New Lures Producing Trout at Scofield Reservoir

Fishing Time: 7:30 am to 3:00 pm

Weather: Partly cloudy, calm, T-40s

Moon Phase: 50% Moon

Location: Scofield Reservoir

Best Bait: Trolling with a shallow diving crawdad crankbait

Who Went: Casey Davies, Bruce, Dunc

I still had the musky itch so I talked Casey into trying our luck at Scofield.  He invited his brother in-law, Bruce, from Canada to join along.  We arrived early to a fogged over lake.  We were prepared with our pre-tied lures of choice for musky and started throwing them off every point and bay we could find.  We had a lot of trout follows, but no musky to speak of.  After musky exhaustion set in, we turned to the tube jigs and targeted trout.  To our surprise there weren’t a lot of trout that wanted to play with our tube jig offerings.

Finally, I gave in to Casey’s need to troll and it was a good thing I did.  We trolled around the island and started landing fish.  Casey was using a crawdad crankbait and out produced Bruce and my Rapalas 4 to 1.  I just happened to have one in my tackle box, so I put one on and Casey gave one to Bruce.  From that point on we had a fish on every couple minutes.

We never did find any fish with size and majority of them were cutthroats with a few rainbows mixed in.  Either way the crawdad troll saved the trip, and we caught more fish than I could count. 

We ended the day with another exhausting round of musky casting, but never saw one or had a confirmed bite.  Good fishing with good company.  It was fun having Bruce on the boat and learning about his home in Western Canada.

Weeping Rocks on The Green

Fishing Time: Saturday/Sunday (September 14/15^th)

Weather: Beautiful sunny warm weather with a slight breeze Saturday afternoon

Moon Phase: 90% Moon

Location: Weeping Rock Campground in Wyoming on the Green River below Fontenelle Dam

Best Baits: Beaded pheasant tail and beaded hare’s ear flies

Who Went: Roger Parks, Stuart Dahl, Dunc

My coworker Roger has been bragging about the fishing up on the Green River below Fontenelle Dam for years now.  Finally, we got the chance to make the trip along with another coworker Stuart.

First thing I will say is I will go camping with Roger anytime.  He provided all the food, and he also drove, towing along his brand new fifth wheel.  We ate like kings and Roger did all the cooking.  Host of the year for sure.

We left after work Friday and arrived late that night to Weeping Rock Campground and setup the trailer to lay our heads down.  The campground is called weeping rock because the reservoir above seeps into the limestone and creates a contact spring through a crack in the rock wall along the entire length of the river near the campground.  It’s super cool and nice to listen to while you’re fishing.  The next morning, we woke up to pancakes, bacon, and eggs.  After the first feast of the trip, we geared up and hit the river, which was only a few steps from our trailer door.

We all started out nymphing with an assortment of different flies, but the hits weren’t coming.  Finally, Roger caught the first fish, but it was a whitefish.  Apparently, Roger is not a fan of whitefish because he chucked it out into the river before I could take any pics.  Roger says whitefish are not picture worthy.

After awhile we switched to dries and then streamers, but nothing seemed to make them bite.  I spoke with a few drift boats and it sounded like no one was having any success.  Roger ended up catching a couple more whitefish, but that was it for the entire day.  It was painful.  We soothed our spirits by watching college football and eating steak and potatoes.  Man did it taste good!

The next morning Roger decided to stay at camp while Stu and I hit the river.  Before leaving camp I took a look at Rogers setup and tried to mimic it.  I noticed his rig had much more weight than mine, so I added some.  Sure enough on my first cast I was hooked up with a whitefish.  After that it was game on for whitefish and I caught five more and missed just as many.

It wasn’t trout and I’m sure Roger would have been disgusted, but I had a lot of fun catching them on the fly rod. I ended up snagging one of them in the dorsal fin and man what a fight.  I had to walk him down river to tire him out.

Roger said it’s the only time he has ever been skunked on this stretch of river, but honestly the scenery, company, and good food made up for not catching many fish.  I’ve already asked when we can go back and try again.

Biting Bass and Lockjaw Musky at Newton Reservoir

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

Weather: Mostly sunny, calm morning and breezy afternoon, T-80s

Moon Phase: 35% Moon

Location: Newton Reservoir

Water Temp: 66 degrees

Best Bait: Silver Ned Rig (green pumpkin), Spinnerbait, and Kietech swimbait (2.5-inch)

Who Went: Dunc

I continued my quest for a musky bite at Newton Reservoir knowing full well I was bass fishing and not musky fishing.  The launch was a bit tricky with no one to help me and no docks in the water.  Luckily no one was around so I could take my time and made it work. I tried throwing baits that I knew would catch bass, but also gave me a chance at a musky.  I did tie on one musky bait which I threw for about 20 minutes with no luck.

The bass fishing did produce although it wasn’t fast and furious.  I had to work hard for them, and I never did find a pattern that consistently produced. I ended up catching 8 bass and almost all of them hit on something different.  Largest was around 2 pounds.

I caught them on a ned rig, spinnerbait, swimbait, senko, and a roboworm on a drop-shot rig.  I did try some crankbaits, rattletraps, and chatterbaits with no success, but watched a guy in a boat near me catch one on a chatterbait, so it was just one of those days.  

The weather was gorgeous, and I only counted 3 other boats on the water all day.  There is no better way to relax your mind than a quiet day on the water.