WHAT A WEEK

[TubeDude]

[cool] Man, I hope everybody else had a better week than I did. It was one of those that started out bad, then got worse...and went downhill from there. Ain't many times I'm happy to see Monday, but this week I figure I am in for a good week, to balance off last week.

I'll spare all the gory details, but besides not getting to go fishing last week: I had to get two crowns at the dentist, had to get a new transmission in my Jimmy, I found out I will soon be looking for a new job, I had to find a new care center to keep my dad in...and I caught the cold my wife brought back from Utah. Oh yeah, the grand finale on Sunday morning was that my computer finally said "No mas", and I had to get a new one. I had most of my stuff backed up, but I'm still fighting with the old one to give up the files I had not gotten backed up.

The optimistic outlook is that my cold will be better enough for me to sneak out on the water both Thursday afternoon and Saturday this week. After a cool and breezy weekend, it is supposed to warm into the 90's this week and get the water temps back up over 70. That's the ideal range for our wimpy Arizona fishies.

Any good fishing reports from the other tubaholics?
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[JapanRon]

Hey there TubeDude,

Sorry to hear about all the bad stuff. Just be grateful, as I'm sure you are, that you've got a partner to share the weight.

After that week, nobody's gonna complain .... except me! The rain and storms have kept us tubers, here in sunny Southern California pretty well holed up and waiting for the water to clear and warm, and the wind to stop. April was a terrible month for saltwater tubers in the Los Angeles area. And now we're getting hammered in May too.

Bright note is that if you brave the 'brown mackerel' encountered near where many rivers that flow into the ocean, you can catch all the short halibut you want.

Oh ya, the murky water doesn't stop the small bass in the marinas from devouring TubeDudes roadrunners or jigs tipped with a little squid strip.

JapanRon
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[EmuScud]

I did get to play with my pontoon boat this weekend. Unfortuneatly, it was just the frame, on the grass in front of my apartment. I am a notorious cheep-skate, er . . . perhaps "frugal," and will use whatever is in my possession to fix something up rather than spend $5 at a store.

Many of you saw my original setup for tranducer and display around a 5 gallon bucket (see one of the "cuda" posts on the board). Taking TD's advice, I've rethought the mounting of the "tranny." Once I get it all back out of my trunk, I'll post some pics later and try to describe it now.

My kids had some cheap plastic head, aluminum shaft golf clubs that they never played with. The 'hozzel,' or the part of the club where the club head affixes itself to the shaft was hollow. I cut part of the clubhead off so the Skimmer tranny fit perfectly (similar to TD's 1/2" PVC setup).

I mounted 1/2" thick plywood inbetween the support frames (behind the seat)of my pontoon boat. The plywood will not contact the bladders at all. I drilled 1 1/4" in holes for rod holders and mounted a 1/2 inch wide, 3 inch long strip of wood to the end of the plywood "deck." The transducer will be attached to the strip via zip-ties. The cool thing about this setup is that the transducer can pivot to an angle if I want to try to get a side reading, and then move it back into the vertical position.

I'll get some pics out, it's nothing pretty, but it is functional . . . I hope.

ES
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, JR, thanks for the words of encouragement. But you don't have to remind me about how lucky I am to have "partner". TubeBabe reminds me at every opportunity.

Mother Nature can be a real mother sometimes. That spring transitional period is always tough on us tubers every year. We wanna get out and play with the fishies and the weather says No No No. Each year we conveniently forget that it was the same last year, and the year before that.

The philosophical approach is to always have the gear ready and then hit the water whenever you can. If you get blown off, or mudded out, you can at least say you gave it a try. If you don't go, you will always wonder what you missed. Fishing trips are kinda like other things in life. You turn one down and you will be one behind for the rest of your life.

I figured the squid strips would be a good "sweetener". I was going to ask you, though, if you have tried that new "candy" stuff I have heard about...from Dan Hernandez. I'm wondering if that is something I should try to get for a field test on the Arizona fishies.

I usually make my own strip baits, for decorating the "bait bugs". I keep some smaller fish and fillet them. I freeze the whole fillets in just a bit of water, to help in squeezing out all the air in the plastic bag, to avoid freezer burn. The night before a trip, I thaw the little fillets and cut them into "serving size" strips, for easy use while fishing. Once cut up, I sprinkle them with some salt and some "flavoring"...shad, anchovy or other fish oil...and let them marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

I used to do very well on BSP with little pieces of anchovy fillet. But, all the fish in the ocean will hit chunks of almost any other kind of fish meat. Little shiner perch, smelt or other bait fish left over from halibut chasing all make good strip baits for my crazy creations.

