My Best Fishing Day Yet

Fishing Time(birth time): 4:24 p.m.
Weather: Snowing, cold
Moon Phase: 0% new moon for a new beginning
Location: St. Marks Hospital
Bait(doctor): Dr. Carrie Sloan
Who Was There: Mom, Dad, Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousin Dakota

Today is the most exciting fishing day I've ever had in my life, and it didn't even involve going fishing, or buying a new boat or fish finder! Today, I caught me a new fishing partner! My son, Devin James Duncan was born and he was as anxious to get on the water as his dad, that's why he came out a little earlier than expected! At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it! He only weighs 3 pounds 3 ounces at 15 1/2 inches long, but is mature, developed and breathing on his own. He will have to spend a little time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at St. Marks Hospital for a while, helping him put on some weight, otherwise, he is as healthy and perfect as they come! I am so excited to have him here in my life and hope that I am able to teach him to love the outdoors as much as I do!

Here Walleye, Walleye, Walleye

Fishing Time: 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Weather: no wind, clear skies, low 60's

Moon Phase: 24% moon

Location: Utah Lake

Bait: Curly tailed jigs for walleye and jig and trailer for bass

Who Went: Me

This makes the third trip in a row to Utah Lake in search of a walleye or largemouth bass, and again I left with nothing but the smell of skunk on my hands! I showed up to the lake in the dark, launched the boat in the dark, and this is what it looked like as I drove from American Fork Boat Harbor over toward the Lindon Boat Harbor by the old Geneva Steel Plant! Dark!

I fished in the dark for almost an hour with no bites. When it started to get light I got really bored fishing for walleye and decided to head to Saratoga Springs to see if I could land a largemouth bass instead! I caught nothing over there either! Utah Lake is kicking my butt! I did get this great pic as I left Lindon Boat Harbor to Head to Saratoga Springs. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and to get my mind off the stresses life sometimes brings!

Lot of Work with no Reward!

Fishing Time: Friday and Saturday- 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Weather: Friday- Cold and windy, clear skies. Saturday- warm, no wind, clear skies.
Moon Phase: Friday- 92% moon, Saturday- 86%
Location: Utah Lake
Bait: Curly tail grubs, minnows, and white bass
Who Went: Friday- Phil, Me, Saturday- JJ, Me
I went on a quest for walleye this weekend and was determined to come home successful! Of course that didn't go as planned. Friday evening my cousin Phil and I hit the Provo Boat Harbor for the first trip. We casted jigs for 5 straight hours with nothing but an occasional snag to call a bite. We tried every color of jig in the tackle box and every technique we could think of. We retrieved it slow, medium, fast, we even tried dead sticking it for awhile and got nothing. We drove out to Bird Island for a minute to try our luck there, but as soon as we showed up the wind god decided to show his face. It didn't take us long before deciding to head back to the harbor. Bird Island did look pretty neat close up with all the wind blown ice that has lodged its way on top. It was an unsuccessful day and we threw everything we had at them. Phil told me that if I was gonna go out again on Saturday after that kind of success that I must have lost my mind! So, Saturday JJ and I hit it up again! This time we started the trip by buzzing over to the Saratoga Springs Harbor to see if we could even catch a fish, walleye or not. I was trying to catch largemouth and while I was JJ was pulling in white bass left and right! This is when I realized I really am losing my mind! In the old days I would have switched up my offering and hammered the white bass with him and called it a successful day, but I'm getting older and a little more stubborn and find myself only caring about catching the fish that are considered tough to catch! I tried for 3 hours to land a largemouth with only one bite, which I missed! I was so focused on catching a largemouth that I didn't even remember to get a picture of JJ with one of his white bass he caught. We did save one white bass for bait at our next stop. Once it got close to dark we headed over to the American Fork River outlet to see if we could land one of these elusive walleye. The backdrop was beautiful looking out at Mount Timp.
The weather was unreal for early march and when we got to the river the lake was glass and the temperature was well above normal. We loaded up two poles with white bass for bait and tossed them out, then casted well into dark with our other poles using jigs hoping to land at least one walleye! But, it didn't happen and I went home skunked for the second day in a row! You can tell how determined I was by the amount of pictures I took. I didn't set the rod down for two days straight and have nothing to show for it! My goal this year is to figure out Utah Lakes walleye and largemouth, even if it means coming home empty handed a few times!

How Bout That Ice?

Fishing Time: 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Weather: Partly cloudy, breezy, high 40's
Moon Phase: 85% moon
Location: Utah Lake
Ice Conditions: No ice
Bait: Minnows and worms either under a bobber or off the bottom
Who Went: Me
Cari's baby shower was this weekend and I didn't have much to do on Saturday, so I got a few things done around the house and then went on a little drive to see how the ice on Utah Lake was doing. Of course I couldn't go without tossing a line in, so I threw in the long rods and away I went! First stop Lincoln Beach.... To my surprise the southern end of the lake is completely open. Bird Island looked like a little Antarctica out in the distance with all the ice that has been pushed over the top of it! I tossed a couple poles in off the Lincoln Beach Dike for about an hour but had no bites so I moved on.
I drove around West Mountain to Goshen Bay and stopped at one of my old Catfishing spots I used to frequent often. All of Goshen Bay was ice free and this is where I caught the only fish of the day. A wandering White Bass that couldn't resist a minnow lying just off the bottom.As I drove back home all I could think about was getting the boat out there as soon as possible! I did see some ice around Lindon Boat Harbor that didn't want to go away, but I don't think it will last another week! Next week could be boating time!