Best and Worst Day at Flaming Gorge

Fishing Time: 8:00 am to 3:00 pm

Weather: Unseasonably warm, temps reaching 50 degrees with sunny skies and no wind

Moon Phase: 90% Moon

Location: Flaming Gorge (Anvil Point)

Best Bait: River2Sea Glide Bait - Party Crasher Series 200

Who Went: Dunc

I made plans with my boys to fish The Gorge over the holiday break.  The day before we left, they both got very sick and bailed on me.  It didn’t leave me much time to find a partner, so I just rolled solo.  Arrived at the lovely Browning’s Motel in Manila at 7 pm.  I watched some football, rigged some rods, and went to bed.

Woke up early to clear skies and no wind.  The temperature was the warmest I can recall for this time of year, and I didn’t even need gloves.  Got to the boat ramp just as the sun started to come up and launched the boat. 

The day seemed perfect until I went to fire up my electronics, and they wouldn’t turn on.  Lake trout fishing with no electronics is basically not worth doing, so I started to panic.  I messed around with the battery with no success.  I’m still learning the lithium battery world. If it wasn’t such a nice morning, I would have loaded the boat and went home for sure, but I couldn’t get myself to leave. I was so angry but finally just made a mental decision to get over it and think about how to make it work. 

I’ve wanted to try a new technique dragging large glide baits and it’s the perfect time of year to try, so I committed to it and went to work. I deployed two large glide baits behind the boat going 1.5 to 1.7 mph.  It was frustrating at times because I didn’t know my depth.  I tied on a heavy weight onto a spinning rod and continuously dropped it to the bottom to get an idea where I was at. My goal was to stay in 20-35 ft of water.  By the end of the day, I had the depth check system dialed in!

I spent the morning dragging glide baits around Antelope Flats with no success before moving north to Anvil Point.  I decided I had to see what was going on beneath me, so I disconnected my trolling batteries and hooked up my fish finder.  Now I had a fish finder but no trolling motor (sigh). I used the big motor to check all my waypoints out deep and to my surprise I couldn’t find a fish anywhere.  This gave me more confidence to just go back to the shallows and continue trolling.  I disconnected the fish finder and reconnected my trolling batteries… what a pain!

I pulled out my paper contour map (yup going back in time) and picked a good-looking point that had a nice 20-40 foot flat all the way around it.  On my first pass I had a hook up!  My rod doubled over, and I saw a fish surface on my lure.  It was so cool!  Unfortunately, the moment I grabbed my rod it went slack and was gone.  Now I was really angry.  After all I was dealing with I miss the fish too!  This day took a lot of patience, but again the weather made it easier to deal with.

I continued trolling and consistently checking depth with my manual depth finder.  Soon after missing the first fish my rod doubled over again and I saw another fish roll on the bait, but this time it stuck!  Based on seeing it surfacing I guessed it was maybe a 10-15 pound fish but was just excited to catch one!  About 30 seconds into the fight, I realized it might be a pretty good fish.  Then after 5 minutes of fighting and still losing ground I realized it was definitely a good fish!  I finally got a net on it and was able to weigh it in at 32 pounds!  Trip made!  I still can’t believe I caught a 32-pound fish in 30 feet of water.  I’m now in the 30 in 30 club!

See the video links below:

https://www.amazon.com/photos/all/gallery/gPOplN7mSNu_y_2iTtywqQ?sf=1&ref_=APH_SNPA7 

https://www.amazon.com/photos/all/gallery/SXv6gEunRECYtpLVoDrDrA?sf=1&ref_=APH_SNPA7

I continued dragging glides for another couple hours but never got another bite.  It was hard to leave, but I had a date with the family in SLC to see the finale of Stranger Things on the big screen, so I called it a day and drove home with a big smile on my face.   

Hiding from the Cold in Sunny Arizona

Fishing Time: Thursday through Saturday

Weather: Warm, but a bit cooler than average.  Sunny and calm winds with exception of Friday afternoon in got windy.

