2014 Spring Trip

Fishing Time:  Thursday through Monday (May 1-5)

Weather:  Clear to partly cloudy, breezy to windy every day

Moon Phase: 15% Moon

Location:  Sand Hollow and Quail Creek Reservoirs

Best Baits:  Jig/trailer, crankbaits, small plastics (drop-shot)

Who Went:  The trio (Rick, Bobber John, Me)

With water levels continuing to drop at Lake Powell the trio agreed this was the year to branch out on our annual spring trip and try fishing a couple new reservoirs that consistently produce big bass.  Sand Hollow and Quail Creek Reservoirs are just outside of St. George, Utah and have a reputation for producing some of the biggest bass in the state. 

We have been very lucky on past spring trips with great weather, but like all good things they usually come to an end.  The temps were warm, but the wind was miserable throughout our entire trip.  We were able to take advantage of a few calm moments, but for the most part it was breezy to windy the entire time.  Here is the day to day recap…

Thursday:  My alarm went off at 1:30 AM and Rick was in my driveway by 2:00.  We loaded the boat, picked up the Bobber and were headed south by 2:30 AM.  We arrived to Sand Hollow around 8:00 AM to warm weather and no wind.  Things were looking great.  If we only knew what was ahead.  We dumped our gear at our dedicated camp site and immediately launched the boat.  We headed straight to the shallows where the bass would typically spawn, but only found a few cruising bass and a lot of empty spawning beds.  Must have missed the spawn by a week or two.  We casted towards the rocky dam and I was able to land one bass on a deep diving crankbait and had another one hooked that felt really nice, but he came unbuttoned.

Our final stop was in deep water dragging small Texas rigged plastics or drop shot rigs over the top of the grassy bottom.  Rick and Bobber got into a few and we saw a couple boats near us landing a few, but none with any size.

The morale was already dipping on the first day and thoughts of big spawning bass at Quail Creek had our minds wandering, so we loaded the boat and headed over to take a look.  I have never fished Quail Creek and was pleasantly surprised to see how much awesome bass structure and cover there is throughout the lake.  The lake is also very clear water which makes sight fishing fun and easy. 

After launching the boat we immediately started seeing big bass in the shallows.  Some of them were absolute tanks, but most of the bass were cruisers and not guarding beds.  We were unsure if the spawn was about to begin or if we had already missed it.  Our first thought was that it hadn't started yet.  We fished for a couple hours learning the lake and finding a few bass on beds.  Unfortunately the cruising bass were not interested in feeding and the bite was really tough.  Rick picked up a nice 3 lb 12 oz bass off a bed, and I picked up one more off a different bed, but that was all we caught the first day at Quail Creek.

The wind picked up around 3:00 PM and didn’t stop the rest of the day or night.  It put a damper on any thoughts we had of night fishing Sand Hollow from the boat.  We did end up walking down to the dam and made a few casts in the dark from shore.  I landed one small bass and Rick missed one.

Friday:   Woke up to more wind on Friday morning and fished deep water at Sand Hollow catching a few more small bass.  This didn’t keep our attention long and we headed to Quail Creek by late morning.  We found one more nice bass at Quail on a bed during a break in the wind and Bobber was able to hook him on a jig/trailer, but as I was about to net the big bass, he spit the hook and swam back to his bed.  After a couple casts Bobber had him hooked again only to be disappointed once more as the fish surfaced, shook the hook, and swam back to his bed once more.  The wind picked up again and we were forced to move on.  We fought the wind all day long, but didn't land a fish at Quail Creek.

We loaded the boat with our tails tucked between our legs around 5:00 PM and headed back to our Sand Hollow camp site.  BUT... the day wasn’t a total bust.  As we pulled out of Quail Creek State Park heading towards our camp site at Sand Hollow, Rick spotted something weird walking across the road.  I heard him yell “Gila Monster!” I immediately jumped out of his jeep to get a better look.  Sure enough Rick saw the Gila Monster just as he was crossing the road and it ended up being the highlight of the trip.  After some research we learned that there are approximately 450 Gila Monster specimens in Utah and we were lucky enough to run across one.  We took video and photos of the mythical creature before leaving him alone.  Definitely the coolest animal I’ve ever seen in the wild in Utah.

