12-07-2015, 10:55 PM
My dad and I weren't exactly part of the flotilla, we launched at Rainbow Cove and spent the better part of the morning north of the main group. We were throwing 1/8th oz jigs with 2" Gulp alive minnows.
I thought we were after whitefish, but the first hookup was a surprise. Coming in from the deep water we were tracking fish everywhere and as we neared the shore I saw a couple nice fish surfacing, so we decided to throw anchor. We anchored up in 10ft of water and started chucking jigs towards shore. Thinking we were after smaller whitefish we were using our 6 ft ugly sticks and 6 or 8 # test. After a few casts my dad hooked into something he though was pretty big. A couple minutes later and his ugly stick bent in half I encouraged him to loosen his drag a bit and he slowly worked the rod up and reeled on the drop. The fish started to tire a bit and swam directly under the boat. Thinking he was heading towards the anchor rope, I pulled up the anchor and sure enough he had wrapped it once... I gently unwound the line from the anchor and put the anchor in the boat. He worked the fish for several more minutes until I caught color and yelled that he had a huge one, which must have sent a jolt of adrenaline from my dad down the line because the fish gained a little more life. After that last run we got him to the surface and I was able to get the front half of him in the net and quickly lift him into the boat. A 33" lake trout. We were both like a couple of little kids with excitement. My dad grew up in Bear Lake valley and he had never caught a fish like this.
He quickly followed it up with a 27" native cutthroat. Not nearly the fight of the laker, but a beautiful fish that looked like it had made more than a few trips upstream to spawn based on the wear and tear on his fins and tail. We cast for another 20 minute with no love, so we decided to check out the flotilla and see if we could get into some whiteys. Motored to the south of the group (not wanting to wedge in between people...I just didn't feel right about it) for a few, no love...started getting hungry and headed back to Rainbow cove around 1. Funny thing was we ended up catching our only whitefish just off the Rainbow Cove ramp in about 6 feet of water off the sandy bottom. I finally hooked up about 50 yards south of the ramp, and landed 2 19" whiteys in about 5 minutes. Not really the outing I expected, but it is hard to have any complaints after the catch we had.
Pretty sure I saw tubedude, and at least one other BFT member in a kayak. We did not really chat with anyone since we skirted the main group.
Was a great time, a beautiful day and not nearly as cold as I had prepared for. Better safe than sorry. We were in a 16ft Larson aluminum with covered bow, a 5hp Merc and an electric trolling motor off the back. Next time we will have to get to know a few of you guys.
[signature]
I thought we were after whitefish, but the first hookup was a surprise. Coming in from the deep water we were tracking fish everywhere and as we neared the shore I saw a couple nice fish surfacing, so we decided to throw anchor. We anchored up in 10ft of water and started chucking jigs towards shore. Thinking we were after smaller whitefish we were using our 6 ft ugly sticks and 6 or 8 # test. After a few casts my dad hooked into something he though was pretty big. A couple minutes later and his ugly stick bent in half I encouraged him to loosen his drag a bit and he slowly worked the rod up and reeled on the drop. The fish started to tire a bit and swam directly under the boat. Thinking he was heading towards the anchor rope, I pulled up the anchor and sure enough he had wrapped it once... I gently unwound the line from the anchor and put the anchor in the boat. He worked the fish for several more minutes until I caught color and yelled that he had a huge one, which must have sent a jolt of adrenaline from my dad down the line because the fish gained a little more life. After that last run we got him to the surface and I was able to get the front half of him in the net and quickly lift him into the boat. A 33" lake trout. We were both like a couple of little kids with excitement. My dad grew up in Bear Lake valley and he had never caught a fish like this.
He quickly followed it up with a 27" native cutthroat. Not nearly the fight of the laker, but a beautiful fish that looked like it had made more than a few trips upstream to spawn based on the wear and tear on his fins and tail. We cast for another 20 minute with no love, so we decided to check out the flotilla and see if we could get into some whiteys. Motored to the south of the group (not wanting to wedge in between people...I just didn't feel right about it) for a few, no love...started getting hungry and headed back to Rainbow cove around 1. Funny thing was we ended up catching our only whitefish just off the Rainbow Cove ramp in about 6 feet of water off the sandy bottom. I finally hooked up about 50 yards south of the ramp, and landed 2 19" whiteys in about 5 minutes. Not really the outing I expected, but it is hard to have any complaints after the catch we had.
Pretty sure I saw tubedude, and at least one other BFT member in a kayak. We did not really chat with anyone since we skirted the main group.
Was a great time, a beautiful day and not nearly as cold as I had prepared for. Better safe than sorry. We were in a 16ft Larson aluminum with covered bow, a 5hp Merc and an electric trolling motor off the back. Next time we will have to get to know a few of you guys.
[signature]