Moon Phase: Full Moon

Location: Saguaro Lake, Alamo Lake, and Lake Pleasant

Water Temps: Averaged 60-64 degrees

Best Baits: Weightless Senko, roboworm on a drop-shot rig

Who Went: Casey Davies, Dunc

The cold weather finally hit home, but I’m not quite ready for it.  I decided to take a few days off and head south with my buddy Casey.  We hooked up the boat and drove 10 hours through snow until it finally quit 100 miles outside of Phoenix, AZ.  

Casey’s sister lives in Phoenix and offered us a base camp for a few days.  Turned into more than a base camp as they were excellent hosts feeding us smoked ribs and all you can eat halibut they brought home from Alaska where they live most the year.  It was sooo good!  I also fell in love with their little weiner dog Maggie!

The first day we fished at one of the coolest lakes I’ve ever launched my boat.  It’s called Saguaro Lake, but its nickname is “Land of the Giants”.  It’s not known for producing a lot of fish but has produced many giants in the double digits.  My kind of lake!

The lake is one of many reservoirs along the Salt River which is set in the red rock desert with Saguaro Cactus lining it’s shorelines.  It was gorgeous.  We made our way upriver dodging many underwater hazards along the way until we reached the dam.  Started fishing and worked our way back down river. We were also lucky to see some bighorn sheep on top of the canyon rim.

Fishing a new lake is tough and we struggled.  I landed one small largemouth bass, and Casey found a pile of bluegill to get the skunk off him.  Unfortunately, those were the only two fish caught.  I got the feeling this was a lake that takes some time to learn, especially fishing it in the winter months.  Either way it was worth the trip.

On day 2 we drove two hours northwest of Phoenix to Alamo Lake.  The locals at the tackle store said this was a good producing lake but wasn’t known for producing big bass.  It certainly was not the prettiest of lakes and was in the middle of nowhere.  

We fished the morning with only a catfish pulled off the 40-foot bottom with a Ned Rig to show for it.

In the late morning, we moved across the lake to some points with submerged brush. The bite turned on for a minute, and I caught 6 small bass using a weightless Senko and Casey put one in the boat as well.  

Soon after the bite died and the wind came up something fierce, so we said goodbye to our donkey friends that kept us company for the day and headed back to home base.

On our last day we decided to fish the closest lake to home base at Lake Pleasant.  Mixed reports on Lake Pleasant said it can be tough, but it has big fish and can get hot at times. It’s a huge reservoir and reminded me of Lake Powell.  We launched in Scorpion Bay and crossed the lake to fish some islands that a guide told us usually produce.

We tried almost every type of bait and technique I know how to fish and couldn’t buy a bite.  I wasn’t seeing anything on the fish finder either.  It was a ghost town. We moved down lake to some rocky points to try our luck there.  I fished on a 20-foot shelf off a rocky point and saw a good mark right on the bottom.  I sent my roboworm on a drop-shot down toward it and immediately hooked up.  It felt like a small fish, but once it got close to the boat it surfaced.  It was not a small fish at all and probably went 4-5 pounds!  Sadly, we will never know because it surfaced one more time and spit the hook!  I was bummed!  It was the only good fish of the trip.  I ended up catching one smaller bass off the same shelf, but that was it for the day.

We met some locals on the boat ramp when we left and they were there all day and caught two fish.  Said 3 weeks ago they were catching 40 fish a day.  Figures!  Shows that winter fishing, especially in water you are unfamiliar with, can be really tough!  Either way it was fun to get out of the cold and visit some new lakes!  Luckily, we didn’t get snowed on going home!

R&R at Utah Lake

Fishing Time: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm

Weather: Warm T-60s, mostly sunny, no wind

Moon Phase: 85% Moon

Location: Utah Lake at the old Provo inlet

Best Bait: Chartreuse Spinnerbait

Who Went: Devin, Dayton, Dunc

With the incredible fall weather continuing we decided to take a break from weekend golf and get the boat on the water.  We kept it close and headed to Utah Lake in search of a northern pike.  The lake was glass and the weather was incredible.  We tied on an assortment of glide baits, swim baits, and spinnerbaits and went to work.

