Joatmon took me back to Trial Saturday. He caught 78 there last week, including rainbows, brooks, and tigers. I was hoping to do as well, and maybe even add a grayling, but it wasn't to be. I got ll and he caught 38, including a number of tigers. I caught one tiger that I was going to use as a place-holder in the ice contest but I had to answer a call of nature before I took its picture and when I came back it was gone. Must have flopped around and got back to a hole. No biggie (that's a pun son).
The best jig was a tungston painted white. Mine had a little green on top. I tried a real colorful one but they turned up their noses at it. I had best success adding a waxworm but Brett did better with 1/2 mealworm. We each caught at least one with a nubbin of earthworm. We were fishing just a little way out from the center of the dam in 16 feet of water. Most fish were caught right on the bottom, or I should say very near it. The bottom also proved to be best for the tigers but we caught rainbows everywhere. We got fish from 8' down. I usually had to jig some to attract the fish but most wanted a dead presentation after the jigging. Got lots of lookers and bumpers. The bite was usually very light. I had a hard time setting the hook. I think my reaction time has slowed with age. Some hits were fairly strong but they seemed to be pop-and-drops. I switched to a spring bobber on one rod halfway through. That improved my bite detection but little to help my hook-up rate. A second rod produced nothing though I kept it down and sometimes jigged it. The bite rate varied a bit throughout the day and finally just shut down later in the afternoon.
The air temperature was 19° when we arrived around 8:30. The weather was relatively pleasant although the breeze kicked up a time or two. Should have seen my chair doing a curling move. There was essentially no snow on the ice. You would probably need to have 4-wheel-drive to get up the hill to the lake--very icey hardpack in spots. There were quite a few vehicles in the parking areas but even though there were quite a few anglers it wasn't crowded.
The best jig was a tungston painted white. Mine had a little green on top. I tried a real colorful one but they turned up their noses at it. I had best success adding a waxworm but Brett did better with 1/2 mealworm. We each caught at least one with a nubbin of earthworm. We were fishing just a little way out from the center of the dam in 16 feet of water. Most fish were caught right on the bottom, or I should say very near it. The bottom also proved to be best for the tigers but we caught rainbows everywhere. We got fish from 8' down. I usually had to jig some to attract the fish but most wanted a dead presentation after the jigging. Got lots of lookers and bumpers. The bite was usually very light. I had a hard time setting the hook. I think my reaction time has slowed with age. Some hits were fairly strong but they seemed to be pop-and-drops. I switched to a spring bobber on one rod halfway through. That improved my bite detection but little to help my hook-up rate. A second rod produced nothing though I kept it down and sometimes jigged it. The bite rate varied a bit throughout the day and finally just shut down later in the afternoon.
The air temperature was 19° when we arrived around 8:30. The weather was relatively pleasant although the breeze kicked up a time or two. Should have seen my chair doing a curling move. There was essentially no snow on the ice. You would probably need to have 4-wheel-drive to get up the hill to the lake--very icey hardpack in spots. There were quite a few vehicles in the parking areas but even though there were quite a few anglers it wasn't crowded.
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
