gletemfeelsteelgary
05-19-2009, 06:26 PM
After a long night drive, we arrived about 4 am…..we metup with Jensen500 (Jeff) his girl Kris and our 2 housemates, Hiro and I (though unbelievably sleepy) promptly ran our stuff into the house and off we went to the lake.
We launched a little ways from the house downstream several miles you might say.
Our housemates were nowhere in sight but but Jeff was kind enough to allow us to follow him to the ramp, not knowing whats the deal at this lake, we were noobs to the area….
Jeff was 1st on the ramp as Hiro and I eagerly readied the boat for launch !
Uhh ohh….somethin doesn’t look right……Jeff had lost the boat keys so he had to pull back out and look for a locksmith…
Hiro and I launch….we both look at each other in the dark…at a new lake…no map….no clue regarding our attack zone…..
I take a drink of my trusty monster and with a feva’ second to none…I state “we’re on our own Hiro…..I’ve done it before, we’ll do it again !..
It’s just as if we came out on our own…..so….I make an excecutive call and pick a direction….
I sought out good sloping points, Hiro and I both agreed on an area in the darkness….
As daylight creeped in….and on about our 2nd point, we began metering many fish….and shortly after a few surface blowups…
Very interesting…I state……KPN topwater should do them a treat !!!!
Hiro and I both worked the top regions……….
I got blown up on !......no hookup though….I told Hiro “I don’t think that was Stripey…looked stubby….must be a smallmouth !”
Cast to the same zone !
BlowUp!......another short striker !
Hiro was throwing the KPN MINI shad topwater and I was throwing the large original model…
Hiro get’s a real solid swirl !!!!!
Hookup !....Zzzzzz…Zzzzzz….nice solid fish online…..yeah…..didn’t take long !
Congrats Hiro on our 1st fiash !....a fine catch but unfortunately we were huntin stripey !
The smallies were running nice and solid….you would never figure with the surface temp of 77-78 degrees !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hiroKPNSmallmouth.jpg
After a few more casts and a lure switch to the KPN Mini shad…
I get swirled on !.....another Smallmouth hookup ! but now my skunk is off !....whew !
(sorry no pic)
After several more casts we had to move on in search of stripey…we probably could have banged those smallmouths world all day long there…it was a sweet run of rocky points but we had set out for some stripa love !
Went to a sweet water pump station that really sparked our interests….we started metering allot of fish moving through, this depth was about 50’ and was really our 1st introduction to the real overall depth patterns to this lake, this would prove to be one of the more deeper zones we would find, the lake has a relative depth pattern in thwe 30 to 38’ range basically, there are zones slightly deeper but that is the relative pattern…Hmnnn…strikes me very odd to see such shallow relativity in such a vast lake…
No signs of a strike at the inlet…Dayam !
So….off to the troll…..we trolled those unbelievably sweet structure with our rigs…it really took some creative captain skills to navigate the natural high points of the lake and the man-made habitats that are all over the lake, it’s riddled with them everywhere !
Sweet structure’s and my hat goes off to the county (or whomever is responsible) for putting them there….”they are working” the fish were clearly relating to them everywhere !
Still…metering Mr stripey…BUT….no stripey love….
As I captain the boat, Hiro snuck a quick catnap as I swirved in and out on the structures…
Hookup ! (unfortunately this one isn’t a Zzzzzzzz-er)
What appears to be an average stripe out there seems to have taken a liking to our custom bucktail rig !
Sweet….our 1st stripey for the day…at least we’re doing something right.
Far from a toad but at least it has stripes !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-097garystripey.jpg
We trolled on and finally Jensen500 showed up, he’s out on attack…we spoke and agreed to follow him to one of his favorite areas (thanks again buddy for sharing the spot !)
Dayam !.....sweet spot too !....we metered RACKS of fish coming through…
I threw the box at ‘em, KPN top, KPN, skinny shad in 2 colors, crankbaits, drifted flyline chovies, drifted splitshot chovies….
Not a sign of a strike !.........LOCKJAWED !
Dayam !!!! bummer !
Hiro and I went on exploring….
We tried various areas that looked great and we metered fish but no love…we went into a long narrowing cove that had many underwater structures..
Hiro, bored…dropshotted a while..
Hoookup !
Hiro goes bendo !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hiroSMBbendo2.jpg
Another Smallmouth !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hirosmallmouthbassbend.jpg
Then….we were visited by some local Rams (goats..whatever)…pretty cool to see that going on in the dessert !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09Ramvisitors.jpg
I told Hiro…”it’s the other…other…other..other…white meat !...it’s what’s for dinner !