Unfortunately the pike didn’t want to play today.  We spoke with many other fisherman that reported the same success.  After a couple hours the boys lost interest with fishing and moved to their phones to follow NFL games and fantasy football.  

I grabbed the spinnerbait rod and continued casting and enjoying the great weather.  It was cool watching the jets come in right over our heads as they landed at the airport only a few hundred yards away from us. 

After hours of casting I finally connected on what I thought was a pike, but was surprised when I pulled in a chunky little largemouth bass!  

Either way it took the skunk off before we packed it up and went home.  I think even the boys enjoyed a day on the lake to switch up from our current obsession with golf!

Good Weather on the Green River

Fishing Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Location: Green River below Fontenelle Dam (Slate Creek)

Weather: Sunny, T-60’s, no wind in the morning, calm wind in the afternoon

Moon Phase: 15% Moon

Best Flies: San Juan worm and a hare’s ear

Who Went: Roger Parks, Roger’s buddy, Dunc

Roger invited me on a day trip up on the Green River below Fontenelle Dam.  We drove to the Weeping Rock Campground, but the place was packed so we headed down the road a bit to Slate Creek Campground and fished there. 

Roger’s friend (can’t recall his name) was the first to hook up with a nice brown caught on a San Juan worm.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get the photo from him, so I have no evidence.

Him and Roger moved down river and I went up.  They ended up catching a few other rainbows.  I had a nice brown on that I lost right at the bank.  Caught it on a hare’s ear.  That would have been the fish of the trip.  I also landed a few small rainbows that made the day worth it.  The weather and scenery were gorgeous.  Landing large trout on the fly rod is not easy!

Big Bites at Gorge Lead to Doom and Gloom

Fishing Time: 7:30 am to 2:00 pm

Weather: T-60s, mostly clear skies, slight breeze getting stronger in the afternoon

Moon Phase: 82% Moon

Location: Flaming Gorge (South of Lucerne Marina)

Best Bait: 7-inch Tora Tube Jig

Who Went: Bobber John, Dunc

Bobber surprised me by saying he was coming into town for a AA conference.  We immediately planned a trip between his meeting days.  He was itching to fish for Lake Trout, so we planned a one-night stay in Manila, UT. 

We fished south from Lucerne Marina enjoying the scenery and bighorn sheep along the way.

We fished some new areas and our usual waypoints.  Bobber being the Lake Trout king of course hooked up first thing in the morning with a small teener fish, but they were active, and we were excited.

That’s when it all went terribly wrong for me...  I hooked up with what was probably another teener and ended up breaking off.  Unfortunately, when we arrived to the gorge, in a hurry to get gear ready Bobber was rigging lines while I drove the boat to our spot.  Bobber was using my gear and accidentally put 8-pound test as my leader.  I was upset for a minute, but got over it before moving on to another location to find more fish.

We began fishing at the new spot and I quickly hooked up again, but this one was different.  I couldn’t budge the fish off the bottom.  The last time I had one stay down like this the fish was close to 40 pounds.  I was 5 minutes into the battle but was struggling with my drag on a reel that I never use for lake trout.  The drag kept sticking and I would have to release the spool to let the fish take line.  This went on and on, taking drag, then it would stick and I would have to release the spool.  Another fail on gear!  I had two Shimano Calcutta reels on board that are perfect for lake trout with seamless drag systems, but for some reason we are using a cheap bass reel with a broken handle!  Needless to say, it took one big run and pop! Gone! 

Typically, when I lose a big fish I’m pissed and throw a tantrum.  This one hurt so bad I just laid the rod down and went silent!  This one was painful!  I have been on the longest lake trout drought of my life, and the worst part… countless missed bites and four lost fish in the last 3 years!  It’s starting to feel like a curse! I can recall the four missed fish like they were yesterday.  Two were line snaps at the leader, one broken rod on the hook set, and now a defective reel.  All while having the best gear available right on board with me!  It’s starting to feel like my curse!