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Mantua DWR harvest 9-4-06
#1
[cool][#0000ff]TubeBabe and I joined up with some DWR folks and invited anglers to harvest some fishies from Mantua, to be transplanted to the kids fishing pond at the state fair. There were boaters and bankers but we were the only tubers. We probably caught as many or more than anyone else.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Weed growth is thick, as expected. It comes clear to the surface in 18 feet of water in many places. The key was to find small holes that were 16 to 17 feet deep and vertical jig with small jigs tipped with worm or perch meat. The only fish we caught shallower were really small bluegills and perch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once we found weedfree holes with some depth and large enough to hold a small school of fish, we could get bit as soon as we got past mid depth. A lot of fish were suspended and/or would come up off the bottom to intercept our jigs.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I both caught quite a few bluegills, throwing back the smaller ones and putting about 15 or 20 apiece in the holding nets. We also caught LOTS of perch, from 3" to over 10". I lost a couple at the surface that might have hit 12". I'm guessing that we contributed about 50 perch between us, and we kept a few for bait on other waters. Also tossed a lot of smaller ones.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This was probably the first trip I have made to Mantua that I have not caught bass. I saw a few smaller ones hooked near shore by folks fishing aggressively for them. But, no incidental bass for us, which is unusual. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did score an 18" rainbow on the small white bait bug I was jigging for perch in 17 feet of water. Since DWR didn't want any trout in their pens I shot a pic and sent it back down.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This was one of those days when we really needed the little marker buoys we carry, to mark small spots away from easy visual reference. The holes in the weeds were often quite small and if you moved away you would go fishless. If you stayed on them you could usually keep catching fish. A few feet made a lot of difference. Since we don't anchor our tubes, we really need that marker sometimes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Chartreuse jigs produced better early in the morning, but as the sun got higher the best color seemed to be white. We used both worms and perch meat. Got both bluegills and perch on both, but the biggest perch came on the small white jig with perch meat.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temp at launch was just under 69 degrees and warmed to about 73 by the time we left around 2. Quite a few boats, mostly small fishing craft. One aggressive water skier that had to play slalom with the fishing boats and kept everybody bobbing. That can make it tough for finesse fishing. Otherwise, the weather was nice and it was kinda quiet for a holiday. It was kinda purty seeing the spots of yellow and orange starting to show up on the hillsides.[/#0000ff]
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#2
you two ROCK AGAIN or did i say that before. oh well you guys do.
great report and pictures as always. thanks for sharing. [cool]
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#3
Sounds like you guys made a nice haul! Strong work for the kids. Did the DWR end up getting enough fish?
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#4
Looks like we met the goal for the day. The DWR truck headed out about 5:00pm with about 900 total fish. They are now at the State Fair Pond. Several boats stayed on the water till dark and with their catch we will have the 1000 fish goal for the day.
Tube Dude or Tube Babe had a fish on every time that I looked in their direction.I don't mean to hurt Tube Dude's feelings but I think that Tube Babe may have out fished him today.[Wink]
It was a fun day on the water even though my son's boat developed a leak that sent it back home. He returned with my boat that only has the trolling motor working. It got us through the day though.
My 2 sons, one daughter in law, my wife and myself managed to put about 100 fish in the collection nets.
Most were Bluegill but we also donated about 20 Perch and 15 Bass to the coffers.
Tomorrow will be another day and now that we marked a few honey holes, I hope to catch even more fish for the cause.
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#5
Do you need anyone tomorrow? I might possibly come out after work around 5:00. Just wondering.
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#6
Sounds like a good time for a great cause - helping kids learn to like fishing!! Were your jigs plastic or chenille? Thanks for the report.
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#7
Nice report TD!

A few friends of mine, Denny & his son Josh fished it Sunday in Denny's 14ft Northwood alum. boat. Lots of weeds to contend with, as TD did we motored around until we found pockets of deeper water. Most of the fish we caught were in 10-15 ft. of water. Denny caught One nice bow. Josh was the ony one to land a few LMB. All of us caught a bunch of bluegill and perch, most were pretty small but a few 10"+ in. perch! All in all a great day. What a pretty lake!

PS. didn't know about the pens until reading this post. How long have they been there and how long will they be there?
didn't notice them.

-Mike
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#8
I'm sure that if you came and wanted to put your catch in the holding pens it would be welcomed. No Trout please. Just Bluegill, Bass and Perch are needed.
There was a post on Friday that was misunderstood. You can help catch fish but you will need to have your own provisions. The DWR floating pens are over on the East shore by where you will see a couple of trucks parked.
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#9
The jigs that worked best for us was a tandom rig using a rat finkie tied about 15" above a small kastmaster or small spoon. We remove the trebble hooks on the kastmasters and replace them with a single hook.
Tip each with enough worm to cover the tip of the hook.
Drop the rig to the bottom in over 15' of water for best action. Find open water at the weed lines.
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#10
[cool][#0000ff]Hey Dale, it was great to get to meet you...finally. Sorry about the boat problem.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe usually does a pretty good job. She is a serious fisherwoman. She also has a good guide and "tackle-tinkerer" to keep her stocked with the good stuff. Not sure if she beat me yesterday, because we do not keep score. But, I usually had more fish in my basket when we emptied them. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We also did better with a tandem rig. I fished several different kind of plastics and bait bugs one at a time, with only marginal results. When I rigged tandem, with either plastic or bait bugs, the action improved. TubeBabe found the same thing. I caught several doubles and TubeBabe DID catch one double on perch. One of my doubles was a bluegill on one hook and a perch on the other.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Unfortunately we had other plans today but may get in some time on Wednesday if we are still needed.[/#0000ff]
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#11
[cool][#0000ff]Monday was the first official "harvest day" so that is when the floating net pens were dropped in. They will be there through Wednesday I think.[/#0000ff]
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#12
I was there yesterday also. I guess i should read the board more often. I had a very nice day on the pond. I aced the lake.
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#13
Man, I'll bet your & TubeBabes legs were SHOT from fighting all that wind.
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#14
[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, but we are masochists. Went out on Utah Lake again today and had even worse conditions (see pic and report later)[/#0000ff]
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#15
AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Yer killin' me man.
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#16
hey guys,

Just curious do you know what they're doing with all those poor gills and bass after they get tortured at the state fair. Are they gonna go back into Mantua or are they going to be just killed or something? Just curious. I guess it's worth it to instill the kids' interest in fishing.
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#17
[cool][#0000ff]I can't confirm it but according to one of the DWR people they will be transported to one or more of the urban fisheries. Since the new lake in Syracuse just opened last week I am guessing that might be where they go. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There was some "discussion" on not "utilizing" the fish from the kids' fish tank at the last sportsmans show, but since many of those were trout, the regulations were more stringent on transporting and planting them elsewhere. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Hopefully Drew Cushing will get a chance to read the question and provide an accurate response.[/#0000ff]
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#18
They have to kill the fish by law when they use them like that......

Boat shows any place like that unless they certify the water.....


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#19
I hope they would transport the fish to the urban fisheries and let those folks catch them. It just seems kinda Sad to me on a personal level for all them thousands of gills and especially BASS to just be killed and chucked in the trash. That's the only reason I would hesitate to donate bass into the holding pens they had. I do have the sneaking suspicion that bassrods might be right though. Those fish are probably doomed. I just hope Tube's more optimistic prediction comes true.
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#20
Cabela's has recieved the go ahead from the Fish Health Board to utilize the fish from the Utah State Fair for their aquarium this year. Hopefully folks can visit Cabela's and discover the many great species of fish that we have in Utah. They will also utilize the fish inside the DWR building as well.

Drew
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