Slow Start to the 2012-2013 Ice Season

Fishing Time:  10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Weather: partly cloudy, no wind, T-30s

Moon Phase:  98% Moon

Location:  Strawberry Reservoir (Chicken Creek East)

Bait:  White tube jig tipped with meal worm or minnow

Who Went:  Mike Kraus, Rick Everson, Barclay Emery, and Ryan Watson

As usual I fished the first safe ice at Strawberry Reservoir to end the 2012 year.  It was a different crew than I’m used to fishing with, but we had fun all the same.  We arrived at the Strawberry Marina around 7:30 am to a ghost town.  I didn’t see one fisherman on the ice.  This made me a little nervous about the ice conditions, so I went into the marina store to get the scoop.  They said people were all over it yesterday, so I drove us over to my favorite spot and we made the dreadful hike in two and a half feet of snow down to the lake.  

Unfortunately the area I chose did not have safe ice and was flexing beneath our feet as we made our way out towards deeper water.  I pulled out my ice pick and with one good thrust I was through the 1.5-inches of ice and into water.  As miserable as the hike down to the lake was, we turned right back around and back to our vehicles.  We drove all the way to the other side of the lake to Chicken Creek East and made yet another long miserable hike past the other fisherman in the area to find some solitude.

We didn’t start fishing until around 10:00 am and probably missed the best fishing of the morning, but even so, I have never experienced this slow of fishing on the first ice trip of the season at Strawberry. I’ve had 50+ fish days on the berry at first ice and it usually is always good fishing.  This trip was the exception and we saw very few fish on my fish finder all day.  The 5 of us landed 11 fish total.  Barclay caught the most with 4, and Mike caught one at the very end of the day with this nice chunky rainbow.  

It was a strange first outing to start off the 2012-2013  ice fishing season.  Hopefully 2013 will treat us a little better.    

Lunker Largies on Falcon Lake, Texas

Fishing Time: Sunday – Tuesday

Weather:  Clear skies, no wind, T-80s

Moon Phase:  62% Moon

Location:  Falcon Lake, Texas

Bait:  Texas rigged plastics (flukes, senkos, lizards)

Who Went:  Rick, John, Hunt and his family, Me

Our Texas bass fishing trip finally arrived and started by landing in Austin, Texas on Friday night.  Hunt picked us up from the airport and we went back to his place to get settled for the night.  Hit up Sixth Street in downtown Austin for some amazing Texas barbecue and then cruised the night life for a couple hours with Hunt.  Woke up early on Saturday and met Hunts dad, grandpa, uncle, and two cousins in San Antonio, then all drove down together to Zapata, Texas which is the border town near Falcon Lake where we fished for the next three days.  We stopped to look at the Rio Grande River just outside Zapata.  The river is the border between the United States and Mexico.

 

We stayed in a duplex rental home with Hunt’s family on one side, and me, Rick, John, and Hunt on the other.  The owner of the rental home (Billy) also rented us his 20 foot Skeeter bass fishing boat for the 3 days we were there.  The plan was to go on the water with him for a few hours in the morning to learn his boat and then drop him off at the docks and fish for the next 3 days.  Hunt and his family paid for a guide each day and did not fish with us until the last day when Hunt’s family went home and he joined our group.  Here's how it all went down...

Sunday - We launched the boat about 30 miles south of where we were staying down near the dam on Falcon Lake.

Billy decided to fish with us for the day and took us to his best spots where we began fishing by Texas rigging large flukes, lizards, and senkos in dark colors.  We used 3/8 oz tungsten bullet weights and 6/0 Gamagatsu hooks.  Billy owns his own tackle company so we just pitched in and bought some of his supplies.  The targeted structure was rocky bottom in 10 to 20 feet of water.  The more rock we found, the better our success rate was, but also the more tackle we lost!  We mainly fished near the damn and a little on the Mexico side of the lake.  We found a great rocky bottom near the damn that ended up producing most our fish.  The first day we landed quite a few fish in the 5-6 pound range, which had us pretty excited, but Billy wasn’t impressed and wanted us to land the monster we came to Texas looking for.

                           

                           

                           

Monday - More of the same and Billy joined us again for the day.  Rick landed the biggest fish of the trip with this 7 lb 10 oz beast!

We were all excited about the fish, but again Billy was not impressed!  John and I both landed fish in the 5-6 pound range, but never did put anything in the boat over 6. 

                               
                               
                               

The best part of fishing on Billy’s boat was the banter back and forth between him and us (mostly John).  He made fun of our flimsy Utah rods and tackle the entire time.  Even went as far as making fun of the way we netted our fish!  Then when John told him he would rather catch an Alligator Gar over a 10 pound bass, Billy about lost it!  It was fun giving Billy a hard time and receiving it back 10 fold, but I think by the end John was at his wits end.  All in all I thought it was nice to have a local to show us the ropes and some of the best areas to fish.  I learned a lot, and fishing deep water structure is something I’m not used to, so I felt like it helped me add one more technique to my repertoire for bass fishing.  Thanks Billy!  We were laughing as we looked at pictures of the trip and found the one below.  It pretty much sums up Billy and John’s relationship.  Billy just couldn't quite figure out the Bobber!

