04-25-2004, 05:52 PM
[cool][blue][size 1]Shrimpboy is a young guy from Utah who will soon be relocating to Phoenix, to continue his postgrad studies at ASU. He came down in December and we tubed Saguaro without much success. At my suggestion, he timed another trip for the end of April, to get acquainted with some yellow bass and channel cats. [/size][/blue]
[#0000ff][size 1]He nearly "blew " it. He came in the day after a major frontal system and windstorm almost blew all the fish out of the lake. That usually knocks the fishing off for a few days. But, since he was here and more than ready, we did it anyway.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]First morning (Friday), he was waiting outside when I picked him up at 5 AM. A good sign in a fishing buddy. Hit the lake about 6:15, after getting the Fat Cats aired up and set up. Jack (SB) came without waders. Couldn't get the leaks fixed in his Hodgmans and figured the 67 to 70 degree water in Saguaro would be a piece of cake for a Utah boy. He still hit high C when he backed into the water at shoreline and it was only 63.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Since I took the time to put on MY leaky Hodgmans, I was a few minutes behind Jack to get out in "fish country". Jack was reeling in the first yellow bass just as I got launched and turned on my walkie talkie. I figured it was gonna be a gangbuster day.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]It started out great for wildlife. Jack got to see and hear his first ever cardinal...a common bird around Saguaro during the spring. We also got a serenade from a couple of whitewing doves. They are bigger than mourning doves and have a long drawn out call that sounds like they are trying to sing county western. As soon as we were on the water, we saw a couple of blue herons and the everpresent turkey vultures waiting for the morning sun to charge their batteries.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]One of the pics is of three deer that came down near me on the other side of the lake, when I left Jack to do some prospecting. There's another pic of some white cattle egrets sharing a tree with a turkey vulture on the second morning (Saturday). [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Back to fishing. Jack also caught a sunfish before I caught my first yellow bass. But, I caught several nice yellow bass in a row before Jack scored again. On Friday morning we almost had the lake to ourselves. It was calm and warm, and the water level was at it's highest point. That kept most of the fish back inside the no boat buoy line and meant that we had no competition from either boat or bank anglers.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Jack scored the first catfish also. It was only about a couple of pounds, and proved to be the first of several about the same size we caught over the two day period. I was surprised since the average cat in that area is at least 5 pounds. I caught one slightly larger a little later, and those were the only two cats for the first day. However, after throwing back several smaller fish, we ended up with 19 yellow bass for the table (12 to 7...tubedude...but who's counting).[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Stopped by my place to give Shrimpboy a demo on filleting with the electric knife. Dropped him off at his inlaws with a nice big bag of fillets and agreed to do it all over again at the same time Saturday.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Again, Jack was waiting when I drove up. He gets my seal of approval. He's a fisherman. Saturday I decided to brave the water temps and fish "wet too", with a pair of neoprene flats boots inside the fins and a pair of drawstring cotton pants to cover my legs. As the day before, the water at the shoreline was only 63, but quickly warmed to 67 a few yards from shore and ultimately to almost 70 before noon, when we quit on Friday.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]On Saturday, they had dropped the water level on Saguaro about two feet. That meant having to search for the fish again. They were not where they had been Friday. In fact, we saw very few marks on our sonar. I picked up a couple of yellow bass randomly, by bouncing a flathead jig. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Sidenote. On Friday, I had soaked our cut up fish bits with shad oil, anticipating that the yellow bass would be feeding on shad. Saturday, I doctored them with crawdad oil, in anticipation of getting into more cats. It worked. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Jack scored the first cat Saturday, out in deeper water. But, could get nothing else to hit out there. I got a small cat inside the buoys and another yellow bass. When Jack moved inside he "went bendo" on a larger fish. After several minutes of bent stick, stretched string and a big
, Jack dipped up the first of two larger cats...both going 5.8 pounds on the digital scales later.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]We picked up a stray yellow here and there. I got a hard fighting 3.5 pound channel for my second and last cat of the day. Jack got another under two pounds and then wrestled in the second large cat, to finish with four channels on Saturday.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Then, the deadly Saguaro curse set in. Several trailer loads of canoes and kayaks unloaded and hordes of screaming and inept thrashers hit the water. Some actually pounded on the side of the boat with their oars...delighting in the resonating sounds on the small cove. Others splashed each other and steered aimlessly around the cove.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Of course, as a part of the curse, these folks could not stay somewhere away from the fishermen. They seem to have a magnetic draw toward anyone trying to finess neutral mode fish. Some of these idiots actually hit our craft (see picture) with their oars as they banged and thrashed past us. What few marks we had seen on the sonar disappeared and we had no more hits for over an hour. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Since most of the thrashers seemed to want to operate inside, where we had been fishing, I suggested to SB that we might want to go out to the point and see if we could find some traumatized fish holding along the edge. Bingo. As soon as we reached the designated spot, we each scored another yellow bass. And, Bingo again. Before we even got the fish in the baskets we were surrounded by the horde of canoes and kayaks, banging out a warning to the stupid fish below.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]No more bites. No more patience. We were off the lake a little after 10 AM. Stopped at a favorite Chinese Buffet on the way home and ate too much. Went to my kitchen to fillet out the fish and dropped SB off by early afternoon.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Oh yeah, one interesting note is that on Saturday, I had just been telling SB that a lot of people lost tackle out there and that by bottom bouncing jigs I had brought in several rods and reels. Shortly thereafter, he hooked a loose line and as he handlined it in, there was a complete spinning outfit attached. Some scum on it, but very serviceable. