Moon Phase:Fishing Time: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Weather: cool, windy, cloudy, 60's
With the nice weather we had at the end of March you would think that it would be a nice April. Wrong! April has brought storm after storm keeping the bass and the bass fisherman guessing when the spawn might begin. Well I got sick of waiting so I decided to go down t
o the I-80 ponds and test my luck. I put on a dark green sparkle Zoom Worm and rigged it drop shot wacky style as this picture shows to the right. This has always been my go to bait for the I-80 ponds. I fished it for about a half hour and had a few hits but they were all small as I could see them in the clear shallow pond. I finally got one of these little guys to hang on long enough to get him to shore. Then the wind started to blow and it became really difficult to know when something was hitting. I ended up with many fish on but didn't have much luck getting them in before they spit out my bait. I even had a few on topwater throwing a spook minnow and walking the dog. I couldn't get them to hang on either. Once the wind calmed down a bit I went back to the drop shot rig that has always treated me well here and I then Finally got something to h
ang on. I fought me left and then right, and then right into the bushes. I finally untangled him and was able to lip him and hang on. This was the biggest Largemouth to date for this year at around 2 pounds. He was a fat little guy. Once the temps steady for a few days in a row this place will be on fire. Can't wait for that day!
It's one of the most popular times to fish Strawberry Reservoir. When the ice recedes back far enough to allow you to cast out to the edge, but not too far to where you can't reach the edge with a long cast. Something about these conditions seem to produce a lot of fish and some of the largest fish you will catch all year. So the conditions were almost perfect and we were there to take advantage of it. The only problem was that the fish didn't want to cooperate with the plan. We threw everything at them but the kitchen sink, with no success. Between me, JJ, and Ed, I managed to pull in the only fish of the day by drop shotting a gulp minnow in black shad color. This fish was one of the weirdest Cutthroats I have ever caught. I started reeling him in and it felt like I had on a log. There was no fight in him at all! Then once I got him about 4 feet from shore the life came out in him. He started reeling off line like he was an 8 pound bass. I would let him run and then get him about 4 feet from shore again and zzzzzzzzzst there goes my line. After about 4 of these I finally landed him and it was a nice 3.5 pound Cutt that was 22 inches long. I'm really upset about it to because I completely forgot to get a picture of this fighter. Ugh! So the only fish we caught all day and no picture to prove it! We ended the day by driving to the Soldier Creek side and finding no fish there either. We did get some good pics overlooking the Strawberry River, but the fishing was not what we expected.
After a long wait, Jordanelle is ice free at last! We headed up to see if we could get in on the ice off action. Many times right after ice off, the fishing is hot! We loaded up JJ's boat and headed to the Rock Cliff Arm of Jordanelle. We had dreams of monster Brown Trout in our heads. We didn't quite find any of those big boys, but we did find lots of little guys that wanted to bite! We caught 1 small Brown and many small Rainbows. I started off throwing a drop shot rig with a gulp minnow in black shad color. I had two hits on this set up but no 
The lake was glass and looked beautiful on a crisp cool march morning. I had heard rumors that there were some big rainbows down at Yuba so here was my chance to find out. I started fishing just south of the dam along a rocky shoreline. I could see rain
bows swimming the banks and they were about 16 to 17 inches long from what I could tell. The problem was I could not get them to take anything. I tried throwing spinners, Rapalas, jigs, and a drop shot with a live worm. The only thing I could get to hit were the aannoying Perch that infest Yuba. The Perch were good sized at about 12 to 13 inches but not worth the time. I hate Perch! So I moved on with my fishing adventure and left Yuba. On my drive out I got a good shot of a Golden Eagle that was hanging out in some big trees along the lake. I was trying to decide where to go and thought to myself "I know where I can catch some trout." I headed up Hobble Creek Canyon. I knew I could catch some fi
(Lincoln Beach Boat Harbor)
It was the trip I look forward to every year. Flaming Gorge through the ice! We usually only make it up there once every ice season due to the long drive, but I look forward to it every year. In the past we have always managed to pull in a few of the elusive Mackinaw we go there to target, but this year was going to be different. We just didn't know it yet! We geared up by going to Sportsmans Warehouse and loading up on our favorite Mac jigs and then we were off for a weekend at the Gorge! We stayed in a dingy motel in Green River Wyoming called the Flaming Gorge Motel. An early wake up call had us on the ice by 7:30 a.m. We had studied our maps the night before and tried to put ourselves right over a 50 foot hump in 65 feet of water. Using my fish finder to locate depths and with a little searching we found it. Now it was up to us to catch some fish. JJ was the first to drop a 7 inch Tora Tube Jig down to the bottom and with much surprise to me he was hit instantly! JJ landed the first Mac of the day with this 4 pound beauty!
(The Train Home)
