Tippy out on the Town

Everyone, I’d like you to meet Tippy (she gets her name from her blatant instability).  Tippy came from craigslist for $700.  We were looking for something to get into the lakes, bays, estuaries and the like but we’re poor so it had to be VERY economical.  

We started off with just  a shell of an old 16’ Alumaweld and made some modifications.

When I say we, I mean my husband did everything.  He created carpeted plywood platforms for the front, back, and floor, as well as a carpeted cushion seat in the middle. He also had to completely pull the trailer apart, replacing the shocks, bearings, and then finally a coat of no-rust spray paint.  I’m pretty sure this has been his most fun (funnest should be a word finally) project in the last few years.  Finally, we had a trolling motor for the back, but wanted to be able to stand, steer, and cast, so we found a foot controlled trolling motor on craigslist.  It’s pretty awesome. 

We kept the boat like it was for quite awhile, but came to the decision that it needed some kind of seats for balance.  

So we got the new seats in the mail two days ago and decided that since we had to go into town to get the installation hardware anyway, we should just put them in at the lake and then test them out right there.

After about an hour, we had the seats in and got on the lake with only a few other people around.

 They ended up working great and we got a few hours on the lake in the sunshine.  The water had come up from our last trip two weeks prior and was murky compared to its usual clarity.  This lake just outside of Pacific City has a few bass, recycled steelhead, and stocker trout at times.  They hadn’t stocked yet so we didn’t have to deal with a crowd, and there were a couple of steelhead to chase around.  They tend to sit really high in the water so if you can spot one you can sight fish to it.  Unfortunately, they are definitely a first come first serve fish and once they’re spooked they’re going to be put down for awhile.  We had another boat on the lake that was specifically fishing to these steelhead so that was kind of a bust for us.  That’s not to say that we didn’t give it a shot.  We’ve had the best luck with casting a small nymph (pheasant tail, prince, pink scud, etc.) past them and then slowly stripping it in front of their face until they chase.  No dice on that today though.

The coolest part of this lake is that it’s a bass aquarium.  There are certain places that the bass will be, so we always have to go take a look.  They hang somewhat together with a few solo bass here and there and are notoriously dismissive this time of year.  The younger ones spook when you slap your line on the water, but the older bigger bass will completely ignore you, your flies, your boat, your gun...Now, later toward the summer when they’re pairing up and getting on their beds, they are more aggressive and we’ve done okay then.  Unfortunately we leave June first for Alaska, so we don’t really get to see how they react as the summer goes on.  I am going to guess though, that the bigger bass here will not take top water.  Maybe some of the younger fish would, but they seem very conditioned to ignore humans.  Always with the theories....

Well, despite my theories, on this day one bass (literally only one) decided to be aggressive.  Though we always cast to the fish (because how can you not?), we’re pretty used to the silent treatment.  This is where T is testing flies.  This particular fly is a two in one.

The back of the fly is tied with foam at the top.  The front section is a tube fly with a heavy cone head.  The idea is that the cone head top will sink to the bottom while the floating end of the fly can float up and be manipulated to create movement without moving the fly from its place.  Pretty cool idea, especially in the lily pads when you’re trying to piss off a bass by being in their area.  We’ve always had the best results when we can keep our fly in their face/space, without repeatedly casting to the same area.  You have to invade their space and stay there until they can’t stand it anymore.  Success!  We must be getting some penance for our repeated flails lately.

They’re a month away from being paired on beds, but this fish looked like she was ready to pop so we tried to be careful, took one photo and sent her on her way.  I’m still thinking it had some form of fish rabies because the behavior was just unlike anything that we see this time of year.  Not that I’m complaining.