I have done the impossible!!!!

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
1

I just got completely skunked at Pelican Lake. Not a nibble.

I won’t shame myself with the details, other than to say that over 6 hours my daughter and I tried 17 different holes from two different shorelines in all depths from 6 to 15 feet depthin all types of bottom, next to the rushes, middle of the lake, etc.. at least a dozen different styles of small jigs and ice flies, and FIVE different tipping baits. Then spent an hour working larger lures for bass.

Maybe I should just go commit hari-kari on my filet knife.

2

i hate the skunk 3 1/2 hours in last week i thought it was going to be that way for us too but we finally got some gills no bass

3

I’ve been skunked 4 out of 5 trips this winter; not Pelican but painful none-the-less. Thank god I love fishing.

4

I didn’t think that could be done [;)]. Time spent with your daughter is what really counts anyway, fish are just a bonus.

5

I wonder sometimes. 10 hour round trip, sleeping two in the back of my Suzuki, cold toes despite the new boots, no fish…

Have I done her any favors? We DO like to spend time together.

6

And not to “one-up” you, but I have been skunked 8 of 9 this year, if I include the PV trip I caught one dink perch. My one decent trip was at PV where I caught 9 perch over 9" up to 12".

Last summer sucked, too. In fact my last really good fishing trip of any kind was @ this time last winter at Pelican, where we caught two limits and a nice bass.

Must be praying to the wrong water spirits…

7

Lol, if nothing else it’s a fishin’ trip with dad and a memory to last a lifetime. I’m taking my daughter for the first time to Texas with me on my annual Lake Fork trip end of March. I’m worried about her having as much fun as I always do but like I said, a fishin’ trip with dad is hard to beat. I’m a bit overzealous when it comes to my daughters, any fishing trip is a good one even if the fishing is bad.

8

**Pfft… I got skunked all year, last year (though I only go in summer…but still!)
I caught 2 catfish… one each trip, on separate trips, to Jensen pond in Syracuse.

I don’t really count the bass and Tiger Musky at Newton, because it wasn’t my tackle and everything was set up for me… I just reeled in.
I do fine being with somebody who knows what they’re doing. I’m still horribly “newbie” at this!**

9

:sunglasses:**You didn’t mention electronics. Did you use sonar to see if there were fish present in any of your holes? It is highly possible that the fish are not as widely spread as earlier in the ice season. As oxygen levels drop under the ice the fish will gravitate toward spots where water chemistry is more suitable. That can be shallower or deeper, depending upon inlets, springs or still living plant life. **

**A lot of the weeds and algae in the lake die off in the low light conditions under heavy snow and ice. As they deteriorate they use up oxygen from the water and make things worse. The lower the oxygen levels the more sluggish the fish become until they hardly move at all…much less feed actively. **

That is one of the big reasons why most lakes fish much better during the first weeks after the ice cap forms. Still lots of oxygen and more light penetration while the ice is thinner and there is less snow cover. Pelican Lake has always fished better until about the middle of January. After that it can be iffy until the ice breaks up and the water is oxygenated by spring winds.

10

Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that on Pelican. I know there have been years that we had our best bite early morning (Daybreak) for an hr. or so and the last 30 to 40 minutes before dark, the rest of the day was real slow and I had to get right in the weeds to pick up a few. Don’t know if that will help you or anyone else headed that way. I had some friends from work that were down there last weekend and they hammered them (Gills) pretty much all day. Hope your next trip turns out better.[fishin]

11

So every year I make fishing goals. One of those goals each year is to not ever get skunked. This year was no exception. So on January the 2nd 2010, my cousin and I embarked on our “Sanpete Swing” ice fishing extravaganza. We hit 9-mile, then Palisades, the Electric Lake, then Huntington. By the end of the day, the score was me=ZERO fish, my cousin=ONE fish. So I was skunked at 4 DIFFERENT LAKES in ONE day the FIRST TIME OUT this whole DECADE!!!
I figured it was just because I needed a little humble pie. Curiously, I’ve really been able to relax since then. I no longer care if I get skunked, since I’ve already been skunked this year, but my cousin is always really tense until he gets that first fish each time! (He has the same goal).
I say, it’s all about the trip. Good for you for taking the kids.

12

I don’t have any sonar. I had just bought a little one off ebay but it hadn’t arrived. I don’t know if it will be crap or not, it’s a Humminbird with the wireless transducer. My dad and I intend to go in on a nicer, bigger one.

But, the stuff you said about O2 levels and all that was exactly why I bounced around a lot trying to find any active fish. I drilled holes 100 yards apart in a zig-zag pattern from the edge of the rushed out toward the middle from two parking areas, prospecting each for 10-20 minutes, but to no avail. Had not heard that Pelican had the problem of later season being poor. Last year was about this time; the ice was thick but starting to rot a bit.

Wish I could think these things out as well as you can before hand.

13

Oh, and I did look for live weeds on the bottom, thinking that deeper was better where the water was cold and might hold more O2.

So… TD, should I be fishing next for say, trout somewhere where there is a nice inlet stream that is still liquid? Cold water, cold water species, running water, add up to…?

14

I did OK during the late summer. Most of my fishing was at Willard where I found boils for about two weeks. Also Willard faired well for Mr. Wiskers. I tried some ice stuff once with zero bites, newton once with zero bites, EC twice once with a limit next time zero bites. Heck I guess it was three out of four; my mind is going.

15

And Dawn, I have said to myself a bunch of times,“I need to take that girl out with us the next time we go to Mantua or Pineview.” But then I think, “Why inflict such a thing on a perfectly nice person?”

