Location: Flaming Gorge (Lucerne)
Weather: Partly, 39 °F, slight breeze in the
afternoon
Moon Phase: 39% Waning Moon
BP: Morning - 30.58 Hg trending down,
Afternoon - 30.44 Hg
Best Baits: River2Sea 200 series glide bait (party
crasher)
Water Temp: 40 °F
Who Went: Dunc
Catching a monster
lake trout does something to your brain.
It becomes all you think about and the only thing you want to do is get
back up there and do it again! Luckily,
I have a wife that understands my addiction and so I planned another trip over
the weekend. I invited others to go but
due to sickness or different plans they couldn’t make it. Another solo trip! No problem, I don’t mind being alone (just
ask my wife).
With all the
electronics issues from the last trip I took my lithium battery to someone
smarter than me to check it out. It
seemed like we fixed the issue and had it figured out. All my electronics were
working before I hit the road.
I arrived to
another gorgeous morning. This weather
is unlike any I’ve ever seen in January.
The best part was seeing one truck and trailer beside mine on arrival
and departure!
The solo launch
went great, and I was ready to roll. I
went to turn on my electronics and nothing!
Same story different trip. Only
thing I can come up with is the cold temps overnight are causing my batteries
brain to shut it off. Lithium batteries
are great, but only when they work correctly.
I was so sad! I had lots of plans
of trying new things and here I was in the same situation as last week. So disappointing!
After a few
cuss words and contemplating life, I got over it again and headed to the area
where I had success last week. I also
rigged up my manual depth finder that became my best friend for the day (sigh).
I fished the
entire area I focused on last week but never got a bite. I moved a bit further south and finally
hooked up with a feisty pup lake trout.
Not what I was looking for, but a fun fish to get me started and add some
confidence to keep going.
I ended up moving
a bit further south and this time I had a rod bender that literally twisted my
rod holder to the back of the boat. I
knew it was a good fish, but as soon as I grabbed it, the fish was gone. It’s becoming obvious to me that this is just
part of the technique and they don’t always stick. I went 1 for 2 on bites last week and this
week I was 2 for 4.
I made one final big move late in the day and finally got the bite I was looking for, but at the most inopportune time. I was heading right into shore when it hit, the wind kicked up for the first time all day, and my remote on my fish finder was not turning on, so I was about to run aground!
The fish also ran straight
towards my other line, and I thought for sure it was going to get tangled and I
would lose the fish! It wasn’t the
prettiest fight, but after a lot of chaos, I was finally able to land this 19-pound beauty!
The addiction
is full on now and starting to get out of control. I have already checked the weather and next
weekend looks amazing! I might find out just how understanding my wife really
is!
