Weekend Report

[jmoore]

Back to work after another great weekend at Lilley's. The accomodations were great, as always.

Friday afternoon, made 5 drifts from the cable, bouncing white and sculpin 1/8 th oz. jigs off the bottom. Caught 5-6 fish each drift, 4 under 12". I only had 2# rigged, and we lost a lot of jigs, and several fish. Most of the hits were below the boat ramp.

Saturday I was out early while the wife and boy slept. The water was about 2 feet lower, and much slower than the night before. Ran up to fall creek and fished the slack water across from the marina. Stuck with the 1/8 oz. jigs in the same colors, caught several nice rainbows right on the edge of the current bouncing off the bottom snagged into a 3' gar. Went up to lookout, and fished behind the island, and caught fish seadily for the next hour. Had 3 under 12 inches, and went back to pick up the fam. By the time we headed back out about 930, the water was back up to the same level as Friday afternoon. Boated back to lookout and fished below the island again. The takes weren't as frequent, but caught several more before heading upstream including 1 really fat 18" brown wifey boated. We stopped at the other islands, but could not find the same bite until we got to the island across from the outlets. The three year old named this island 'dog island' cause our lab decided it was a great place to hang out and eat sticks. Brought several more to the boat and enough sub12" fish to make a good lunch.

Sunday, I didn't go out early, stayed in and fixed breakfast for mom. Decided to invest in some 4# trilene. It really didn't seem to cut down on the takes, but was srong enough to pull out of the grass and sticks on the bottom, saving MANY jigs. When we got out about 930, the water level up and running. Fished below lookout and caught several, but it was a little breezy. Headed across to the oxbow and fished some slackwater behindsome rootwads and laydowns and caught fish steadily for the next couple hours. Didn't have any below 12", all really nicely colored 15-18" rainbows. Boated up to the island across from the outlets and fished the slack water catching 5 under 12 inches and many around 15-16. Heather caught a goggle-eye and a nice 14" crappie, and snagged a couple of suckers. She had one hooked right ahead of the back fin and thought she had ahold of a monster. Headed in about 230 for some grilled ribeyes some playground time. Back out about 530, boated down below the landing and caught a white bass, but did not stay out too long.

Monday went out early (brrr) while the water was down a couple feet from the night before, fished around the bridges above the landing with only three to the boat. Went back out about 10 after checking out. The water seemed to be back up when we got up to lookout. We fished for about an hour there and across at the oxbow, but didn't do as well as the day before. As we headed in, noticed the level was dropping, saw quite a few fish surfacing, but decided it was time to hit the road.

If I can figure out how to get some pics from my camera to my computer, I will post some.

We had a great weekend. It seemed the key in higher water was to keep the jig down on the bottom as long as possible. Thanks to all who post, and Phil for the great forum.

Jim

[WebFreeman]

Great report, Jim. We'll be down in a couple weeks. Any tips on fishing w/ a 3-yr-old? I'm gathering all the advice I can get!

[zander]

Last year when taking my then 3 yr old son out in the boat a few times I can give you the following advice. 1) Don't expect to fish a whole lot. 2) Obviously make sure the little guy always has his life vest on. 3) Never take him out of your field of view. 4) My son would fish for 3-4 minutes and then he was done, We found that filling a minnow bucket half full of water, he could play in that with different toys brought from home. 5) Catch lots of fish, they like how the fish wiggle and make it hard for you to get the hook out of their mouth, actually they see this as hilarious. Good luck with it.

[jmoore]

Here is a partial list of things we usually take.

1. Life Jacket

2. Sunscreen

3. Snacks

4. Video camera

5. Trucks (floating)

6. Snacks

7. Learning leapster

Don't leave things that don't float laying on deck. (favorite fishing pliers, forcepts, jig boxes, previously mentioned video camera etc.)

I've always loved to fish, but having the opportunity to share it with the boy and wife adds a whole level of enjoyment.

Have fun,

Jim