Utah Lake Mixed Bag

Fishing Time:  6:00 pm to 9:30 pm

Weather:  Partly cloudy, T-80s

Moon Phase: Full Moon

Location:  Utah Lake (honey hole)

Best Bait:  Worm/cutbait 3-feet underneath a bobber

Who Went:  Bobber John, Devin, Dunc

My son Devin and I made a trip back down to our Utah Lake honey hole that has produced some great fishing from the shoreline this year.  My buddy Bobber John also tagged along.  It was the same story this trip except this time the honey hole provided a bigger variety of fish.  We found one spot for Devin that was within his casting range and every time his bobber landed it was fish on.  The best part is he never knew what he was going to catch.  Devin caught bluegill, white bass, and channel catfish from this spot.  Unfortunately I didn't take as many pictures this trip.  We were having to much fun fishing!  

Devin and Bobber John hit it off pretty well, and by the end of the night Devin was following him around like a puppy dog.  When Bobber John told him he was going to try a topwater bait for largemouth bass, Dev was overwhelmed with excitement.  Largemouth Bass are Devin’s favorite fish to catch.  They didn’t end up catching any, but Dev anxiously followed Bobber John all evening hoping for a chance at catching a largemouth bass.

By the end of the night we had caught too many fish to count and Devin was bored with white bass and bluegill and only wanted to catch a BIG catfish.  The big catfish never came, but we did land a bunch of decent sized ones that seemed to satisfy Devin’s lust for big fish.  It’s safe to say that Devin is extremely spoiled and is already in “big fish” hunting mode.  I suppose the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.   

Huntington (north) Reservoir

Fishing Time:  8:30 AM to 1:00 PM

Weather:  Sunny, clear, slight breeze, T-90s

Moon Phase:  74% Moon

Location:  Huntington (north) Reservoir

Water Temp:  70 degrees on arrival, 72 degrees when we left

Best Baits:  Jig/trailer (light brown/olive)

Who Went:  The Trio (Bobber John, Rick, Dunc)

The self titled “Trio” wanted to go fishing this weekend, but couldn’t come up with anywhere that raised much excitement, so we took a chance and headed somewhere we have never fished before.  Huntington (north) Reservoir is located in the small town of Huntington, Utah.  The reservoir is small at just over 200 acres and is home to the following fish: bluegill, channel catfish, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, wiper, and Utah chub.  It was mainly the largemouth bass and wiper that peaked the trio’s interest.

After a slight detour up the wrong canyon we finally launched the boat around 8:30 am.  We headed to the dam where the only visible structure was located and threw an assortment of plastics and lures trying to entice some largemouth bass.  We began getting hits immediately, but quickly realized these were not bass, but green sunfish (not bluegill).  We beefed up our baits a bit to avoid the pesky little sunfish and soon after, Rick stuck a hefty largemouth bass on a jig/trailer. 

Our spirits were high and we continued to work the entire rock dam hoping to land another nice fish.  We used a variety of plastics and lures including:  jig/trailer, roboworm rigged on a drop-shot weight, Texas rigged creature baits and senkos, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits.  Unfortunately, Rick’s bass was the only fish landed, along with a few pesky green sunfish.

We turned our focus to trolling and tried a variety of deep diving crankbaits, rattle traps, and a kastmaster.  Bobber John had a good fish bite his crankbait, but halfway to the boat the fish spit the hook.  I’m guessing it was a wiper because of the way it fought, but rainbows can put up a decent fight to, so who knows.

 

After a few more trolling passes across the small reservoir we tried another run down the rip rap of the dam.  We washed a variety of baits and lures, but just couldn’t get any bass to bite.  So, back to Trolling. While trolling we got excited when a school of fish showed up on the fish finder.  Hoping it was a wiper school we dropped some jigging lures and Bobber John immediately hooked up.  We had found a school alright.  A school of Utah Chubs!  Disgusted with our find we called it a day.

Huntington (north) Reservoir was a fun body of water to fish and I’m sure the results can be much better than it was for us.  It’s a bit out of the way with about 2.5 hours drive time, but the scenery is nice and I would consider going back.  With the crystal clear water I can imagine the sight fishing during the largemouth bass spawn would be fun, and wipers are always fun when you can catch them.

Great Day to be a Dad

Fishing Time:  3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Weather:  Partly Cloudy, windy, T-90s

Moon Phase:  30% Moon

Location:  Utah Lake (Dad's secret spot)

Best Bait:  Worm under a bobber

Who Went:  Devin, Dunc

Its official… my son Devin is addicted to fishing.  It’s all he thinks about.  The minute I walk in the door from work he says “dad can we go to the lake?  What kind of fish should we try to catch today?”  Needless to say, it’s a fun problem to have when you compare it with playing ipads and video games all day.  There’s two species of fish he’s especially interested in catching.  The first one is a white fish with black stripes (wiper, white bass, or striper), and a catfish with a big black head (spawning male channel catfish).

 

After a somewhat failed attempt to fish with all three of my kids on my boat last week, I knew I needed to get Devin into some fish before he lost interest in fishing altogether.  I took him down to Utah Lake to one of my secret spots that usually produce numbers for channel catfish.  After arriving I began to think I failed again.  A few nibbles from suspected mud cats were all we got the first half hour.  We tried a couple different spots and finally had a double hook up on both rods producing a nice bluegill and a mud cat.  

A few minutes later this crappie took the bait.  

This didn’t hold his attention long though and soon he was off to play in the weeds.  

I started casting around trying to find a willing channel cat, and finally after tossing into a small pocket near the weed line my bobber disappeared into the muddy water.  I set the hook and Devin reeled in the first channel catfish of the day.  

Another worm went on and a cast to the same spot produced another channel catfish within seconds.  This went on for the next half hour.  I would literally cast to the spot, wait 1 to 3 seconds, and the big red and white bobber would disappear. 

On one of my hook sets I could tell it felt a little heavier, so I quickly gave Devin the rod and sent him on the ride of his life!  He would pull back on the rod and line would rip off the reel.  It was an epic battle and Devin finally landed what he had eagerly been waiting for… a big black headed channel catfish in the 5-7 pound range.  It made his day and made my year.

He was so excited and wanted 100 pictures to show mom and the rest of the world what he had caught.  One of my best moments as a dad yet!

It didn’t stop there either and who knows how long they would have kept biting, but unfortunately after about ten channel catfish we were down to one half of a worm.  I casted it out and within seconds it was fish on as usual, except this was much smaller than a catfish, and to my surprise it was a small white bass.  Devin had now landed the two fish he so badly wanted to catch.  Not to mention the light bulb went off in my head and I realized we just caught more bait!  

So, we cut up the white bass and continued the bonanza for another half hour.  No idea how many we caught in total, but it was a bunch and I had one happy six year old on my hands.  He couldn’t wait to go home and show everyone the photos of all the fish he caught.

I hope I didn’t ruin the little dude into thinking this is an every trip event, but I wouldn’t change it.  It was a blast watching him reel in all those fish, and I have a true fisherman on my hands.  Before we left he told me we should probably stay and catch a largemouth bass since that was the only fish in Utah Lake we hadn’t caught yet.  Unbelievable.  I think I smiled all the way home.  Oh and Devin wanted to post some photos of the bait and tackle we used so that others would know how to catch them.  Here are the photos taken by Devin...