09-12-2007, 11:09 PM
[cool][#0000ff]TubeBabe and I are planning to head out for Idaho early Friday. Got most of the planning and packing under control, and I cain't abide sittin' around the house when it is purty and calm. TubeBabe couldn't break free, though, so (natcherly) I loaded up the car and made a quick solo trip to Jordanelle.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Air temp was 45 and water temp was 65 when I launched about 6:30. There was a light south breeze blowing right in on the PWC ramp, but nothing serious. It came and went all morning and never got to the popcorn stage. Seemed to help the fishing whenever it came up a bit.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]WOW! The water has really dropped since we were last there, about two weeks ago. Of course that changes everything with the fishing. Had to look for them all over again. No gimmes. I thought my sonar was broken for awhile. No marks anywhere from shallow to deep within 50 yards of the ramp. Unusual.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I figured there would be some early trout on top. Fished a bubble and fly. Zip. Same for a spinner. Only a couple of bitty perch. Started working through the tried and true plastics and painted body jigs. Lots of action...but all bitsy perchies. A couple of smalettes. No trout.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After working the previously good spots thoroughly, without anything in the basket to show for it, I moved west toward the corner, where the little creek comes in. More dinky perchies. Got to watch a master angler at work. A blue heron was fishing inside a pool that had been cut off from the main lake. Evidently there were a lot of trapped perch fry because that heron was striking often and always came up with the groceries in his lips.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Worked slowly and methodically along the brushy west bank. Again, nothing but dinkies. Lots of them. Heard a noise and looked up to see a deer sneaking through the washed up branches along the shoreline. She posed for a picture and continued up into the trees. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It was hard to concentrate on the fishing with all of the pretty new colored leaves on the hillsides above the lake. Still not in full color, but still worth devoting some attention to.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About the time I rounded the point into the "quarry" area, I put on one of my jig spinner spinner baits. It is a larger profile and has flash and vibration. Thought maybe it would attract a larger class of fish and discourage the little ones. Yeah, right. I was still getting "rattled" to pieces on every cast, from the little fish, but only hooked larger ones. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This area is one of my "honey holes". With lots of rocks, and a long shallow point, it usually attracts and holds some fish. It is not a secret spot, but it should be. It usually produces...for savvy anglers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About 10 AM it was like somebody flipped the switch. Fishing the same spot, the same way but now the fish started getting bigger and feistier. That was okay with me. I got several decent perch in short order, and a couple of footlong smallies. But, I kept missing some good hits on the spinner bait so I went to smaller single offerings. The pale perch color combo seemed to be best. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The big surprise? The quality fish were in only 7 - 10 feet of water...with most of my bigger ones coming from about 8 feet. When I was right over a school, I hardly did more than dip the jig a rod length straight down and instant action. I had several sessions of ten or more fish within a minute. Of course most of them were not large enough for the basket. I tried to keep only the 10 inch or larger. I tossed a lot of fat nine inchers back into the lake.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There was some structure in the shallow water. I did break off a few jigs. But, every time I broke off a producing lure, I tied on a different one...just to see how many they would accept. I didn't find anything they wouldn't hit, but the pale perch pattern...in the painted body jigs...got hit faster and harder than almost anything else.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Right in with the perch, in shallow water, were some small but willing smallies. I probably got 20 or so, from 8" to 14". All by accident, while fishing for perch. I wonder what I could do if I got serial.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The "hot bite" lasted about 2 hours and then things slowed down a bit. That's when the south breeze got stronger too. Since I had not yet eaten my sandwich, I tossed out a spinner behind the tube and started kick-trolling back the half mile to the ramp. My sandwich was interrupted three times by hard smacks on that spinner. One of them turned out to be a feisty 14" rainbow that fought 3 times harder than its size. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As I got back to the north side of the PWC area, I once again got into a grundle of dinks. No patience with them. Decided to bag it. Two folks fishing on the bank near the ramp complained they had fished all morning without even one bite. I waved my magic hands over the water and BAM...the lady tanglerette went bendo. She claimed it was probably a perch, but the action on the rod tip said otherwise. She was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a nice 16" rainbow. She kept it in the water and released it like a pro. That done, they packed up and hiked back up the hill.[/#0000ff]