Saturday:  The wind broke for a few hours in the morning and we took advantage of the sight fishing at Quail Creek.  First we stopped at Rick’s boss’s house where we had a 1-lb shipment of fresh Michigan leeches delivered.  Rick and Bobber are both from back east and swear that leeches trump all plastics for fishing back east, so we were all excited to see how the Utah fish reacted to them.

We saw monster bass swimming all over in the shallows, but still no signs of any new beds being made.  We soon realized that the bass we found on beds were probably the late spawners and we probably missed the spawn by a few days to a week.  The big cruising bass didn’t have any interest in anything we offered, including the leeches, but we continued throwing to them all morning anyway. 

I brought my new GoPro video camera on this trip and we wanted to get some good underwater footage, so we strategically set the camera underwater facing the spawning bed of the 3 lb 12 oz bass that Rick caught on Thursday.  After dragging baits through the bed numerous times without getting the bass to bite I still felt good knowing I got some good underwater footage of the bass guarding his bed.  Or so I thought.  When I pulled the video camera from the water, I realized I had it on camera mode and only took one photo of myself messing with the GoPro and no video footage was filmed.  I was a bit upset to say the least.  Not long after, half the leeches we had left hanging off the side of the boat flew off into the lake as I motored across the water and scattered leeches all across Quail Creek.  Not one leech was left.  Not that big of a deal except we paid $125 to get them to St. George on short notice.  Now Bobber was furious and thoughts began to surface of why we didn’t go to Lake Powell. 

The wind was still whipping and luckily Rick landed one nice bass on a spinnerbait or we may have just packed up and went home.  We actually talked seriously about it with wind in the forecast the next two days.  BUT, we stuck it out and made the best of it as usual.

Sunday:  Woke up to a somewhat calm morning and hurried to Quail.  The water was glass for about an hour.  Fifteen minutes into sight fishing we found a monster crappie hugged up tight to some deep underwater brush.  Bobber John threw a leech right above his head and the big crappie came right out from the brush and inhaled it.  It’s the biggest crappie I’ve ever seen at 16-inches and 2 lbs, and a great way to start the morning.

A half hour later I pulled a nice chunky largemouth from some cover.  Things were starting to look up.

Then the wind remembered it was supposed to blow and made up for forgetting with a vengeance.  

We tried to hide and fished as best we could, but it was tough.  I wanted another chance at getting some GoPro footage of the spawning bass that Rick caught, so we fought the winds and sent the camera down.  Rick wanted to see if the leech could entice a bite.  The water was so choppy we didn’t even know if the bass was still there at this point, but Rick started tossing the leech where he thought the bed was.  No bites.  I gave it a try with a jig/trailer and on my third cast I felt the undeniable thump of a largemouth jig bite.  I swung and missed.  Rick was fighting ferocious wind with the thruster motor trying to keep me in line to make a couple more casts. I casted to where I thought the bed was and felt the thump again.  I reeled in the slack and set the hook.  This time it stuck and I landed the same 3 lb 12 oz bass that Rick caught the day we arrived in St. George.

Now the question was… did any of the action get caught on the Gopro video cam?  Did I even turn it on?  I pulled the camera from the depths and it was still logging time so the first trial for success was made. Unfortunately you can’t see Gopro footage until you sync it with a laptop, so the suspense of not knowing lasted until I got home.  You can see how it turned out by clicking on the link below...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27_Ov2gqz2g

After catching the bedded bass for the second time we called it quits at Quail Creek and went to our Sand Hollow camp to take a break from the wind.  After an hour of relaxation we were so bored we launched the boat on Sand Hollow in gale force winds.  We tied off to a buoy out in 20 feet of water.  The buoy worked out great after spending 4 straight days of fighting wind with the thruster motor, we finally got to relax.  We worked our small plastics over the grass in 20 ft of water and it turned on for a minute.  I landed 4 bass in 4 casts, and Rick and John both landed a couple more.  It was enough action to keep us interested for the rest of the day.  They were all small, but we kept a few for a fish fry later that evening.  We ended the night fishing the rock dam and Rick picked up one more small bass on a jerk bait to add to the frying pan.

When we got back to camp, Rick filleted the bass, bobber got a fire going, and I prepped for cooking.  We battered and fried the bass in oil and it made for some fine table fare as we sat around the campfire and talked about all the things that went wrong on this trip.

Bobber went to bed early and decided to crash in the boat.  Around midnight Rick realized we needed to put the leeches in the lake.  Leeches apparently need fresh water at all times (annoying), so we took the Bobber on an unexpected trailer ride over to the boat ramp and deposited the leeches in the lake.

