Early Morning Fish at Jordanelle

5:45 am we launched into the morning night. The morning was crisp and when running the boat, cold. We headed for familiar territory and set out lines making a pass along the small boat dock and getting nothing until Jim got his line straightened out and back in the water. On the way out he got a nice hit, and took his line for a ride until he set the bale. He reeled in a nice Rainbow trout and the first of the day.

 

 

We took the hint and reeled in, we were running three to four colors deep and the fish were on the surface. We fished down the roadside lane and got a few fish on the way toward the dam and then back again toward the bay. This pass didn’t give us much. We ran our lines back down to normal depth and got into them again although mainly planter Rainbow trout, they were still fish. By 9 am we could have been off the lake with a full limit, but we returned the small planters looking for the bigger ones. Parker was on fire for most of the morning and Jim got quite a few as well. Me on the other hand was being a great guide and putting my “customers” on the fish…LOL. I did end up with four of my own on the boat but we totaled over 20 fish in the boat with a number hits and misses. The “Thumper” pop gear did well today with cowbell two tone nickle/brass, Parker ran it and was keeping busy most of the morning. May have to make me another one of those. I used a new pop gear on this trip and it produced a few fish which I was happy to see,since it only costs me $5.00 at the ISE.

The colors of fall are coming out in the mountains. That means turnover and ice season are near!!

 

 

We made a total of six passes and limited out with a nice stringer of fish. We had a blast and made good memories. We stopped in Heber for lunch at Lola’s Street Kitchen, good food! Best way to find them is call them. Get outside with your family and friends!

 

Fish Lake Friday!

We set out for Fish Lake in search of the Mackinaw.  Friday morning came with a blur at 4:30 am.  Loaded the boat and gear and hit the road picking up the crew and headed south for our two and half hour trip south.  We stopped in at Scipio and pick up breakfast burrito's and worms.  Made our way through the small towns of the back roads and made it to Fish Lake by 8 am.

 A little later than we wanted but it was a beautiful morning, the lake was flat.  We launched out of the west marina and made our way to the lane where all the other boats were fishing.  This being our first time on the lake in our boat we took all the tips we could see.  We started marking fish throughout the column from the surface to the bottom depth of 98 feet.  Fish were feeding on the surface all around us.  I quickly tied on a jig and tossed it over while the boys tied on their pop gear and flashers.  We ran worms and squid patterns as trailers on the pop gear, red cowbell, pink flasher blade and diamond flasher were the first attempts.  

Parker landed the first fish within a few minutes on his red cowbell with a worm trailer and then he proceeded to catch two more before I got one on my pink flasher.  Jim took a little while before he got one with the diamond flasher and pink squid.  The fishing was fast for most of the morning.  We had over a dozen landed before 10 am.  Rainbow trout were all we were landing but it was fun most of which we put back but kept a few of the nicer sized ones.  

We changed colors and depth often to keep the lines in the heaviest concentration of fish.  After 10 am however it slowed down and by 11:30 it all but stopped.  We had over 20 fish caught and kept 9 of the bigger ones.  We fished until 1 pm and after going through the lane a final pass and getting no hits we called it a day.

The day continued to be a nice day with of and on wind gusts and clouds moving in and out all day long.  We never felt that we had to get off the lake due to the wind but we did have to make adjustments to our path because the 55lb thrust Minkota could not keep up the wind.  Time for a small kicker for the Fish Steeler.  We loaded and headed for home stopping in Sigurd for lunch, good food and friendly owners.  We drove home talking about the day and what we learned.  We will return and target the Mackinaw specifically next time with proper gear.  Today was good preview of the lake and will give us enough information to return with success for the big lake trout that are found in these waters.

