Burraston Ponds Solo

Thursday, I went to Burraston Ponds on solo. Sometimes I need to go solo to clear my mind. I hadn’t been to Burraston in years and the last time I had gone there it was not a great memory. Every time a truck or car pulled through the area I caught myself looking over my shoulder. It was good to re-visit and see that it was okay to be there.

The morning was beautiful and the water was crystal clear. The ponds are spring fed and bigger than I remember them being. The vegetation was dense both in the water and along the banks. This is a good place to remember the pontoon next time. It is a WMA and a community fishery so the regulations allow you to keep two trout, if you choose too. The UDWR stocks the ponds with rainbow trout frequently. There are some carryover trout from year to year and get some size to them. Today was a challenge day for me, I took one lure to see if I could catch fish with only one lure choice. Today’s lure was a red/white kastmaster that resembled a daredevil. It proved to be productive.

I stopped in the first pullout to see what I was getting into and could see the massive amount of plants and moss in the water, and thought to myself this was going to be a tough fishing day. I cast a few times in this area but seen nothing follow and moved to the next pullout. Here I could really see how clear the water was and could see quite a distance out from shore and see what I was up against with the vegetation. However, this spot turned out to be fruitful. I could see fish feeding and each time I saw one surface I cast into the area. I caught three planter rainbow here and they were all nice enough to quick release at the shore as I pulled them out of the water. Nothing large but on ultra-light gear they were fun none the less.

I moved to the next spot, the second pond, it was nasty and filled with scum and debris so I didn’t stay here too long. I drove around to the end of the trail and could see the rest of the pond shore was foot traffic only. I also spied a dock of sorts. I pulled back to the trail entrance to it and made my way through about three feet of water and onto this rickety old dock. It put me above the water and the water was so clear I could see bank to bank. Here I got to watch my kastmaster work through the water for a great distance and see how it reacted to different retrieves and action. I also got to observe how the fish trailed it and sometimes even hit it with their nose or tail. That was a cool sight to see. I landed a couple more here, but being able to see them hit the lure I could set the hook, so I had to take them off. The dock was not stable and made for a fun casting platform sometimes wondering if I was going to take a dip. I really didn’t want to, the water I walked through was quite cold!!

I moved to the west side of the ponds and parked at the end of the trail. I made my way onto the island peninsula and made a few casts into both sides of the pond. I caught a couple more and released them. It was a great morning on the pond, caught some fish and cleared my head for a while. I will return here and bring my pontoon, maybe even see if it freezes over in the winter.