While we were at the docks I pitched a jig around and picked up a small bass, so Rick grabbed his rod and we walked the shoreline in the dark pitching jigs for a couple hours while the wind continued to get worse.  I hooked one more bass right next to shore and almost launched him right onto the bank before he fell off.  That was the only other action we had.  Bobber slept in the boat on the ramp the entire time as if nothing happened. 

Monday:  We woke up to nasty wind and low morale.  The forecast called for severe dust storms.  That didn’t sound good.  Instead of fighting it for the fifth day in a row we slowly packed up camp and headed home a day early.  You can only handle so much wind before it breaks you.  We thought about hitting another lake somewhere along the way home, but the wind only got worse as we headed north.  By the time we arrived at my house it was blowing a dreadful 30-40 mph.

Conclusion:  We were all really excited to fish new water this spring and I still feel the two lakes could be awesome fishing with the right conditions, and we know there are huge bass down there cause we saw them everywhere.  If only they would have bit a little more often.

Everyone also felt that Lake Powell would have been a better choice for the spring trip.  The wind was brutal and made fishing very tough at times, but even when the lakes calmed down for a moment the fishing never picked up to our expectations.  Or to what we usually experience at Lake Powell.

Quail Creek:  This lake definitely has some giant bass and most likely the biggest bass in the state.  Its tough fishing, but one fish there could be the fish of a lifetime.  We saw plenty of bass we felt were over five pounds, including one that may have been pushing double digits.  Unfortunately we just couldn’t get them to bite.  My guess is if you hit this lake during the spawn you could have a lot of fun with the clear water and big bass.

Sand Hollow:  I think we hit this lake during a transitional period with the fish just finishing up their spawn and going deep to rest (not eat).  This made it tough to entice bass with any size into biting.  The only way we consistently caught bass was deep water fishing and they were all small.  I would like to give Sand Hollow another try either pre-spawn, spawn, or after the initial post spawn period.  I think our success rate would be much better. 

Another spring is trip in the books and the GoPro was a fun addition.  After getting home and seeing the footage I got the urge to make some videos and start my own YouTube channel.  This way my readers can subscribe and watch the videos to go along with the blog posts.  Click on the link below to check it out and subscribe...

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKup6CXpsQJ0zbQTDN8Qp3A

Provo River Walleye

Fishing Time:  4:30 PM to 8:30 PM

Weather:  Sunny, breezy, T-70s

Moon Phase:  55% Moon

Location: Wallsburg Bay Inlet/Middle Provo above Charleston Bridge

Bait:  Wallsburg- swimbait, Middle Provo- rapala, small lipless crankbait

Who Went:  Me

With the warm weather recently, I figured today may be the day to break this year’s walleye curse up at Deer Creek Reservoir.  As usual I figured wrong.  I first tried the Wallsburg inlet mainly throwing a swimbait rigged weedless so that it wouldn’t get snagged in the shallow weedy conditions.  I did have a few bites, but I racked it up to small trout that couldn’t find the weedless hook imbedded in my swimbait.

Unsuccessful and deflated I headed to the Middle Provo to try my luck there.  On my first cast with a lipless crankbait I hooked up with a feisty rainbow trout.  At least I didn’t get skunked. 

The river was running a little faster than I would have liked, but not unfishable.  I continued casting for over an hour with my crankbait and a small rapala and landed a couple more rainbow trout, but no walleye.  I didn’t get the feeling the walleye had started their migration up the river yet.  I didn’t see any in the slower clear moving water and obviously didn’t catch any.

I left while there was still some daylight and headed back to the Wallsburg inlet.  I casted my swimbait all around the inlet until dark without a bite.  Final tally this spring… Walleye 3, Chris 0.  Luckily it’s time to pursue bass and I can forget that walleye exist the rest of the year.  

