Good Things Happen When a Storm Rolls In

Fishing Time:  7:00 to 2:00 PM

Weather:  Cloudy, snow, T-30s

Moon Phase: 19% Moon

Location:  Flaming Gorge (Anvil Draw)

Best Bait:  6-7-inch Tora tube jig (rainbow color)

Water Temp:  38 degrees

Who Went:  Rick Everson, Josh Newton, Dunc

It’s my favorite time of year to go chase the big boys at Flaming Gorge, and it’s always difficult to know whether there will be ice or open water.  This year I prepared for both and tucked all my ice fishing gear inside the boat. 

Josh Newton and I left Salt Lake City late afternoon and Rick Everson met us up there later that night.  After arriving to Manila, Utah, Josh and I drove down to the Anvil Draw boat ramp to have a look.  We found open water as far north as the eye could see.  Boat trip it is.  We grabbed a bite to eat and headed to the Flaming Gorge Inn where Eves met us a couple hours later. 

We heard wind all night while we slept and woke up to 2-inches of snow in the boat.  I didn't have the boat cover with me because the snow was not predicted and that later proved to be a mistake on my part.

We shoveled out the snow and launched the boat just after sun up.

After a very short boat ride we immediately started to graph some fish.

And on the first drop of the day Rick was hooked up with a nice lake trout.  Little did he know this was only the start of the clinic he was about to put on the rest of the day.

Every time we moved it seemed we found more active fish and Eves would end up putting one in the boat.  They all ranged between 15 to 20 pounds with one small 5 pounder to break up the monotony.  Josh and I missed a couple hits, but it was Eve’s bait they seemed to want every time we dropped down.

The fish stayed active even up through early afternoon, which is not the norm, and just before we were about to wrap it up, Josh hooked up with the biggest fish of the day.  Woohoo! This was his first time on the other end of the line with a big lake trout, and he was in awe of how hard they pull.  He fought the fish well for a first timer and ended up putting a 22 pound lake trout on the deck. 

We continued fishing for about another hour until the white squall set in.  Interesting enough, when the snow came in around 1 PM the fish suddenly got very active and that’s when Josh hooked up with the big boy of the day.

I have encountered this many times while fishing and would say that many of my big fish have come right before a big storm moves in.  Definitely something to this theory.

It ended up being a 6-hour drive home on snow packed roads and white out conditions.  Coming down parleys canyon pulling a boat in a blizzard was an experience I never need to go through again.  After getting home safe I can say it was worth it, but man was it scary.  We ended up landing 5 lake trout, Oh wait, Rick and Josh landed 5 lake trout.  I only had one bite and missed it, but, I don’t care who lands em, I just love when they come aboard my boat.  Okay, okay, one fish would have been nice to feel on the end of my line, but still one of the best lake trout trips I’ve ever had! 

I woke up the next day to the boat looking like this...

Spent the rest of the day turning it back into this...

The crazy things we do for big lake trout...