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Read JigginJim's report of 50yds of open water all around the lake and decided to take half the day off yesterday and get my but over there in a hurry. For those of you that have never fished Scofield at ice-out, you are missing a real treat.
We didn't do quite as well as he did, but...
We arrived at the lake around 4:30. We fished the shore behind the island from the bank. We started with a bubble and a worm about 3.5 feet below it. I got one good bite but not much else. We noticed that the two guys down from us were just flat slaying the fish. I walked down and asked them if they would mind sharing the day's secret. They were glad to tell me that they were just sinking a worm to the bottom on a full bubble. I put on a slip sinker and a worm (basically a Carolina rig) and the fun began.
We ended up leaving about 7:30 with 13 fish caught. We kept 5 Bows from 15-18" and 1 Cutt that was about 18" and released the rest. I have a picture of the two biggest, but I forgot to grab the link cable for my camera, so I'll add that later.
The bite was very light and fast. The fish were just picking up the worm and moving with it until they felt weight and then dropping it. I only had one fish that was not hooked just in the corner of the mouth. You had to be quick. I had to have missed at least 10 hits. The fish were holding about 2/3 of a normal cast from shore. You know if you are too far out because of the grass and moss on your rig. Find the edge of the gunk, and you're on fish quick. Watch the ice that remains since it is moving in and out with the slightest breeze. We almost had to move as it moved in, but then it just moved back out again. While it was in, the fishing just got that much better.
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Fished the west beach at Scofield on 4-6-04. We got there at about 4:30 and started using worms. We got the occasional bite and the even more occasional fish. The people next to us were using roe sacks (egg sacks) and were knocking them dead which surprised me because I tried one earlier and didn't even get a bite. I tied some more up and the fishing went crazy. We had a lot of small bites, pick ups and drop offs, but were able to land a nice handful of nice fish.
I talked my grandfather, great grandfather, wife, and my 2 year old boy into going with me and we had a blast. It was kind of muddy but the good fishing made up for it. We had wind for about 15 minutes with a super small sprinkle of rain mixed in that we barely noticed. Other than that the wind was barely noticeable and it wasn't super freezing. The lake is over half ice free especiall on the south west end. The ice has been blown to the east side so there is a lot more on the east beaches but it won't last very long.
All in all a good trip to get the family out and to get my son to spend some time with his grandfathers.
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Was there any snow left on the ground. I plan on going up friday in my wifes car. Should I take the truck (4X4) instead?
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I was in my little Mercury Topaz. Take the car. No snow on the roads, but there is still some on the sides of the shaded hills. Watch out for Elk. They are moving heavily through the area. We saw two herds on the road as we were leaving just after dusk.
As fishluvr pointed out; The shorelines are muddy. Take a pair of boots that can handle a clay mixture of mud. It's only about 1-2 inches, but it sticks like glue.
I had eggs with me, but did not try them. Everyone that was on that West shore Sunday was catching fish. Nothing on dough baits. From the folks I talked to, the most used was just a worm on the bottom. Two guys that were doing just a well as everyone else were using a marshmallow to float a worm up about a foot from the bottom. Hope it helps. Good luck. I might go back up Saturday with the kids.
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Fishluvr-
What kind of egg sacs??? I have several bags of salmon roe frozen from a salmon trip last fall. Can I use that as bait here?????? And how do you "tie them up"? Thanks for the info!
Bigcat
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I don't know how many fishing stores have pre-made salmon egg sacks but check at Sportsmans warehouse because I found some in a bottle there. I tried one of these and didn't have any luck. While there I also picked up a pack of square pre-cut red mesh for only a couple of bucks. The squares are about two or three inch squares. I take a fingerfull of trout eggs, I don't know how well salmon eggs will work, and put them in the middle of a square of mesh. I then take all the edges of the mesh and pull them together so the eggs in the middle of the mesh are then in a ball. I take a light piece of fishing line and tie all the edges of the mesh together to hold the eggs in. The easiest way to understand it if you haven't done it is to find a bottle at Sportsmans and then copy it when you catch a trout with eggs. At least three of the trout from last night, that is all I kept and didn't send with my grandfather, had eggs in them. If I would have known they were all females I would have kept one and let the other two go to do their thing.
The people next to us were using some medium sized treble hooks which I think hooked the fish better than the singles we tried. I tried a circle hook but it's just not the right shape for this type of egg sack. They did work great on the worms I used at first but not as well for the egg sacks.
We didn't cast very far to catch the fish. I would put on a small split shot, then a swivel, and then a foot or two of leader to the egg sack. We didn't cast out more than 20 yards when we caught fish. Much farther than that and we didn't get anywhere near the bites we had in closer. Put on just enough weight to cast so when the fish pick up the bait they can't feel it as well. We had tons of small bites that would barely straighten your line. When we tried to set the hooks on these we missed all but two. We had to wait until they really pulled your rod tip down and then we set the hook.
When we started using nothing but a worm we had occassional success. I tried floating a worm up with a marshmallow and never got a bite on that one. I did try tipping a worm with a salmon egg and noticed a little bit better action than just the plain worm. That is how I caught the first fish with eggs.
I am looking to go back up some evening, because all I have left are evenings, so if anybody wants to hook up I have tons of eggs and mesh to go around. I get off work at 4:00 and can be ready to go.
As far as the salmon roe goes I don't know how well they would work. I'm sure they would do ok. The only time I have used salmon roe is in oregon fishing for other salmon. I know the scent of these eggs is a big factor to trout because the water was amazingly murky and brown. I don't know how the salmon roe scent would affect the fish. Can't hurt to try. If you go, ask around because tons of people tie these little egg sacks and can give pointers.
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Fishluvr-
Thank you for the detailed information. I am heading up on tuesday and will give it a try.
Bigcat
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good to hear you made it up there. whats the ice like now how far from shore? im heading up there tommorow with the wife for the weekend. its gonna be wet but i aint skeered got them fish all smoked up and almost eatin im ready for another batch.
Big Jim
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Hey JigginJim, my wife and I will also be up there this weekend. Maybe we'll run into ya. Will you be staying in a cabin or are you camping? I will probably fish the east side and explore from there if needed. I need some more for the smoker too.
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I haven't been up since Monday, but I'd bet the entire West side is open. With the weather we've had, it woudn't surprise me if it's open all the way to the channel to the dam.
In fishluvr's earlier report from the 7th, the South West side was completely open just two days after I was there. The lake might just be ice free.
I might show up Saturday with mindsoup and our kids. No plans yet, but we'll see. If so, I'll be in the little white Topaz (looks just like a Ford Tempo) with Mindy (mindsoup) and three kids on the shore behind the island. We already ate what we kept too. Filleted, dipped in milk/egg, then rolled in crushed oyster crackers, and pan fried in cilantro flavored grapeseed oil. YUMMY! Good luck in case I don't make it over.
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