Bank Tangler TubeBabe 5-29-12

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Got an early start to Lindon. Suited up in waders since water temps have dropped a bit again. Got the tubes aired up, motored up, geared up and ready to rumble shortly after 6. But when I was helping TubeBabe get launched I noticed her tube was a bit soft. Sometimes shrinks a bit in cold early temps and a quick shot with the pump firms it back up. But when I had made about three strokes on the double action pump I noticed some bubbles coming out from under the front corner of her tube. Not good. Even worse was that I had left the fast patch repair kit on my desk at home. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I said all the "appropriate" words to reflect the anger and gravity of the situation. TubeBabe is a trooper though and quickly agreed to fishing from shore while I went afloat...in my non-leaking craft.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]After some further delay...having to tear down the leaking tube and stow all her gear...I got launched a bit before 7 and headed for the harbor entrance. Water temp 59. A bit chilly to find shoreline whities in the midst of whoopie action. Probably pushed them out to deeper water...I thought. So I headed south for the bubbleup instead of north to the mouth of Battle Creek.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I did not stop to fish inside the harbor or around the points of the channel. Boogied (as much as possible with an electric motor) to the bubbleup and started watching TV (sonar). Very few blips. Fish few and scattered. Maybe I didn't figger right. But then I found a couple of small pockets of fish and began to get bit. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]All whitie action. And the bites were wierd. Some were so soft you had to just guess there was a fish there. Others were a series of taps followed by weight on the line...time to strike. Still others smashed those little jigs like they were trying to break them off the line and swim away with them. I missed a lot of hits and lost a lot of fish on the way to the tube. But, I was also adding a few nice whities to my basket.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As per our PM plan, TroutBumDave drove up and launched...arriving a few minutes after I had started my "speed run" to the bubbleup. He finally caught up to me at the buoys after I had the whities dialed in pretty well. I handed off some magic jigs and made some suggestions for where and how to work them. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There was a pesky little chop on the water that threatened to get worse...but never really did. But it was enough that we had to stay a ways apart to keep from "interacting". I caught a few more and Dave caught a few...including at least one nice cat that he admitted to.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When we were far enough apart so that I did not have to worry about tangling I fished a minnow on my second rod. After a couple of pop and drops I set the hook into something with shoulders. A couple of long hard runs and some heavy slugging. Peeled line off against a stout drag several times. Finally blew some bubbles, came up and crawled in my (too small) net. 29" and 9.5#. Took a couple of pics and sent her back to make some kittyettes.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In between lots more white bass I also caught a yellow perch...and another feisty catfish. The second cat was a two footer. Fought good. Released that one too. A couple more pop and drops and that was it for the bait rod.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Ended up keeping about 25 or 30 white bass. Not sure how Dave finished. He was still at it when I cruised back in to collect TubeBabe just before noon. She had actually caught some white bass from shore...casting out into deeper water off the outside bank of the dike. Nothing next to shore.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[EvilTyeDyeTwin]

Well TubeDude sounds like a good day out there...not the best but still good. Glad you could find the leak on TubeBabes tube....considering you could not find the leak on my toon...it would appear your track record is on the upswing! Don't feel too bad...not even the manufacture could find the leak on my toon.

With a Kitty that size it is a shame that you did not join the catfish compition....for heavens sake you fish that lake often enough now...you're bound to get into a biggun. Come on TD....with your help......the south will rise again!
[signature]

[fish_fear_me2]

The whities we caught the other day were more the average size not the larger models I was catching earlier. All were males. This weather isnt helping. I caught a few females on the prior trip and was hoping for bigger whities and a full blown prom night (I am getting spoiled on the bigguns) Gotta say a couple nice kitties. How deep were you when the kitties hit. That sucks taht TB tube was leakin...You know you could fished from the bank and let babe take yer tube.[:p] Just sayin.
[signature]

[wagdog]

Nice report. []

