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[cool][#0000ff]Out4Trout invited me and TubeBabe to join him for a long overdue fishing trip on Mantua this morning. TheKillerBee trailered down his toon and joined up with us tubers at the ramp about 6 am. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lovely morning. Air temp in the mid sixties and the water temp was 74 at launch. No boats or bank tanglers when we launched, although that changed quickly. Lots of folks had the same idea for the holiday weekend. They wanted to save gas money by staying close to home.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]All of us started dragging in little bluegills and then a few small perch. Couldn't find any larger bluegills or perch. Had a couple of decent sized perch (11"-12") arrange their own release just before reaching the tube. On two different sessions, I brought in twenty small bluegills on twenty short casts.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We all changed jigs and presentations and tried different depths around the weeds to try to find bigger fish. We all caught a few bitty bass, but nothing over about 14". The little ones were fun on light tackle but they liked to dive into the masses of weeds and sometimes got loose or broke off. On a couple of fish I eventually brought them up, but with a faceful of salad.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We all had early commitments. TKB left the water first, about 10:30. As the breeze started to come up, and the power squadron began to descend upon the lake, TubeBabe and I slipped in to shore too. 04T wasn't far behind. He was on the hook for some honeydos.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Always enjoyable to fish that little lake and the conditions were perfect. It woulda been nice to catch some larger fish, but there were plenty of small ones to keep us busy. In a couple of spots the small bluegills swarmed in front of me in the clear water and I was able to get a shot of one actually munching my jig. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Oh yeah, check out the pic of my new tricked out ride...with the painted shark jaws and the BFT flag flying proudly.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks for the report. I haven't fished Mantua in a long time. Sounds like it would be fun to bust out the ultra light and 4 lb test and tackle some panfish. [  ]
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[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, we were fishing ultralite and 4#. Even a tiny bluegill can bend your stick. The bass over 10" feel like wipers on that gear.[/#0000ff]
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That gang of gills pic is sweet! Now if they were only 22" wipers. [  ]
Great pics all together. What kind of camera do you use? I think it may be time for me to invest in a new one.
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[cool][#0000ff]That's one of the neat things about tubing. The fish are sometimes actually attracted to you (structure). I will always remember one trip to Pineview when I was messing with retieing a lure and looked down into the water. I was sitting over a treetop and a bajillion fish had all come up out of the tree and were gathered around, looking at me. There were largies, crappies, bluegills...but no tigers (thankfully). All I could see were EYES. For a moment I had the impression that they were saying "Okay guys, on three we pull that jerk under".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have been using a little Olympus D-550 for about 3 years. I keep it on a bungee cord around my neck and tuck it down inside my outer shirt while fishing. That way it is always handy for a shot...if I remember. It is a 3.2 megapixel and has plenty of resolution for fishing shots. I usually crop, photo tweak and resize them before posting. The good news/bad news is that you can buy better cameras now for less than I paid for that one.[/#0000ff]
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I have 3.2 megapixel Sony, but it is a little bigger. I am a HORRIBLE photographer. I could have a 25 megapixel camera and still mess it up.[pirate]
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[cool][#0000ff]Loose nut on the shutter button.[/#0000ff]
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I'm going to take my little one up wednesday for some gills. That pic of the "strike" set him off on a "i want to go fishing" rampage![pirate]
He will love it especially being able to see the fish.
Did you see any trout or rising fish early on?
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Thanks for the good company TD, TB, and O4T! It was nice to finally meet/fish with you Jeff. Sure was a fun morning on the pond. Nice to get out, enjoy the scenery, and battle some scaly creatures! I brought a few home for dinner...the gills are a little small, but sure are tasty!
I ran into some mad scientist on the way out and he had been doing well for the largies on spinner baits.
