WHAT FULL MOON?

[TubeDude]

[cool]After another week full of stress, distractions and fishing deprivation, we decided we needed a "brain broom"...a fishing "fix". We had planned to try to get out Thursday afternoon, but the wind was blowing, as it has been far too often this year. So, we did the "fishing dance" for Saturday morning and hoped the weather gods would like our rendition.

Everything started out great. Only hit one red light out of a possible eight on the way out of town. Got to the entry gate at Saguaro Lake at 5:30, and it was already open (didn't open until about 6 AM last week). Drove down to the lake and there was only one other vehicle in any of the parking areas. No boats working inside the "NO BOATS" buoy line, as is customary. Only a light ofshore breeze.

Air temp was 65 degrees when we got there...and just hitting 100 when we left at 1 PM. Water temp was 71 at launch, and 75 at departure. This was to be our first trip without waders this year, so we were pleased to find the water over 70...as we had anticipated.

Fishingwise, it could not have been much better. We were concerned that the full moon might have shut down the fishing, as we have experienced on other trips. And, in spite of seeing lots of shad on the surface, there were no predators working them. We assumed they had probably fed all night, and would probably not be receptive to our offerings.

In truth, most of the fish we ended up keeping did have at least one or two recently ingested shad in them, but they munched our little jigs for dessert very well. Maybe they were just picking their teeth, but we did not ever have much of a lull in the action from the time we started casting until we sweated our way back to the vehicle in the hot afternoon sun. In fact, we were catching some of our biggest fish of the day when we bagged it. We were hot, tired, hungry and wored out.

Tube babe scored a 5.8 pound channel cat within the first few minutes of hitting the water. We thought it was going to be "Kitty bar the door". I caught about a 4# channel a few minutes later. It later got out of my fish basket because I left the spring latch open to make it easier to deposit the willing yellow bass. During a moment when I was moving backward with a little speed, my basket was pulled out into a more horizontal position, and that cunning catfish rocketed out of there like a Polaris missile.

TubeBabe was a witness, but she probably won't back me up on it. As she says..."Without the fish, you can't prove nothin'" If that's the way she wants to play it, I'll just wait for payback time. She's got her share of "gotaway" stories too.

Pesky boating traffic was lighter than usual. The Hawaiian racing canoes that usually terrorize us on Saturdays did not put in an appearance, but there were some novice canoe paddlers that insisted on showing us their skills up close as they noisily beat the sides of their craft with the paddles. That was about the only time we experienced much of a dropoff in the action. One minute our sonar screens were full of fish, and then they disappeared as the noisy canoes moved through.

There were other water craft too. The guy in the first pic hung around us all day, hoping to catch some of the fish we were catching. The only thing I saw him catch was a couple of bow wakes over the back of his lopsided vinyl craft. He must have been sitting in water, because everytime he leaned backward, the rear edge dipped into the water. He paddled around with a single paddle, and would have been in big trouble if the usual winds had come up.



The next pic is of a real "Party Barge". Like many of the big boats on the lake, they felt that if TubeBabe and I found an area to our liking, that it would be perfect for them to come in and anchor up. Like countless thoughtless big boat operators before them, they cruised right up to where we were fishing and tossed anchor right on top of our fishing hump. The good news is that the fish were more scattered on this trip and we found some more willing fishies in short order.



Not all of the recreational boaters were obnoxious and offensive. One craft had two friendly boaters who contributed to the scenery. TubeBabe said it was okay to shoot a picture..."to add to my file of watercraft photos"...but that I could not help them apply sunscreen. I doubt that they would have appreciated having shad oil rubbed on their bodies anyway. (Hey, PoloKid, as you can see, they have stocked the lake for your trip in June.)



Back to fishing...before I get into trouble. The next pic shows TubeBabe holding an average sized yellow bass. They are small cousins of the larger stripers and white bass. They are prolific, schooling fish and provide a lot of fun on light tackle. They are also great eating.



TubeBabe caught somewhere between 75 and a hundred fish, including the 5.8 pound cat that is underneath the mass of yellows she kept in basket. We only kept a few of the larger fish for filleting, but still ended up with a bunch for the filleting board.



The last pic shows how I have mounted my fish basket on a forward D Ring. You will not see my 4# catfish in the basket, because it spied the open lid and jumped out to freedom. I can only imagine the "people story" he is telling to all the other catfish...about the one he got away from.

By the way, I was lifting the basket up with a fin to get this shot. It normally rides well down in the water and away from the front edge of the Fat Cat. The yellow float acts as a bumper to keep the basket from coming into contact with the air chamber. And, notice how the two metal carrying handles fit down inside the collar to help prop the upper end open, well above the water line.


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[Hellsangler69]

Nice report Tubedude !! You know they can rub shad oil on me !! LOL Maybe I need some R and R . I should come down to visit my sister in Prescott Valley and sneak off for some fishing . Only thing I have a hard time getting off work in the summer . My only vacation time is at christmas . Bummer !! I was catching up on this forum and have seen you had some tough times down there . Glad to see ya wetting a line again .Nifty live well . I might have to make me one for some perch , and crappie fishing tight lines
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[Kent]

I'm impressed how TubeBabe coordinates her float with her sun visor. It looks like it was one fun day on the water for you.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey HA69, glad you liked the writeup and the pics. As a few of my Utah fishing friends have discovered, I'm always up for a "hookup" with BFTers from my former home and favorite fishing state. Just PM me with the details of your time in Arizona, and we will make something happen.