Did you happen to notice what the water temp was when you were heading in to leave? I got out in my tube yesterday morning for a couple of hours before the boat traffic got real crazy. Air temp was 37 and water was 57 but it had only made it up to 59 by the time I left at 10 am. Fishing was slow and probably would have been better had I headed out of the harbor but I managed to coax a few kitties home for dinner. Thanks for the pics!
[signature]

[TyeDyeTwins]

Hey you stole that kitty pic from a KSL add of something! Just kidding. Glad to hear the Tube Babe didn't make you pack your buns back home after the BAD (incorrect) BUBBLE UP experience.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks. But I don't fish competitively. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Funny though. Last week at the Knolls I was using big minnows and hoping for a big kitty or two. Got some cookie cutters and some small bullheads. In fact, my smallest fish came on my biggest minnows. This week I was using small (3") minnows and caught a couple of fish larger than any I got last week.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Plenty of bigguns for whoever wants to chase them seriously...or not seriously.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, we all got spoiled earlier in the year when there were lots of teen inchers in the mix. I got a couple over 12 today but most were the 10 to 11 inch fish. And none of them had even a speck of food in them. Gettin' skinny.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The ratio for the ones I kept today was about 1 female to 4 males. But I threw back a grundle and a half of smaller fish that were likely mostly males.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]What? You suggest that I give up my tube so that my wife can fish from it? Hey, I didn't do that stuff even when I was courtin'. Been married far too long to be doin' silly stuff like that. A real fishin' woman wouldn't think of deprivin' her (depraved) man of his float tube.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Troublemaker. You should be banned.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]EDIT: The cats I caught were out in about 7 feet of water. But Dave spent some time in fairly close to shore and got one there. They will be all over for the next week or two...until conditions are right for spawning. Then they move in around the reeds. Already a lot of them there but the wind and cold fronts keep moving them back out for a day or two.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[BigEZ]

Good for you TD! Who says chivalry is dead! So nice of you to take one for the team and let her use your tube!

Oh wait...

[]
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Water had come up to 63 degrees about noon. And the breeze seemed to be laying down a bit. It won't take the lake long to get back over 65 ambient temperature this week.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote TubeDude][cool][#0000ff]Thanks. But I don't fish competitively. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Funny though. Last week at the Knolls I was using big minnows and hoping for a big kitty or two. Got some cookie cutters and some small bullheads. In fact, my smallest fish came on my biggest minnows. This week I was using small (3") minnows and caught a couple of fish larger than any I got last week.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Plenty of bigguns for whoever wants to chase them seriously...or not seriously.[/#0000ff][/quote]

Nice report - as expected. So - what, can't just put the babe on your handlebars and ride her around? Maybe you just need a PVC bracket to hold her!

Um - there may be a [#800080]contest[/#800080], but I don't know if you can call it a [#bf00bf]competition[/#bf00bf]!
(yeah, I'm just gonna let THAT one hang out there like a bloody carp strip under bobber, and wait till some sucker BITES it!) [pirate][:p]

29" I'd almost expect that one to have weighed a bit more. Maybe she's just on a spring diet.

[Springbuck]

My tube bubbles like that all the time.... I thought that was normal!

Is it bad that I haven't fixed it in 8 years and I just adjust the seat strap higher until finally I have to race against deflation to get back to shore...?

Nice cat! I want a turn!
[signature]

[Springbuck]

And KUDO's to your level headed and resourceful wife for catching under averse conditions..
[signature]

[CatfishKid123]

Nice catfish I caught a 20 incher that day to. But I only caught one catfish. Can anyone tell me some tips from fishing from the shore. Nice report tubedude.
[signature]

[TroutBumDave]

Just got home, and man, my arms are burned to a crisp. For whatever reason, I put sunscreen all over my skin but forgot my arms. Idiot.

Even though I fished 7 more hours than TD, he still outfished me -- surprise, surprise. I did manage to smash this hog off the surface within 10 minutes of arrival: (elk hair caddis FTW)



I ended the day with 10 whities, which is just enough to make some fish taco's. I vowed I'd never filet these suckers again after my last debacle, but I'm a glutton for punishment. It can't get worse, right? I also got into a few kitties, the biggest coming in at a measly 4lbs:



Unlike TubeDude The Merciful, everything that ended up at the boat ended up in my basket, which will then end up in my frying pan, and will eventually end up in my colon. Too far? You get the idea.

