Tube Sleddin' Doofus

[TubeDude]

[cool][font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][#0000ff]I have always made it a point to do some tubing every month of the year. With all the water turning hard this past week that limited my potential launch sites. I decided to try Deer Creek, around the island. I figured that with the "temperature inversion" that I would have shirt sleeve conditions. NOT.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It was 14 degrees, foggy and a chill breeze was blowing when I drove into the island State Park at 8 AM. There was also a few inches of snow still on the ground, so I rigged up for "tube sleddin'". My Outcast Super Fat Cat makes a good snow sled when it is towed "bow" forward (see pics). I've done that before so I felt comfortable launching through the snow.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Backed my tube sled down the snowy PWC ramp, launched and started kicking out into deeper water. The water temp was 38 close to shore, but rose to just over 42 as I got out nto deeper water. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did not see a single fish mark until I reached about 30 feet (no married ones either). Shortly after making it into about 35 feet of water, I saw a few fish on the bottom and began jigging my lure seductively. WHAM!. Something sizeable ripped a few yards of line off the reel. However, not wanting to go through all the hassle of fighting it all the way in, I made a "professional disconnect". Saves a lot of wear and tear on the tackle.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Didn't have another inquiry for over an hour. The fog (mist) was so bad at times that I could barely see the lone tooner or the two boats that were also working the area. It was wierd to hear a guy's cell phone ring and the conversation...only a few yards away...but to be totally unable to see them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When I got around to the north side of the island I began to see more fish. I found one cluster on a hump in 45 feet of water that I really think were probably perch. But, they didn't want what I was offering. Fishing in 30 feet of water, bouncing a chartreuse Roadrunner with a piece of perch meat, I started to get light taps. I finally put the hook in one of the teasers and reeled up a "finless Freddie"...hatchery pet. I caught several more over the next hour or so, before the mist finally lifted. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It was really pretty as the mist swirled and left the water. The snow covered hills emerged and the bushes were covered with frost. Timpanogos was especially grand with its new white dress. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I decided to get off the water about noon and to make a trip up to Jordanelle...maybe catch a few of the trout I left behind at Rock Cliff on my last visit. (See Jordanelle Report). I got out closer to the island and hauled my tube sled easily along the snowy shoreline back to my vehicle. The temperature had risen to a balmy 24 as I drove out of the parking lot on the way to Lake X.[/#0000ff]
[/size][/black][/font] [font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1]Attachments:[/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=19980;"][#333366] TUBE SLED.JPG [/#333366][/url](279 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=19981;"][#333366] BACKING DOWN.JPG [/#333366][/url](169 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=19982;"][#333366] LAUNCHED.JPG [/#333366][/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=19983;"][#333366] MISTY TOONER.JPG [/#333366][/url](104 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=19984;"][#333366] MISTY TROLLERS.JPG [/#333366][/url](96.3 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=19985;"][#333366] HATCHERY PET.JPG [/#333366][/url](148 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=19986;"][#333366] TIMP IN THE MIST.JPG [/#333366][/url](137 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=19987;"][#333366] TIMP EMERGING.JPG [/#333366][/url](137 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=19988;"][#333366] TIMP AND TREES.JPG [/#333366][/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=19989;"][#333366] WHITE ISLAND.JPG [/#333366][/url](241 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=19990;"][#333366] TUBE TAKEOUT.JPG [/#333366][/url](204 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=19991;"][#333366] TRUDGIN' BACK.JPG [/#333366][/url](199 KB) [/size][/black][/font]
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[idahopanfish]

AWSOME!
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[zonker]

[#0000ff][size 1]>>I did not see a single fish mark until I reached about 30 feet (no married ones either). [/size][/#0000ff]
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[#000000][size 1][cool]Good one. [/size][/#000000]
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[size 1]Boy, all I can say besides that it that those pics sure looked cold. I just reached over and turned up the foot warmer underneath my desk. The power of suggestion.[/size]
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[size 1]Glad to see you're still getting out. Makes our typically mild winters here in Oregon seem like nothing. My fear is that one of these days you'll stay out too late in the year and just get frozen in place on one of the lakes and not be heard from again until ice out in the spring.[/size]
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[size 1]BTW, that picture of the guys trolling in the mist reminds me of shots of ghost ships drifting freely on the ocean. Kinda creepy. Were those guys still alive? (Rhetorical question)[/size]
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[size 1]z~[/size]
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[Kraizee_Skot]

[font "Times New Roman"][#ff4040][size 3][cool]Your silly! It's too cold to be doing that.[/size][/#ff4040][/font]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]No worries about getting frozen in for the winter. I have a high threshold of survival instinct. Although there are some things I do that might contradict that. I'll have you know that I always carry an ice pick with me...just in case.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Those pics of other craft in the fog are kinda neat. I was thinking the same thing..."ghost ship"...when I took the shots.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the way, I did ask those guys if they were still alive and they said "Yes". But, you know how fishermen lie.[/#0000ff]
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