Had a BFT mini floatilla going at the Knolls on Utah Lake today. Parrmark and I rolled up about 7 and Waljustia showed just as we first two were launching. About a half hour after all the tubers were afloat boater RipNLip came cruising up in his fishin’ pontoon..with his “first mate” Robin.
Clear and calm at daybreak. Air temp mid 50’s and water temp just above 64. Must be global warming. This is October 1 folks. No complaints, mind you.
Out of consideration for my fellow anglers I got the first fish jinx out of the way within a few minutes of reaching the targeted 4 foot depth zone. The jinx was that I missed the second bite a couple of minutes later. But after that I put a purty good smackin’ on the kitties for the rest of the morning.
Used minnows, carp meat and some perch meat from Starvation. Caught fish on all of it but the minnows were the big producer today. Nothing on hardbaits or large plastics but I did get one lonely bluegill on a pink plastic tube jig.
**We started out getting pretty regular action in the 4 to 5 foot depth range but that slowed down by late morning. Tried shallower and didn’t get bit at all. Finally moved out into my old favorite deep hole…which was only 7.5 feet in the low water. But that is where the fishies were. Pow, zing…stretched my string. Got several over 20 inches, including 24, 25 and 26 inch kitties. Also got a number of nice little “smokitties”…cookie cutters that are just right in size for the smoker rack. Released the bigger ones and a couple of smaller ones. **
Kept my targeted half dozen and downloaded my remaining minnows to RipNLip and wife, who had not caught anything. Walt’s sonar was out of order so he was fishing blind. Helps to find a zone and stick with it.
Parrmark kept a few for the fillet table and Waljustia ended up with a few decent ones for his smoker too. All in all a great weather day and no smell of skunk…at least among the tubers. Tubes rule.
Finished up about noon, packed up our gear and then packed up some of the trash that greeted us when we drove up this morning. A large plastic bag full of beer bottles and cans, food wrappers, empty containers and “unmentionable” items. I guess some people are still new to the concept of “pack it in…pack it out”.
Does anybody know if winter has been scheduled this year?
Nice looking fish pat. Hope that gripper is not on any skin[;)] or body part.
Looks like you had the luck today. I will be out next week after the temp change…I hope I can get some more kitties and maybe try the new fillet method out. No whities today? They seem to be in very specific areas. Bring on the ICE!!!
Wow tubedude looks like you all had a great day fishing and some good company to. Im hoping to get down there fishing tomorrrow if all goes as planned.
Wow, makes me want to pull my stuff back out. Decided to put it away due to weather not cooperating on my days off and having to work on house that I had put off for waaaayyyy tooooo long. Nice fish!!!
I always get my own. I use a combination of wire minnow traps and a small mesh 10’ cast net. I then grade the minnows by size and bag them up from 12 to 15 per bag. Helps to always have them ready and properly frozen when you wanna go fishing.
Been tough this year though. My best spots have not come through for me.
Twas a fun morning and nice to get out with you guys again. Sorry I had to hightail it out of there, but I was running a little late for my daughters school activity. If’n I’da been further from home I would not have been expected to be there - but. . . . If you need help filleting your fish next time Pat I’ll be sure to stick around and help you out.[;)]
That bluegill had less color than the ones I get thru the ice at the end of the ice season.
Too bad that place doesn’t get more respect from the land dwelling fishermen. Such a nice view of the lake and mountains while you’re tripping over they trash.
Thanks for the fun day of fishing and tutoring. Always fun!
Now we got you motorized there will be no holding you back. Glad the frame worked out okay.
That bluegill was a bit washed out. But most panfish species lose coloration in low light conditions or heavily “stained” water where there is not much ultraviolet light penetration to stimulate their color patterns. I have caught bluegill and perch from deep murky water and they were that washed out look…but after a while in the basket and with more direct light they brightened up a bit. I released that one yesterday so he probably is still a dull boy.
That trash at the Knolls has always been a sore point with us. But, it is virtually impossible to educate the trashy masses without heavy patrolling and big fines. Not gonna happen. Best we can do is what we have been doing. Clean up what we can and hope others do the same.
Thanks to all 3 of ya for putting up with our big toon in your way. Tried chasing ducks this morning, so i still need to fix the sonar. got to be a wiring problem as i learned there are some other stuff not functioning. On a positive note, i crawled under the dash and found a wire unplugged. turns out it was my audible alarm. so i got that back.
We launched from Pelican Point. I didn’t realize how long a boat trip it was “just around the corner”. took us a while to get down there.
Wasn’t a good week for us at all. 2 days this week, skunko. A skunk trip for us on UL hasn’t happened in a while. long while. i think it was back in March, I posted a pic with 2 inches of snow in the boat. Oh well, that’s fishin. nice to see all of you guys. glad you got in the fish.
Pat you did everything but physically hook a fish for us, and you even offered to do that [;)]. thanks for the bait. As i told you at the fish cleaning station,. we stopped south of the boat launch and tried a few spots. still nothing.
with duck hunting, deer hunting and a friend with some health issues, the rest of our trips will most likely be spot of the moment opportunities.
Maybe i can go out with some of you for some ice fishing. i am a novice, but a good packer and i’ll bring lots of coffee.
wouldn’t normally make this type of request, but it’s weighing heavy on us right now. Any of you with a relationship with the man upstairs, please say a prayer for our friends, she is stage 4 and fighting hard.
TubeBabe and I extend our most sincere best wishes for your friend in this time of trial. We know first hand the ravages of cancer. We have a niece who is only in her mid 30’s and going through her second bout with that disease…after being free of it for over 5 years. This time it is a fast moving kind that will probably take her within another week or two. She quit taking her meds because they were worse than the cancer.
On a more cheerful note, we were glad you could join our little party. Sorry we warned all the fish about you before you got there. We both know there will be days like that…and they make you appreciate the good days all the more. At least it was a nice day and Mama Nature didn’t get all huffy with us.
Good luck with the quackers. Looks like the weather is gonna turn more “ducky”.
Of course you would be welcome to join us on some hard deck adventures. Will help you get properly set up and guide you to the best spots. I "GPS"ed Xs on the ice last year where the fishing was best so all we have to do is find those Xs.
Good luck on the new catering business. I hear you put out some mighty fine BBQ.
Had a BFT mini floatilla going at the Knolls on Utah Lake today. Parrmark and I rolled up about 7 and Waljustia showed just as we first two were launching. About a half hour after all the tubers were afloat boater RipNLip came cruising up in his fishin’ pontoon..with his “first mate” Robin.
Wow tubedude looks like you all had a great day fishing and some good company to. Im hoping to get down there fishing tomorrrow if all goes as planned.
Gonna mend my ways.[angelic]