SURFIN' IN MY SUPER CAT

[TubeDude]

[cool]Got in one last trip on Saguaro Lake Wednesday with Mike Barker from Utah. Forecast was for "breezy" conditions, but I had a couple of backup launch sites in mind if the wind got too bad. I went to work early and bugged out about 9 to get my rig loaded up before collecting Mike and heading for the lake. Fishing has been best later in the day recently, so we had planned for an afternooner, rather than a dawn launch.

As we drove past the protected marina area, it appeared that there was just a light "fishing riffle" on the lake, so we elected to proceed to the Butcher Jones cove area...usually a good spot for multispecies. As we were finishing the setup on our gear, a blast of onshore wind almost lifted our craft off the parking lot, where they had been aired up for the launch. It subsided in a few minutes, but was a warning of things to come.

Just as we were kicking away from the sandy beach area we had chosen to launch from, another sudden gust of wind slammed into us and almost beached us before we got started. It was even tougher fighting the wind in shallow water, because we couldn't take long kicking strokes with the fins. But, again, after a few minutes, the wind died down and we headed for our most productive areas, watching the sonar screen for concentrations of fish.

All afternoon the wind would come up for a few minutes and then die down again. It not only made it impossible to fish effectively while it was blowing, but it had an adverse affect on the fish too. They would just start settling down and tentatively biting our jigs, when the wind would howl again and they would shut down or move out of the area.

We did bring in a few nice yellow bass and a couple of largemouth and channel cats, but it really took the right presentations and "touch"...to get the fish to hit and to be able to feel them in time for a hookset. Even in the constant light breeze, maintaining control of our craft was essential in casting and catching.

This was the final test for my Outcast Super Fat Cat. I had maneuvered it through some moderate breezes since getting it a month or so back, but this was the first major workout in a heavy wind. It performed far better than any pontoon or other kickboat I have used. While it rides much higher than conventional tubes and most Uboats, the pointed bow (stern) allowed me to keep my back to the wind more easily and took the wind-blown waves like a champ.

Mike, in the Kennebec (mini-pontoon) did not fare as well. He had to fight to stay on the water when those periodic semi-hurricanes blew up. The Kennebec has two large air chambers and they are high profile wind catchers. Even my Cat almost felt like it was going to lift off into the air a couple of times when a super gust hit me.

The wind finally died down for the last half hour or so before we got out. It made for a brief period of activity that allowed us to catch several more nice yellow bass for dinner. The lake was almost glass as we hit the beach, for the end of Mike's visit to Arizona.

Here' a pic of a chubby 4# channel cat and a largemouth he kept to show his fiancee...along with a few yellows. Although he has caught plenty of cats in his angling career, he professes a new respect for their fighting qualities, when hooked from a tube, with light tackle.


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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey Chris. Good luck to ya. Hope they are hittin' good for ya this weekend. Will you be throwin' some plastics and iron?

That chunky cat probably weighed a bit over 4 pounds (didn't weight it). It is actually small for Saguaro Lake. Some days I catch several, with the smallest being bigger than that one and the largest ten pounds or more. That's all on light rods and 4# Excalibur line, fishing for yellow bass, walleyes and largies...with my little jigs and Roadrunners I make.

If you wanna be impressed, check out the pic of the 30 pound flathead I caught on crappie tackle. Definitely bent my stick and stretched my string. Just for comparison, I'm 6'3" and 250#. But the fish is better lookin'. How do you like my fancy pantyhose?


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[lonehunter]

I JUST HAD TO STOP BY ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES TO VISIT AND SAY , HOW YA DIONG ? AND SEE IF I CAN STIR UP SOME CHAOS .

I CAN SEE BOTH OF THOES FAT CATS ( TUBE AND THE FISH ) IN THE GMC , BUT DON'T YOU GET CLOSTRAPHOBIC IN THAT THING ? I'M A LITTLE SQUIRT AND I BUMP MY KNEES ON THE DASH ! [laugh]

ANYWAYS , YOU CAUGHT THAT ON A CRAPPIE RIG ? [cool]JUST HOW BIG ARE THOES CRAPPIES OUT THERE ? HOLY SMOKES ! IF THERE AS BIG AS THAT CAT YOUR NEVER GONNA GET ME IN THE WATER OUT THERE[unsure] . FORGET JAWS , I'DE BE WORRIED ABOUT " NIBBLES , THE KILLER MINOW " ! [laugh]

SNOWBIRDS , EVEN THE SCRAWNEY ONES ARE STILL ILLEAGLE TO USE AS BAIT , AREN'T THEY ? I'LL BE TRIPPLE CHECKING WITH THE D.N.R. BEFORE I MAKE A JOURNEY OUT THAT WAY SOMEDAY [].