I left for the North side of the harbor about 30 minutes after TD took off, and since my motor decided to take a crap on me (second trip in a row, time to shoot it), it took me 90 frickin minutes to paddle my butt back. Ugh, what a waste of time. Once on the North side, I committed myself to catching a LMB on the fly. Four hours later, I finally got one. He was about 6". Thankfully he got off as I was pulling him out of the water, or we might have photographic proof of my failure. Ah well, mission accomplished. Sorta.

Anyhow, it was great to get out with TD and watch The Master at work -- he's a hell of a guy.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]TubeBabe's new nickname is "Bubbles". Actually, she is a jinx with float tubes. Over the years I have had to fix leaks in her tubes at least 10 to 1 over any I have had in mine. And she has had to make more than a few hasty returns to shore to avoid becoming a submarine.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Sometimes is is the result of fish spines. When those spiny perch, white bass, bluegills or other species flop off the hook on the way in they almost always land spines-down on an exposed surface of the tube...just like buttered bread always lands when dropped on the floor. There have been a couple of times when she was so involved in fishing she didn't even notice the air loss...but I could just see her head and arms up over the tube as it folded up around her. Dedication.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When we lived in Arizona we often trudged our aired up tubes a ways to the water...through desert "vegetation". It all has spines. On more than one trip one of us would set our tubes in the water only to notice one or more streams of bubbles coming up around them. And we really had to be careful about setting our tubes down at water's edge on some of those lakes. Submerged cactus would deteriorate but the spines would last forever...and float on the surface until they washed up on shore...to fulfill their ultimate destiny as float tube deflators.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The current leak in her tube is especially frustrating because I just had it all apart and put permanent repairs on the other FIVE holes in her air bladder. Each of those resulted in short trips during the last year and they had been fixed with urethane tape. I removed that tape and used Aquaseal. Then I aired up the tube and let it sit for two days to check for air loss. Nothing. But the first time we put the tube in the water...PSSSSSSSSS. It's a conspiracy.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]By the way, if you are fishing without waders and you have been eating good burritos it is not uncommon to have bubbles coming up around your tube.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[quote CatfishKid123]Nice catfish I caught a 20 incher that day to. But I only caught one catfish. Can anyone tell me some tips from fishing from the shore. Nice report tubedude.[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]You cain't ketch 'em where they ain't. The weather has been wierd and the water levels have been lower than last year. That seems to keep the kitties out in a bit deeper water and they have not really moved into areas that were good fishing last year during the record high water levels.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]You need to look for spots where there is at least 4-5 feet of water close to shore...and preferably with some rock or reeds. They will be looking for places to spawn and then hang around in those same places for the food supply of baby fish from this year's spawn of all species.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]There have been some periodic reports of good fishing in the shallows this spring but they don't last long when the weather kicks up and the water temps drop again. You just have to keep at it and hope your timing is right to catch them in warm shallow water. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The best rig for fishing the shallows...around rocks and reeds...is usually bait under a bobber. Keeps you out of the rocks and snags better. And cats will come well up off the bottom to eat your bait so you don't always have to have it on the bottom. But again, you have to find an area where active fish are hanging out. And the type of bait is less important than finding fish.[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]It was good to share the big pond with ya today. Too bad TubeBabe only got to wave to you as you went by. She would have enjoyed some more whitie action...catfish too. She loves hand-to-fin combat with those whiskery wascals.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Glad you found enough fish to justify the sunburn. But as you know, you could well pay the price in later years for your inattention to sunscreen now.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Sorry about the motor. Have you checked it out to verify it is a motor problem rather than the battery? If so, watch for a good special and replace that motor...maybe with a bigger one. It can really add fishing time to your day and will give you added "insurance" against having to fight too long to get back to the ramp in sloppy weather. [/#0000ff]
[signature]