Deep Sea Fishing in Kauai

Fishing Time: 7:00 to 8:30 AM

Weather: Partly cloudy, rainbows everywhere

Moon Phase: Full Moon

Best Bait: Giant squid trolled on surface

Who Went: Uncle Mike, Cari, Devin, Addison, Dayton, Dunc

Our family Hawaii trip was finally here and that meant our fishing trip in Kauai was also here.  We chartered a private boat out of Lihue, Kauai with Breakaway Charters, and Captain Jeff.  After one week in Oahu and another week in Kauai, it was our last day and last adventure before we had to return home to the mainland.  We went on a couple other ocean adventures prior to this fishing trip and on the first one we all got a little seasick, so on the next adventure we all took Dramamine and did great. We thought we were bulletproof going on the fishing trip with Dramamine.

As we left the harbor the scenery behind us was gorgeous, but the captain was quick to prepare us for the rough seas ahead.  “Hold on,” he said, the first 10 minutes are the roughest as we go through the breakwater. After what seemed like 30-40 minutes, we all started wondering if we were still in the breakwater because it never calmed down.  I have never been on seas like this.  You literally couldn’t stand up unless you were holding onto something for dear life.

We trolled using a squid pattern as we headed toward deeper water, and it wasn’t long before we had the first fish on.  Dayton was the first to tassel with a little yellowtail tuna.  I was getting anxious watching my youngest at the back of the boat by himself.  The boat would rise over a wave and then Dayton would ride the wave down what felt like 15-20 ft with nothing but water behind him.  I remember thinking if someone fell in you would never see them again.  Little man did great though and put the first fish in the boat without anyone going overboard.

As we continued trolling, the scenery and rainbows were incredible.  There seemed to be a rainbow in every direction.

As we continued trolling, I looked at Cari and could tell something wasn’t quite right.  She was the first one to ask for the puke bucket and she never put it back down.  Dayton followed soon after and then Addi.  Devin was still holding strong, so he was next to reel in a fish.

Just as we reached deeper water one of the reels started zinging and line was flying off the reel.  Devin jumped up and began the best fight of the trip.  I knew it was something special when the captain and his helper started getting excited.  The fish jumped three different times and it looked big.  Dev kept after it and after a grueling 10–15-minute fight all on his own, the fish came to the side of the boat and the helper pulled him in.  It was a beautiful short-billed spearfish and the captain said it was a monster for that species.  It's also a native species that is only found in Hawaii, which was really cool.  Dev was stoked!  However, after the stoke wore off he joined the puke crew and now all four were sick.

I asked the puke crew if they could hold out a little longer to try and get Uncle Mike on a fish and they all nodded yes then put their heads back in their buckets.  Luckily it didn’t take long and the reel was screaming again.  Mike had another great fight and pulled in a really nice Mahi Mahi, which was the species I was hoping we would catch.  

After Mike caught his fish in the captain looked at me and asked what we wanted to do.  We now had 4 of the 6 puking their guts out.  I told the captain the trip was already a success and lets head back to shore.  He agreed and told me this was as good as fishing gets in Kauai and we were extremely lucky to have landed that many fish, and all different species so quickly.  Then he looked at his helper and said, all we need now is to double up on some Wahoo on the way back into shore.

Ten minutes later we did just that.  Two reels started screaming and Mike and I each took one.  We ended up catching two beautiful Wahoo’s.  The captain told me we were one fish away from the Kauai grand slam.  All we needed was the skipjack tuna.

We were on the water a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes, so I feel extremely lucky for the success we had and even though everyone got sick we will remember that trip forever and what a great experience for all of them. Ocean fishing and puke buckets!

Pineview Party on the Ice

Fishing Time: 5:30 pm to 10:30 pm

Weather: Cold, clear, T-20s

Moon Phase: 4% Moon

Best Bait: ice fly tipped with shrimp, slip bobber to detect light bites

Who Went: Barclay Emery, Rick Everson, Mark, Dunc

We decided on round two for crappie action at Pineview Reservoir.  We rounded up a few buddies and hit the ice in the same spot as two weeks ago.  

As soon as it got dark the fish started showing up, but not as thick as the last trip.  The bite was slow, but we were at least able to get enough for a decent fish dinner.