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND MY FRIEND , WE ARE ICED IN HERE , SSOR TOOK WATEVER WARM WEATHER WE HAD WITH HIM , I CAN'T WAIT FOR HIM TO COME BACK ! I THINK DAVE IS GONNA START UP ANOTHER ICE FISHING CONTEST THAT WILL END IN AUGUST UP HERE , I DON'T THINK HE'S JOKING EITHER !
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[tuort]

Hey Tube Dude !Thanks again ! ! ! I had the time of my life,I had to rest up,my arms were so tired from all the fish catching I couldn't hold them up long enuff to post a reply until now ! Can't wait to through a little a what you sent me home with at the walleye,bass and cats up here. So did you and your better half find some fish today ? I'm putting together a small bit about my visit and will be posting it soon.>>A word to the wise<< If any of you guys or gals out there are interested in increasing your catch in a day,heed any advise Tube Dude may have to offer and TRY IT ! ! ! ! Thanks Mike
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[Baytuber]

TubeDude,

Nice Catfish! Glad to see you are fishing for some fishes!![]

It's been awhile for me. I am taking a day off of work to finally get the tube wet!![laugh][laugh][laugh] I had 32 hours OT last week and have been kind of tired. Looks like I have a lot of catching up to do!!
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, Mike. Glad you made it back all right and glad to see you registered on the old forum here. We have much fun.

How long do you think it will take to lose your Arizona tan? I understand you went home to some more winter up there.

Doesn't look like I will get back out again until maybe Thursday afternoon. I have some stuff to do for my dad (85th birthday party) and some yard work to do, before everything grows out into the street. It's going to be in the high eighties all this week (after a cool weekend...in the low 70's), so I need to start swinging my machete on my greenery. Anyway, we have had breezes all week and it is supposed to be more of the same today. I had enough wind the other afternoon to last for awhile.

Come back down anytime. If you can make it in the summer, we will do some nightime dragging for one of those big flatheads. And I will try to have a few bigger channel cats spotted for you too. If you think they fight hard in the cool spring, wait until you molest one when they are warmed up and tuned up during the summer. We really will have to have your grin surgically removed.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, Chris, take a deep breath and downshift a gear or two. Now, read my lips. GET REGISTERED. Hey, bro, as I told you before, it's real easy. You just click on the home page button on the upper left of any of the board screens and then follow the instructions to get registered. Then, you need to be logged in every time you post. That will be automatic if you don't delete "cookies". Your computer will store a cookie from BFT and everytime you bring up the forum, it will recognize you and automatically post your name on anything you put up.

The icons are a progressive thing. Everybody starts out as greenhorns...with a nightcrawler as an icon. I think it is after about 8 posts...on all boards...you become a shiner (minnow). Then it progresses up through different fresh water and salt water fishies as your total number of posts increases.

Heck, if you had registered when you first started droppin in on us, you would be well on your way to SMELT by now. (sorry. couldn't resist). Be sure to mark down your registration name and password somewhere near your computer. If you clean out your files and cookies...or if your computer acts up on you...you might have to reregister.

As I told you before, there are some neat contests, free Private Message email between registered users and a free website, for uploading and posting pictures...all just for registering.

Take a couple of minutes and get registered. We can use your enery and enthusiasm on our boards...as a registered member. Oh yeah, tell everyone else you know about us too. No money in it, but the more the merrier.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, Mr. Hunter, nice of you to drop in...scattering your potshots and wisecracks as usual. You always pick on us little guys (snicker snicker). And by the way, ALL of us "cats" fit just fine in "J.J.". That's the moniker for "Jimmy Junior", our second GMC fishmobile. I fit just fine in the captain's chair. I fit much better in a small Jimmy than most of the foreign full size. I have not yet perfected the ancient art of leg braiding.

