Deer Creek - From the Back Deck

Thursday's with Shifty is getting back in the swing of things. From here forward the tag "From the Back Deck" will be used in my post I'm on the Shifty Cruiser or another of my friend's boat. I hope you have enjoyed my post and following along with our adventures. Salmans' Outdoors and Fish Steeler team are thankful for the followers we have.

Thursday I met up with Shifty and we made our way to Deer Creek Reservoir. We were on the water at sunrise at about 6:00am. The water was glass and the sky overcast! This is rare for us on a Thursday outing, usually, there's some sort of weather happening but today it stayed calm, but stayed a little overcast which was perfect. We were on the Shifty Cruiser for the first run of the season.  We started by trolling a lane that Shifty likes down by the dam. We dropped lines and not long after that I had the first fish hooked up and boated. It was a big fat Rainbow trout, a nice 18.5 inches, 2.5 lb. I love catching bows and have them give a dance and show. We landed it got a couple pics and were excited about the prospects of the day starting with this fatty. We fished across the buoys and I hooked up another and lost it. Shifty hooked into his first and landed it and right after he landed his fish and we were getting a pic, my pole got hit and then my second pole got hit and we had a double-up going on only to lose them both. We made the turnaround and back on the corner I hook up another and land it. All nice big fat Rainbow trout. We fished this lane for a while longer and Shifty landed another but it really slowed down and we ventured to our next spot.

Trail 725 - GWT, Great Western Trail

Forest Road 725, also known as Great Western Trail, is one of my favorite little canyons. It has a small stream that runs through it. The road is actually very mild until you get to the very top and turns into a single track and Mtn Bikers love this trail. When traveling you must always be aware that Mtn bikers frequent the trail and road. This recon trip was to see just how bad it had been damaged the forest service opened the road up this spring to travel again for the first time since 2018. I had already taken FR 117 to Trail 310 that morning which I talked about in my last report. This was the true reason for my ride today.

I returned to the bottom of the main canyon and turn north up 725. The gate was open and I was anxious to see what it looked like. The first section of the trail really had no change to it. I noticed however that the stream was looking much different. I continued up the trail and crossed the stream a couple times taking note of the condition of the stream banks and bed. The farther up the trail I drove the more apparent the destruction was. I was saddened to see the pools and pockets washed out and gone. I pulled off at Soberville and noticed all the old footings of the old buildings were gone and washed out from the floods that came down West canyon. Traveling farther up the trail, the beaver pond was gone. 

Trail 310 - Not Quite to Yuma

Saturday I woke up and no plans so I loaded the CanAm on the trailer and went for a ride. Being a very short notice of going I was going solo, not what I like to do but escape was more important at the time. Packing up lunch and other necessities I was on the road quickly. Driving up Spanish Fork Canyon I was going on a recon mission to see what damage had taken place in one of my favorite canyons and stream that runs through it.

Bass Fishing Sand Hollow Reservoir - Utah

This week Shifty and I set out for Sand Hollow. This trip was a two nighter and we fished with Greg Giacomazza "His Way Bass Fishing Guide Service" out of St. George Utah. Shifty set it up wanting to get to know the lake better. I thought it would be fun to learn from a guide that has fished the lake for the past 15 years. Before guiding Greg was in law enforcement and fished the FLW Tour in the Delta Region of NorCal. Greg was an absolute joy to fish with and very knowledgable in technique and tackle.

We pulled into St George Tuesday evening and readied ourselves for the early morning wake up call. Having to be at the dock at 6am we decided it would be best to drive and stay an extra night. We woke up at 5 and got ready to go. Shifty wanting to use his gear and I wanted some instruction with my bait caster we loaded and headed for Sand Hollow. We arrived at the gate around 5:50am and waited for them to open up at 6. They opened the gate and we drove to the dock. Just as we parked Greg pulled up with his 21 foot Ranger in tow. He quickly launched and was ready to go in a few minutes.

Fishing Jordanelle - Browns and Wipers

#fishsteelerchronicles

Thursday's are back again for another summer season. Shifty is off the ice and back on the boat. We made our way to Jordanelle in hopes of finding some brown trout. We launched just before sunrise and were trolling as it got light. The day was supposed to be a bluebird day but it turned out to be overcast and windy a typical Thursday fishing day.

We trolled a few different lanes trying to find the honey hole but to no avail. Shifty did get into a nice brown trout in our second lane. However, our day did not turn up a whole lot of action. We tried another lane just north of the marina and Shifty got another hit, or was it a snag, or a log? He continued to reel it in and when it saw the boat it finally gave a few head shakes. This was a treat of a fish. The first wiper to be landed on the Fish Steeler and a decent sized one at that. 18 inches and fat and it hit trolling gear.

We fished this area looking for more hits, but nothing so we moved to the small boat launch lane. Shifty landed his third fish of the day another decent-sized brown trout. We continued in this lane for a few trips but nothing else hit. We moved into Rockcliff's leg and cruised the banks and then went into the deep waters hoping to get something to join us. After trolling the entire leg we went back into the river inlet and fished the turbid waters to see if anything would hit but again nothing. We trolled our way out of the river's mouth and made our way back into the main channel and pulled into the road lane. Setting back up for trolling we watched a boat land four fish in a few minutes and we were thinking alright! Getting into the lane and setting the course we dropped lines. Into it about 20 minutes and Shifty hooks up another smaller brown trout. About five minutes later I finally get one to hit my line. It felt good to finally have one fighting at the end of the line. I brought it up to the boat only to have it head shake and free itself from my hooks. Needless to say, I was not happy it got away. We fished for another hour or so and had nothing else happen and the wind was starting to howl so we called it a day.