TubeBabe bounces back

[TubeDude]

[cool][font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][#0000ff]After TubeBabe got skunked on her birthday, I figured I better get her into some fish. Opted for Starvation Reservoir, out in the north central Utah desert. She likes perch and they like her.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]On the water at Rabbit Gulch by 7 AM. Air temp a refreshing 55. Water temp a nice warm 73...warming to 76 after noon. Light breeze early which settled into almost glassy calm most of the day. Awwwwright.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Started getting dinky perch right away in water as shallow as 8 feet. Worked out deeper and ran out of fish. Moved north toward a point of vegetation. Started casting a chartreuse roadrunner with a piece of perch meat. Wham! Game on. Found an area with some larger perch and they were active. Hollered at TubeBabe on the walkie talkie to come join the party. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By 8 AM we both had several keeper perch (over 10 inches) in our baskets and were whooping and hollering. MAN! I have never caught perch that fought harder than those babies. I thought I had two pound smallies on a couple of perch that were even smaller than our 10 inch size standard. On our ultralight rods they pulled the tips into the water and stripped line off the drag. Woo Hooo.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Occasionally a silly little walleye would climb on the same jigs we were using for the perch. We were fishing in from 18 feet to 20 feet of water and there were continuous fish marks on our sonars. It was like ice fishing, but without the ice, the auger or the cold. Just drop down, hit bottom, raise it up, jig it a little and FISH ON. In fact, we both rigged one rod with tandem rigs and catching doubles was common. Sometimes two keepers on the same rig. A couple of times I brought up a walleye on one hook and a perch on the other.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We did not even attempt to count how many perch we caught. I conservatively estimate we both caught well over a hundred before we came in for an early lunch. I had kept my limit of 20 perch and had kept 4 of the eight walleyes I had caught at that time. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We went back out about 11:30 and TubeBabe finished off her limit of perch and caught a few small walleye and one small smallmouth. 4 species for her today, counting the two humongous chubs she brought to the tube. I got one 15 incher too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We caught fish on several colors of bait bugs and roadrunner jigs, tipped with either perch meat or worm. Crawlers seemed to produce the largest perch and all of the walleyes. Colors ranged from chartreuse to white, to gold/perch, to rainbow sparkle. It didn't seem to matter much what we used. One of the hot jigs early was my little "fire tiger" jig that I developed for ice fishing last season. Caught my biggest perch on that...a 12 plus incher. Also caught a couple over 11.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There was almost no boat traffic today. One troller came fairly close and the only thing we saw them score was a small perch on their worm harness rig.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Perfect timing for our departure. Just as we were beaching the tubes, a PWC launched a short distance down the shore from where we were parked and proceeded to cut water donuts all over the area we had been fishing. I think he was mad that we left before he had a chance to demo his skills up close and personal.[/#0000ff]
[/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][size 1]Attachments:[/size][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17544;"][#000000] DA GULCH BACK END.JPG [/#000000][/url](158 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17545;"][#000000] FISHIN RIPPLE.JPG [/#000000][/url](189 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17546;"][#000000] LAKESIDE DEVELOPMENT.JPG [/#000000][/url](232 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17547;"][#000000] KEEPER FOR TUBEBABE.JPG [/#000000][/url](189 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17548;"][#000000] TUBEBABE'S TROPHY CHUB.JPG [/#000000][/url](171 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17549;"][#000000] KEEPER 10.JPG [/#000000][/url](154 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17550;"][#000000] PORKY 9 INCH THROWBACK.JPG [/#000000][/url](146 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17551;"][#000000] AVERAGE EYE.JPG [/#000000][/url](158 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17552;"][#000000] JIG AND WORM MUNCHER.JPG [/#000000][/url](181 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17553;"][#000000] 15 INCH CHUB.JPG [/#000000][/url](141 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17554;"][#000000] TUBEBABE'S FIRST 10.JPG [/#000000][/url](291 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17555;"][#000000] TUBEDUDE'S TAKEHOME.JPG [/#000000][/url](227 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17556;"][#000000] 20 OVER 10.JPG [/#000000][/url](224 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17557;"][#000000] SUNNY BEACH.JPG [/#000000][/url](223 KB) [/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=17558;"][#000000] END OF A GREAT DAY.JPG [/#000000][/url](174 KB) [/size][/black][/font]
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[zonker]

Yes, yes, yes. And a great bounce back it is. She saved her reputation.

That's one "nice messa fish" as my grandfather used to say. Great to have a lake that supports such a healthy perch fishery. You guys did really well. And I'll bet the kitchen smells like fish about now, too. Right?

I'd certainly chase after those fishies if we had some like them nearby.

That "swayback" chub is a funny looking fish.

Nice pics. Nice fish. Nice people.

z~
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]Hey TD,[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Nuther great report ! Keep it up - BFT reports are about the only fishing experiences I've had of late and it's helping me maintain the level of sanity that I need. Which as you probably well know, is minimal.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]I knew TubeBabe would not be burdened with the oder of skunk for very long - she's a quality angler/person. Anyway, I think she probably did it to make you feel less self-conscious by letting you win one.[/size][/black]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey Chuck, we are glad that you have the time and access to a computer to maintain contact with us Utah and Tubing folks. Seems like forever since we have shared a session on the water. I'm sure you are feeling it even more than we are. At least we get to go fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Any timeline on when you will get back? Also, I am assuming you have your furry kids with you. How are they doing?[/#0000ff]
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