Utah Lake Disaster 12/31

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
1

I went out to Utah Lake today and got skunked. I don’t know how many holes I drilled or how far I walked, but I didn’t catch a fish.

I feel pretty good about the blue gill skills as I limited out on Monday at Pelican. I know that is a different fishery, but I shouldn’t have done that poorly.

I think I am just in the wrong spot as I feel good about the jigs I am using. Can anyone direct me to a specific spot please?

I was going to go Friday again. However, if I don’t get some help from the more experienced guys I will just be wasting my time. Does anyone want to go?

2

:sunglasses:You didn’t say where you were fishing. Utah Lake is not friendly to those who do not know it well…especially under the ice. There are several harbors that are popular with iceaholics but each is different every year. No simple forecasts. Sometimes the white bass come in so thick that everybody catches a bucketful…regardless of what they are using. Other times there is nothing…or next to nothing.

There are a few veterans and regulars that have their own little honey holes around the lake, and those usually produce something…but not always. This year started off slow for most. Right now there are some fish moving in to specific areas but they have not established any great patterns.

**Are you familiar with the “pumphouse” area, at the outlet of the Jordan River? There is an inlet channel to the south that has fish in it and anglers are also catching an assortment of perch, bluegills, crappies and white bass from the channel before the gates on the outside of the Jordan River. They shut the gates at the end of irrigation season and the basin both in front of and behind the gates sometimes holds a lot of fish. But, they move around and you sometimes have to hunt for them…both in area and in depth. Crappies often cruise well above the bottom, but the bluegills and white bass and perch are usually closer to the bottom. **

Sometimes the best spots are shallower than you might think. Even though the channel might be over 10 feet deep, the fish could be next to reeds or rocks in less than 5 feet. And, if there is a warm spring in the area the fish will be closer to it than anything else. That is one of the unique things about Utah Lake…warm springs in numerous spots.

In short, at Pelican Lake the fish are widely scattered and you have a good shot at catching something almost anywhere on the lake. At Utah Lake you gotta find the fish first…and that can be tough. If you don’t know the lake and you don’t have someone to show you the spots you can drill and chill a lot without much success.

Don’t beat yourself up. Accept it as a challenge. Try to hook up with one of the local pros and soon you will have the spots and the confidence to fill a bucket whenever you want some tasty panfish close to home. Utah Lake is an incredibly fertile fishery and has large numbers of bluegills, white bass, perch and crappies…as well as abundant walleyes and catfish.

Hint…with your two rod permit, try soaking a minnow on the bottom while you jig for the other fishies. Walleyes and cats usually hang in the same areas as their groceries…the other fish.

3

I feel your pain. Been there 3 times on ice, and not a bite. But I haven’t ice fished before this year. So who knows.

I saw one person catch a perch today at AF, another was catching some stuff in the private harbor. But generally, at least in the afternoon, no one really had any action.

I talked to a guy who says it is packed in the morning and that is probably the time to catch them.

Anyone got some tips on tackle?

4

Thanks for the help. I tried in Provo harbor in 4 or 5 different places. Then I went up to Lindon Harbor and didn’t have any luck there. Next I went to a little beach area just south of Lindon Harbor. Then I tried an enclosed area that was almost a little pond by itself. There was a little dam there with some grates and open water in one spot.

I know the fish are out there. I just haven’t found them. I don’t know where the Jordan River inlet is or anything about the area you described. I don’t know where the pumphouse is either. I am going to get on Google Maps and see if I can see it.

From your description it sounds like it is open water if it is in the river inlet. Would I be fishing the Jordan River or on the ice by where the river comes into the lake?

I appreciate the post. I can tell you really spent some time on it. I tried to post a few questions on the current post “Utah Lake 12/27” but the guys wouldn’t get real descriptive with me.

5

Pumps are kind of hard to find. I live in Lehi. Shoot me a PM and we can arrange a time and I’ll walk you in. Fun little place!

Chester

6

Any places to park up in that area? I don’t mind a good walk if I have to.

7

it’s hard to catch fish in the provo boat harbor. I don’t know if i have ever even seen one caught there! and I’m there all summer water skiing. I would recomend either the far north or far south ends of the lake. I usually do really well around the lincoln beach area. This time of year it seems that the smaller peice of bait you use the better I like to use a tiny tiny hook, or even two hooks (one above the other) and a small split shot at the very end of the line, similar to a drop shot rig on a much smaller scale. And you can never go wrong with a simple crawler I use maybe 1/5 of one. And keep the pole in your hand cause if you miss a bite there might not be another for a while, and if you miss to many it makes for a long day on the ice. As mentioned before you have to find the fish first! The hardest part of fishing UL is finding the darn fish, once you do, it can be a freakin blast.