We also had a snake come swimming by infront of us…I tried to catch it as Hiro screamed in peril….fortunately (for Hiro), my attempt was unsuccessfull otherwise I’d have another photo here !
We found a good rocky slope that showed great potential…many big marks….but not allot of action….
We chummed it hard and sat on it for a while !
KITTY PARTY TIME !!!!!!
Hookup !...Zzzzzzzzz!....Zzzzzzzz !
Hiro’s on….drag peelin’ kitty time !
We both landed some there !
Those suckas are HARD fighters !.....real worthy adversaries….we landed 3 about 4-5 lbs (no photos)
Then a larger model..
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09garykittyfest1.jpg
Back to the troll….
Hiro nails a stripe….finally…another striper…not a pig by any standard but at least it’s our desired species !
Congrats Hiro !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-096hirostripey.jpg
I had a real good solid strike that peeled some drag but unfortunately it didn’t stike..Dayam !
We went back out Friday morning and attacked a different zone, some REAL nice flooded trees (thanks for the use of the topo map Jeff)…found the tree’s….found the fish but they were still lockjawed !
Trolled the hell out of ‘em !
Landed a kitty there after we tried baiting on a spot for a while !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-098.jpg
Went off to Copper canyon….chummed..baited…chummed…watched some eye candy.
Then….
Another Kitty Bloodfest !...drag peelers delight..
That sucka started shakin’…bleedin….sprayin’ blood all over…my face got it good as that sucka thought it was a red cross donation center !
(note the blood on my face !)
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-099b.jpg
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-099a.jpg
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-099cbloodsplattered.jpg
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-099cbloodsplattered2.jpg
Hiro went bendo..
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hirobassbendo1.jpg
LMB….we were getting fiash but no stripers….dayam !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hirobassbendo1LMB.jpg
We called it an early day and decided we were going to blow the tournament out and pack up shop and head back homeland for other action at Pyramid.
We had a great time out there, it’s ashamed the bite was so lockjawed but we wanted to catch fish regardless of the tourney so we headed back.
Sometimes you have to be wise and just cut the losses, we didn’t want to beat ourselves up in that hot weather and 77-78 degree water temps for a slow bite.
A HUGE thanks goes out again to Jeff and crew for all the hospitality, we really enjoyed our stay there and you all made us feel very welcome in your home-front so to speak.
Thanks again,
Gary
We launched a little ways from the house downstream several miles you might say.
Our housemates were nowhere in sight but but Jeff was kind enough to allow us to follow him to the ramp, not knowing whats the deal at this lake, we were noobs to the area….
Jeff was 1st on the ramp as Hiro and I eagerly readied the boat for launch !
Uhh ohh….somethin doesn’t look right……Jeff had lost the boat keys so he had to pull back out and look for a locksmith…
Hiro and I launch….we both look at each other in the dark…at a new lake…no map….no clue regarding our attack zone…..
I take a drink of my trusty monster and with a feva’ second to none…I state “we’re on our own Hiro…..I’ve done it before, we’ll do it again !..
It’s just as if we came out on our own…..so….I make an excecutive call and pick a direction….
I sought out good sloping points, Hiro and I both agreed on an area in the darkness….
As daylight creeped in….and on about our 2nd point, we began metering many fish….and shortly after a few surface blowups…
Very interesting…I state……KPN topwater should do them a treat !!!!
Hiro and I both worked the top regions……….
I got blown up on !......no hookup though….I told Hiro “I don’t think that was Stripey…looked stubby….must be a smallmouth !”
Cast to the same zone !
BlowUp!......another short striker !
Hiro was throwing the KPN MINI shad topwater and I was throwing the large original model…
Hiro get’s a real solid swirl !!!!!
Hookup !....Zzzzzz…Zzzzzz….nice solid fish online…..yeah…..didn’t take long !
Congrats Hiro on our 1st fiash !....a fine catch but unfortunately we were huntin stripey !
The smallies were running nice and solid….you would never figure with the surface temp of 77-78 degrees !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hiroKPNSmallmouth.jpg
After a few more casts and a lure switch to the KPN Mini shad…
I get swirled on !.....another Smallmouth hookup ! but now my skunk is off !....whew !
(sorry no pic)
After several more casts we had to move on in search of stripey…we probably could have banged those smallmouths world all day long there…it was a sweet run of rocky points but we had set out for some stripa love !
