough to justify continually casting plastics...I often fish two bait rods. And, yes, I sometimes fish other baits besides minnows. But I seldom buy any kind of saltwater fish flesh anymore. I almost always have a good supply of minnows, carp meat, white bass and perch. Anchovies, sardines, mackerel and other oily salt water fish will usually catch some cats...and even wipers. But fresh local stuff generally works just fine.
Most of the time I do best with the minnows. But there are days...especially on Utah Lake...when white bass or carp meat gets more votes from the fishies. However, on Willard I almost always catch more fish...of more species...on LHBE minnows than on crawlers, carp meat or any other legal fish flesh.
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