As for the size of the crappies in Arizona, I think the state record is around 4.5 pounds. My biggest is about a pound under that, but I lost count of the ones I have taken over 3. In fact, in most of the better crappie waters in Arizona, I am disappointed by any under 2. Eat your heart out Northern Boy.

I'm posting up another pic, with another flathead taken from the Caddis craft that my Utah friend Mike just inherited. It also was taken while light tackle fishing for smaller species. I have wrestled with several over twenty and bunches over ten. Notice the basket of mixed crappies and "eatin' sized channel cats"

By the way, for those who have never eaten flathead cats, you have truly missed out on some fine eatin'. They feed exclusively on live prey...like crawdads, fish, worms, etc. This produces a delicious mild flesh that is hard to beat. The best bait for them is usually a large sunfish or small carp or sucker. They have big mouths and large ones can gulp fish or several pounds in weight.

They pretty much lay dormant at the bottom of deep holes throughout the colder months. When they first begin waking up in the spring (crappie time) they will bite almost anything that swims in front of them. They are not active enough to successfully chase larger prey until the water gets over about 75 degrees. So, they will munch smaller lures early in the season, but once they hit full form, you need MEAT to interest them. Although there are a lot of surprised bass fishermen who get bit on standard bassin plastics and hardbaits. Many is the bassman who is already counting the prize money for a world record bass who finds an ugly whiskerface attached to the end of his string.


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[lonehunter]

tuort , lonehunter here " snowbird " to tubedude . i just wanted to say welcome to the boards ! you couldn't have ended up with a nicer bunch of guys . i'll be looking forward to reading about more of your adventures out on the open water .[]

don't let tubedude fool you , his love affair with the floattube extends more years than he would like to admit , his first one was a yellow blow up duckey with a salor hat painted on it . most guys at that age were taking drivers ed.[laugh]

once again , welcome to the boards , your pal , lonehunter
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[lonehunter]

well you know me , if i can't find trouble , i start some . [] it keeps the day interisting .

the big cats get active around 70 degrees ? well that explains why i have never seen one that size , we only need a half size thermometer here .

i'm so glad spring is finally here , i don't have to shovel as much ! (this is a shot out of the front door today ) .

i'll have to get back later , my bride got up grumpy .

later , lonehunter
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Some of the readers notice that a lot of my posts are in the early hours of the morning. I assure them I do not stay up all night, but that I go to bed early and get up early.

When asked if I wake up grumpy, early in the morning, I simply reply "Nope. I let her sleep."

What's that white stuff on the ground? I seem to remember something like that from my years in Utah and Colorado. Sorta like the first half of the word "snowbird". Ain't that tweet?

Better you than me, troublemaker.

By the way, if you were to try to sneak across the Arizona border right now, you would probably be able to make it. What with the authorities looking for terrorists, and the rest of us looking at partially covered females on spring break, nobody will notice your skinny white legs.
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[tuort]

Hey Tube Dude,my kids went to there mothers for the weekend so I snook out to willard to cure myself of the withdraws I'm already having,hadn't been in the tube for a whole 2 days,said my peice to the lake>>>Hi my names Mike and I'm a tube_a_hollic and launched it was so cold my @#*'s turned blue,but I had a blast thanks to your advise !!!!! Mike
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[TubeDude]

[cool]I guess I don't have to advise you to STAY COOL. There are ways you can deal with the cold. But that last little windstorm we surfed in was something else.

You need to wear more layers. Did you try to go out with what we were wearing in Arizona? Silly boy. You should go check out a dive shop and see if they have any of those large soft pocket fins...so you can wear a couple of pairs of warm socks and some more sweats.

I feel your pain. I had to get out and do the float tubers stomp dance a lot of times in the early and late seasons...when that water is in the frigid zone. When you hit the lottery, get yourself a pair of neoprene waders. That will help.

By the way, did you get anything interesting back on the home waters?