Fish Lake Report 8/19/16

Friday the boys and I went to Fish Lake. Our hopes were to find a couple nice lake trout, but instead, all we could muster up were 20 or so planter rainbows. Our day started at 4:30 am loading the boat and getting on the road by 5:00 am. Picked up Parker about 5:20 and started south for our 2.5-hour journey. Stopping at Scipio and getting breakfast and worms for bait. Don't by worms in Scipio, they are not good. We continued south and made it to Fish lake by 8 am. A little later than wanted but the morning was nice a cool and the lake was flat. We launched and went to the lane where all the boats seemed to be and started trolling. This was our first time on the lake so we fell into place and avoided cutting in on other anglers. We put out three poles to begin and running pop gear and flashers with worm and squid trailer. The action got going with Parker getting hits on a Red pop gear getting three fish quickly and then I got a couple on a pink flasher and worm. Jim with the squid took a little longer to see action.

 

We made two passes along the southern bank of the lake and was in our third pass when a guide cut us off and cut through our lines. Taking our flasher and squid set up with his actions. I have fished for 20 years from a boat and never had someone blatantly and purposely do such an action. We exchanged words after he called us A$$holes, I didn't take that well so I went after him and after the exchange, I notice he left the lake. I'm sure his clients didn't care for his actions, we certainly didn't. Okay, rant over.

The fishing was actually very fast and fun, just no big fish and definitely no lakers. The fish slowed down about 11 am and we made a pass without a hit and decided to call it a day at 1 pm. We loaded up and went to Sigurd and had lunch there at the local shop, a great little place ran and operated by a great lady. We ended up keeping 9 of the bigger 20 or so that we caught. Jim filleted them and had dinner. We will return and with more gear set up for the lake trout.

Friendly Butterfly

Fishing the Uinta’s of Utah

Shifty and I went to fish some of the pristine waters of the Uinta Mountains on Thursday. We left the valley at 5 am and made our way to Kamas where Mirror Lake Highway begins. We turned onto Mirror Lake highway and made our way to the trailhead at Spring Canyon. The lake we were targeting is only 6 miles from the trailhead. The road however makes it a two-hour trip. Plus, I missed the turnoff the first time through and that added an hour to our trail ride. Shifty was okay with it, we took the Jeep so he could experience a Jeep ride once again. His father owned a Willy’s Jeep back in the day and he wanted to get a ride in before we trade it off this spring. I finally found the right turn and we made it to the lake later than anticipated. The lake was as crystal clear as we hoped it would be.

We hiked around the far side of the lake to get away from the campers and started fishing the deeper waters. I tossed out a green jig and on the second cast I got my first Brook trout of the day. Shifty was still setting up and then figured out he was too shallow and hiked past me to another point. I continued to fish the same spot for a while. The green jig turned off and became a one hit wonder for me. I changed to Kastmasters and worked a couple color combinations and then found the hot ticket. A nickel/orange combo and caught a couple more along the far bank. About 11 am the fish turned off. I made my way around the lake to where Shifty had been throwing everything and the kitchen sink. He was wading into the lake trying to get farther distance from the bank on his casts. By the time I made it over there he had resorted to powerbait, about ten minutes later he caught his first fish.

We stayed on the lake for another half hour before packing it in and hitting the road for the next lake. I had planned on hitting three or four lakes in the day but my extra excursion in the morning took us out of that possibility. We traveled up to Trial Lake and then back down to Murdock basin trailhead, where we turned off to our next destination. It has been years since I had been up there and the road has changed significantly for the worse. It took us from trailhead to the lake almost two hours. Finally making it to our destination we broke out lunch and talked about the morning half of the adventure. While eating the clouds closed in and it became very dark. Sprinkles began and then the Hail came in. Still we made our way to the lake and hid under a tree waiting out the Uinta storm. Late summer in the Uinta’s it never fails to storm in the afternoon. Some come and go quickly others linger for hours. This one decided to linger.

We went back to the Jeep to dry off a little and wait it out a little longer. Finally, it let up a little and we took advantage of the break and made fast time to the shore and started casting. However, the storm had other plans for us and came back with vengeance. Making only a dozen or so casts we were turned back. Hail, rain turning to snow, yes snow. We got back to the Jeep and called it a day. What an adventure though, and we caught a couple fish. Great trail ride in the Jeep it will be missed, but with only getting to take it out once or twice a year someone will love having it and hopefully use it for what it is made for. Fishing was slow but the fish were beautifully colored.