Sunday, June 30, 2024

Delaware Bass Fishing and Baseball Tournament

Fishing Time: June 29-30, 2024 (Saturday-Sunday)

Weather: Hot, humid, mostly cloudy, Temps were 90s with up to 90% humidity

Moon Phase: 35% Moon

Location: Georgetown, Delaware - Random Ponds near Sports at the Beach baseball park 

Best Baits: The only bait that produced bass was a Texas rigged senko – green pumpkin with red flake

Who Went: Charlene Duncan, Jessica Duncan, Linda Marcario, Mike Kraus, Cari Duncan, Devin Duncan, Addison Duncan, Dayton Duncan, and Dunc

My youngest son Dayton had a baseball tournament back east in Delaware, so of course my first thought was what type of fish live there.  I did some Google/YouTube research and found they produce some pretty nice largemouth bass and have a bunch of saltwater stuff being on the coast.  I wasn’t interested in the saltwater fishing, but the largemouth bass got my attention.  I researched a few ponds near where we were staying that were currently producing and made some notes in my phone.  Then we packed some travel rods and bass baits and jumped on the plane.

On day one we made our way to the ballpark and what do you know, there were two ponds surrounding the ball fields that looked bassy.  One had a sign showing fishing regulations, so I knew something lived there.

Devin and I took the first chance we got and hit the first pond.  Within three casts I was reeling in a nice 3-pound largemouth bass. 

We fished the pond for another half hour and had a few bites, but never caught another fish.  I was itching to get to the other pond because to me it looked better, and no one was fishing it.  Dev and I made our way over there and this time it was his turn to land a nice bass that was probably over 3 pounds.  Unfortunately, we didn’t have a scale, but this was a new PB for Dev, so he was excited!

The next day we made our way back over to the pond between games and gave Dayton a chance to fish.  He ended up catching one small bass, but got on the board, nonetheless.  This was his only chance to wet a line.  He was a bit busy.

We tried a few different baits, but the one that kept producing bites was a Texas rigged green pumpkin with red flake Senko.  The bite was weird though as they would hit it and then go away.  Typically, they bite and run with it.  This made for a lot of missed fish.  I finally had one run with it and it ended up being the fish of the trip.  No scale, but it was over 4 pounds.

The heat and humidity and baseball games didn’t give us a ton of time to fish, but I was sure grateful that these ponds were so close because the beach was calling our names after each day of baseball, so we didn’t end up fishing anywhere else.  We proved there are some good bass in Delaware and can mark it off the map of states we have fished.

Sunday, June 9, 2024

Back on the Kitties at Utah Lake

Fishing Time: 7:00 am to 12:00 pm

Weather: Cloudy, calm, hot, T-90s

Moon Phase: 11% Moon

Location: Utah Lake (AF Boat Harbor)

Water Temp: 70 degrees

Best Bait: Chunk of white bass 2-3 feet below a slip bobber

Who Went: Rick Everson, Dunc

The channel catfishing at Utah Lake has been good this year and the size of fish has been amazing.  I mentioned this to my buddy Rick, and he was game to go chase them.  We debated on which spot to try, but finally agreed to try some areas around American Fork Boat Harbor.  Our first spot which has been good to us in the past didn’t produce, but it did produce some good bait for the rest of the day.  We caught a white bass and cut it into bait sized chunks.  The white bass ended up producing much better than worms and the best part, if you hook it through the skin, it stays on your hook most the day.

We ended up doing the best right inside AF Harbor getting consistent bites and reeling in some nice cats.  The bite never fully turned on, but the quality of fish we were catching made up for it.  I think we are only a few days away from it going gangbusters.  We started to see them rolling near the rocky shorelines, so I think the spawn is upon us.

By noon the hot day took its toll on us, so we left happy both catching multiple channel catfish over 10 pounds.  Biggest of the day was over 11 pounds.

Monday, June 3, 2024

Chasing Kitties at Utah Lake

Fishing Time:  8:00 am to 12:00 pm

Weather: Calm, cool, no wind,- T-70s

Moon Phase: 10% Moon

Location: Utah Lake (AF Boat Harbor)

Water Temp: 70 degrees

Best Bait: worm under a slip bobber

Who Went: Devin Duncan, Dayton Duncan, Dunc

I talked my Boys into a fishing trip, but of course we had commitments so close to home again at Utah Lake we went.  It was supposed to storm today and was cloudy and temps stayed low which actually felt really good.  The wind also stayed calm so that was nice.

We started inside AF Boat Harbor and bobbers started going under quick.  Unfortunately, it didn’t last long and then shutdown.  Luckily everyone got their turn to tangle with a good channel cat.  We moved over near Lindon Marina to see if we could find some white bass.  We found them, but they averaged 4-5 inches.

We started noticing there were a bunch of carp pods around us and the boys wanted to see if they could snag one, so the hunt began.  Dayton finally got one to stick and it was quite the fight.  You can see some of it by clicking on the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/photos/all/gallery/2dFmfukDT4CeHEqumB5DJQ?sf=1&ref_=APH_SNPA7

Dev tried for a bit, but then it was time to go.  It was a fun short trip to Utah Lake.