Sand Hollow Family Reunion

Fishing Time: 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Weather: Sunny, calm, T-90s

Moon Phase: 35% Moon

Water Temp: 65 degrees

Best Bait: Roboworm on a dropshot rig

Who Went: Mike Kraus, Alex Covili, Devin Duncan, Dayton Duncan, Dunc

We were at a family reunion in St. George and I decided to drag the boat along so we could fish Sand Hollow Reservoir.  My boys love fishing there because we usually do well and you have a chance at some nice bass.

The morning was gorgeous with calm weather and unseasonably warm temperatures.  We started out throwing topwater, but that didn’t get a sniff.  We moved to the dam and threw crankbaits, but that didn’t produce anything either.  We moved to deeper water and found the grass beds and rigged up some drop shot rigs using roboworms.  This was the trick and we started putting bass in the boat.

I caught one nice one pushing 3 pounds.

Unfortunately Devin started feeling ill, the ski boats were out in full force, and the weather was already hot, so we called it a day early.  It was a fun trip and worth dragging the boat 300 miles.

Hidden Gem in the Desert

Fishing Time: 6:00 to 7:00 PM

Weather: Sunny, calm, T-70s

Moon Phase: 25% Moon

Best Bait: Whopper Plopper - Topwater

Who Went: Mike Kraus, Alex Covili, Devin Duncan, Dayton Duncan, Dunc

I heard rumors about this little reservoir that is right outside St. George and we were in the area for the weekend so we decided to go check it out.  We arrived about an hour before dark and it was beautiful with the sunset in full glory. 

We all tied on some topwater baits and went to work.  There is a weed line that covers most of the little reservoir and everything between the weed line and shoreline that had access by foot seemed to be less than 1 foot deep.  This made fishing difficult and so I took a walk around the reservoir to see if there were any areas that I might have better access. 

On the other side of the reservoir I found a little canal that entered the reservoir and decided to make a cast.  As soon as my lure hit the water, I had a fish on.  The first largemouth of the night.  I called my boys and told them to come over.  I made two more casts which produced two more bites but didn’t land them.  Once the boys arrived I showed them where I was getting bit, but they had a bad angle and ended up getting snagged and never could hit the target.  I started casting again but never got another bite.  The boys went back to fishing the reservoir and I made the journey back around the lake.  I received a phone call from Devin a few minutes later and he had landed this little largemouth on topwater.  Success!

We fished until dark but only landed the two fish.  I would love to revisit this little reservoir in my float tube where I could get beyond the weed line.  The lake looked promising and could be holding some nice bass.  Next time…

Fall is in the Air

Fishing Time:  8:30 AM – 3:30 PM

Weather: Foggy morning, sunny, calm winds, T-60s

Moon Phase: 30% Moon

Location: Soldier Creek Reservoir

Best Baits: 3-inch white tube jig tipped with minnow

Water Temp:  53-57 degrees

Who Went: Devin Duncan, Dayton Duncan, Dunc

With fall in the air, I thought it might be time to get up to Strawberry and see if the water temps have cooled enough to turn the fish on.  The boys came with me and to avoid the crowds we decided to go to the Soldier Creek side and launch from there. 

The lake was pure fog as the air temps on arrival were 37 degrees sitting on top of almost 60-degree water.  We launched but couldn’t see 10 feet in front or behind us.  I decided to drop the Active Target and play around with it until the fog burned off a bit.  As soon as we turned it on, we saw a fish and Devin casted toward it.  We watched his jig fall on top of the fish and the fish turned up and grabbed it.  First fish of the day was in the boat.  We found another fish quickly and Devin was on again.  Two fish in the boat within minutes.  We knew it was going to be a good day.

We moved over to the mouth of the narrows as the fog lifted and started fishing rocky points and sharp drop offs.  The morning was hot, and we put 20 fish in the boat.  

We had one package of minnows, which Devin was using to tip his white tube jig, and I was tipping with worms.  The minnows seemed to out produce the worms.  We also found a kokanee salmon half dead swirling on the surface.  

Unfortunately, this was the end of her life cycle.  We put her back and left her in peace.  

Dayton missed most the hot action in the morning curled up in his blanket for a 4-hour nap!  He had a long day of baseball and basketball the day before, so we let him catch up on some much-needed sleep.

The afternoon was slow, but we put a few more fish in the boat.  When Dayton woke up we made a move to get him on a few fish.  I also had a good roll on a dry fly casting over some submerged boulders.  I had a hook in him for a second, but never could get another bite on the fly rod.

I’m not as familiar with the Soldier Creek side and when we found fish, we caught them.  I had a feeling if we fished the Strawberry side, which I know much better, we may have doubled our fish total, but 25 fish isn’t a bad day at all.  The boys had fun, the fall colors were gorgeous, and the weather was a perfect fall day.

Sweet Home Alabama with a side of Tennessee and Kentucky

Fishing Time:  Monday-Friday (September 25-30)

Weather:  Mostly Sunny, T-80s, H-65%, (Exception was at Old Hickory Dam where it rained all day)

Moon Phase: Full Moon

Water Temp: 80-81 degrees

Locations: Percy Priest Lake TN, Cumberland River KY, Old Hickory TN, Wheeler Lake AL, Wilson Lake AL

Best Baits: Percy Priest – Live Shad and Kietech Swimbaits, Old hickory- sabiki rig, Wheeler and Wilson- Cut bait (skipjack)

Who Went: Bobber John, Sean Mitchell, Catfish Hunter (Rich), Dunc

My best fishing buddy, Bobber John, moved to Bowling Green Kentucky last year and I’ve been itching to get over there to see him.   Finally made the trip and our plans included fishing for hybrid bass and monster catfish.  The trip turned out just as planned and my PB (personal best) for both species were achieved.  I also got the opportunity to catch another species that I have never caught before, freshwater skipjack. 

