Christmas Bay 12/03/17

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Cityfisher
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Christmas Bay 12/03/17

Post by Cityfisher »

Went back to the same south shoreline of Christmas Bay I fished last weekend. Got to the water Sunday at around 9am. It was a cloudy overcast day and stayed that way except for some brief moments when the sun would pop out for a bit and then go back into hiding. Last weekend I was seeing and spooking lots of reds but not getting hookups so I thought I would down size a bit and see what that did. Fished a 3" gulp white with chartreus tail mantis shrimp on a weedless weighted hook and a small 1.5" black and chrome hunch back wake bait. Found the reds doing the same thing as last week, feeding where the drains were emptying out but this time the bay was much more shallow so I fished furhter away from the shoreline. Spooked 2 of them right away so stopped right away and started fishing throwing the gulp first. I think it was about the 4th cast I hook up with this 24" bruiser.
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Posed for a good photo and released it. He didn't swim away right away so I reached down to give him some help and what do I see in the corner of my eye? My phone resting on my leg sliding overboard! Uhhhgggg! Got out and felt around and recovered it. It was pretty much fried though. Oh well, needed a new one anyway. lol
Ended up catching another rat red about 13" not to long after. So I started throwing the hunch back and was getting some blow ups but no commitments. I had one very large red attack it not 8' from the yak that almost made me pee my pants!
And that was it, paddled around spooking a few more but no more wanted to play. It was around 12:30 and the tide pretty much went slack and started incoming around 1:30 and saw no fish signs at all after that. When that happened is when a thick fog and cool wind rolled in again so I made it back to the truck, went home unloaded and off to best buy to buy a new phone. Soaked the phone in rice overnight and was able to recover all my contacts and the couple of photos I took. Old phone is still messed up though.
Down sizing on the lures did help I think as I saw a little more action today.
Also before I caught that red there was a small flock of white pelicans that swam by. I hardly ever see the white ones. It was a cool sight!
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Tight lines!
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karstopo
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Re: Christmas Bay 12/03/17

Post by karstopo »

Nice report. Too bad about the phone. I’ve been there and done that.

I haven’t made a Christmas bay trip in a loooooong time. I’m glad the State shut down oystering there even though I used to gather a few myself. Ought to be a lot more peaceful out there this season because of the closure. This time of year up until April has always been the most enjoyable time to be out there for me. I’ve been missing the salt water and almost pulled the trigger on a trip or two, but just haven’t made it work. Until then, I’ll rely on yours and others fine reports to get my fix.
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Cityfisher
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Re: Christmas Bay 12/03/17

Post by Cityfisher »

The reds have been all along the shorelines lately over there (even though they are hard to catch), but I don't know how long they will stay after this front. You probably would have mopped up on the fly rod!

I was just reading about the American White Pelican, seems they are migratory and that's why I don't see them year round.
Man they are some big birds!
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Cuervo Jones
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Re: Christmas Bay 12/03/17

Post by Cuervo Jones »

Solid! Tons of white pelicans at the lake too. They breed up in Wyoming and Alberta. Always funny seeing pelicans in the Rockies! Glad I’m not the only bird nerd!


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Piscator
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Re: Christmas Bay 12/03/17

Post by Piscator »

That mantis shrimp is my go to bait for everything saltwater, especially flounder. Headed to Academy now for a couple packs. Thinking of a little shoreline pounding this afternoon after the ice melts.
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kickingback
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Re: Christmas Bay 12/03/17

Post by kickingback »

Great report! Thanks for sharing. Sorry about the phone. I have an IPhone and I use a waterproof case and it has saved my phone more than once. Only costs me $25 on Amazon.
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