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[cool][#0000ff]It won't be much longer until ice fishing time, and the minnows at E-Lake are still swarming the shallows. So-o-o-o myself, BearLakeMack and Petty4Life decided to have a high level moderatin' conference and minnow harvest.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We all had minnow traps in the water before 10 AM, while TubeBabe kicked her tube across the inlet channel trying to find some troutskis. While the traps soaked BLM and Petty teamed up with one cast net and I went solo with mine. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe didn't get any trout...having only a couple of small hits. The minnow mods saw some small trout chasing minnows as we were trying to catch them in our cast nets, but they were well fed and would not play with TubeBabe. Water temp was 70 in the shallows but only 61 along the deep bank across from where we parked.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We got grundles of minnows, but most were pretty small. Good ice fishing size, but not the bigguns BLM was hoping for to serve up at the Gorge this month.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The water has dropped a couple of feet in the last month. Once the water temp drops a few more degrees the bank fishing should improve too. The folks trying that today didn't seem to be doing much.[/#0000ff]
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NOW THATS A MOTLEY CREW... LOL
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looks like you got enough minnows for a week or so. lol
maybe i need to get me a trap and try for some at the berry on sunday, while i'm fishing from my toon. [cool]
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cool looks like y'all done well!
the minnows should be in the shallows for about 3 more weeks or when the lake starts to turn over.. then it will be all over tell next spring!!
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what a day first half of the day i was kind of disappointed not getting verymany but the second half holly cow. it was on every cast of the net
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Thanks for the info. Heading there in the morning to try and get some more bait before things turn cold. Did you get many in the traps or did you need a net? Also what were you using in the traps for bait?
We have the most helpful mods on in the world but they will never be the cover of a calendar.[  ]
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I think I'd throw that hairy one in the middle back... he's over the slot limit
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Did you do a "Flycasting triple Klutz TD"? You shifrt looks like to may have... [  ]
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[cool][#0000ff]We did get quite a few in the traps but the placement of the traps was critical. You can see minnows cruising out a short distance from shore, but when you toss out a trap it sometimes disappears in the deep green algae and the minnows swim right over it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You need to look for the shallow areas, in between the ramp and the camping point with the "facilities". The shallows warm first in the cooling water and the minnows seemed to be thicker there and easier to get into with the traps.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We used plain old bread pieces and added a few bits of dry dog good for extra flavor. I have done well with plain bread though. Some guys like to squirt some crawdad or anchovy oil on the bread for added attraction.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The way to go is to toss out a trap and then check it in about 15 minutes. No minnows...move the trap. If it is a good spot you will get some quickly. If not, you will have an empty trap after an hour.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]I would never think of trying to compete with you in the artistic slip and slide competition. I did not ever "go down", but I had some anxious moments. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The mud in the dropping water is like grease and the gobs of gooey green algae are messy. Handling the cast net after a bunch of throws into that stuff got me kinda spattered.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The biggest hazard when wading and throwing the cast net is flooded potgut holes. I stepped in one of those on my last trip and just about sunk clear to my thigh. Only my superb balance kept me from making a qualifying flop in the Flycasting tournament of klutzes.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Not to be discouraging, Red, but the days of easy pickin's on minnows at Da Berry seem to be over. The cutts have been doing the job they were "hired" to do...munchin' chubs and shiners. The minnows are just not there in swarms like they used to be.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still plenty of crawdads though, although stomach analysis by DWR during net surveys show that the fish are eating more 'dads now that the minnows are decreasing.[/#0000ff]
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Man-o-man what a group! Looks like you guys smacked the little dudes around though!
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""Moderator Minnow Mission"",,,, ???!!
Looks to me as if the title of this threat should have read,
(Minnow Miser Modertor's)
Good haul my freinds!
On a side note tho',,,, why would anyone waist a decent E lake shiner on a lousy, non fighting, crappy tasting, big hole in the water,, Mac-A-doo?? [ ]
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Haha! Yeah I think I have you licked in that competition.[  ]
When we goin' fishin'? [sly]
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[cool][#0000ff]Pretty full dance card this week, but so far next week is fairly open.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Hey Don, my new 1/4" mesh net really hauled in the bitty minnies. I got a buncha bags of 2" shiners.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Now we gotta get down to Yuba for some fatheads. Planning a meetup with Ocean down there this next Tuesday to check out the prospects.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About using shiners for macks, you gotta address that with the mackster. I got no opinions on that one.[/#0000ff]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We did haul in a few minnows. Catching the things was the fun. It's always fun getting out with the cast net. We had a few throws that brought in a couple hundred minnows at a time though most throws resulted in far less. [/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Packing those little buggers is nothing but dirty hard work. If you think you'll save money getting minnows... GO BUY THEM AS YOU NEED THEM! I drove 400 miles round trip; a long and fairly pricey road trip. It's also amazing how many "good" friends you have when they find out you are going after minnows! LOL![/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We didn't catch many over 3-4" and the majority were around the 1-1/2 to 2" mark but they will make good bait this winter. I would of liked some BIG ones for trolling macks but they were non-existent. Why would I waste a perfectly good shiner on those macks? Because I can! Well, if I'd of caught some big ones...[/size][/black][/font]
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[cool][#0000ff]I'm guessing that you still have some packaging to do, after the brining. Have fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did not end up with as many as you guys but I still had a lot of sorting and packaging to do. The only thing that makes all that FUN worthwhile is knowing that you will (hopefully) be magically transforming those little fishies into some big ones.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Glad you could make it and hope you are able to keep enough of your haul to make it worthwhile.[/#0000ff]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I have a 3 gallon bucket full of minnows packed in rock salt in my refrigerator. I'll leave the minnows in salt for two days, then package them. That should be ample time to draw the excess moisture from them and cure them. [/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Yes, if you want to package the minnows in usable portion, there will be a big job of packaging them. We bought a couple rolls of food saver material yesterday so making the bags and vacuum packing them will take a little time too.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][red][size 4] I'm thinking maybe Conspiracy Theory, LOL[/size][/red][/font]
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