Bobber John picked me up from the Nashville Airport the evening of September 25^th with boat in tow and we made our way to a hotel near Percy Priest Lake.  That night we decided to take a drive over to the Old Hickory Dam to cast a line and see if any skipjack were willing to bite.  We caught a few and the trip had officially started.  It was non-stop fishing for the next 5 days.

The first lake we fished was Percy Priest and John’s buddy Sean Mitchell, who I have previously fished with at Lake Powell, met us at the ramp.  We also met our fishing guide we hired for the day, and I was immediately intrigued when the guide pulled out his cast net and began catching us live bait.  Later in the trip I got my chance with the cast net and it’s almost as fun as catching fish on rod and reel.

We had a slow day with the guide, but luckily right at dusk the bite turned on and we all got into a few Hybrid Bass.  The fight on these fish is unreal and the size was bigger than any I’ve ever caught.  Every bass was between 7-9 pounds.  They would hit so hard you couldn’t get the rod out of the rod holder! It was a great start to the trip.

                      

The next day we fished the Cumberland River on Bobber Johns new Tracker Pro V.  We were hunting for big stripers.  John had never fished this river, but he reached out to his contacts and got some good intel.  We started by throwing the cast net and this time we were looking for Gizzard Shad, which are much larger and better bait for big stripers.  We managed to catch a few good ones and set out to fish the river.  We never did see anything on the fish finder or live scope that looked like stripers, and after a few hours of dragging bait around we chalked up the river fishing as a fail.  I did land one smallmouth bass casting a swim jig towards shore.

We loaded the boat and made our way back to Percy Priest.  We went to the same spot where we did well the night before and started casting the net around to get bait.  It didn’t take long, and we had enough bait to go fishing.  We then proceeded to have one of the greatest nights of fishing ever!  We caught over 20 hybrid bass, all between 7-10 pounds.  On one run, we had five fish on at one time, and it was total chaos.  I was fighting two, John was fighting two, and the other we cranked down and hoped it stayed on, but it didn’t.  We managed to get 3 of the 5 in the boat and one ended up being a true striper. 

The weather was perfect, and the fishing was incredible.  It will definitely go down as one of the best evenings of fishing I’ve ever had.

The following day we had strict orders from the catfish hunter to catch some bait for our trip to Alabama.  Supposedly, fresh skipjack is the best bait you can use for big Blue Cats.  The day started off eventful as I launched Bobber into the water on the Cumberland River below Old Hickory Dam.  It started pouring rain and never stopped!  Then followed the thunder and lightning.  I won’t lie it was a bit scary at times and we spent about an hour hiding from the worst of it under the dam in a generator cubby.  This was also scary as they can turn them on at anytime and I had never seen it, so I wondered if we would die!

We pushed through the rain in our rain suits and were able to catch 25-30 skipjack.  We put them on ice, and got off the river soaking wet.  It was cool watching the big barges go through the lock near the dam.  When they let the water out of the lock it would come right at us and again, I wondered if we would live!  It was quite the adventure, but nice to change into dry clothes. 

We met up with Catfish Hunter (Rich) and jumped into his rig and headed toward the Tennessee river in northern Alabama.  

We arrived around 10 pm and went straight to wheeler lake, where we launched and soaked bait at a couple of Rich’s best spots.  The big kitties didn’t want to play the first night, but the weather was incredible and just sitting out on the big Tennessee River at midnight was more than enjoyable.  Perfect weather, no wind, no bugs, and quiet with no people.  We fished right next to a Nuclear Power Plant which was kinda cool.

On my final day we drove further south in Alabama to Wilson Lake, which is also on the Tennessee River.  This lake was gorgeous and known to have big largemouth bass along with monster blue cats.  I would be lying if I said I didn’t dream about fishing for bass along some of the shorelines and docks, we were passing, but the day was all about catching a big Blue Catfish.  We cut up the skipjack and started setting out lines. 

I was amazed at how many lines we setup, with 3 planer boards on each side, three down rods out the back of the boat, and one down rod on each side of the boat, for a total of 11 baited rods dragging the bottom.  It was a lot of work when a rod became snagged, they all had to be brought in, rebaited, and set back out.  With six planer boards this was not a small task and it felt like that’s all we did all day long.  It paid off though when one of the side down rods went bendo and we knew it was a good one.  I grabbed the rod, and the fight began.  It ended up being another personal best for me and probably the biggest freshwater fish I’ve ever caught at 43 pounds!  An incredible experience to reel in a fish that big.

Then only 20 minutes later we went bendo again on a down rod out the back of the boat and Bobber reeled in his personal best Blue Cat at 52 pounds!  A true monster! 

We continued slow trolling and must have caught close to 10 more blue cats in the 10–15-pound range. 

We kept at it until almost 10 PM.  It was a fun day, but I was exhausted.  I had no idea catfishing would be so much work!

We made the long drive back to Kentucky where I crashed on Bobbers couch at around 3:30 AM.  The next morning, I was greeted by their new pet, Sammy the snapping turtle.  Bobber told me it has never tried to bite, but immediately after placing him in my hands he took a nip at the sleeve of my shirt.  It was awesome!  Apparently, after not eating for a week, my shirt looked appetizing.  

Bobber and his family drove me back down to Nashville and I jumped on a plane home.  Truly an incredible trip and I was amazed at the size of the rivers in the area.  Makes me realize just how limited we are here in Utah with water.