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]All in all a good time was had by all.[/size][/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][size 1]He nearly "blew " it. He came in the day after a major frontal system and windstorm almost blew all the fish out of the lake. That usually knocks the fishing off for a few days. But, since he was here and more than ready, we did it anyway.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]First morning (Friday), he was waiting outside when I picked him up at 5 AM. A good sign in a fishing buddy. Hit the lake about 6:15, after getting the Fat Cats aired up and set up. Jack (SB) came without waders. Couldn't get the leaks fixed in his Hodgmans and figured the 67 to 70 degree water in Saguaro would be a piece of cake for a Utah boy. He still hit high C when he backed into the water at shoreline and it was only 63.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Since I took the time to put on MY leaky Hodgmans, I was a few minutes behind Jack to get out in "fish country". Jack was reeling in the first yellow bass just as I got launched and turned on my walkie talkie. I figured it was gonna be a gangbuster day.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]It started out great for wildlife. Jack got to see and hear his first ever cardinal...a common bird around Saguaro during the spring. We also got a serenade from a couple of whitewing doves. They are bigger than mourning doves and have a long drawn out call that sounds like they are trying to sing county western. As soon as we were on the water, we saw a couple of blue herons and the everpresent turkey vultures waiting for the morning sun to charge their batteries.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]One of the pics is of three deer that came down near me on the other side of the lake, when I left Jack to do some prospecting. There's another pic of some white cattle egrets sharing a tree with a turkey vulture on the second morning (Saturday). [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Back to fishing. Jack also caught a sunfish before I caught my first yellow bass. But, I caught several nice yellow bass in a row before Jack scored again. On Friday morning we almost had the lake to ourselves. It was calm and warm, and the water level was at it's highest point. That kept most of the fish back inside the no boat buoy line and meant that we had no competition from either boat or bank anglers.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Jack scored the first catfish also. It was only about a couple of pounds, and proved to be the first of several about the same size we caught over the two day period. I was surprised since the average cat in that area is at least 5 pounds. I caught one slightly larger a little later, and those were the only two cats for the first day. However, after throwing back several smaller fish, we ended up with 19 yellow bass for the table (12 to 7...tubedude...but who's counting).[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Stopped by my place to give Shrimpboy a demo on filleting with the electric knife. Dropped him off at his inlaws with a nice big bag of fillets and agreed to do it all over again at the same time Saturday.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Again, Jack was waiting when I drove up. He gets my seal of approval. He's a fisherman. Saturday I decided to brave the water temps and fish "wet too", with a pair of neoprene flats boots inside the fins and a pair of drawstring cotton pants to cover my legs. As the day before, the water at the shoreline was only 63, but quickly warmed to 67 a few yards from shore and ultimately to almost 70 before noon, when we quit on Friday.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]On Saturday, they had dropped the water level on Saguaro about two feet. That meant having to search for the fish again. They were not where they had been Friday. In fact, we saw very few marks on our sonar. I picked up a couple of yellow bass randomly, by bouncing a flathead jig. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Sidenote. On Friday, I had soaked our cut up fish bits with shad oil, anticipating that the yellow bass would be feeding on shad. Saturday, I doctored them with crawdad oil, in anticipation of getting into more cats. It worked. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Jack scored the first cat Saturday, out in deeper water. But, could get nothing else to hit out there. I got a small cat inside the buoys and another yellow bass. When Jack moved inside he "went bendo" on a larger fish. After several minutes of bent stick, stretched string and a big
, Jack dipped up the first of two larger cats...both going 5.8 pounds on the digital scales later.[/size][/#0000ff] [#0000ff][size 1]We picked up a stray yellow here and there. I got a hard fighting 3.5 pound channel for my second and last cat of the day. Jack got another under two pounds and then wrestled in the second large cat, to finish with four channels on Saturday.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Then, the deadly Saguaro curse set in. Several trailer loads of canoes and kayaks unloaded and hordes of screaming and inept thrashers hit the water. Some actually pounded on the side of the boat with their oars...delighting in the resonating sounds on the small cove. Others splashed each other and steered aimlessly around the cove.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Of course, as a part of the curse, these folks could not stay somewhere away from the fishermen. They seem to have a magnetic draw toward anyone trying to finess neutral mode fish. Some of these idiots actually hit our craft (see picture) with their oars as they banged and thrashed past us. What few marks we had seen on the sonar disappeared and we had no more hits for over an hour. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Since most of the thrashers seemed to want to operate inside, where we had been fishing, I suggested to SB that we might want to go out to the point and see if we could find some traumatized fish holding along the edge. Bingo. As soon as we reached the designated spot, we each scored another yellow bass. And, Bingo again. Before we even got the fish in the baskets we were surrounded by the horde of canoes and kayaks, banging out a warning to the stupid fish below.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]No more bites. No more patience. We were off the lake a little after 10 AM. Stopped at a favorite Chinese Buffet on the way home and ate too much. Went to my kitchen to fillet out the fish and dropped SB off by early afternoon.[/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]Oh yeah, one interesting note is that on Saturday, I had just been telling SB that a lot of people lost tackle out there and that by bottom bouncing jigs I had brought in several rods and reels. Shortly thereafter, he hooked a loose line and as he handlined it in, there was a complete spinning outfit attached. Some scum on it, but very serviceable. [/size][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][size 1]All in all a good time was had by all.[/size][/#0000ff]
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