I started out the week with a ten-dollar certificate to Dick's Sporting Goods that really wanted to be spent. I had to take my sister to volleyball practice, so I had the perfect excuse. When I got there, I knew that I needed some more minnows, but that wouldn't take up the ten bucks. I decided to buy a Storm Smash Shad 6 with special UV paint. The Idea behind this paint is that the fish can see Ultraviolet light, that penetrates through murky water, better than the normal spectrum. Since I have heard good reviews from magazine writers, I decided to try UV out. The results were pretty great, as I landed the first wiper in a long time in only a few minutes using this lure.
Lure showing its potential with this little wiper
It was all football from that point until Saturday. On Saturday I set out with most of my muscles aching straight into the slippery rapids at rocky ford. The day started out slow but I kept using my new lure. Eventually I had something hit it, but it instantly jumped out of the water and spat the hook out. With newfound hope, I kept on casting. I noticed that there were jumping baitfish within casting range, so I started casting just beyond were they were. First cast- nothing, second cast- nothing, third- still nothing, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that there was nothing there before I moved on. On the next cast, I had a hit. It felt heavy- like a drum- it fought by shaking its head- like a drum, and I was almost certain that it was a drum. Once I pulled it in though, I saw that it was no drum- it was a monster saugeye. It was 21 inches long and it completely dwarfed my lure. These fish double in weight from 16 inches to 21 inches, so this fish was quite a catch.
That lure is three inches long, making it only 1/7 of the body length of this fish.
I got back to fishing and started moving upstream. I started getting onto some fish but they kept tossing the hook and I only caught one 14 incher. I assume that they were all saugeye based on how well they tossed the hook. As I moved upstream, I found myself on the western side of the rapids, so I decided to try my new lure in a pool that cannot be accessed from the eastern bank. After two casts I found myself hung up on some line that somebody cut and left in the water. I was stuck between losing my new lure and wading deeper into the cold water. I hate it when I quickly lose a lure that I just got, so I forced myself in and retrieved it. This was not the healthiest decision that I have ever made, as the sun had gone down and the wind was blowing and my pants were now wet, but it was totally worth it.
Not wanting to lose my new favorite lure, I switched to the minnows that I just bought. The thing about those minnows is that they could have one of two different densities. You may end up with a pack that is nice and firm, or you might get one that is full of minnows that are just waiting to fall apart when you put them on the hook. This is particularly frustrating when the minnows end up costing 30 cents apiece for the 2.5 inch model. I got a bad pack, so that means I need to be extra-careful about using them in rocky places. So anyways, I started moving back to the starting point when I got two bites and one fish in three casts. It was just a little drum, and the action died as quickly as it started.
I decided to call it quits at this point because my hands were getting to the point where I couldn't tie a knot because they were so cold.
So I guess the take-away from this week is that UV lures are saugeye and wiper approved, And that I should be more careful about which pack of minnows I buy.
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