Have you experimented with colors other than the white w/red eye? If you haven't already done so, toss some of the black w/chartreuse eye in murky water or low light conditions. Black is good in both freshwater and salt when visibility is a problem.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Never could figure out the difference between frugal and cheap. I guess it's a fishing thing. I might suggest one definition. That is that if you try to save money on one element of your fishing gear, to be able to buy something else for fishing...that is frugal. If you don't let the spouse buy the baby new booties, just so you can get a new Cuda sonar, that's cheap.

Now, I can go along with sacrificing golf equipment for your pontoon setup. Just don't ever post anything about forgoing a fishing trip to play golf. That might get your posting privileges severely curtailed here. Sounds like a clever adaptation for the transducer mount though. Also sounds like you are making good use of the solid frame on your 'toon...and good use of the old plastic tie strips. How could we ever live without those? We'll be interested in pics if you can get some up. Send them to me and I'll post them.

One last observation. Using the standard transducer as a directional sidefinder sounds good in principle. However, the results are mixed. You have to be able to hold the rod almost motionless for several seconds to allow the sonar to adjust and send the right signals. If you move the wand around, you do not get a good readout, unless you are close to a fast sloping bank going down into the water.
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[EmuScud]

Frugal, frugal, frugal. I went to sportsmans warehouse (Utah for those not from here) on Sat and also stocked up on some bass fishing supplies. I got myself a black headed jig with black skirt, black and blue trailers (for jig n pig), chartruese/white spinner bait, some rattles, white/chartruese skirt, and then my budget ran out. I'm saving up for the senkos and hooks. Man, the flyfishing fraternity will really ban me now [cool]!

As far as the golf goes . . . I grew up fly-fishing and golfing with my dad. The golf, for right now, does not hold the same psychological rewards as fishing does. Besides, $25 plus for greens fees can buy a ton of fishing stuff. Why spend 4-5 hours cursing when I can spend 4-5 hours casting, catching, and crusing around on the water?????

I'll at least pull out the plywood for some pics, as well as the tranny.

ES
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[TubeDude]

[cool]You passed the test. You're thinking this stuff the right way.

By the way, if you get serious about this jigging stuff, I have jig molds to make all kinds of jig heads, and I have some skirts and a lot of skirt making material. Does that appeal to your frugal nature?

Buying a batch of jig heads anymore almost requires you to take out a poverty loan. Depending on what style hook I use, I can pour a head for less than a dime, and then paint and rubber for a few cents more. Of course my time ain't worth much, unless you figure the value of fishing time. Then my hourly rate goes up.
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[EmuScud]

If making my own jigs is as "cost effective" as making my own flies, I better not. If I calculate the actual cost of a single fly, it is much cheaper than the store. However, if I count the total price of all the tying equipment and materials divided by the actual number of flies I have made, it is probably cheaper to buy them from the store [shocked]. I tie for the creative aspect of it. Seeing some of you jigs gets the old creative juices going, especially those roadrunners you make up.

Tell you what, let me learn how to use jigs first before I start melting lead. My track record with them is not so hot. If you have any knowledge (aka reading material) on how in the world to fish with jigs effectively, I would love to read it. As you know, I do a ton of reading while I'm here at work. My main questions revolve around matching presentation to structure/spieces and more importantly detecting the take.

i could write an adequate treatise on the above questions for fly-fishing, but the whole jig thing . . . [blush]

ES
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[TubeDude]

[cool]I have not kept track of what written materials I have sent. I do have pieces on several different aspect of jigs and jig fishing. These include Lead Pouring, Painting, Making Eyes, Glitter Painting, Making Roadrunners...and my crown jewel...285 KB of info on JIG FISHING. Let me know by email what you don't have and what you would like to have.

I will also make you an offer you can't refuse. I will send you some madeup jigs (as patterns), some painted heads and some materials to try your hand at making your own. You are an accomplished fly tyer. This is merely a different wrinkle on what you already know. It may seem overwhelming, because it is a whole bunch of new concepts and techniques. But, with your natural thirst for knowledge...and some basic smarts...it won't take you long to enter the realm.

