Early Fall Fishing in St. George, Utah

Location: Sand Hollow/Gunlock Reservoir

Fishing Time: Morning

Weather: Warm, no clouds, no wind, T-90s

Moon Phase: 50% Moon

Water Temp: Forgot fish finder!

Best Baits: Roboworm (Aaron’s Magic) on drop shot rig, Deep diving crankbait

Who Went: Devin, Addison, Dayton, Dunc

We had a family trip planned to St. George to see a play at the Tuacahn Amphitheatre, so I decided to drag the boat along and sneak in some fishing with the kids. 

The first morning we launched at Sand Hollow Reservoir.  We got a later start than preferred and the sun was already beating down on us with no wind.  We started fishing near the dam and Devin was throwing a spinnerbait while Dayton casted a crankbait.  

I rigged up a drop shot rig with a roboworm while they casted away.  On my first cast with the drop shot rig I was hooked up.  On the second cast I hooked up again.  The boys immediately wanted to switch.  They don’t have a lot of experience fishing the drop shot rig, but once I got them dialed in a bit, they started catching fish on most casts.  We didn’t catch any monsters, but they had fun putting them in the live well waiting for the double fisted photo opportunity…

We also found something pretty cool… we saw a fish on the surface that looked like it had just went belly up.  We motored over to inspect and found this largemouth with eyes bigger than his stomach.  We dislodged the bluegill and they both swam away healthy.  The boys loved it.

Unfortunately, we didn’t last long in the baking sun.  It was really the lack of any wind that made it unbearable.  The boys learned a lesson that fisherman are never happy. Wind or no wind, we will find something to complain about.  My favorite comment from Devin was the fishing was to easy and maybe we should try another lake tomorrow.  I smiled; chip off the ole block.

The next day we took Devin’s advice and tried Gunlock Reservoir.  Addi wanted to come on this trip, but on the way there she started to not feel well.  She tried her best to tough it out and jumped on the boat.  

There was a bass tournament on Gunlock and the small reservoir didn’t leave much shoreline to fish.  We did our best and Dayton was the first to get on the board with this bluegill that couldn’t resist the crankbait.  I continued using the drop shot and landed one small bass, but after about an hour on the water poor little Addi was spent. 

The fishing was slow anyway and when I felt Addi’s forehead it was on fire, so we packed up and got her back to the condo as fast as we could.  She had a 103 fever when we arrived.  Poor girl was very sick.  Then Devin asked me, “why didn’t we go back to Sand Hollow where the fish were biting”.