Monday night at dinner we were swapping stories with Hunt’s family about our day fishing and they invited their guide to dinner with us.  Their guide (Mark Diffee) had them fishing a lot of different structure and a totally different area than we had spent the last 2 days fishing and it had us daydreaming a bit.  When he offered to take us out the next day for the same price as our boat rental, we decided to take him up on it.  Turned out to be a great move, and not for the fishing…

  

Tuesday - We were on the lake with Diffee early, and fished a completely different area than the first two days (Diffee on the left).

We fished shorelines and hardwoods in shallower water, which is more what us Utah boys are used to.  We started off catching fish in the morning, but none with any size.  The biggest was a 4 pounder that I caught in what Diffee called 10 pound bay.

Hunt earned the nickname “Jersey Shore” on this trip and his dress attire should explain why…

Somewhere in this time frame of fishing we entered Mexico and that’s when the Diffee stories started getting good!  Diffee is nuts (in a good way) and has been all over the world chasing fish.  He had some Mexico stories that would blow anyone’s mind, and even had the pictures to prove it!

                            

                            

                            

By mid-day we were hungry and ready to find more fish.  We loaded the boat, grabbed a bite, and stopped by Diffee’s place to pick up some baits.  Once we got to Diffee’s the day seemed to take a turn for the better, but again, not for the fishing.  Diffee really started to open up and the stories were hilarious!  This guy could be a standup comedian and he doesn’t even know it.  He’s just a hillbilly from Arkansas with a deep southern draw and never stops talking!  Normally that would drive me nuts, but not Diffee.  The guy had us rolling the entire day and didn’t even realize he was funny.  John and I hit the wall at Diffee’s and both fell asleep for a few minutes.

                               
John just wandered through Diffee’s fifth wheel (yes he lives in a fifth wheel) and found his bed.  Only the bobber!  I zonked on Diffee’s couch.  

 

The short nap revived me and we left Diffee’s place and drove down near the dam where I layed into a good fish that may have put me on the lunker board, but it popped off near the boat.  I still haven’t forgotten about that one.  Soon it was dark and our Falcon Lake fishing was over, but the Diffee stories were only getting better the more we got to know him.  We drove back to Billy’s place and Diffee dropped us off.  Thanks Diffee, money well spent! 

We decided not to stay the night in Zapata and hit the road for Austin around 9 p.m.  Got to Hunt’s house at 2 a.m. and hit the sack.  Flew out the next morning and were in Utah by late afternoon.  This was definitely a different trip than what Rick, John, and I are used to.  Usually we fish from sun up until sundown and well into dark, then crash, wake up, and do it all over again.  This trip we were a little more relaxed and enjoyed just hanging out.  We still did plenty of fishing, but chilled a little more than usual.  It was probably the most fun out of state trip I’ve ever been on and we are already talking about where to go next.  Until then, it’s back to winter and ice fishing in Utah.

Falcon wasn't the prettiest lake I've ever been to, but it did have its moments, and the sunsets were killer.  Below are more pictures of the trip and all our scenery pictures…

Round Two on the Bear River

Fishing Time:  8:30 am to 5:30 pm

Weather:  windy, cloudy, T-50s

Moon Phase:  99% Moon            

Location:  Bear River

Bait:  Glow bugs (egg pattern), streamers, Mepps spinners

Who Went:  Rick, John, Me

Our spirits were high as we headed down the dirt road for round two at the Bear River in hopes that the spawn would be in full swing.  We decided to cheat a little and hit one of the best spots on the river where we usually end our run with hopes of catching a few fish and then returning again at the end of the day to catch a few more.  We were surprised to see that nothing was doing.  Not sure if it was due to the wind and unsettled weather, the moon phase, or what the story was.  We moved on to all the other spots and were still disappointed with no spawning browns at any of them.  We threw on some streamers and started fishing the deeper holes giving in to the fact that the spawn is either done or still hasn't started yet.  Rick landed a decent 20-inch brown on a streamer but that was it for the day on streamer fishing.

 

As the weather started warming for the day, we located a few spawning fish, but were even more surprised when none of them showed any interest in our glow bugs.  Rick has fished the spawn here for 17 years and never seen that kind of behavior before.  After many hours of casting, I was finally able to coax one into biting.  It was 26-inches long with a huge hook jawed head.  

I didn't get a weight on it, but my guess is 6-7 pounds.  John was the one that spotted this fish swimming downstream so he took some credit and posed for a picture with the fish as well.