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Air temp was 45 and water temp was 65 when I launched about 6:30. There was a light south breeze blowing right in on the PWC ramp, but nothing serious. It came and went all morning and never got to the popcorn stage. Seemed to help the fishing whenever it came up a bit.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]WOW! The water has really dropped since we were last there, about two weeks ago. Of course that changes everything with the fishing. Had to look for them all over again. No gimmes. I thought my sonar was broken for awhile. No marks anywhere from shallow to deep within 50 yards of the ramp. Unusual.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I figured there would be some early trout on top. Fished a bubble and fly. Zip. Same for a spinner. Only a couple of bitty perch. Started working through the tried and true plastics and painted body jigs. Lots of action...but all bitsy perchies. A couple of smalettes. No trout.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]After working the previously good spots thoroughly, without anything in the basket to show for it, I moved west toward the corner, where the little creek comes in. More dinky perchies. Got to watch a master angler at work. A blue heron was fishing inside a pool that had been cut off from the main lake. Evidently there were a lot of trapped perch fry because that heron was striking often and always came up with the groceries in his lips.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Worked slowly and methodically along the brushy west bank. Again, nothing but dinkies. Lots of them. Heard a noise and looked up to see a deer sneaking through the washed up branches along the shoreline. She posed for a picture and continued up into the trees. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It was hard to concentrate on the fishing with all of the pretty new colored leaves on the hillsides above the lake. Still not in full color, but still worth devoting some attention to.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]About the time I rounded the point into the "quarry" area, I put on one of my jig spinner spinner baits. It is a larger profile and has flash and vibration. Thought maybe it would attract a larger class of fish and discourage the little ones. Yeah, right. I was still getting "rattled" to pieces on every cast, from the little fish, but only hooked larger ones. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]This area is one of my "honey holes". With lots of rocks, and a long shallow point, it usually attracts and holds some fish. It is not a secret spot, but it should be. It usually produces...for savvy anglers.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]About 10 AM it was like somebody flipped the switch. Fishing the same spot, the same way but now the fish started getting bigger and feistier. That was okay with me. I got several decent perch in short order, and a couple of footlong smallies. But, I kept missing some good hits on the spinner bait so I went to smaller single offerings. The pale perch color combo seemed to be best. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The big surprise? The quality fish were in only 7 - 10 feet of water...with most of my bigger ones coming from about 8 feet. When I was right over a school, I hardly did more than dip the jig a rod length straight down and instant action. I had several sessions of ten or more fish within a minute. Of course most of them were not large enough for the basket. I tried to keep only the 10 inch or larger. I tossed a lot of fat nine inchers back into the lake.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There was some structure in the shallow water. I did break off a few jigs. But, every time I broke off a producing lure, I tied on a different one...just to see how many they would accept. I didn't find anything they wouldn't hit, but the pale perch pattern...in the painted body jigs...got hit faster and harder than almost anything else.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Right in with the perch, in shallow water, were some small but willing smallies. I probably got 20 or so, from 8" to 14". All by accident, while fishing for perch. I wonder what I could do if I got serial.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The "hot bite" lasted about 2 hours and then things slowed down a bit. That's when the south breeze got stronger too. Since I had not yet eaten my sandwich, I tossed out a spinner behind the tube and started kick-trolling back the half mile to the ramp. My sandwich was interrupted three times by hard smacks on that spinner. One of them turned out to be a feisty 14" rainbow that fought 3 times harder than its size. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As I got back to the north side of the PWC area, I once again got into a grundle of dinks. No patience with them. Decided to bag it. Two folks fishing on the bank near the ramp complained they had fished all morning without even one bite. I waved my magic hands over the water and BAM...the lady tanglerette went bendo. She claimed it was probably a perch, but the action on the rod tip said otherwise. She was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be a nice 16" rainbow. She kept it in the water and released it like a pro. That done, they packed up and hiked back up the hill.[/#0000ff]
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