09-26-2010, 09:05 PM
Two years ago, I purchased from TubeDude his old tube, Rojo. Poor tube didn't realize that, just like a fine thoroughbred race horse, it was being sent to pasture when I became the new owner. With all of my dreams and hopes of floating that tube the way TubeDude would, between family and work, sometimes it's just hard to find the time to take it out on the water. Rojo sat motionlessly whimpering for more than a year as he hung from the rafters of my garage, dreaming of the good ol' days when he was under TD's care.
Well, Rojo had a resurrection today. It was my birthday and like most the other anglers on this forum, it was an easy choice to hit the water as a first order of celebration.
After reading TubeDude's bubble up post, and then bugging him with a redundant phone call. I confirmed my target depth and was on my way in pursuit of arguably the best fish to catch in Utah. KITTIES!
I launched to a calm and reflective Utah lake. The 62 degree water felt fine on my wader-less legs. Took 15 minutes to kick out to my desired depth and location. Four feet of water, outside of the reeds. Had the lines out, anxiously watching the depth on the fish finder. It hit 4.5 feet and the first Rod "Clicked" free and the line went quickly spinning off the spool. I let it go for a bit, flipped the bail, let the line get almost tight, then sat back hard while quickly sending the rod high above my head with my arms. Fish ON! I contemplated bringing in my second rod after I set the hook and the kitty started fighting. I decided to leave it out as I brought in my kitty. Good Call.
The fight had really picked up and I thought "I hope that second pole doesn't go off, I got all I can handle with this fish". Right on cue, "PING" second rod goes off, DOUBLE TROUBLE for me and Rojo. I let the line go out a bit. Set down the first rod in the holder, turned my attention to the second rod. Flipped the bail, line tightened up, and I set the hook. Got a BIG resistance on the hook set, so I thought, "I better set that again just in case" gave it a second WHAM hook set, tightened the line and put it in the rod holder and went back to my first fish.
Got the first fish in, photographed, clipped and in the basket he went. Picked up the second rod to see if that fish was done fighting itself and ready for me to bring it in. Not a chance! Fought a long time, got my shoulder and forearm sore before I even got a glimpse of its 6" wide forked tail. Got it landed after many runs away from the tube. A nice, 28 inch Kitty. Matching my personal best. Happy Birthday to me! After deciding I had been given a little gift I put her back into the lake as a form of gratitude. 28 inches isn't the biggest of kitties, but it's still a lot of kitty. Hopefully, she'll go and make a lot more kitties for me.
Fighting 2 decent kitties at once can take up a fair amount of time, I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings and realized they had pulled me off my desired course.
Went ~ 20 minutes with out a bite as I was kicking back to where I wanted to be. I thought "What can I do to get these kitties to bite again?" Then I remembered, "If you wanna get bit, do something that would make it inconvenient if they do bite" So, I started tying up a tandem rig on one of my dormant rods that had lost it's lure earlier to a snag. That's all it took, "PING" Rod 1 goes off. Flip the bail, set the hook, Fish on again! Got the fish in half way and notice the second rod do a brief jiggle on the tip of the rod, just as quickly as it jiggled, it stopped... just long enough for me to think it was nothing then, WHAM! second rod bounces and line starts flying off the spool. Another Double? Lucky me!
Got the first fish in, another 20" kitty. Then started in on the second rod. This fish was not happy that I caught it. Proved himself to be a drag queen, lots of drag ripping runs, Straight out on the first, then second run went to the left. Then, came and crashed into my fins on the third run. Hard to not giggle when they fight so voraciously. Got it landed, Nice 26" Bronze Beauty.
Looked at my watch and realized, my fun was done, I had other places to go and people to see. But, as always, I was happy to see the kitties today. I think Rojo had some fun too. This is a great time of the year to chase the kitties, we'll be back soon!
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Well, Rojo had a resurrection today. It was my birthday and like most the other anglers on this forum, it was an easy choice to hit the water as a first order of celebration.
After reading TubeDude's bubble up post, and then bugging him with a redundant phone call. I confirmed my target depth and was on my way in pursuit of arguably the best fish to catch in Utah. KITTIES!
I launched to a calm and reflective Utah lake. The 62 degree water felt fine on my wader-less legs. Took 15 minutes to kick out to my desired depth and location. Four feet of water, outside of the reeds. Had the lines out, anxiously watching the depth on the fish finder. It hit 4.5 feet and the first Rod "Clicked" free and the line went quickly spinning off the spool. I let it go for a bit, flipped the bail, let the line get almost tight, then sat back hard while quickly sending the rod high above my head with my arms. Fish ON! I contemplated bringing in my second rod after I set the hook and the kitty started fighting. I decided to leave it out as I brought in my kitty. Good Call.
The fight had really picked up and I thought "I hope that second pole doesn't go off, I got all I can handle with this fish". Right on cue, "PING" second rod goes off, DOUBLE TROUBLE for me and Rojo. I let the line go out a bit. Set down the first rod in the holder, turned my attention to the second rod. Flipped the bail, line tightened up, and I set the hook. Got a BIG resistance on the hook set, so I thought, "I better set that again just in case" gave it a second WHAM hook set, tightened the line and put it in the rod holder and went back to my first fish.
Got the first fish in, photographed, clipped and in the basket he went. Picked up the second rod to see if that fish was done fighting itself and ready for me to bring it in. Not a chance! Fought a long time, got my shoulder and forearm sore before I even got a glimpse of its 6" wide forked tail. Got it landed after many runs away from the tube. A nice, 28 inch Kitty. Matching my personal best. Happy Birthday to me! After deciding I had been given a little gift I put her back into the lake as a form of gratitude. 28 inches isn't the biggest of kitties, but it's still a lot of kitty. Hopefully, she'll go and make a lot more kitties for me.
Fighting 2 decent kitties at once can take up a fair amount of time, I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings and realized they had pulled me off my desired course.
Went ~ 20 minutes with out a bite as I was kicking back to where I wanted to be. I thought "What can I do to get these kitties to bite again?" Then I remembered, "If you wanna get bit, do something that would make it inconvenient if they do bite" So, I started tying up a tandem rig on one of my dormant rods that had lost it's lure earlier to a snag. That's all it took, "PING" Rod 1 goes off. Flip the bail, set the hook, Fish on again! Got the fish in half way and notice the second rod do a brief jiggle on the tip of the rod, just as quickly as it jiggled, it stopped... just long enough for me to think it was nothing then, WHAM! second rod bounces and line starts flying off the spool. Another Double? Lucky me!
Got the first fish in, another 20" kitty. Then started in on the second rod. This fish was not happy that I caught it. Proved himself to be a drag queen, lots of drag ripping runs, Straight out on the first, then second run went to the left. Then, came and crashed into my fins on the third run. Hard to not giggle when they fight so voraciously. Got it landed, Nice 26" Bronze Beauty.
Looked at my watch and realized, my fun was done, I had other places to go and people to see. But, as always, I was happy to see the kitties today. I think Rojo had some fun too. This is a great time of the year to chase the kitties, we'll be back soon!
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