Ice Fishing Mud Creek, Strawberry Reservoir 12-27-19

Parker and I wanted to get some time on the ice together so we loaded up last Friday and headed to Strawberry Reservoir where we fished Mud Creek Bay. We weren't alone!

We loaded the SnowDog into the Fish Steeler Ice trailer and made it to the lake by 9am not an early trip, we may have missed the morning bite, but we accomplished what we wanted to. We got our machines on the ice and everything worked great. Parker is loving his SnowDog.

We set camp on the south side of the bay since the northside was packed with tents. We cut holes in 8 feet of water and set the tent. Parker put his flasher and camera in the hole and we waited, and waited and waited. We changed tactics colors baits many times. Parker couldn't stand it any longer and went on a search for better water. He went out of the bay and ended up about 200 yards south along the shoreline. I patiently waited for his return hoping he would find some fish.

About an hour later he returned to report that he hadn't found a good spot to move to. In the meantime, I had seen a dozen or so fish swim in and out of the holes and turn their noses up to my offerings. I quickly switched poles and baits trying to lure them into hitting my hook. Nothing was persuading them. After Parker returned we fished for another hour or so and finally, another fish swam into the holes. It swam up to Parker's bait and nudged it but didn't take it in and then instantly turned and engulfed my hook. I quickly set the hook and brought the cutthroat to the surface.

We fished for another hour and didn't see another fish swim through. We tried other spots nearby and saw nothing in the camera or on the flasher. We loaded up our gear and talked to a few other camps and they were having the same outcome. We finished the day off with a Strawberry Bay Marina Burger which made the day all the better.

Fishing Small Stream for Rainbows

Work has been a bear lately and keeping me from focusing on the right things. Saturday however I took a couple hours and went to the mountains and fished a small stream I hadn't fished in years.

I fished multiple pools and finally found one right on the side of the road that paid off. I used my favorite little jerk bait and a couple old go to's as well. Nothing big, but a lot of fun to get out and fish after a couple weeks in the trenches.

I jinxed myself talking about the plight of another angler losing his gear on a log I was fishing over and tossed my lure into a tree across the river. Not one to lose a lure, I went after it. It took me a few minutes to retrieve it but I got it back and learned why I couldn't get off the branch. There was a fly set up on the same little branch and a lot of fishing line that actually hooked my lure.

The water was crystal clear and I could see the fish flash when they hit and the one that wouldn't take the bait. It looked to be a bit bigger than the ones I had gotten to the bank, but you can't tell from the bank. I will return and see if I can get it to hit.

I may have to go back to being retired!

Fishing Lower Provo River 11-21-18

I spent the evening on the Lower Provo River with Shifty. The morning we woke to was an early winter morning and stormy so we decided to wait it out. The afternoon proved to be very nice so we decided to hit the lower sections and see what if anything we could hook up.

We arrived around 3 pm and the sunset is 5:30 pm so we knew we had to move fast to locate fish in the short window. We did just that we started out at Paul Ream park and quickly discovered the river level had dropped significantly from my Monday session here. We made multiple casts in areas that produced on Monday only to find leaves on our hooks. That was the story of the evening more leaves than we could count, it seemed that every cast we had leaves on our lures.

We quickly moved from here to a lower section of the river with deeper runs. When we arrived we were happy to see deeper pools but still very low water levels. We moved quickly through the sections and lost a couple lures along the way. I didn't lose my lucky lure.

I finally hooked up on a decent Brwon trout late in the evening, Shifty had landed two brown trout by then as well. We fished until we couldn't see our lures fly through the air. I hooked up one last time only to have it throw the hook right as I was bringing it up to release it. Another small brown trout.

The evening was great, catching was slow but the fishing was great. Until next time keep smiling.

Fishing the Lower Provo-Paul Ream Park 11-18-19

Monday morning I texted Shifty to see if he was going out and he had other obligations. I decided not to lose the morning and go fish the river. I saw on the map a section of the lower Provo river that I had not fished before with easy public access and went for it.

I got on the water around 10:30 and figured to stay until noon. Staying on the bank and tossing my new favorite Brown trout bait. I put a couple other lures in a small box and went to the bank. Three casts later and I was hooked up with a small Brown trout. A few more casts in that hole produced nothing so I moved.

Moving was the key for the morning. I moved several times some holes produced and some didn't. The second hole, however, produced the biggest Brown trout of the day. Nice fat 15 inches with great colors. I got it back in the water quickly.

Moving along the bank going under one of the bridges proved to be good as well and I caught another quickly. I turned around and headed back upriver. Crossing the river on via the bridge and I saw deeper pockets along the bank and knew there had to be fish in them. I tossed the jerkbait across the river and let it float downstream for a bit and brought back up through deeper pockets and sure enough, the tug happened and another nice brown was online. It tried a couple other lures just to see if they would produce anything but they didn't. I crossed back over the river and moved further upstream and tried my luck. I spooked a few and didn't get another fish.

I lost my lure! I attempted one more cast and the lure got hung up on a sunken branch. I tried everything to free it. I even thought about wading out after it but thought better of it. I marked the spot and made sure I knew where it was located. I pulled the line tight and it snapped off. This morning I went back with my waders and found it!!

Fishing - Lures at Cleveland Reservoir 11-15-19

Friday Jim and I went to Cleveland Reservoir. Thursday was a stressful day in the office and I didn't get out with Shifty due to work and Jim and I needed to get away from it. So we headed south to Fairview Canyon. One of my favorite places in the state. We got off late due to the fact we had meetings in the morning with a consultant all the more reason we needed to get out of town. We hit the road around 9:30.