11-14-2003, 10:23 PM
[size 1][cool]It's been about a month since I've been fishing, and I had cabin fever. Actually, I had several different fevers. But, TubeBabe gave me a kitchen pass, my sore ankle feels better and the weather forecast was good...so, I broke away from work and went fishing.
![[Image: escapefromwork.jpg]](http://www.funnyfortune.com/photos/escapefromwork.jpg)
After the recent rains, our dewpoint and moisture level in the air was such that there was a cloud over the lake. It made an interesting pic.
Launched my Fat Cat about 7:15 AM on Saguaro Lake. Air temp was 50 and water 70. There was steam rising off the lake. Another cool pic.
My first cast with a propeller topwater caused a major eruption at splashdown. Scared the heck out of me...and a couple of old timers casting flies for the newly planted hatchery pet rainbows. One of them said "Man, I don't think I would want to be attached to something like that." I didn't hook the first hit. The second hit, a few minutes later, resulted in a "conservation" release as the six pound largie went airborn and threw my lure back to me.
The commotion brought in four bass boats...all in violation of the no boat zone, inside the buoy line. I had to get out of there to avoid being hooked or hogtied as lines and lures went whizzing by my tube. I wish a ranger had come around the point to catch them. $75 fine, but they didn't seem to be too worried. They also didn't catch any of the fish I left behind.
Sun hit the water and a ripple came up about 8:30. I kicked out to a rocky ledge going out at the mouth of the cove. Vertical jigged a white roadrunner and had a good thump. Brought a nice 3 pound walleye to the surface...and watched him swim back down after he spit the jig back at me just as I was moving him toward the net.
Now I was talking to myself. Fish 2...TD zip. I tried to tell myself that the third time was the charm. An hour later, I dispelled that myth. When I tried to lift the little white roadrunner off the bottom, while vertical jigging, it wouldn't move...at first. When I tried to pull it free...IT MOVED...like a freight train. I had a big channel cat. But, with the med light stick and 6# line, I could do little more than try to stay in the game until he got an insane desire to come up and shake hands (fins). After several short random runs, he put the line over his shoulder and headed straight for a buoy rope. I think he had been there before. He was actually towing me in my tube as I applied as much pressure as I could, without breaking the tough Excalibur line.
The fish made it to the buoy anchor line. I felt the sickening grating of the line on the chains a split second before I was no longer connected to the fish. Three strikes and I should have been out. I actually considered just bagging it and going home. It was getting close to mid day, and I had left some things to do that should be done.
But, since I am in eternal (infernal) optimist, I rerigged with another white roadrunner, stuck on a oiece of fresh cut yellow bass meat and started a slow zig zag back to the beach. My scheduled time to be off the lake was 11 AM. At 10:59, something slammed my little jig and the battle was joined. This fish was not as big as the laat one, but fought well. It charged toward the bank and I felt the line catch on something. I hoped it was not the underwater tree that had cost me several fish in the past. It felt different, and it was. It was a large clump of the aquatic weed growth that is usually gone by this time of year. The Excalibur had mowed about an acre of the stuff and as I brought the whupped kitty to the tube, it was wrapped in greenery. I didn't know whether to net it or bale it.
I kept the chunky little 3.8 pound female channel. She was 21 inches and in very good health...until she reached my fillet board. Dinner for two.
Turned out to be a nice Arizona day. Water temp was still 70 as I beached,...just the same as the air temp. The newly dumped hatchery pets were ganged up in only a few inches of water, between the shallows and the weedlines. As soon as more of the lake's big largemouths discover those troutlets, it will get to be good bassin'...with those big trout colored swimbaits. But, man that is a lot of work...chunkin' those big things all morning.
Guess what, folks. I did not have ice in my guides and I did not slip on the snow around the edge of the lake either. [/size]
[signature]
After the recent rains, our dewpoint and moisture level in the air was such that there was a cloud over the lake. It made an interesting pic.
Launched my Fat Cat about 7:15 AM on Saguaro Lake. Air temp was 50 and water 70. There was steam rising off the lake. Another cool pic.
My first cast with a propeller topwater caused a major eruption at splashdown. Scared the heck out of me...and a couple of old timers casting flies for the newly planted hatchery pet rainbows. One of them said "Man, I don't think I would want to be attached to something like that." I didn't hook the first hit. The second hit, a few minutes later, resulted in a "conservation" release as the six pound largie went airborn and threw my lure back to me.
The commotion brought in four bass boats...all in violation of the no boat zone, inside the buoy line. I had to get out of there to avoid being hooked or hogtied as lines and lures went whizzing by my tube. I wish a ranger had come around the point to catch them. $75 fine, but they didn't seem to be too worried. They also didn't catch any of the fish I left behind.
Sun hit the water and a ripple came up about 8:30. I kicked out to a rocky ledge going out at the mouth of the cove. Vertical jigged a white roadrunner and had a good thump. Brought a nice 3 pound walleye to the surface...and watched him swim back down after he spit the jig back at me just as I was moving him toward the net.
Now I was talking to myself. Fish 2...TD zip. I tried to tell myself that the third time was the charm. An hour later, I dispelled that myth. When I tried to lift the little white roadrunner off the bottom, while vertical jigging, it wouldn't move...at first. When I tried to pull it free...IT MOVED...like a freight train. I had a big channel cat. But, with the med light stick and 6# line, I could do little more than try to stay in the game until he got an insane desire to come up and shake hands (fins). After several short random runs, he put the line over his shoulder and headed straight for a buoy rope. I think he had been there before. He was actually towing me in my tube as I applied as much pressure as I could, without breaking the tough Excalibur line.
The fish made it to the buoy anchor line. I felt the sickening grating of the line on the chains a split second before I was no longer connected to the fish. Three strikes and I should have been out. I actually considered just bagging it and going home. It was getting close to mid day, and I had left some things to do that should be done.
But, since I am in eternal (infernal) optimist, I rerigged with another white roadrunner, stuck on a oiece of fresh cut yellow bass meat and started a slow zig zag back to the beach. My scheduled time to be off the lake was 11 AM. At 10:59, something slammed my little jig and the battle was joined. This fish was not as big as the laat one, but fought well. It charged toward the bank and I felt the line catch on something. I hoped it was not the underwater tree that had cost me several fish in the past. It felt different, and it was. It was a large clump of the aquatic weed growth that is usually gone by this time of year. The Excalibur had mowed about an acre of the stuff and as I brought the whupped kitty to the tube, it was wrapped in greenery. I didn't know whether to net it or bale it.
I kept the chunky little 3.8 pound female channel. She was 21 inches and in very good health...until she reached my fillet board. Dinner for two.
Turned out to be a nice Arizona day. Water temp was still 70 as I beached,...just the same as the air temp. The newly dumped hatchery pets were ganged up in only a few inches of water, between the shallows and the weedlines. As soon as more of the lake's big largemouths discover those troutlets, it will get to be good bassin'...with those big trout colored swimbaits. But, man that is a lot of work...chunkin' those big things all morning.
Guess what, folks. I did not have ice in my guides and I did not slip on the snow around the edge of the lake either. [/size]
[signature]
and wait for my opportunity to get even.