We fished the remaining stretches of the river and didn't see any more fish until we arrived at the first hole where we started the day.  We were excited to see a bunch of nice fish spawning.  John and Rick started casting above them and letting their glow bugs drift right through the middle of them, but again no bites!  It was frustrating to see so many big fish right in front of you that wouldn't bite.  After multiple efforts, Rick finally tricked one into biting and hooked one of the feistiest Bear River Browns I've ever seen.  It ended up being a really nice fat female full of eggs!  

The eggs were coming out of her like crazy, which told us that they are not done spawning as of yet.  I have no idea why they were so picky today, but that ended up being the last fish of the day.  It’s difficult to call it a bad day of fishing when you land a 26-inch monster brown and I still went home happy, but on the Bear River in October my expectations are always ridiculously high!

Bear River... Heaven on Earth

Fishing Time:  7:30 am to 10:30 am

Weather:  Clear skies, T-50s

Moon Phase:  24% Moon

Location:  Bear River

Bait: Nymphing glow bugs (egg pattern)

Who Went:  Rick, Me

It’s that time of year again and the brown trout are beginning their annual spawning rituals on the Bear River.  Rick and I were tied up all week with work and family commitments and were only able to find a 3 hour window on Friday morning to fish.

 

Rick has been fishing this secret honey hole for 17 years now, and literally has every inch of the river memorized with all the honey holes that usually hold spawning brown trout.  Rick’s first couple spots on the river were empty with no spawners so we moved on and finally found one large brown hanging alone at the top of some small riffles.  I snuck up and spied on him from the bank as Rick casted upstream towards him.  The fish wasn’t very aggressive, but after a few casts Rick put it right on his nose and I watched as his glow bug disappeared.  I yelled set the hook!  After a fairly good fight, Rick had this beautiful 26.5-inch brown posing for a picture.

We continued to walk upstream, stopping at all of Rick’s honey holes along the way, but soon realized the spawn is probably still a week away.  This year has been an exceptionally warm fall so it’s not surprising that the spawn may be a little later than normal.

On our final stretch of river we found some prime spawning grounds occupied with some early spawners.   It was my turn to test my fly casting skills and it wasn’t long until I had a nice brown on the end of my line.  It’s not a Bear River monster, but a nice fish to say the least.  Rick also landed another nice, yet typical, Bear River brown.  This place is unreal! 

We observed a couple larger fish swirling at the top of some riffles and I made some upstream casts while Rick filmed me.  I hooked up with a bruiser and Rick caught it all on film as I landed the fish I've been waiting for all year.  It was a very healthy hook-jawed male with beautiful orange colors!  

Landing this big brown made my day and our small 3 hour time slot to fish began feeling worth the effort.  We almost called this trip off due to the short time on the river, but after landing a couple very nice fish, I think we made the right decision.

Fall Colors and Good Fishing at Strawberry Reservoir

Fishing Time:  8:30 am to 6:30 pm
Weather:  Breezy, scattered rain showers, 60's
Moon Phase:  Full Moon
Location:  Strawberry Reservoir
Bait:  White tube jig tipped with worm or minnow
Water Temp:  60 degrees
Who Went:  John, JJ, Me

There’s nowhere like Strawberry Reservoir this time of year. The fall leaves are in full color and the fishing can be red hot as the lake turns over and the fish start moving to the surface to feed. This is what we experienced today as the Berry treated us very well.

Arrived at the visitor’s center around 7:30 am and stopped to observe the spawning kokanee salmon. They were there like clockwork and showing off their bright red spawning colors. Took a few photos before launching the boat at 8:30 am.

Started the day at the mouth of Mud Creek Bay where my buddy John had success the weekend before. John got off to a quick start landing 5 and JJ and I landed a couple.

Continued to move around looking for that special spot that would produce on every cast, but didn't find it all morning. We moved into the narrows and the hillsides were glowing yellow as the quakies have just turned.

 Steadily caught fish throughout the day with John out fishing JJ and me 2 to 1. He had the hot hand for sure. I had a bright red spawning kokanee follow my white tube jig all the way to the boat about 5 times, but never could get him to take. I wanted a picture of him bad, but it wasn't to be.  I caught a nice rainbow shortly after.

Late afternoon we moved to East Portal Bay near the marina and finally got on a good drift. I started landing them quick and closed the gap on John quickly to just a 2 fish lead, but he responded well and put it out of reach near the end of the day. Final fish totals were: John – 31, Me – 25, JJ – 21. None were over the 22-inch slot limit, but we did catch a few healthy 18 to 19-inch rainbows that put up a good fight!

The weather was good besides one quick hitting rain shower in the early afternoon. John toughed it out while JJ and I ducked for cover. It ended up being the difference in the ballgame as John caught 3-4 fish during that stretch. It was a great autumn day at the Berry and reminded me of why I love to fish up there. Hopefully I can squeeze in one more Strawberry outing before the ice begins to form.