Went to a sweet water pump station that really sparked our interests….we started metering allot of fish moving through, this depth was about 50’ and was really our 1st introduction to the real overall depth patterns to this lake, this would prove to be one of the more deeper zones we would find, the lake has a relative depth pattern in thwe 30 to 38’ range basically, there are zones slightly deeper but that is the relative pattern…Hmnnn…strikes me very odd to see such shallow relativity in such a vast lake…
No signs of a strike at the inlet…Dayam !
So….off to the troll…..we trolled those unbelievably sweet structure with our rigs…it really took some creative captain skills to navigate the natural high points of the lake and the man-made habitats that are all over the lake, it’s riddled with them everywhere !
Sweet structure’s and my hat goes off to the county (or whomever is responsible) for putting them there….”they are working” the fish were clearly relating to them everywhere !
Still…metering Mr stripey…BUT….no stripey love….
As I captain the boat, Hiro snuck a quick catnap as I swirved in and out on the structures…
Hookup ! (unfortunately this one isn’t a Zzzzzzzz-er)
What appears to be an average stripe out there seems to have taken a liking to our custom bucktail rig !
Sweet….our 1st stripey for the day…at least we’re doing something right.
Far from a toad but at least it has stripes !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-097garystripey.jpg
We trolled on and finally Jensen500 showed up, he’s out on attack…we spoke and agreed to follow him to one of his favorite areas (thanks again buddy for sharing the spot !)
Dayam !.....sweet spot too !....we metered RACKS of fish coming through…
I threw the box at ‘em, KPN top, KPN, skinny shad in 2 colors, crankbaits, drifted flyline chovies, drifted splitshot chovies….
Not a sign of a strike !.........LOCKJAWED !
Dayam !!!! bummer !
Hiro and I went on exploring….
We tried various areas that looked great and we metered fish but no love…we went into a long narrowing cove that had many underwater structures..
Hiro, bored…dropshotted a while..
Hoookup !
Hiro goes bendo !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hiroSMBbendo2.jpg
Another Smallmouth !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hirosmallmouthbassbend.jpg
Then….we were visited by some local Rams (goats..whatever)…pretty cool to see that going on in the dessert !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09Ramvisitors.jpg
I told Hiro…”it’s the other…other…other..other…white meat !...it’s what’s for dinner !
We also had a snake come swimming by infront of us…I tried to catch it as Hiro screamed in peril….fortunately (for Hiro), my attempt was unsuccessfull otherwise I’d have another photo here !
We found a good rocky slope that showed great potential…many big marks….but not allot of action….
We chummed it hard and sat on it for a while !
KITTY PARTY TIME !!!!!!
Hookup !...Zzzzzzzzz!....Zzzzzzzz !
Hiro’s on….drag peelin’ kitty time !
We both landed some there !
Those suckas are HARD fighters !.....real worthy adversaries….we landed 3 about 4-5 lbs (no photos)
Then a larger model..
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09garykittyfest1.jpg
Back to the troll….
Hiro nails a stripe….finally…another striper…not a pig by any standard but at least it’s our desired species !
Congrats Hiro !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-096hirostripey.jpg
I had a real good solid strike that peeled some drag but unfortunately it didn’t stike..Dayam !
We went back out Friday morning and attacked a different zone, some REAL nice flooded trees (thanks for the use of the topo map Jeff)…found the tree’s….found the fish but they were still lockjawed !
Trolled the hell out of ‘em !
Landed a kitty there after we tried baiting on a spot for a while !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-098.jpg
Went off to Copper canyon….chummed..baited…chummed…watched some eye candy.
Then….
Another Kitty Bloodfest !...drag peelers delight..
That sucka started shakin’…bleedin….sprayin’ blood all over…my face got it good as that sucka thought it was a red cross donation center !
(note the blood on my face !)
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-099b.jpg
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-099a.jpg
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-099cbloodsplattered.jpg
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-099cbloodsplattered2.jpg
Hiro went bendo..
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hirobassbendo1.jpg
LMB….we were getting fiash but no stripers….dayam !
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn284/garywuebben/havasu5-14-09hirobassbendo1LMB.jpg
We called it an early day and decided we were going to blow the tournament out and pack up shop and head back homeland for other action at Pyramid.
We had a great time out there, it’s ashamed the bite was so lockjawed but we wanted to catch fish regardless of the tourney so we headed back.
Sometimes you have to be wise and just cut the losses, we didn’t want to beat ourselves up in that hot weather and 77-78 degree water temps for a slow bite.
A HUGE thanks goes out again to Jeff and crew for all the hospitality, we really enjoyed our stay there and you all made us feel very welcome in your home-front so to speak.
Thanks again,
Gary