But if you’re not afraid of my skunk-force, you’re welcome any time. My car is tiny and I don’t have a boat, though.

16

Tubedude

I do not have a flasher but do have a portable finder. Not too sure about fish accuracy but seems to give me good depth readings. I’ll give East Canyon a whirl on Saturday and head closer to the inlet. I was between the first cove and second cove off the boat ramp my last two times. 1 successful trip the other not so much. Somebody had mention not too much for crappies. I did well last spring after ice out at EC

17

Springbuck - Confidence is a very important aspect of fishing. I know it’s tough to have any when a few skunkings come about… But… Try just being confident and see if you do any better… I have a feeling you will.

You are always putting yourself and your fishing skills down. You can’t be any good at something if you are always telling yourself you suck.

Just my 2 cents.

18

And Dawn, I have said to myself a bunch of times,“I need to take that girl out with us the next time we go to Mantua or Pineview.” But then I think, “Why inflict such a thing on a perfectly nice person?”

But if you’re not afraid of my skunk-force, you’re welcome any time. My car is tiny and I don’t have a boat, though.

If you mean ice fishing, I guess you could inflict it… I just won’t be so nice (well, nice and whiney!)
Warmer weather is fine, though! I don’t got a boat either, so I’m used to shore fishing…which is probably where the skunkiness comes from? LOL

19

“So… TD, should I be fishing next for say, trout somewhere where there is a nice inlet stream that is still liquid? Cold water, cold water species, running water, add up to…?”

:sunglasses:Sorry. Even after fishing for over 6 decades I do not have all the answers. I am still learning the questions. If I could always tell someone where to fish and how to catch fish I would have retired rich a long time ago. I didn’t and I ain’t.

**But, when I plan my trips it is not just about where I would like to go fishing. I carefully review CURRENT reports…not relying on what I did the year before on a subject water. Things can be very different from year to year during the same period. I also factor in what I think I know and remember and what I believe to be an accurate weather forecast. **

**Then I pick a water, choose an area to fish, assemble my tackle and bait and launch my assault. In the past I fished without sonar and caught plenty of fish. But, since I have been using sonar and have learned how to use it to increase my chances of success I would not like to have to fish without it any more. I live by the saying: “You can’t catch them where they ain’t.” Finding fish is a big factor in success. But just finding them is not a guarantee you will catch them. As I said before, there can be a lot of factors that slow the fish down and make them inactive. But it is better to know the fish are there and then change your tackle and tactics around to try to catch them than to move all over the lake and think there are no fish at all. **

**It may hurt your ego to admit you suck at fishing, but not everybody catches fish on every trip. And the longer you work at it and the more you learn the better your chances of scoring on most trips. If you only go fishing to bring home fish, you are overlooking a big part of what fishing is all about…at least to many of us. **

**Believe me, fishing is a lifelong process. For me it has truly been a continuous learning experience. As others have said, “The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know.” But, the journey is it’s own reward. **

20

** " When I plan my trips it is not just about where I would like to go fishing. I carefully review CURRENT reports…"

**That is what I try to do here and I guess it’s called “hot spotting”. I know things change, but I was trying for similar conditions for a similar specie, etc. [#000000]Weather is something I am sure I don’t understand.

Case in point, last spring you (TD) posted[/#0000ff][#000000] about a 100 white bass day at the UL Knolls in spring, so I was out there the next day. Left the hospital at midnight, slept in my car at the Knolls and fished that morning. But, neglected the fact that it rained that day while I was at work and then a wind from the east pushed all the cold water up against that west shore, and the water was 10 deg. colder than it was while you were fishing. Bass were GONE. One 14" bullhead for my efforts. I still have only caught 1 wb in my life.

  I'll stop griping, but I just seem to hit it like that every time.[/#0000ff]**[#000000]  [/#0000ff]**[#000000]I, too look at reports[/#0000ff][#000000] (and this is about the only place I can go to, having a limited network of informants) figure out what is biting, where, try to guess what they are doing, what they are feeding on, etc.. check and buy or modify tackle, look at some maps (like we did preparing for the burbot bash), choose a spot and go.

I am not really feeling sorry for myself, but I am desperately looking for that hole in my game and I don’t know what it is. I AM limited to the shore a lot. I AM limited by my tackle a lot. I AM limited to how far a 9 year old can hike a lot, but over all there should be a lot of options open to me[/#0000ff][#000000].[/#0000ff]

" But it is better to know the fish are there and then change your tackle and tactics around to try to catch them than to move all over the lake and think there are no fish at all. "**

**[#000000]Amen.
[/#0000ff]
**It may hurt your ego to admit you suck at fishing, but not everybody catches fish on every trip. And the longer you work at it and the more you learn the better your chances of scoring on most trips. **

Fishing and hunting have been my main “things” since I was 5 years old and I’m 38 now. I have been at it a long time and put a lot of time and money into it (relatively). I’m a very analytical person, generally thought of as intelligent, and try hard to think it out and to learn from every source possible. What hurts my ego is that long ago I admitted that I sucked at fishing, (that there was a lot to learn) and have been trying to not suck for my whole adult life since. Yet I feel I have learned nothing of any real use since I was 12 or so. I learn stuff all the time, then head out to try to apply it and still come home beat up.

**“But, the journey is it’s own reward.”

** I hunt deer and elk with wooden bows and arrows I make myself. Successfully, I might add. Trust me, I know what you are talking about. Yet with a “skunk to catch ratio” of about 8/1 over the last 20 years, the journey is beginning to be less and less rewarding. I’m missing something on some deep, fundamental level here. It can’t all be luck. I’m very frustrated by it.**

**