Spring Fishing Trip to St. George

Fishing Time: April 21-24

Weather: WINDY, Cold, T-50s

Moon Phase: 75% Moon

Water Temp: 53-55 degrees

Location: Quail Creek, Sand Hollow, and Gunlock Reservoir

Best Baits: Crankbaits and Texas rigged plastics worked off the bottom

Who Went: Josh Newton, Rick Everson, Bobber John Schuler, Dunc

With the drought continuing in Utah, it’s the same ole story down at Lake Powell.  Water levels are low.  The difference this year is that it’s so low they closed all the boat ramps on the lake.  Total bummer after the epic trip we had down there in Spring of 2021.  We still wanted a Spring trip and Powell wasn’t an option, so we decided to make a run to St. George and fish Sand Hollow, Quail Creek, and Gunlock Reservoirs.

It was a short notice decision so we couldn’t find a camp site and had to rough it in a 3,500 square foot house.  Each with our own bedrooms and bathrooms.  I know, tough life.

We drove down in a huge storm that rained hard in St. George.  It was still drizzling, and the wind was blowing on arrival, but we headed straight to Quail Creek and launched the boat.  

The fishing was slow, but to be expected after a storm like that rolls through.  We still managed to put a few in the boat, including some rainbow trout.

The next day called for wind and cold weather and it didn’t disappoint.  We made the journey out to Gunlock Reservoir and found a bass tournament was in full swing.  There were a lot of bass boats on a small reservoir.  They didn’t last long though and I’m guessing it was due to the poor fishing.  The cold wind and water shut the bite down hard.  I was lucky enough to land one fat bellied largemouth bass, but the bite was almost non-existent.  

One cool part of Gunlock was having this tarantula hawk land in the water next to the boat.  We brought it on board with the net to inspect prior to letting him fly away. 

The next day was more of the same weather but the wind got stronger.  We launched on Sand Hollow as everyone else was rushing to get off due to the winds.  We headed for the only corner of the lake that didn’t look like a hurricane and were able to coax a few bass off the bottom and into the boat, but again the cold wind and water temps made the bite tough.

We kept our spirits and moved back to Quail Creek that evening as it’s a little easier to hide from the wind.  However, it was still cold and windy, and the bite was tough.  We did have one decent run where we started landing trout and small mouth bass.  I didn’t know there were smallmouth in Quail Creek, but later found out they were illegally introduced and shouldn’t be there.

We even got so desperate on this trip that we found a community pond and harassed the bluegills for a bit.  We couldn’t take the wind on the boat all day and this was at least a break from trying to manage the boat in hurricane conditions.

We spent a lot of time in the house waiting out the wind this trip, but it just never did let up.  Every morning I woke up to the trees whipping.  It felt like a double slap to the face not getting to go to Lake Powell and then fishing in the post storm wind in St. George.  Not our best trip.