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[cool][#0000ff]O4T caught a 13" rainbow near the ramp just as he was going out at daybreak. However, that is the only troutlike critter we hooked or saw. The water is up to 75 degrees surface temp and the slimers like it about 10 degrees cooler. There are some springs around the lake that provide pockets of cooler water and the trout tend to stay around those during warm weather.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We did see a lot of suspended fish in some areas that I suspect might have been those trout. They did not hit any of our jigs but might have accepted the right bait at the right depth.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The bitty bluegills and some perch are pretty much all over the lake, but concentrate in small pockets in the weeds or along the shoreline where there is a clearing between shoreline and weedbeds.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Actually, some of the largest bluegills I saw were right off the sandy beach to the south of the boat ramp. There were also some small bass jumping...chasing dragon flies...in that same area.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Rigging a small bobber with 3 or 4 feet of leader and a small jig and worm combo will keep your son busy. We tipped with crawler, perch meat and pieces of meal worm. They liked it all. Small tube jigs in clear, confetti or smoke sparkle are best. There are a ton of small hatchlings on the surface and I think most of the fish are keying on them. Good luck.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]It was great to share some water with you again. Glad you had a good time. It is always esthetically pleasing to float that little pond. Such a pretty little valley and quaint old town.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You thought you were going to have a tough time fishing because you didn't bring the battery for your sonar. But, you found out pretty quick that VFR (visual fishing rules) applies to Mantua. With the clear water and easily visible weed growth, it is not hard to figure out where to cast...or not. It is also fun to be able to watch the fishies swarm your jig in the clear water. I noticed you doing some vertical jigging right below your toon too. That's a lot of fun. It is also humbling when you see big perch and gills that you cannot get to bite your offerings.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is good to have a productive panfish fishery within easy driving distance. The price of gas these days makes it easier to swallow our fisherman's pride and save the money we would have to spend to drive farther for bigger fish. And, if you still want bigger fish, rig for the abundant largemouth in Mantua. We usually catch plenty of small to midsize ones on the small stuff we fish for the gills and perch. Getting the big ones takes different gear but once you learn how you can usually count on hooking a few of the bigger ones.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Let me know what your schedule is and we can do a Willard trip or something.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks TD! I'm sure he will have a blast up there. I have found that the largies like large black worms and tube jigs fished in the deeper pockets. They also love streamer patterns fallowed by a small nymph. Would you like to join us tomorrow(Monday) morning? Or anyone else for that matter. I will have my little boy with me in my 12' camo boat. Say hi if you see us.
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[cool][#0000ff]Would love to watch the lad play with the fishies, but I have a prior commitment. Flycasting is going to show me how to catch wipers on feather jigs at Willard. In return, I am going to show him how to take out a water skier at 50 feet with a well-aimed torpedo sinker. News at 11.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the way, the bass are cruising the open areas along the bank now too and are hitting spinners, spinnerbaits and shallow running cranks. I wouldn't be surprised if they hit buzzers worked early. White has always been a good color. In fact, I was regretting the other day that I did not bring a popper or two...or one of those propeller shad that sputter on top. Next time I will. Might even bring the fairy wand (fly rod) and some small poppers. Big gills and small bass can provide a lot of fun on those things.[/#0000ff]
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We were also there on saturday from 7:30 - 11:00. Saw the small flotilla of tubes and was wondering if that might not be some of the BFT bobbers. Fished the east side and basically was non-stop action for bluegill. For two of us about 60 gills, 9 perch and seven bass - none of the bass under 11". There are areas near the big hill over there that drop from 8' to 17' and on the edges it was full of fish. We fished a long shank hook (allows easier hook retrieval for live release) with a piece of crawler, with the smallest split shot about 10" above the hook. Ultralight with 4 lb test makes it fun and all bites noticeable. The bigger gills give a good tug and you know when you hook a largemouth.
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[cool]It was nice meeting and finally fishing with you too, Brandon. Fishing stayed good after you left. i think it actually picked up. We'll have to do it again for sure...
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[cool]Been off line for a few days. Just wanted to say thanks for a great time on the water. It was great fishing with you and TubeBabe again. Anyone that hasn't had the pleasure of fishing with those two really should do it sometime. Classy folks and great fishermen (and women) those two are!
See you two at the kittie floatilla this Saturday (if you will still be there that late-5:00 pm).
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[cool][#0000ff]Great fishing with you too, Geoff.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hey, are you hinting that us oldtimers might not be able to hold up for a whole day? I'll have you know that I plan to hang in there for the duration...as long as I take my Geritol and have my 4 hour nap in the afternoon.[/#0000ff]
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[cool]LOL!! Good, then I'll be seeing you there! It's gonna be a fun one. Not sure yet if I'm keeping my catch though. If I do then it'll be just me eating it, not the nursing wife, the two month old son (obviously), or my two year old daughter.
Bring on the monster "K's!"
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[cool][#0000ff]I'll bring some fillets from Willard for you to take home.[/#0000ff]
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