Mythbusting the Full Moon Theory

Fishing Time:  6:30 to 8:30

Weather:  Slight breeze, sunny, clear

Moon Phase:  Full Moon

Location: Utah Lake (AF River Inlet)

Bait:  Small lipless crankbaits, curly tail grub

Who Went:  Rick, Me

Some of my recent fishing trips have coincidentally landed on the full moon and the lunar fishing charts during these full moon periods are off the charts with 100-percent efficiency.  This means fishing should be at its best.  I know some fishermen who base entire trips on these charts and swear by their accuracy. Well in my experience, it has been the exact opposite.  In fact, my fishing buddies and I usually check the lunar charts on our drive to the lake and if the charts say fishing will be poor, we get excited, if they say it’s going to be good, we prepare ourselves to catch nothing.  It’s become an inside joke in our fishing circle. The truth is that the best time to fish for me is any chance I can find free time to do it, whether its rain, wind, snow, or sunshine.  I only became interested in checking the lunar charts after hearing how accurate they are from other fisherman.

Anyhow, I proved the lunar charts wrong again this evening with yet another unsuccessful trip to Utah Lake chasing the elusive walleye under the light of a full moon.  Lunar chart efficiency during this time was 100-percent.  We waded out from the American Fork River inlet and I started to get the feeling that the spawn has ended.  We were the only ones there and we didn’t get a nibble.  We further proved that it probably is over after arriving to the Provo River above Utah Lake to spotlight spawning walleye, but only found a few stragglers.  We also saw a couple young kids get nailed by a DNR officer for netting them from the river.  The officer told us that the kids pleaded ignorance.  Yep, I remember those days.

As usual I’m looking forward to warm weather, bass fishing, and getting away from this walleye curse that has seemed to follow me religiously for the last few years.

Walleye Induced Headaches

Fishing Time:  2:30 PM to 7:30 PM

Weather:  Sunny, clear, T-60s

Moon Phase:  Full Moon

Location:  Utah Lake (Bird Island)

Bait:  Lipless crankbaits (small), plastic minnows (drop-shot), curly tail grubs

Who Went: Rick, Bobber John, Me

It’s March and this time of year you can beat your head against a wall waiting for warm weather or you can go chase walleye.  Either way they both produce the same results.  Headaches.  All the conditions were right tonight and Rick caught a couple in the same spot a week ago fishing with Rocky Mountain Angler, Tim Duke, so our confidence was high.  For a minute.  When we arrived we talked to a group of fisherman that had been there all day with no success.  Great.  We used the first hour to contour the ridge jetting off the southeast corner of Bird Island with my gps.

Then we recorded a fishing track using my new I-Pilot motor.  You can record a track and then with a push of a button it will re-run the same line by itself at any speed you want.  Sweet.

 

We started by casting up and down the ridge line working every inch on both sides for 3 hours.  We had a few possible missed hits or snags.  It’s hard to tell with how rocky it is out there.  We did manage to land a few rocks and some were sworn walleye all the way to the boat before the disappointing volcanic surfaced.  The rocks had as much fight as most walleye, so the misjudgments were valid.

Evening arrived and we began to see the walleye rolling on the surface doing there mating dance.  We spent some time chasing these surface fish, casting right on top of them, but they just kept doing their thing without a care in the world.  A couple of them looked to be very large females with massive bellies full of eggs.  I wish these fish would bite once in awhile. 

It was a beautiful night with a killer sunset, but as usual the walleye fishing was poor to skunky. 

I’ve seen multiple pictures of large walleye being caught this year so I’m sure I will be talked into going again. Until then I will rack it up to another walleye outing that left a bad taste in my mouth.  Same story different year.

I leave you with a video of the only thing we caught today…

Pike Fishing Through Ice at Yuba

Fishing Time:  8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Weather:  Partly cloudy, breezy, T-30's

Moon Phase:  25% Moon

Location:  Yuba Reservoir

Bait:  Tip ups - whole anchovy or chub, rods - jigs, spoons tipped with chovy or chub

Who Went:  John, Me 

The secret is out about the pike fishing success at Yuba and the recently aired “Roughin it Outdoors with Adam Eakle,” has turned it up a notch to absolute chaos.  John and I scheduled a day off work this week in an attempt to avoid the crowds.  We parked on the Painted Rocks boat ramp next to two other vehicles.  They were the only other vehicles to park at Painted Rocks while we were there.  The weekday trip was already proving to be a success.

 

We hiked towards the narrows and set up in 15-20 feet of water just off a point that has treated me well in years past from the boat.  We put out two tip ups rigged with a full anchovy or chub and each fished one rod, for a total of four lines in the water.  Johns tip up was the first to see action, but it took a few misses before the first pike was landed. 

It didn't take long and John’s tip up was going off again.  This time he upgraded to a slightly bigger fish.  