8

I feel your pain, i was at AF harbor with my 2 boys in the am and along with about 20 or so others i only saw 1 fish caught in 3 hrs. not even a bite for us, we fished near the docks and near some weeds just off shore… nothing, so we left and went up to fish the provo and managed to catch 12 in 2 hrs, all browns. i have had luck in the past at lincoln beach but didnt want to drive that far today and had to be back early.

9

DO NOT SEEK THE PUMPS! The pumps do not exsist. The Pumps are a myth. DO NOT SEEK THE PUMPS!!!

Thats my spot damn’t

10

Utah Lake is one place that I go extremely small while fishing through the ice. Small ice flies and similar in bright and glow colors have worked the best for me. I have also noticed that often I have caught fish through a hole consistently and my second rod, less that 4 feet away has gotten an occasional bite. I have switched places with the two rods and again the one hole has produced great and next to nada down the second hole. Also, don’t be afraid to try really shallow. I have caught them in water less than two feet deep and usually I am in water less than five feet deep.

11

Help a brother out BertDawg. You can do it. Help a brother out.

Lead me to the pumps. Lead me to the pumps. Lead me to the pumps!

12

I have never fished UL through the ice, but i’d love to get my boy out this year. Is there ice on the Jordan River side of the pump house???[crazy] Are there any good spots on the west side? thanks in advance :sunglasses:

13

We also fished the AF harbor from 8:30 until 12:30 catching 6 gills and 1 whitey. Then we went to the pumps and only managed 2 perch in 2 more hours of fishing. In the harbor we fished on the east side across from the docks. Fish were caught on different lures and baits.

14

:sunglasses:Not open water at the pumps. In fact, it is one of the areas that freezes first on Utah Lake. There are several spots in the area that produce fish…sometimes.

Chester posted a response in April of 2007 that gives pretty good directions to finding the pumphouse:

**"**If you’re on I-15 exit at the Lehi Roller Mills and go west through Lehi. (it’s usually a traffic mess thanks eaglets)
Continue on through town. Stop at the Lehi Bakery and get some of the best donuts in the state.(shameless plug..they have square donuts..why waste the corners!) Continue west through town, past the round-a-bout till you get to the new Jr High. At the Jr High turn left(south). Continue on this road till you get to the turn in the road the edge of the lake. The road just turns west and keeps going. You will cross the Jordan river. There is parking by the river. Lots of folks fish there. That’s the north (river)side of the pumps. To get to the south (lake)side of the pumps keep driving past the Jordan river. You will pass Inlet Park(why inlet? it’s the outlet). Parking and fishing there too. Keep going to the next parking area. There is a bathroom at this parking area. Now you’re at the parking for the pumps(and the hot springs). Walk out the (south)end of the parking area, go across a metal bridge over the outlet.(fish here too) Once across the bridge keep on the trail and head east till you get to the pumps. You could get lost here for hours, but just keep trying. If you see a local..follow..they know where they are going.

You can come down Red Wood Road from SLC also. If you do, turn east at the cross roads(light) and go down to the Jr High. Turn right(south) and follow the instructions above. You can continue through the cross roads and take some other roads east and find your way also."

Also…attaching a PDF picture of the general area. You can see all of the potential waters around the pumphouse.

15

Any places to park up in that area? I don’t mind a good walk if I have to.

:sunglasses:There is a little park next to the inlet channel to the south of the pumphouse. You can park next to the little bridge that goes over the channel…and follow the trail around to the area on the Jordan River before the gates.

**There is also a large parking area at the bridge over the Jordan, just above the pumphouse. From there you can walk in on the north side of the river. **

Both access spots involve a little hike, but if there is snow and you have a sled it isn’t bad.

16

Thanks for the help. You are awesome. I guess I also owe some gratitude for the 2007 version of Chester and his pumphouse post.

I think that this gives me enough confidence to go out tomorrow and give it another go. I am going to bring my laptop so that I can look at maps, the picture and the posts.

I will let you all know how I do. I hope that I don’t have another “Utah Lake Disaster.” I didn’t want to trek all the way to Pelican to slay some gills. Hopefully I’ll find a spot that yields some results. At the very least I will have more confidence that just walking around blind. [fishin]

17

:sunglasses:I am adding this post after some codgertation of the info that has been offered so far.

There are a lot of Utah Lake regulars that religiously fish only small jigs and tiny baits…like waxworms or spikes. And, they usually do pretty well on bluegills and crappies, with plenty of perch and a few white bass too. However, there is also a hardcore contingent that fishes mostly “heavy metal”…blade lures like Sonars…in hot pink, white, silver or even black or purple. When the white bass are abundant and active a rapidly jigged blade bait will cover the ice with whities. It also works on walleyes when they are in the area.

