Provo River Walleye

Fishing Time:  4:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Weather:  Sunny, breezy, T-70s

Moon Phase:  55% Moon

Location: Wallsburg Bay Inlet/Middle Provo above Charleston Bridge

Bait:  Wallsburg- swimbait, Middle Provo- rapala, small lipless crankbait

Who Went:  Me

With the warm weather recently, I figured today may be the day to break this year’s walleye curse up at Deer Creek Reservoir.  As usual I figured wrong.  I first tried the Wallsburg inlet mainly throwing a swimbait rigged weedless so that it wouldn’t get snagged in the shallow weedy conditions.  I did have a few bites, but I racked it up to small trout that couldn’t find the weedless hook imbedded in my swimbait.

Unsuccessful and deflated I headed to the Middle Provo to try my luck there.  On my first cast with a lipless crankbait I hooked up with a feisty rainbow trout.  At least I didn’t get skunked. 

The river was running a little faster than I would have liked, but not unfishable.  I continued casting for over an hour with my crankbait and a small rapala and landed a couple more rainbow trout, but no walleye.  I didn’t get the feeling the walleye had started their migration up the river yet.  I didn’t see any in the slower clear moving water and obviously didn’t catch any.

I left while there was still some daylight and headed back to the Wallsburg inlet.  I casted my swimbait all around the inlet until dark without a bite.  Final tally this spring… Walleye 3, Chris 0.  Luckily it’s time to pursue bass and I can forget that walleye exist the rest of the year.  

Mythbusting the Full Moon Theory

Fishing Time:  6:30 to 8:30

Weather:  Slight breeze, sunny, clear

Moon Phase:  Full Moon

Location: Utah Lake (AF River Inlet)

Bait:  Small lipless crankbaits, curly tail grub

Who Went:  Rick, Me

Some of my recent fishing trips have coincidentally landed on the full moon and the lunar fishing charts during these full moon periods are off the charts with 100-percent efficiency.  This means fishing should be at its best.  I know some fishermen who base entire trips on these charts and swear by their accuracy. Well in my experience, it has been the exact opposite.  In fact, my fishing buddies and I usually check the lunar charts on our drive to the lake and if the charts say fishing will be poor, we get excited, if they say it’s going to be good, we prepare ourselves to catch nothing.  It’s become an inside joke in our fishing circle. The truth is that the best time to fish for me is any chance I can find free time to do it, whether its rain, wind, snow, or sunshine.  I only became interested in checking the lunar charts after hearing how accurate they are from other fisherman.

Anyhow, I proved the lunar charts wrong again this evening with yet another unsuccessful trip to Utah Lake chasing the elusive walleye under the light of a full moon.  Lunar chart efficiency during this time was 100-percent.  We waded out from the American Fork River inlet and I started to get the feeling that the spawn has ended.  We were the only ones there and we didn’t get a nibble.  We further proved that it probably is over after arriving to the Provo River above Utah Lake to spotlight spawning walleye, but only found a few stragglers.  We also saw a couple young kids get nailed by a DNR officer for netting them from the river.  The officer told us that the kids pleaded ignorance.  Yep, I remember those days.

As usual I’m looking forward to warm weather, bass fishing, and getting away from this walleye curse that has seemed to follow me religiously for the last few years.