It seemed like Johns tip up was going off all day, but only a few fish were landed.  He was definitely in the honey hole though because my tip up never got touched, even after moving it only ten feet from his.  We had the best success suspending the bait about 5 feet from the bottom.

I had multiple fish come up to my jig to look at it before they swam off disinterested.  Before the day ended I finally coaxed one into hitting my silver daredevil spoon tipped with an anchovy.  It turned out to be the nicest pike of the day.  

We left earlier than we wanted, but it was a good day and those pike fight hard through the ice which made it fun.  Before we left we talked to a guy at the ramp who told us there were over 300 people out here the Saturday before, so the weekday plan was well worth it.     

Winter Bass Fishing in Sunny St. George

Fishing Time: 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Weather:  Perfect, no wind, T-60

Moon Phase:  89% Moon

Location:  Sand Hollow

Water Temp:  43-44 degrees

Bait:  ¼ oz jig or drop-shot rigged with 3-inch plastics (sweet beaver)

Who Went:  Rick, Bobber John, Greg Giacomazza (guide), Me

Last year’s Lake Powell trip spurred some questions about this year’s upcoming trip.  Due to the low water levels experienced at Lake Powell last year and another low precipitation year looming, talks started about moving the spring trip to the St. George area to fish a few of the bass lakes in that part of the state instead.  We started doing a little research to see if it was really worth replacing our most anticipated trip of the year (Lake Powell), and fish lakes we have no prior experience fishing.  After a bit of digging I was searching the internet and ran across a fishing guide in St. George that has 8 years experience fishing the three main reservoirs (Sand Hollow, Quail Creek, and Gunlock) that have peaked our interest.

On a whim I decided to email this fishing guide to ask him a few basic questions about these lakes and what the fishing is like during the spring spawn.  Never did I expect him to give me any information without booking his services first, but I figured worst case was he doesn’t respond to the email.  Within ten minutes after sending the email, my phone rang and Greg Giacomazza (guide) was on the other end of the phone giving me extensive details about each lake and how to fish them.  Greg went on to answer all of my questions and we talked for a half hour covering all three lakes.  Then Greg made the statement that sold me…  He said, “Chris, it sounds like you already know how to bass fish, but you realize your time is limited to learn and pattern these lakes with your busy work schedule and young kids.  Is this correct?” I said “Yes you’re exactly right.”  Then he went on to say, “If you were to book me for just ONE trip, I will show you everything there is to know about each lake and you will immediately be able to come down here any time of the year with your family and friends and catch fish.” 

He had me hook, line, and sinker.  I do realize that I don’t have the time to drive 4 hours to St. George and spend enough time on the water to learn these lakes, so this would be one day of sacrifice for 8 years of his fishing knowledge.

 

Two days later our planned ice fishing trip to Yuba turned into a guided trip on Sand Hollow with Greg.   Unfortunately we were unable to launch on Quail Creek because the winter hours had the reservoir closed, but Greg marked up a map for us with all the information we should need to get on fish.  At Sand Hollow Greg gave us a boating tour of the entire lake while I entered GPS points straight onto my fish finder.  I asked him questions throughout the day about Gunlock reservoir just to get a feel for that lake as well.

Of course we couldn’t do a trip without getting our lines wet, so Greg took us to his winter spot and showed us the techniques that he uses to land Sand Hollow bass in January’s 43 degree water temps.  I was amazed at how many fish we saw on the fish finder, but as you would expect with bass in cold conditions, they were tough to persuade into biting.  

We landed nine fish total all in the 2 lb range.  However, the only other guy on the lake today fishing next to us landed a 5 lb 3 oz toad, so they are there and will occasionally bite.

It was definitely worth the trip to learn these lakes and I feel like we gained a new friend with Greg.  He was a truly genuine guy that really wanted to help us out.  He told us to call him every time we come down and he would try to dial us in on the patterns and areas that are producing fish.  You can’t beat that!   

Cold and Slow at "Da Field"

Fishing Time:  5:30 AM to 11:00 AM

Weather:  Clear skies, calm, T-1 degree

Moon Phase:  10% Moon

Location:  Scofield

Bait:  Tube jigs tipped with minnow

Who Went:  John, Alonzo, Rick and 3 buddies, Mike, Me

The annual after Christmas ice fishing party didn’t last long this year.  Someone had the bright idea to leave at 4 AM (Rick and John) and get set up in the dark to be ready to fish the primetime (morning).  If setting up our gear underneath the moonlight and twiddling our thumbs for another 1 hour in complete darkness freezing our butts off was their plan… then we succeeded.  I can honestly say that my feet have never been as cold as they were today.  The temps were around 1 degree, which is actually much warmer than a lot of ice fishing trips I’ve been on, but I think it was just the constant 1 degree in the dark doing nothing for 2 hours that froze them solid and they just never recovered.