The winter has been a long one this year with record snow.  It couldn’t come at a better time as the reservoirs are the lowest, I have ever seen in my lifetime.  It’s been a long one with snow every week.  Looking forward to some sunshine and warm weather fishing.

Beautiful Bear Lake Ice Fishing

Fishing Time: 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

Weather: Clear, calm, Cold, Temp was -2 on arrival and 6 when we left

Moon Phase: 4% Moon

Best Bait:  bites came on large rainbow tube jig tipped with minnow

Who Went: Casey Davies, Chad Fuller, Dunc

Bear Lake hasn’t been safely frozen for many years, so when I found out it had 10-inches of ice, I wanted to go check it out.  We arrived at the parking lot just outside of Garden City and walked the mile or so out to the rock pile.  To our surprise there were many fishermen who had already beat us to the spot, but we settled in on the outskirts of tent city and set up shop. 

The hue of blue illuminating the snow and ice inside the tent was cool and the reason Bear Lake is so different and fun to fish.  The clear blue water was visible down to 20 ft or so, but the fishing was as expected, slow.  We did manage 5-6 bites, but for whatever reason we couldn’t seem to get them through the ice.  We had three that made it halfway up to the hole, but then popped off.  After talking to other fisherman catching whitefish around us, it makes me think our large tube jigs were too big for the tiny whitefish’ mouth.

Frustrating to get skunked, but it was a beautiful day with good company.  Highlight was the pressure ridge that shifted and caused an earthquake on the ice.  It shook us pretty good!  I think Chad may have had a tear in his eye, but he toughed it out!

Piles of Crappie at Pineview

Fishing Time: 5:30 pm to 10:00 pm

Weather: Cold, clear, T-20s

Moon Phase: 78% Moon

Best Bait: ice fly tipped with shrimp, slip bobber to detect light bites

Who Went: Roger Parks, Rick Everson, Casey Davies, Chad Fuller, Trace Fuller, Dunc

I heard the crappie were biting at Pineview, so I invited some of the guys from work to head out early on a Friday afternoon to fish the evening crappie bite.  Rick just happened to call me, so he got the invite as well, although he had to leave early and missed the good bite.  Casey had to leave early as well. They still landed a few before they left.

We setup our tents and gear on the ice an hour before dark and were seeing a few fish on the fish finder, but by dark the finder was blowing up with constant suspended fish coming through.  We were still struggling to land them until I put a slip bobber on which detected the light bites with ease and it was game on.

Roger and I must have landed 40-50 crappie while Chad got skunked.  Luckily, I was letting Chad’s son Trace reel in a few fish since his dad was struggling.  It was a successful night on the ice and Chad had a pile of crappie to take home and filet for a nice fish dinner.

Strawberry Ladders - Ice Fishing with the Boys

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

Weather: Snowed the entire day, T-30s

Moon Phase: Full Moon

Best Bait: white tube jig on ¼ oz jig head tipped with worm

Who Went: Casey Davies, Devin Duncan, Dayton Duncan, Dunc

You gotta love when your boys come to you and want to go ice fishing, and they didn’t have to talk me into it.  Casey from work was headed to Strawberry so we met up with him in the parking lot at the ladders at 7:00 am.  The drive up was a bit dicey with snow covered roads and white out conditions coming up over Daniels Summit. 

The morning started slow, but Devin and Casey got us on the board with a couple quick cutthroat.  We were seeing fish here and there but getting them to bite was difficult.  After showing Dayton what a bite felt like and how the fish finder worked, I left him alone to work his magic.  He landed five fish in a matter of 20 minutes. 

We caught a few more, but it wasn’t the fastest Strawberry fishing I’ve experienced.  I did get my first look at the new Snow Dogs that everyone is using now.  Basically a souped up lawn mower with snowmobile tracks that drag you and your sled behind it.  Pretty cool concept and it felt like everyone has one.  Not us, we trudged our way through the 2 feet of snow out onto the ice the old fashion way.  It was a great day to be with the boys and I’m glad we had a little luck to keep them interested. 