You are right in your assessment that the cost per unit is small...once you are tooled up and supplied with all the materials. I would hate to try to guess the investment I have in making "cheap" jigs. But, as you also pointed out, the ability to create working lures that nobody else can buy...and that the fishies vote for...is a reward in itself. That has always been my main motivation, rather than some mundane notion of saving money.
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[TBear]

Boy Tube Dude, what a week is right! Hopefully the bad stuff is all done. At least the buggy sounds like it is fixed, the new 'puter is up and running, the chompers are in better shape - hope things work out job wise. Sometime when it rains it pours. A little R&R on the pond sounds like what the doctor ordered.

EmuScud - your transducer mounting idea means I could now mount about a dozen transducers and get some real use out of those turf digging sticks that I claim to golf with once in a while. However, golf does not take priority over fishing, that's for sure.

It is easy to blow the budget at Sports Warehouse that's for sure - good thing my 3 year old daughter likes to go there. That way I have an excuse to go there more often (Honey, she REALLY wants to go, so I feel that I have to go back again!).
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[dh_tubinaaron]

Hey Tube Dude,

Chris and I went to Catalina Sat nite and didnt catch much, I caught 3 legal and like 12-15 short bass along with some perch and short sheephead, and chris caught 1 legal bass along with shorts and some perch.

How do you tie your jigs? Do you use a vise like when you make a fly??

I like the short stubby 1/64oz jigs and so do the fish, it seems like the green/gold flashy tinsle ones work the best for the trout. But I havent had a chance to fish the bluegill.

thanks again

Aaron
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey Aaron, glad you got to hit the island, but sorry the fishing wasn't better. I imagine the water is still just a bit cold for good bassin'.

Those little green tinsel jigs do a good job of representing a lot of aquatic bugs and small crawdads. In different sizes they work on almost everything in fresh and salt water. They are great for surf perch and other fishes in the ocean. They will catch 'gills for you, but I would use both the small whites and the black and gold too.

Yes, I do use a fly tying vice for making the jigs. Once I have the heads poured and painted, I just stick them in the vice and wrap them like tying a fly. Do you tie flies yet? It's not difficult. But, it is good to get a few lessons so you can get an upclose look at what is going on. There are some good websites on fly tying too. If you can't find any let me know and I will send you some links. Of course you are not going to find any sites that show you how to tie TubeDude's world famous baitbugs and Roadrunners.
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[TubeBabe]

There's just something about being in the water that is soothing ... definitely beats chasing a little ball around a green course cursing it! Although, I do have to admit to hearing a strong word or two when a big fish breaks off!
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[EmuScud]

Thanks for the response Mrs.Dude! When I'm not catching much, consistently catching the bottom, or loosing fish, I do start to get frustrated a bit. All I have to do then is look up at Timp or out at the lake and then I remember why I do this in the first place, to find peace.

Tbear, my 3 year old also loves the Sportsmans Warehouse. In my house it is affectionately referred to as the "Man-Mall." I could get lost in there for hours.

TD, I'll zip you a email 'bout them jigs. Thanks!!!!

ES
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[dh_tubinaaron]

Hi Tube Dude

i dont tie flies yet but Im willing to learn.

Do your roadrunners work good for the ocean??

Thanks again

Aaron
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[TubeDude]

[cool]They work especially well in the ocean. The combination of the flashing blade and the vibrations really call in predatory fish. The strikes on spinners and roadrunners are much harder than just bait alone.

I might toss this question to JapanRon. He has graciously volunteered to do some research on the matter. I seem to recall that he has had a measure of success on a couple of species.

I first tried them while float tubing the Sea of Cortez, at a remote fishing village at Cabo Tepoca. The fishing there is always good, and it is easy to catch a fish almost every cast, on a wide variety of lures. However, when I put a piece of cut fish meat on a big old white Roadrunner...with the hot red eye...I could see whole schools of bass and triggerfish rising up to meet the lure as the spinner twirled on the sink. I never felt the jigs hit bottom, and if I started reeling before getting a hit, the fish would almost take the rod out of my hands. I also seemed to catch more of the larger fish, of several species.

When I lived and fished in Southern Cal, I used small spoons and spinners a lot for inshore fishing. I caught tons of big surf perch and keeper halibut fishing parallel to shore at just the right depth. I have often wondered how well the deadly white Roadrunners would work on them. I think I know, but I will leave it up to you guys to prove it.


Mixed catch from Sea of Cortez on Roadrunners
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[dh_tubinaaron]

Look at the poor spotted bay bass[pirate]

thats pretty cool

Aaron
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