Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Willard Bay Bugs Me "Literally"

Fishing Time: 6:00 p.m to 8:30 p.m.
Moon Phase: 26% Moon
Location: Willard Bay
Bait: I Tried Everything!
Who Went: Me
I Decided that since I work just down the road from Willard Bay I would give it a shot. I still haven't caught a wiper so its time to get it off my list of, fish not caught in Utah. The bugs were horribly thick and made it miserable as I tried to get my gear ready and haul my float tube to the lake. Once on the water the bugs were not to bad, but the fishing was. I didn't even get a bite. This has been the worst spring fishing I have ever had. I tried crankbaits, drop-shotting minnows, cut-bait under a bobber and curly tailed grubs in all sorts of colors. I did have a Rock Chuck friend that decided to follow me up and down the rocky bank as I fished. It was hard to get a good pic of the furry guy cause I was bobbing up and down in the waves. Hopefully this curse of bad fishing will end for me this year!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Pelican

Fishing Time: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Weather: Cloudy with some rain, 60's
Moon Phase: New Moon
Location: Pelican Lake
Bait: Senkos, roboworms, earthworms
Who Went: John, Me

My friend John is from back east and is used to catching big bluegills, so he has been begging me to take him somewhere he can catch some dinner plate sized gills. The best place I know is Pelican Lake, and we finally worked it out so we could day trip the 31/2 hour drive to get there. The weather forecast called for rain, but it was the only day we could do it so we went anyway! We lucked out on the rain as it stayed away until about 2 p.m and then we got drenched. My first four casts I landed 3 Largemouth and missed one hit! It looked like it was gonna be another Pelican type day. But, after landing my fourth bass it seemed to just die off! I worked hard the rest of the day to get to 10 largemouth all about this size.
John did get into a few bluegill but they didn't size up to the ones I have caught at Pelican in the past. The weather was a little cold and I think we were a little early for the true fish catching bonanza that Pelican can turn into. I regrettably didn't get many pictures and the joke of the day was that I told John we should take float tubes over the boat since its such a small lake you can hit every corner with a tube. Well, I have a short memory cause the lake is a lot bigger than I remembered, and you can see the storms we were trying to dodge all day!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Someday it will Happen

Fishing Time: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Weather: clear, sunny, 50's
Moon Phase: 90% Moon
Location: Willard Bay
Bait: trolled two poles bottom bouncing a worm harness and trolled two poles with crankbaits
Who Went: JJ, Me
On my failing quest to catch a Walleye I gave up on Utah Lake and tried another well known walleye fishing hole, Willard Bay. This was the first time I have ever fished Willard Bay, but have listened to all the success stories for the past few years. We fished it post storm which already had me thinking failure, as walleye tend to like a few days in a row of warm weather before they get active, but it was the only time I could get out on the water for a few hours so we went anyway. We trolled 4 poles, two bottom bouncing with a worm harness and live earthworm, and two long lining crankbaits hoping to catch an early wiper. The morning showed promise as JJ missed what we thought was a decent hit on the bottom bouncer. Then shortly after my bottom bouncing pole went bendo! I grabbed it and set the hook and the fight was on. In my mind I was thinking, this is a win win situation for me because either A) I finally caught my first walleye of the year or B) I just caught my first ever wiper! It started putting on quite a fight and taking line so now I was leaning towards it being a wiper! Wow, was I depressed when the fish finally surfaced and I realized I had snagged a big ole carp right in the tail. An 8 pound carp snagged in the tail can put on a tough battle. So, back we went to trolling for the next 3 hours! Not even a bump the rest of the day! I tried changing speed, changing lures, using smelly jelly. This Walleye fishing is really taking a toll on my fishing confidence. I might need a day of trout fishing to remind myself I can at least still catch those! If this weather will ever stabilize and stay warm for more than a day then I still think I can find that elusive walleye!