Fishing Time: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Weather: Perfect, no
wind, T-60
Moon Phase: 89% Moon
Location: Sand Hollow
Water Temp: 43-44
degrees
Bait: ¼ oz jig or drop-shot rigged with 3-inch plastics (sweet beaver)
Who Went: Rick, Bobber
John, Greg Giacomazza (guide), Me
Last year’s Lake Powell trip spurred some questions about
this year’s upcoming trip. Due to the
low water levels experienced at Lake Powell last year and another low precipitation
year looming, talks started about moving the spring trip to the St. George area
to fish a few of the bass lakes in that part of the state instead. We started doing a little research to see if
it was really worth replacing our most anticipated trip of the year (Lake
Powell), and fish lakes we have no prior experience fishing. After a bit of digging I was searching the
internet and ran across a fishing guide in St. George that has 8 years
experience fishing the three main reservoirs (Sand Hollow, Quail Creek, and
Gunlock) that have peaked our interest.
On a whim I decided to email this fishing guide to ask him a
few basic questions about these lakes and what the fishing is like during the
spring spawn. Never did I expect him to
give me any information without booking his services first, but I figured worst
case was he doesn’t respond to the email.
Within ten minutes after sending the email, my phone rang and Greg Giacomazza
(guide) was on the other end of the phone giving me extensive details about
each lake and how to fish them. Greg
went on to answer all of my questions and we talked for a half hour covering
all three lakes. Then Greg made the
statement that sold me… He said, “Chris,
it sounds like you already know how to bass fish, but you realize your time is
limited to learn and pattern these lakes with your busy work schedule and young
kids. Is this correct?” I said “Yes you’re
exactly right.” Then he went on to say,
“If you were to book me for just ONE trip, I will show you everything there is
to know about each lake and you will immediately be able to come down here any
time of the year with your family and friends and catch fish.”
He had me hook, line, and sinker. I do realize that I don’t have the time to
drive 4 hours to St. George and spend enough time on the water to learn these
lakes, so this would be one day of sacrifice for 8 years of his fishing
knowledge.
Two days later our planned ice fishing trip to Yuba turned
into a guided trip on Sand Hollow with Greg.
Unfortunately we were unable to launch on Quail Creek because the winter
hours had the reservoir closed, but Greg marked up a map for us with all the
information we should need to get on fish.
At Sand Hollow Greg gave us a boating tour of the entire lake while I
entered GPS points straight onto my fish finder. I asked him questions throughout the day
about Gunlock reservoir just to get a feel for that lake as well.
Of course we couldn’t do a trip without getting our lines
wet, so Greg took us to his winter spot and showed us the techniques that he
uses to land Sand Hollow bass in January’s 43 degree water temps. I was amazed at how many fish we saw on the
fish finder, but as you would expect with bass in cold conditions, they were
tough to persuade into biting.
We landed
nine fish total all in the 2 lb range.
However, the only other guy on the lake today fishing next to us landed a
5 lb 3 oz toad, so they are there and will occasionally bite.
It was definitely worth the trip to learn these lakes and I
feel like we gained a new friend with Greg.
He was a truly genuine guy that really wanted to help us out. He told us to call him every time we come
down and he would try to dial us in on the patterns and areas that are
producing fish. You can’t beat that!