I reckymember back in the “olden days”…late 1970s…when I fished Lincoln Beach in the colder months. There were more warm flows coming into the lake in that area then, and the entire area was often good for ice fishing when the lake froze well enough to be safe. We would make a hole almost anywhere out from the rocky edges, in water from 3’ to 8’ deep, and fish unbaited jigs and spoons on our single rods. Caught fish too. Sometimes we would just soak a crawler or a piece of fish meat and catch walleyes, white bass and catfish.

**There was one old boy who fished out there almost every day. He had two or three favorite spots out on the ice that he “triangulated” with shoreline structures. No auger…just an old hatchet. He got wet whenever he chopped his big hole in the ice, but then he plopped down in his folding chair and did not move all the time he fished. He believed in staying as quiet as possible once he got set up. And, when anybody started walking toward him on the ice he vigorously waved them back…no shouting. He did not want anybody else tromping on the ice in the area he was fishing. **

He used several different types of large spoons to jig with. He seemed to do best with either copper or nickle hammered metal spoons…about 2" - 3" long…with no bait…just occasionally jigging them off the bottom. I always saw fish beside him on the ice, and caught up to him a couple of times when he was leaving so that I could chat with him. Sometimes he had several different species…white bass, walleyes, catfish, carp and even a nice trout once in a while. I don’t think I ever saw him without something to show for his efforts.

I have often remembered the lessons he demonstrated. First…you don’t gotta get fancy to catch fish…but you do have to fish where the fish are. Second, in the shallow waters of Utah Lake, the stealth mode will help you catch more fish…by not scaring away those that you might catch. Third…if you learn the lake, and the “fish highways”, you can usually catch something during the day by setting up on the right spots and waiting them out. Of course, that is for the fish that cruise around…like whities and walleyes…more than the “home bodies” like bluegills and crappies.

I cannot begin to count the times I have arrived early at some spot on Utah Lake, and had a good bite going…until the first group of heavy footed galoots tromped over to see how I was doing…and then stood on my left boot to drill 50 more holes of their own. For the most part, ice fishing is a fun group activity…on deeper waters with schooling fish…like perch. On lakes where the fish are more affected by angler activity, within only a few feet, you will usually do better by finding fish away from the crowd and then doing everything you can to minimize noise. Sometimes the fish move off when you drill a hole…or drop something on the ice…but they will probably return…if you are quiet.

Some anglers apparently know nothing of fishing etiquette or basic sportsmanship…and even less of fish habits and reactions. They think nothing of moving right in on top of someone who is catching fish…even if it ruins the fishing for the first angler. True, in some cases it makes no difference…like when a big school of active white bass is terrorizing the area. Lots of activity seems to make them even more active. But, for most fish…most of the time…you will do better if you avoid excess commotion.

Be properly grateful for the good days but don’t start beating yourself up or doubting your abilities if you have a bad day. Any day you can get out on the ice and enjoy the fresh air and exercise is a good day…unless you go through the ice. That can put a severe chill on the enjoys.

18

Thanks TubeDude for the tips. I know it will probably make you unpopular with a few people, so we really do appreciate it.

With the lake only 5 miles away, I am determined to figure this thing out. Plus I have become unpopular with my fishing buddy after not being able to get him into fish the last few outings. :slight_smile:

19

:sunglasses:Sorry if I offended any of the 2 gazillion anglers who think that area is their own private fishing preserve. Yeah, it gets hammered sometimes, but it does not kick out fish all the time. When it does, it is great.

**I have been fishing “The Pumphouse” since the mid 70s. A whole new crop of anglers every year. Some try it once and never again. Others add it to their annual ritual. The fish keep coming in and then coming out through the ice. Hasn’t ruined the lake yet…although it can get “friendly” there at times. **

Here are a couple of pics from the olden days. The first is of Greg Jonas, who used to work with Anglers Inn…and who drowned tragically on Deer Creek Reservoir trying to recover his boat that was blown away from the dock in a wind.
[inline “GREG JONAS - JORDAN.jpg”]

The second two pics are of an “average” morning session…of about an hour before going in to work (still a 4 letter word).

[inline “WHITE BASS - PUMPS.jpg”]

[inline “WHITE BASS - PUMPS 2.jpg”]

Note the black and white pics…the stone ice auger and the cut willow fishing pole. Ancient stuff.

20

I might head down there on the morning. Let me know if you’d like to hook up. I haven’t been there yet and would love to give it a shot :slight_smile: