fish-on-bend
06-01-2008, 05:48 PM
I fished the 5th annual Cultus mack derby this weekend for the 4th time. After last year's disappointing performance I decided my team needed some extra mojo and good vibes so I got team hats for team "shut up and fish."
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_03431.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/78935/size/big/cat//ppuser/8168)
Joining me this year were Dick who fished with me last year and gives me a brown trout fishing lesson every time I fish with him for browns, and Jerry who caught the 2nd place fish in this derby twice including on my team 2 years ago. We decided to start the 1st morning with jigging while the lake was calm. Jerry nailed the 1st fish of the day within 10 minutes.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_0344.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/78936/size/big/cat//ppuser/8168)
We got about 12 in about 2 hours but all were about 16-20 inches, nothing close to "weighing" size. So we deployed the downriggers with 1 herring set up and 1 Lyman and Jerry ran a Rapala on leadcore. Never got a bump trolling so we switched back to jigging for a while and got 3 more. Cultus resort has the absolute best pork ribs, we had rib dinners complete with berry cobler and ice cream prepaid with our entry fees. During dinner we found out that an 18 lber was the top fish so far. After dinner we Trolled till quitting time at 8 pm. 15 fish for the day but none of our names on the leader board.
After a very sound nights sleep we hit the water at 6AM and started jigging again. Nothing doing on the jigging, we did watch a fellow I had talked to the day before boat a 15 lber that put him in 2nd. We immediately started trolling again. We ran a ledge that many guys try to ride but could not hook one so we ran down to the other end of the lake and did a run that had been very productive for me in the past. I finally nailed a "weigher" on my rod on a jointed quickie.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_03472.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/78937/size/big/cat//ppuser/8168)
We did the hole shot all the way back to the resort and weighed it. It came in at 12.1, good enough for 3rd place at the time. I have a storage box in the floor of my boat that we fill with water for transporting "weighers." They must be alive to weigh and this guy was released after the weigh-in and photo with no problem. We fished the whole lake the rest of the day till quitting time at 4 and picked up a total of 8 for the day, all on plugs. When we went by the leader board on our way to the ramp we found out I was bumped to 4th. A 14 lber was weighed a couple hours after mine. 4th place was good for a trophy and a weekend in one of their cabins.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_0350.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/78938/size/big/cat//ppuser/8168)
A very enjoyable weekend, but tiring after 22 hours on the water in 2 days. Thanks to Dan, Sandie and Jennee at the resort and to team "shut up and fish'"
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_03431.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/78935/size/big/cat//ppuser/8168)
Joining me this year were Dick who fished with me last year and gives me a brown trout fishing lesson every time I fish with him for browns, and Jerry who caught the 2nd place fish in this derby twice including on my team 2 years ago. We decided to start the 1st morning with jigging while the lake was calm. Jerry nailed the 1st fish of the day within 10 minutes.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_0344.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/78936/size/big/cat//ppuser/8168)
We got about 12 in about 2 hours but all were about 16-20 inches, nothing close to "weighing" size. So we deployed the downriggers with 1 herring set up and 1 Lyman and Jerry ran a Rapala on leadcore. Never got a bump trolling so we switched back to jigging for a while and got 3 more. Cultus resort has the absolute best pork ribs, we had rib dinners complete with berry cobler and ice cream prepaid with our entry fees. During dinner we found out that an 18 lber was the top fish so far. After dinner we Trolled till quitting time at 8 pm. 15 fish for the day but none of our names on the leader board.
After a very sound nights sleep we hit the water at 6AM and started jigging again. Nothing doing on the jigging, we did watch a fellow I had talked to the day before boat a 15 lber that put him in 2nd. We immediately started trolling again. We ran a ledge that many guys try to ride but could not hook one so we ran down to the other end of the lake and did a run that had been very productive for me in the past. I finally nailed a "weigher" on my rod on a jointed quickie.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_03472.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/78937/size/big/cat//ppuser/8168)
We did the hole shot all the way back to the resort and weighed it. It came in at 12.1, good enough for 3rd place at the time. I have a storage box in the floor of my boat that we fill with water for transporting "weighers." They must be alive to weigh and this guy was released after the weigh-in and photo with no problem. We fished the whole lake the rest of the day till quitting time at 4 and picked up a total of 8 for the day, all on plugs. When we went by the leader board on our way to the ramp we found out I was bumped to 4th. A 14 lber was weighed a couple hours after mine. 4th place was good for a trophy and a weekend in one of their cabins.
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/data/500/medium/IMG_0350.JPG (http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/78938/size/big/cat//ppuser/8168)
A very enjoyable weekend, but tiring after 22 hours on the water in 2 days. Thanks to Dan, Sandie and Jennee at the resort and to team "shut up and fish'"