Devils Lake holdovers

[trollin4trout]

Kinda hard to follow that mack thread!

I really like going here when it's cold and windy and no one else is on the lake in the late fall,winter,early spring. The fishing can be good sometimes or it can be slow as heck- sometimes nothing bites, but if you do hook up with one it will be a nice one!

We got on the water about 8:30 and started trolling- a silver Needlefish worked for the first one after about a half hour. A nice 17incher.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jnbradley3/devils17inchrainbow.jpg

Caught a nice coho/released after another hour- lost another nice fish we didn't see. Dale finally got one on a spin'n'glo and worm setup he had to try. A 16 incher.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jnbradley3/Devils16inchrainbow.jpg

We caught a couple other also-rans around 14 inches, and another unknown got away. In the afternoon we were using a cone-head wooly bugger with a piece of worm on it. It was hot for about an hour. At the end of the day I hooked this pretty fish- 18 inches.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jnbradley3/devils18inchrainbow.jpg

I found that Z-Ray lures can catch some rather odd things! Check out this fresh water clam! The lure is 3 inches long! That's the biggest one I've ever caught trolling.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jnbradley3/zrayclam.jpg

We caught 8 fish total for the day(all released). We trolled for 8 hours straight. If you're willing to put in the time, you can find these guys all winter long. Jim

[Willis]

Nice report and pics hopefully I can make it out with you again soon.:applause:

[KevinsDriftboat]

Great pics and report. Thanks for sharing. When I lived in AZ. I couldnt leave a tackle store without a new Z-Ray. I like the looks of that one.

[FallRiverGuy]

Nicely done Jim. I never would have guessed that a Z-Ray would be the go to lure for fresh water clams. :wink:

[Gillfish3]

Jim, you always seem to find the fish. Congrats.

George
Gillfish3

[joemomma]

How fast do ya troll for those clams .ooooooooo1mph:D those bows are nice!

[comeherefish]

:meme:Nice Job...Thanks for the report and photos!

[honker1]

Decide to give Devils Lake a try about a month ago while the wife was in the casino. Only 2 boats fishing the lake and 2 police boats patroling the lake. It was a beautiful fall day and the fishing was very good. When the wife called to be picked up, I tried to talk her into gambling a while longer, that tells you how good the fishing was. On the lake for 4 hours and catch 5 fish. they were all catch in the last hour I was there. Took me 3 hours to locate their hiding place. Actually the cops told me the place to fish, or I may still be looking.

[fishboys]

Great pics and report. Thanks for sharing. When I lived in AZ. I couldnt leave a tackle store without a new Z-Ray. I like the looks of that one.


Its warm in Arizona during the winter I hear. I will need to look at those Z-Rays and see what they are all about.

[Connelly]

Kinda hard to follow that mack thread!

I really like going here when it's cold and windy and no one else is on the lake in the late fall,winter,early spring. The fishing can be good sometimes or it can be slow as heck- sometimes nothing bites, but if you do hook up with one it will be a nice one!

We got on the water about 8:30 and started trolling- a silver Needlefish worked for the first one after about a half hour. A nice 17incher.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jnbradley3/devils17inchrainbow.jpg

Caught a nice coho/released after another hour- lost another nice fish we didn't see. Dale finally got one on a spin'n'glo and worm setup he had to try. A 16 incher.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jnbradley3/Devils16inchrainbow.jpg

We caught a couple other also-rans around 14 inches, and another unknown got away. In the afternoon we were using a cone-head wooly bugger with a piece of worm on it. It was hot for about an hour. At the end of the day I hooked this pretty fish- 18 inches.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jnbradley3/devils18inchrainbow.jpg

I found that Z-Ray lures can catch some rather odd things! Check out this fresh water clam! The lure is 3 inches long! That's the biggest one I've ever caught trolling.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w110/jnbradley3/zrayclam.jpg

We caught 8 fish total for the day(all released). We trolled for 8 hours straight. If you're willing to put in the time, you can find these guys all winter long. Jim

Nice fish!

I was told that the eyes on a live fish out of the water look or point down.

[stupenny5]

Nice report, thank you.

[trollin4trout]

Connelly said:

"I was told that the eyes on a live fish out of the water look or point down. "


I've "heard" that too- but this is photo proof that it's not always true.

Anyway, I don't appreciate at all the accusatory tone of your comment.
For one thing it would have been perfectly "legal" for me to KILL all those fish! And for another, you weren't there- you don't know me-you don't know what you're talking about.

I have asked the mods to remove your post- but they didn't for some reason- thus I'm compelled to respond to it.

Jim
(almost never kills fish, especially trout- but you'll be the first to know when I do)

[Pelhament]

Connelly said:

"I was told that the eyes on a live fish out of the water look or point down. "


I've "heard" that too- but this is photo proof that it's not always true.

Anyway, I don't appreciate at all the accusatory tone of your comment.
For one thing it would have been perfectly "legal" for me to KILL all those fish! And for another, you weren't there- you don't know me-you don't know what you're talking about.

I have asked the mods to remove your post- but they didn't for some reason- thus I'm compelled to respond to it.

Jim
(almost never kills fish, especially trout- but you'll be the first to know when I do)

Eyefish posted an excellent thread months back which explained how live fish eyes are positioned based on how their body is positioned or something along those lines. Might be an informative and interesting read for everyone.

http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?t=186280&highlight=fish+eyes

Oh and just in case, I am at work and cannot see the photos, so please don't think I am insinuating anything, just trying to provide some information.

[trollin4trout]

Thanks for linking that Pelhament. I remember that post but didn't take the time to look for it.

Here's the pertinent paragraph from that post by EYEFISH:

The same thing happens to a fish when you pose it for a pic. If the fish is maintained in a natural position in space( held perfectly horizontal, back up, belly down) then the eye will be looking straight out to the side, just like on a free-swimming fish. That straight-out stare does NOT mean it's dead. The best clue you have in this instance is that the pupil will still be very large and shaped like a big fat watermelon seed.

[Fatdad]

Nice fish, DON'T tell everyone my secret. Thanks for sharing.

[fish junky]

Very good post and nice pics. Thanks for sharing.