Hunting Big Fish at Flaming Gorge

Fishing Time: Friday-Saturday, December 29-30, 2023

Weather: Sunny, calm, T-20s

Moon Phase: 85% Moon

Water Temp: 43 degrees

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

Who Went: Casey Davies, Roger Parks, Dunc

Winter had a slow start this year leaving all the lakes wide open with no ice.  I’ve been itching to get up to Flaming Gorge to chase lake trout, but ice fishing isn’t an option so a late December boating trip was my only option.  I invited a couple friends from work, and we made an early start leaving Salt Lake City at 3 am.  Casey towed my boat with his brand-new GMC and we made good time.  Too good of time as we sat at the boat ramp for an hour waiting for sunrise.

The first cold trip snag was the boat didn’t want to start.  Once started the water was not circulating through the pea hole (frozen), so we couldn’t run far before my boat was telling me it was going to overheat.  So we made a short run over to Antelope Flats and started fishing.  We found fish but no takers.  Once the motor warmed up and we were circulating water we made the trip south to Sheep Creek which is where we planned to fish.  We immediately found good groups of fish and fished hard through the morning.  

We saw an active group on the screen and I told Roger and Casey to be ready, but before I could finish the sentence Casey was hooked up.  I think Casey was amazed with the whole ordeal.  From the amount of line the fish ripped off his reel, to the 8 minutes it took to land, and the most fun was his reaction when he saw the fish surface!  I loved every moment of it. 

You can watch the epic fight by clicking on this link:

https://www.amazon.com/photos/shared/jlp6rfoERtWrS0QBy-GzUQ.djnDq9MYEQgdK818OYRDWh

The fish weighed a whopping 27 pounds and made our trip.  After a quick photo the fish was sent back to swim another day.  We continued fishing the area and Roger and I both ended up missing bites.  That was the only fish landed.

The second day we launched the boat and I heard a weird noise as the boat came off the trailer.  I didn’t know what it was so we moved on and started the boat.  Just like the day before the water was not circulating.  Back to Antelope Flats we went.  We fished there for about an hour and then the motor was warm and we made it back to Sheep Creek.  We found the fish once more, but they did not have the same interest as the day before.  We tried multiple techniques, but never could entice a bite. 

On a last ditch effort we moved over to Swim Beach and found a huge group of fish.  They seemed a bit more interested and we fished them hard.  Finally Casey again yelled fish on!  Unfortunately he found a very rare snag.  It had us all excited and unfortunately the was the last excitement of the trip.  We never did get a confirmed bite the second day.

When we arrived at the boat ramp Casey backed the trailer down and we noticed their was a running board missing.  I guess now we knew what the weird sound was when the boat came off the trailer at first light.  We couldn't load the boat without it, so Casey searched the shoreline and Roger and I searched the marina.  As we were searching, Roger said what is that way out there.  Sure enough we found it!  After some MacGyver moves we were able to tie it back on for a quick fix.  Cold temperature boating at it's finest!

Lake trout fishing is not for the faint of heart.  It takes a lot of work and dedication to get a few bites, but once you experience the hook up and fight with a 20+ pound fish you are never the same.  It eats at you to come back and do it again.  Hopefully I won’t have to wait long to get up there again soon.