I've got a floppy disc full of pics from my digital to send you. I will also get you a transfusion of the old red-eyes. You need to send me your mailing address by email...or try out the Private Message system here. Just click on TubeDude in any of my posts. As long as you are logged in, you will be able to click on the bottom button where it says "Send Message". Actually, I can even send your pics over the BFT Private Message system better than through your wimpy server.
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[lonehunter]

yes that white stuff is the four letter word , snow ! my jeep looks like a giant v.w. bug .

just my luck too that the steelhead and sucker run is in full swing . before you say it , yes , suckers ! on a fly rod they can't be beat ! the kids love catching a big fish too ! so does this old man .

it's great to stop in here to do a hit and run , i'm going to have to do it more often , i see so many new members on your board every time !

your neopreme idea did the trick , no longer will i have kids calling me pee pants after i take the waders off . now if i can figure a way to get them from calling me a geek i'll be all set [cool] untill next time , keep your bladders full ! ( tee-hee-hee ) lonehunter
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey Chris, there is something wrong. If you will click on your name, in one of your posts, your profile will come up. It says you have never logged on. If you WERE registered and logged on, you would not have to type your name in.

Anytime you put up a post, and the name at the top says "GUEST", you are not logged in. You still need to get registered and make sure you are logged in. Again...click on HOME...at the top left of the page, and go through the steps. It takes a couple of minutes, but it's worth it.

You could have already worked your way up to shiner and be on your way to great white shark by now. (fish icons)
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Glad the advice on the neoprenes worked for ya. Sorry I can't help ya with the "GEEK" thing. Geekdom is an earned designation, not easily discarded, once achieved. There is no "UNDO' button for that one.

No justification needed for catching suckers...especially on a fly rod. I grew up in Idaho, where trout ruled and suckers were usually either thrown up on the bank to rot...or had their guts stomped out before being released "unharmed". But, to a kid walking the banks of a little stream that emptied into the Snake River, in Idaho Falls, suckers were the biggest fish available, and they loved the "garden hackle" I wadded on my old snelled hooks. They didn't leap or cavort like the rainbows I occasionally caught, but they were big and they were fish. That's all I needed to get my enjoys.

Several years later, on a return trip to Idaho, on a fly fishing only stretch of the Henry's Fork of the Snake, my sunken nymph pattern was accepted by a large sucker that used the heavy current to great advantage. It put up a better battle than any of the large cutthroats of similar size I caught that day, and earned some respect for suckerkind.

On other occasions, I have found suckers on their early spawning runs, as you are doing now, where they congregate in shallow runs, and will often suck up an artificial that looks edible. Hey, when faced with the prospect going fishless on finicky trout, I would prefer to bend my stick on something else than just get a few hours casting practice. And, even though they are not in the same class as steelhead, they put up a decent fight.

I don't know if you have taken any home for the pan, but I have found them to be far better than my relatives led me to believe, when I was a kid. If you prepare them in a way that eliminates or neutralizes the bones, they have sweet white flesh. Over the yaars I have tried numerous recipes for pickling, smoking, baking, pressure cooking, filleting & frying, etc.

In the early colonial days, the annual run of suckers was a chance to harvest a lot of protein for the family food supply. Even today, there are many folks who load up on suckers for both the sport and the eating qualities. But, if you are not going to use them, it's good to show your appreciation for the sport they provide by letting them return to their business...of making more baby suckers.
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[tuort]

Hey,T.D. Didn't get to finish my tale about my little trip out to willard.I caught a small cat and 2 nice wallies,had to let one go cause you can only have 1 over 20".Thankfully I got them right off the get go cause I couldn't stand the cold and got out and headed for something warmer about 20 minutes later.The day was a little overcast,can you guess what I caught them on.(I was paying attention)while in Arizona fishing school[]! ! ! I thought about getting out today for a while with the kids but its snowing to beat HELL!! I've got about 3" on the hood of my truck already and its only been snowing for a couple of hours.Hey,i've been kind of having a time figuring out how to use this site effectively so I may be writing back to ask about some of this stuff on her and how to use it(remember i'm computer elitterate)but i'm learning[pirate]I logged on in Arizona as jigme and the first time I used it up here jigme got me on,but ever since then its logging me on as tuort.How can I change my user name back to jigme ? I'll get you an email with mailing adress sent off right now>>>P.S. to lonewolf if ya happen to read this post,Thanks ! later TUBER DUDER !
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[Xman]

I believe i recognize that sandy shoreline. The only thing I dont remember is having fish in my hand like that haha. Nice fish mike. Looks like another good day out on a great lake.
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