 

To add insult to injury, we were bombarded with people at sunlight crowding in on us from each side.  The fishing was very slow and I’m sure the fact we literally had a power auger buzzing within 50 yards of us all morning didn’t help.  Bobber John took honors today with the only decent fish.  

The camera didn’t get much use since I spent most of the morning walking around trying to get blood flow back into my feet.  We caught a few small cutthroats and John’s tiger trout, but that was it.  We weaved our sleds through the crowds and back to our truck at 11:00 AM and called it quits.  By noon we were eating wings and watching football at the sports bar.  Should have saved the gas money and just went straight to the bar to watch football and stay warm.

First Ice at "Da Field"

Fishing Time: 7:30 am – 2:00 pm

Weather:  Sunny, light afternoon breeze, T-20s

Moon Phase:  2% Moon

Location:  Scofield

Bait:  Jig head tipped with chub minnows

Who Went:  Hunt, Bobber, Alonzo, Me

First ice at Scofield was a priority this year and the recent cold temps had us itching to go up there and test the ice.  Our schedules didn’t line up and Rick went a day earlier than the rest of us, so he was the first to step on the thin ice.  It got me very excited when I received a picture message of this 6 pound 10 oz beast that he landed. 

His fishing report was of non-stop action, but very thin and sketchy ice.  With a low in the single digits forecasted for that night I figured all the ice could do is grow!

As I was loading my ice gear the next morning, Bobber and his brother in-law Alonzo pulled up to my house.  I was shocked when my long lost buddy, Hunt got out of Bobbers car.   Apparently those two are Facebook friends and Bobber invited Hunt ice fishing to surprise me.  Hunt was in town for Thanksgiving.  That was a cool surprise.  So we loaded all the gear and arrived at Scofield around 7:30.  There was no snow on the ice and the ice looked very fresh. 

In fact, the only holes we found were the ones Rick made the day before.  One other group showed up for the day, but other than them, we had the lake to ourselves.  No auger was needed today as two punches with the spud bar are all it took to break through to water.

The ice was so clear you could see a good 5 feet down and the shallows were swarming chubs.  We used the spud bar and quickly speared a bunch for bait.  They would get trapped between the shoreline and ice layer for easy pickens.  I realized very quickly that the predatory fish were loving life gorging on all the chubs when I caught the smallest cutthroat of the day with a 7-inch decomposed chub minnow hanging out his mouth. 

We set up shop and instantly began catching fish.  Most were small cutthroat, but we did eventually land a few nice ones.  Bobber marked another species off his list with this nice tiger trout. 

The fish were so aggressive you could pull your jig from the bottom up to your hole and watch the fish follow and swarm your bait. At times, two or three fish would be fighting over the bait.  We were fishing in 11 feet of water. 

We used tip ups and that was fun, but didn’t produce many fish.  When the flag would go up, Hunt and I would run and try to set the hook, but missed almost every fish.  Bobber being from Ohio is more acquainted with the tip up method and he landed quite a few.  Hunt and I never did figure it out.  Hunt even put a 12 inch chub on one of them, hoping a 20 lb tiger trout might come pick it up, but it never happened. 

The fishing stayed consistent most of the morning and while I was watching two fish swarm on my bait about 5 feet below the ice, a big cutthroat blew right through the smaller fish and smacked my bait and ran.  It was a fun battle and I was able to get this nice 5 pound cutthroat onto the ice.

Bobber, not to be outdone, landed another 5 pound cutthroat about an hour later. 

Those were the two nicest fish of the day.  We landed 3 tiger trout and the rest were all cutthroats.  No rainbows.  After about noon the fishing died and the sun came out and got the ice talking.  It started getting a bit sketchy as this short movie shows…

First ice at Scofield brought in two 5 pound and one 6 pound 10 oz cutthroats in two days.  I think (for now) the Berry is dead to me.  Scofield is the new trout paradise, and I love the fact that you can always hope for one of those monster tiger trout that people seem to keep pulling out of there recently.