Fishing Flathead Lake Montana Mackinaw!

Parker graduated from UVU this spring and for part of his graduation trip we took a guided fishing trip with Capt. Mike Jousma and Captain Norm's Fish~N~Fun. We met up with Capt. Mike at Sommer's State Ramp on the North end of Flathead Lake. This trip was an evening trip from 3-8 pm. We got to our designated area for fishing about 3:30 pm Flathead Lake is a huge lake and deep blue in color. There was still debris in the lake from run-off and Mike had to be cautious at times not to hit the bigger logs. He had us set up and fishing before 4 pm. It started a little slow I think due to the time frame and it being unseasonably hot for Montana.

The first fish hit and Parker took the reel and started to bring it in and lost it a few feet from the boat. This was our first time with Mackinaw, Lake Trout, so there is always things to know when reeling different fish species and Mike gave us tips to remember for the remainder of the evening. We told him we were wanting to catch and release as many as we could and find the state record so he could have it tagged to his boat. The boat was a well-equipped 20 foot troller with electric down riggers. He ran his big engine and steered with his trolling motor in the front, the trolling motor wasn't running just using the fabricated rudder he had built for that purpose, nice set up and yes I took pictures to have one fabricated for the Fish Steeler. In fact there were a number of things about his set up that will be used on the Fish Steeler. Mike had planers running as well, which for us was another first for us. We did like the idea and the technique he was using with them. Mike was setting two poles on the planers and putting them out about 30 feet from the boat and then running a clip and the line out about 20 feet putting the lure out away from the other lures. We were running plugs, rapala's, flashers and squids, and spoons catching fish on each type of lure used through the evening.

Back to the fishing I got the next fish online and again tried to work it in but lost it! A few more tips from Capt. Mike and then another fish hit and Parker brought in for the boated fish, a nice Mackinaw and his first ever. The next fish was mine and I got it boated, my first Mackinaw, bucket list checked. We fished all evening losing track of time and enjoying each other’s stories and ideas. Mike is working on getting his outfitter license for Montana which is quite the process. He has been guiding trips for two years and has logged hundreds of hours to meet the standards for Montana. He kept us moving and searching for the nest hit.

We fished for about two hours catching fish here and there and most were nice 20+ inch fish with nice girth and shoulders. I was helping Mike with another fish and then the second pole got hit. I grabbed it started reeling and handed the pole to Parker so I could finish what I was helping with. Parker gave out a holler and started listening to the reel sing and line started flying off of it. The drag was signing as the big Mackinaw took line fighting to get away. Parker played it like a pro! He would take in line and then let in play out line then take in line and repeated this for about 20 minutes as he brought the big Mackinaw to the boat. Mike was excited for us and new it was big when it first took line and ran. Mike netted the big bruiser and Parker started hollering again seeing what he had brought in. Parker's largest catch in his life. A nice 30 inch 20+ pound Mackinaw. Parker was elated at his catch and rightly so it was sweet! Pictures were taken and then good amount of time was taken to ensure that it would return to the depths without harm. Mike released the beautiful specimen back to its habitat unharmed. We could have stopped right there and been content, but that isn't us now is it.

We fished until the sun was setting and then looked at the time and our phones seeing it was after 8 and text from shore asking us where we were. We got back to them and told them we would be in shortly and then two poles hooked up and we had a double up finally. That made our evening complete and after pictures and releases we readied the boat for the return to harbor. We had a great fishing trip Capt. Mike Jousma and Captain Norm's Fish~N~Fun and recommend them for your next outing to Flathead Lake, Montana. We want to thank Capt. Mike for great adventure and memories!!

Fishing Rockport with Aaron and Kelly

We fished last Wed. on Rockport and took Aaron and Kelly from Jostens out for a morning. The day started a little slow and was concerning me a little knowing I had been telling them they were going to be into fish all day. But then Kelly got a hit and was little late working the gear and missed it. We fished the dam to begin the morning looking for some Brown Trout action we fished the area for about an hour and got two hits was all and missed them both. We were running green, JoD's and red to begin the day with. I quickly started running different colors and patterns to see what was going to work best. We trolled down the roadside and still had nothing. I pulled up the trolling motor and went to the fingers and started trolling Green, rainbow, blue you name it, we ran all different colors and patterns trying to figure them out and we ran the regular hot patterns in the lake. 

About 10 am the fish came to life and we started getting hits and catching Rainbow Trout. I got the first Rainbow Trout to the boat and then Kelly followed soon after. Kelly boated a couple more and I got a couple more but Aaron hadn't got anything so we traded poles and within a few minutes Aaron boated his first fish of the day and then a couple more. 

We kept a couple for the grill and then just like the morning it turned off. We pulled into the dock around noon and loaded and cleaned the fish. We had a great day on the lake it was a bluebird day with little to no wind until about 10 am when a small breeze came up. JoD' and rainbow were the hot colors. We caught all Rainbow Trout for the day we missed a number and had long distance releases.

Fishing Scofield Reservoir with Max and Jim!

Saturday we ventured south to Scofield Reservoir in the Manti La-Sal Mountains. We started the morning off at 4:30 am loading up and hitching up to the Fish Steeler, on the road by 5:00 am. Stopping to pick up breakfast and fishing supplies and at the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon by 5:30 am and on our way. We made it on the water by 7:00 am. When we launched we were the only boat on the water which we thought was strange for a Saturday morning but as the day progressed more boats launched and pulled into their favorite spots. Had rigs in the water by 7:15 and our first fish in the boat by 7:20 am we were thinking alright it is going to be a great day! Max got the first fish to the boat and Jim and I looked at it said "Oh great a chub!" Max was elated he reeled in the first fish of the day and was all about getting some more.

Utah Chub a non-game fish of the waters in Utah in our view are trash fish that choke out the game fish. We had fished the reservoir a few times during ice season and we got some nice Cutthroat Trout and a couple Tiger Trout and only a couple chub. The reports had been that the reservoir was choked out with chubs but with our winter season results we thought we would be good for some nice action on Tigers and Cutthroats. Much to our dismay the reports seemed to be correct.

We trolled the entire lake and we did our civic duty to remove as many of the chub as possible. It was a great day for Max he caught so many fish by 10:00 am he was tired of reeling them in and just waited for the trout. We did finally manage to get a nice Brown Trout on the dam leg of the reservoir and its belly was full of eggs as it puked them up on the deck! We quickly released it back to the water. We continued to fish running all different types of combinations of lures and colors trying to entice just the trout to hit but most times we couldn't even get our line out far enough to get the reel set before we had another chub online. As we trolled you could the schools of chub on the surface some of them looked like there were 100's of fish in them.

We did manage six trout for the day, two Tiger trout, two Rainbow trout and two Brown trout. None of them had any size to them, most of the chub being caught were heavier than the trout. By 10:30 am Max was spent and ready to go and wanted to run the "big motor", so we put things away and readied the boat for the "big motor". He loves to run fast in the boat. The day couldn't have turned out better for having my grandson on the boat he caught so many fish he was exhilarated with each catch but had, had enough of the "stinky chub". We finished the morning off with over 40 chub, keeping the bigger ones for fillets of bait meat for other outings the others became fertilizer. We each had fun and never got bored with hits and catches happening every few minutes. It was fun for me to watch Max get excited about fishing and just being outside with his dad and me. It was also fun trying to figure out what would catch just the trout and not entice the chub.