I have been using one form or another of those baskets for a whole lotta years. I have tried using the nylon mesh ones, but found that they confined and suffocated fish. For the past fifteen years or so I have been getting the big baskets from Bass Pro Shops. They are 19" wide and 30" deep. They can hold more fish than I can carry, and the fish are usually still flopping when I dump them on ice for the trip home to the fillet board. I have had catfish up to fifteen pounds in one of those baskets, along with my keeper crappies, sunfish or whatever.

Here's a pic from the BassPro Catalog. The large basket, (A) is the one I get. It is $12.99 and lasts for a couple years of hard use. The flotation is a cheap "noodle" the kids use in the swimming pool. I just run a rope around through the middle and tie the premeasured and cut ends. Then I secure the float to the top ring of the net, with heavy fishing line, and tuck the handles of the net into the ring to hold it up right.



TubeDude
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[TubeBabe]

I'm so glad that someone noticed the subleties ... it's my way of being fashionable! As you can tell by TD's description of the day, it was the kind that we wait all year for and leave the water hoping for "just one more"! As a result of it being such a good day, we spent a little more time at the filet board (we refer to it as "board time").
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[JapanRon]

Hi TubeDude,

Great report! 100 fish days, wow. Glad to hear the traffic was down. Too bad you can somehow convince the lake authorities to mark off and enforce some area usage regulations for but just a very few places. Even if it were a first come 1 only craft in the cove type thing. At least then the boaters could be told not only are they not very nice but that the regs stated they were to honor the prohibition. Then again, start the reg thing and ......

I say this only because I think you fish the same area all the time and it would be a tremendous inprovement to your calm and quiet. ha ha

Dispite the poor vinyl Titanic, and the ski do do, sounds like you had all the water you wanted by the end.

Cats are famous for leaving home so I wouldn't worry about one that you may not have bonded with well anyways.

JapanRon
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Regulations do not mean much if they are not enforced. There are two sets of buoys blocking off the greater "Butcher Jones" cove area. The outer line of buoys is clearly marked "WAKELESS SPEED". Yet large power boats and personal watercraft routinely come roaring back in tho the fishing areas wide open...even running circles around fishing boats and float tubers...just because there are no rangers in the area.

The second line of buoys says "NO BOATS"...meaning no motorized watercraft. It is inside these buoys that we do much of our fishing. However, boaters have moved the buoys farther and farther back toward the beach until the areas we used to fish inside the buoys are now outside the line and that's why we get overrun with power boats. The rangers admit to knowing the buoys have been moved, but do nothing about it. It is a joke. One of the buoys has been moved almost clear to the beach, and bass boats come into water so shallow they churn up mud with their props.

Unfortunately, we must share the few remaining fishable waters with hordes of others who want to enjoy them in their own ways. Several of my formerly favorite fishing lakes are dry, because of the drought. And, what's worse, one of them will never be filled again because the brushy bottom of the dry lake has become a home for an endangered species of bird...maybe a dozen or so.

The few remaining lakes, in which water levels are maintained for irrigation and recreation, have to sustain all of the fishermen and adverserial idiots. Mere regulation is never going to replace the brainless antics of the weekend warriors that take on a couple of sixpacks of "ballast" and then open up the engines to see how fast they can go...and who they can impress by swamping them with bow wakes.

There. Said my piece. It is a real measure of accomplishment to sneak out on the water and steal a basket of fish from under the noses of those who live to make the lives of fishermen miserable.

I am long overdue for a trip to the deserted beaches of the Sea of Cortez. In the two years since we have taken my aging parents into our home, TB and I have never been able to spend even an overnighter away from our home. That's one of the reasons we go to Saguaro so often. It's only 35 minutes away, and good for a quick half day shot, before heading home and hoping there are no emergencies awaiting us.

Now that my dad is in a care center, we have hopes of planning a week or ten days in September to get over to Southern Cal. I have family over there. That will take up at least a couple of hours. Then, we gonna go fishing. Gotta get the priorities straight. Meet you on the water.

Tube Dude
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[halibut]

Hey TD & TB,

looks like a nice successful day on the water... nice fishing grounds. looks like an add to get people to move to AZ to me...LOL!!! [laugh]
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, Halibut. Have you been fishing?

That is not a promotion to encourage people to come to Arizona. It is something for us to look back on in the coming weeks, when the temperatures go well over a hundred every day. During the hot part of the summer we hope for mornings when the low temperature is under 90 degrees. The fishing slows down a lot too, when the fish head for deeper and cooler water.

So, we have fun now, but we will pay for it later.

TubeDude
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[polokid]

I am just waiting to see if my roommate and I want to do another road trip, and drive to Tempe, or if he is still by this weekend, I am going to look for my airline ticket. I am over due for my vacation!!! I will stay in touch with you, definitely hope the salt river gets more water in it. Look pretty low!!! But I am mainly looking to rest and relax, do some fishing, visit some friends, and perhaps do some "sight seeing"!!! I need some good jig fishing instruction, got frustrated wiht it on Sunday at Strawberry, but did end up with some nice 5 + pounders!!! THe fish fry was awesome!!! But I will be staying in touch this week, going to the Uintah basin for Memorial weekend!!! Should have a blast out there, but take care.
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