Big Dries on Strawberry Reservoir

Fishing Time: 8:30 am to 6:00 pm

Weather: Clear, windy the entire day, T-30s

Moon Phase: 12% Moon

Best Bait: Spinning Rod: White tube jig on ¼ oz jig head tipped with worm. Fly Rod – Chubby Chernobyl with bionic ant trailer.

Who Went: Chad Fuller, Stuart, Dunc

I’ve been itching to get to Strawberry to try tossing a dry fly around.  My cousin and his buddies have been doing it with success and it sounded like a blast to watch the big cutthroats come up and slurp up your fly.

Chad has been bugging me to take him up there, so we made the trip happen late in the year.  His brother in-law Stuart joined us.  We launched on a snow-covered ramp on the Soldier Creek side and the lake was glass.  Seemed like it was going to be an epic day.  20-minutes later a stiff breeze kicked up and didn’t stop the rest of the day.  We found a few canyons in the narrows to hide from the wind and one rocky point was on fire casting tube jigs into deep water and slowly letting them drift back to us.  It was too windy to use the fly rod, but we had fun catching a bunch of cuts and rainbows.

We finally found a small bay where the wind couldn’t get us and I pulled out the fly rod.  Within minutes I saw my first submarine come from the depths toward the shore where my dry fly was sitting waiting.  It was awesome to watch the big cut slurp up the big dry fly.  I was lucky enough to land five big cutts on the fly and now I’m hooked.  I will definitely be doing that again in the future.

When the sun slipped behind the mountain it got cold and the snow covered ramp we left in the morning was pure ice.  It was a bit scary as we couldn’t pull the boat up the ramp and the truck would just slide around on the ramp.  With a little ingenuity and dirt and gravel we were able to get out of there with the boat!  Cold but fun trip!

Midge Hatch on the Provo River

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

Weather: Partly cloudy, Cold, T-20s

Moon Phase: 82% Moon

Best Bait: midge pattern

Who Went: Roger Parks, Hyrum, Dunc

Roger and I made plans to hit the river and I was excited to dust off the old fly rod, but when he called to say his buddy, who is a fly-fishing guide, was coming as well, I wasn’t thrilled.  I envisioned a snooty fly guide that may not see eye to eye with my style of fishing.  I was wrong.

Hyrum was a stud and he taught me a lot about fishing the Provo.  He fishes the river weekly and knew every bend like his backyard. The morning was extremely cold and to be honest it was all I could do to keep casting and stripping that freezing cold water through my hands.  At one point I put my hands in my pockets and sat and enjoyed the amazing views in Provo Canyon and turkeys walking through the campground.

It turned into a beautiful day when the sun came out and Hyrum and I found ourselves on a deep bend with a midge hatch just beginning.  It was incredible to see how many fish were surfacing and some of them looked like really nice fish!

Hyrum hooked me up with a midge pattern dry fly and totally went into guide mode teaching me the ways of the fly.  Sounds annoying, but it felt like I was fishing with my buddy not a guide.  We caught some nice fish and had a blast.  The only annoying part of the day was me having to be home that afternoon for a commitment.  I didn’t want to leave!

Family Reunion at Sand Hollow

Fishing Time: 8:30 am to 12:00 pm          

Weather: Sunny, clear, T-90s

Moon Phase: 77% Moon

Water Temp: 68 Degrees

Best Bait: Roboworm (Aaron’s Magic) on drop shot rig

Who Went: Mike Kraus, Cameo James, Alex Covili, Sam Barney, Devin Duncan, Dunc

We had a family reunion in Hurricane, UT, so I decided to drag the boat along and take some people fishing on Sand Hollow.  The drop shot rig with a roboworm was working a few weeks ago at Sand Hollow, so with the boat a bit overcrowded I pre-rigged a bunch of rods and we hit the water ready to go. 

The weather was warm with no wind, so it made drop shotting easy, working the bottom anywhere we could find grass on the bottom in about 25-30 ft deep.  Devin was the first on the board landing two bass on his first few drops.  

Everyone on the boat landed at least one fish except for Mike.  He was doing everything right but still took the skunk smell home.

It was fun to get some new faces on the boat and put them on fish.  We caught a couple chunkers, but no monsters.  A great trip and fun family reunion.