10-18-2003, 09:24 PM
[cool]Couldn't wait any longer for the fall weather pattern to get here. Had to go fishing. Daytime temps have been back up to 100 with nighttime temps only dropping to the early 70's. That does not get the water cool enough to bring the bass and other species back to the shallows for prime fishing.
Went through the gate at Saguaro Lake at 6:30 AM. Hit the water at 7:00. Air temp 72, water temp 75....warming to 77.5 as I kicked from shallow to deeper water. Knew it was not going to be a stellar day when I got bogged down in the still prolific aquatic weed growth. It is usually thinning out by this time of year, and the fish move in.
As soon as I reached the outside of the weed line, in about 14 feet of water, I started slinging topwater...just in case there were some largies that had not checked their calendar, their thermometer or the lousy fishing reports. I did not get a splash or a follow...on buzzers or any of my prop floaters.
I switched to drop shotting a new storm finesse minnow, in Tennessee shad. They look good to me, but there were no votes from the fish. I did have a couple of taps, but they were likely only lovesick bluegill.
Started through my arsenal of jigs and Roadrunners. Had a couple of light hits and hooked one surprised bluegill. That was it up until 9:00 AM.
As I was vertical jigging a little white bait bug in 15 feet of water...and munching a breakfast sandwich...THUMP. I was using my ultra light spinning rod with 4# line and the fish powered out to deeper water. That was fine with me. My Excalibur line cuts weeds pretty good, but I prefer to avoid them when I can.
About ten minutes later, I scooped up a 23" channel cat. It looked like he had gotten tangled in some of the weed growth, but it was a strange color. The weeds are long strands of green or greenish brown. The channel cat had something reddish hanging from its face. As I grabbed it out of the net, I saw that it was a cheapy rope stringer. Someone had caught this fish before, tied it to a stringer and then either hung it over the side of a boat or stuckthe end into the bank. Whichever..."Houdini" the cat had made his escape and took the stringer with him.
As you can see in the closeup, the stringer is tied into one corner of the fish's mouth, and the little white bait bug is clearly hooked in his lip right next to it. It was difficult to tell how long Houdini had been dragging that rope around, but he was actively feeding. He hit my jig with gusto and he had crawdad parts in his innards when I got him to the fillet board. He was just a bit thin...weighing only 4.1 pounds. Most fish from Saguaro that length will be a pound or so heavier, when they have been feeding well.
Normally, I would have removed the stringer and let him have his hard-won freedom. I admire a survivor. But, it has been awhile since we have had some fresh "kitty krispies" and cornbread, so TubeBabe outvoted me. A tie vote don't mean nothin' when you're married. Ya know?
I talked her into taking a couple of pics, joking (I thought) that this might be the only fish we caught all day. Danged if I wasn't right. She had only three or four tentative taps, and I missed one more good thump.
We were off the water about 11 AM. Water temp was up to almost 79 and the air was coming up on 95. There were quite a few shore anglers and several boaters...and a couple of rafters and tubers. There was not one other fish caught that we saw or heard about. The weather was hot, but the fishing was not.
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Went through the gate at Saguaro Lake at 6:30 AM. Hit the water at 7:00. Air temp 72, water temp 75....warming to 77.5 as I kicked from shallow to deeper water. Knew it was not going to be a stellar day when I got bogged down in the still prolific aquatic weed growth. It is usually thinning out by this time of year, and the fish move in.
As soon as I reached the outside of the weed line, in about 14 feet of water, I started slinging topwater...just in case there were some largies that had not checked their calendar, their thermometer or the lousy fishing reports. I did not get a splash or a follow...on buzzers or any of my prop floaters.
I switched to drop shotting a new storm finesse minnow, in Tennessee shad. They look good to me, but there were no votes from the fish. I did have a couple of taps, but they were likely only lovesick bluegill.
Started through my arsenal of jigs and Roadrunners. Had a couple of light hits and hooked one surprised bluegill. That was it up until 9:00 AM.
As I was vertical jigging a little white bait bug in 15 feet of water...and munching a breakfast sandwich...THUMP. I was using my ultra light spinning rod with 4# line and the fish powered out to deeper water. That was fine with me. My Excalibur line cuts weeds pretty good, but I prefer to avoid them when I can.
About ten minutes later, I scooped up a 23" channel cat. It looked like he had gotten tangled in some of the weed growth, but it was a strange color. The weeds are long strands of green or greenish brown. The channel cat had something reddish hanging from its face. As I grabbed it out of the net, I saw that it was a cheapy rope stringer. Someone had caught this fish before, tied it to a stringer and then either hung it over the side of a boat or stuckthe end into the bank. Whichever..."Houdini" the cat had made his escape and took the stringer with him.
As you can see in the closeup, the stringer is tied into one corner of the fish's mouth, and the little white bait bug is clearly hooked in his lip right next to it. It was difficult to tell how long Houdini had been dragging that rope around, but he was actively feeding. He hit my jig with gusto and he had crawdad parts in his innards when I got him to the fillet board. He was just a bit thin...weighing only 4.1 pounds. Most fish from Saguaro that length will be a pound or so heavier, when they have been feeding well.
Normally, I would have removed the stringer and let him have his hard-won freedom. I admire a survivor. But, it has been awhile since we have had some fresh "kitty krispies" and cornbread, so TubeBabe outvoted me. A tie vote don't mean nothin' when you're married. Ya know?
I talked her into taking a couple of pics, joking (I thought) that this might be the only fish we caught all day. Danged if I wasn't right. She had only three or four tentative taps, and I missed one more good thump.
We were off the water about 11 AM. Water temp was up to almost 79 and the air was coming up on 95. There were quite a few shore anglers and several boaters...and a couple of rafters and tubers. There was not one other fish caught that we saw or heard about. The weather was hot, but the fishing was not.
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]Wow T.D., that's one hell of a tough fish, that Mr. houdini. As for the "bait bug," I've never heard of that before, but I'm really new to jig fishing. Judging by the picture is that one of those little white jig's with the fuzzy/furry stuff with it (something I'd call a crappie jig) or is it different than that. As for your tube, are those rack things on back standard with your tube or did you build them yourself, or buy them? I've never seen a tube as tricked out as yours. I have a "Fish Cat" that I bought at Fish Tech in Holladay, and it's about the same general horseshoe type shape that yours is, but much more stripped down I guess. Anyhooters, I went to Schofield (sp?) today. Look for my report soon.