Keeping it Close at Daybreak

Fishing Time: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Weather: Cloudy, cold, rain, T-40s

Moon Phase: 98% Moon

Location: Oquirrh Lake (Daybreak)

Best Bait: 4-inch fat boy Kietech swim bait (watermelon), rigged weedless with a 1/16 oz bullet weight

Who Went: Dunc

This week’s weather has been beautiful, and I’ve had to suppress my urges to go back to Utah Lake to hunt for walleye.  Of course, this weekend it all fell apart bringing snow, rain, and cold temps.  I snuck out on Saturday and tried fishing Oquirrh Lake at Daybreak for a change of pace.  There were fisherman, joggers, and dog walkers at every turn, but I weaved my way in and out to find some space to cast.  Not the most ideal fishing, but it wasn’t Utah Lake! 

The lake is very shallow and lined with reeds making it a little tough to fish.  After some trial and error with multiple baits I settled on a 4-inch Kietech swimbait rigged weedless with a 1/6 oz bullet weight.  This setup kept me right off the bottom and had the ability to get through the shoreline reeds. 

After making the switch to the swimbait I had my first bite but didn’t hook up.  I continued the grind working my way down the shoreline when I finally had a taker and landed my first bass of the day.  I now had a little confidence in the bait I was throwing and hooked up one more time before the day ended with a carbon copy one pound bass.  I know there are some big bass in this pond, so my hope is to get back this spring and try for more.    

Utah Lake in March is Dead to Me...

Fishing Time: 7:30 am to 1:00 pm

Weather: Breezy, partly cloudy, T-60 degrees

Moon Phase: 50% Moon

Location: Utah Lake

Best Bait: Curly tailed grub on 1/16 oz jig head

Who Went: Casey Davies, Dunc

Itching to get the boat out and enjoy some warm weather after winter, I invited Casey to join me at Utah Lake for the annual walleye chase.  The night before I checked the blog to look at past success in March at Utah Lake.  Needless to say, we should have picked a different lake.  I counted a whopping total of 3 walleye caught in my boat during the month of March in the past 17 years.  How have I not learned?  So, I’m saying it now… Utah Lake is dead to me in March from here forward!

We started the morning with some battery issues, but were able to remedy the problem quickly and made our way to Bird Island.  It was breezy and cold, but we gave it a good effort for a couple hours before giving up with no bites.  It just feels like nothing is living in the lake this time of year.

We moved to the mouth of the Provo, only to realize they have moved the mouth of the river to the north and we were just fishing a back canyon bay.  Either way we were still without a bite.  I took Casey over to what used to be my secret cold water bass honey hole, but in recent years its no secret and has been fished out.  We gave it a good effort, but only caught one small largemouth to get the skunk off.

It was still good to get out and enjoy the sun and scenery.  The bald eagles were out on display and the 60 degree weather felt amazing after a cold start to the morning.