First 2012 Willard Trip

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Codgertated betwixt going to Utah Lake or Willard. Willard won...I lost. I wanted to stop by Smith and Eddies for some stuff so that is the direction I pointed my tube this morning.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Saw (and smelled) several dead skunks on the way up the road this morning. Hoped that was not a preview of things to come.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched at the north marina about 7:30 am. Light breeze. Air temp 26 and water temp 38. TDC. Cloudy. Sun never did break through.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Started by dragging a minnow on one rod and pitching a tandem small tube rig with the other. Worked out through the marina entrance and to the south a bit. Shallow (10') to deeper (22'). Thought my sonar was broke. Wasn't showing any fish marks. Only saw a fish here or there. No schools. Even less on my line.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked north and out into deeper water. Then back shallower...to as little as 12 feet off Eagle Beach. Willard Bay desert. No fishies. [/#0000ff][#0000ff]In over two hours of very thorough gridding I saw fewer than a dozen fish on sonar.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked back toward the marina. Just outside the entrance I had a couple of pop and drops on the minnow. Couldn't put a hook in either one. Then I had a quick pull down on the plastic. Again, no love on the end of the line. That was it for the day.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked into the marina and continued making S turns over all the spots that have provided fish in the past. Had plenty of time to munch a sandwich without interruption. Couldn't believe how flat and barren the bottom was inside. Almost always something to go after. Not today.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Finally, about 10:30...3 hours after launching...I got two fish back to back. One was a catfish and the other a wiper. Sadly, neither one had been eating well over the winter and they were incredibly thin. So thin, in fact, that they were completely transparent. You could look right through them as if they weren't even there. To the untrained (non-fisherman) eye they probably don't even show up in the pictures.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Headed for the heavily algaed ramp about 11. The solo boater on the lake came back in about the same time...with the same results. [/#0000ff]
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=82270"]ICE FREE LAUNCH.jpg[/url] (181 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=82271"]ICEBERG REMNANTS.jpg[/url] (255 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=82272"]DOUBLE EAGLE.jpg[/url] (349 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=82273"]TRANSPARENT CATFISH.jpg[/url] (189 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=82274"]TRANSPARENT WIPER.jpg[/url] (204 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=82275"]RAMP ALGAE.jpg[/url] (163 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=82276"]ALMOST SKUNKED.jpg[/url] (423 KB)
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[cpierce]

Bummer!! Those super skinny fish don't fillet well either!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]But great if you are on a diet and wanna lose weight.[/#0000ff]
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[flygoddess]

Still jealous! Beats getting you car to pass inspection[] Maybe next trip?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Probably won't hit Willard again for a few weeks. But will be making lots of runs to Utah Lake...various venues. You are welcome to tag along for immoral support.[/#0000ff]
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[idahopanfish]

Those are the bigest transparent fish I have ever seen, must be a new state record!!!! I have caught nearly the same species of fish here in southern Idaho. Now I have special film in my camera to help focus on these fish, but each time I have caught them I forgotten the camera, can you believe that??????

I am so proud of you to be venturing out amoungst the remaining ice bergs, remember the Titanic, and the many boaters and jet skippers.

Have a great evening. Say good night Gracey Good Night Gracey.[fishin]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Since the transparent fish are only a color phase of the regular species, no separate records are kept. If there were, they would have to be weighed on an invisible scale and that would make it difficult to read the numbers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As a life-long angler I can attest to the fact that virtually all species have the transparent phase. I have caught them on many trips when the more visible fish seemed nonexistent.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]GOOD NIGHT...Gracie.[/#0000ff]
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