Run for the Border

[CoyoteSpinner]

Been talking about it long enough, figured I'd better take a run northward, and make use of my Idaho license. Hit up one of the Preston lakes, not exactly crack of dawn. Some folks were done and getting off the water. They probably knew something.

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Managed to launch into the loooowwww water. Got into some Bluegills right away. Mostly dinkers - flung 'em a fly, and that was fun for a while. Got a mix of Crappie along with the Gills. Bumped into a few small bass, and then - some real weight on the line. After a few runs, met this hunky 16 inch largemouth.

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Moved up to the other end of the reservoir, and got into some bigger Gills. Couldn't coax anymore bass. Still hadn't found any perch. But got on a mess of small gills - and an occasional crappie. Doubles started getting repetitive.
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As light waned, started back to the launch, but ran into this thug along the way - solid 17 inches. Lots of birds enjoying the water's edge. And more muskrats than I've ever seen. The eye's are watching!

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[fish_fear_me2]

Nice mixed bag of fish. Looks like a lot of fun. Good eating kinda fish too.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Yote looks like a fun trip with lots of tug I'll bet that was a fun day. Good job. Later J
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Thanks - had lots of quantity, with a little quality mixed in. Brought home a few Gills, but the bass all went swimming for another day.

Wouldn't mind finding Crappie with more heft to 'em.

Really wonder what this low low water year will do to some of our reservoirs, and their fish-content!

Always a certain level of trepidation hitting new waters, but nice to find my way around a new lake a bit. Always more to learn! Funny how a double can feel twice as heavy (or more) than a single, and also - how a teensy little gill can act like it's got lots of heft - by wrapping around the weeds!

[gstott]

Nice! I'm glad to see you finally made it up north. The panfish are really coming back there, I just hope that the low water doesn't undo all the progress they've made. The crappie have only been there a couple of years and they seem to be growing pretty quickly. They should get to be good sized before too long.

The muskrats there are crazy. I've never seen that many either. There's always some cool bird life there as well. It's hard to tell from the pics, but it almost looks like the water may have cleared up ever so slightly.
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[TyeDyeTwins]

Get this smut off the Utah board![]

Nice...too bad the gill water right in your backyard isn't treating you well right now.
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[Pharticus]

You go to that lake and chase bluegill? What's wrong with you? []
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote Pharticus]You go to that lake and chase bluegill? What's wrong with you? [][/quote]

Sorry - forgot to mention - my arms ACHE today from pitching all those cranks! I threw flat bills, deep divers - trolled some cranks - pitched spinners (even CapSpinners - couple bumps) I was friggin swarmed by gills.

The shadow of my boat brought them in. I swear - hadn't but unbuttoned one - pitched the line over - before I had another - dang nuisance! I was trying to get UNDER the schools to the bigguns! Tough deal!

Towards sunset - had the bluegill boils on. Swarms surfacing and gulping. Spooky bunches! But didn't turn out to be the bigger bullies at it, as I'd seen as Mantua. Reminded me of sunset at Newton.

Maybe you can show me where/how the bass lie. Saw a crew with kids - thought it might be you. Guess not.

I gotta try some more of them lakes soon! Before they dry up!

[gstott]

Think fat, shallow and fast on the cranks. At least that's what's been working for me.
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote gstott]Think [#000080]fat[/#000080], [#000080]shallow [/#000080]and [#000080]fast [/#000080]. . . [/quote]

Ha - sounds like someone I dated in the school daze - for a night. . . anyway. [:p]


Ever pitch frogs or topwaters across the weeds? Was meaning too, just never quite rigged one up.

Any idea where the perch hang out there? Maybe I was on em, but couldn't get through the swarm of Gillettes to get down to the bottom.

[gstott]

Ha, been there [laugh]

I was wanting to throw some frogs up into the reeds this spring, but the water dropped so fast that I didn't get the chance. Ever since then it has been pretty windy most of the time, so I haven't broken out the frogs. Maybe I will give it a try next time though.

I've never had super consistent success on the perch, though I haven't really targeted them specifically. I've lucked into some pretty big ones drop shotting in deep water and also on a deep diving jerkbaits and cranks. I haven't caught any this year though.
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