Jon is rounding out his hunting skills now, and here's his first rooster pheasant. Congratulations! Just don't get too attached to hunting; we've got the ice fishing season rapidly approaching.
It's getting to be that time of year when we cold-footers begin to think about ice fishing season. Some years we're on the ice by Thanksgiving. Other years it's more like Christmas. But I need to go through my equipment and make sure that fish-finder batteries are still good, that reels are spooled up with fresh mono, and that we have some early ideas as to where we want to do our fishing this year. Success rates have been down the past 2 seasons, so I'd like to just think that things will improve this year. We deserve better than we've been getting. Come on ice!
The rainbows were really biting well at Strawberry last weekend. We caught about 4 to 1 rainbows over cutts. And the cutthroats had little size to them. But we weren't upset; Jon, Paul and I all caught some fish. So it was a good day. We used crawfish colored tube jigs early, and then switched to white Rooster-Tails as the sun climbed higher in the sky. The trout were rather shallow, and we only trolled with mono. The bite was pretty continuous, and if we'd have caught all the fish that gave us hits, we'd have caught a bunch! But that's Strawberry. You never know what you're going to get. For example, we had perfectly calm water all morning, and then the wind blew up big time at noon. We had to make our way slowly across the bay to make it back safely to the marina. - We did see some kokanee in the river, by the way. The biggest part of the spawn is over, but a few fish remain in the stream.
This picture was taken by an unknown photographer who captured the kokanee salmon run in a place called Taylor Creek. I just had to post it here. The kokes are running up the Strawberry River right now too. I need to get up there to see some of the action.
Trevor Balls thanks the duck gods for a good morning on the pond.
He is big into both fishing and hunting. So he fits right into the family! I've been fortunate that way. Above is a picture of his hunting partner, Boomer, and some of the ducks they took early one morning near Willard.
Paxton poses with one of his many fish on this day at Mantua Reservoir. The trout were heavy in numbers, and feeding actively. This was easily a 50 fish day!
In late September, Jon and I took a Friday off to venture up to Bear Lake in search of some lake trout. The fishing was slow, as we only got 3 fish to the boat. Jon was skunked this time; that never happens to him! Although he had numerous hits, the hook-ups just wouldn't come.
Young Paxton, seen here at Mantua Reservoir, has now been officially introduced to fishing by his dad, Jon. Grandpa was there to witness the big moment. Paxton caught 5 fish on this day; the perch you see here, a small largemouth bass, and several bluegill.
Slab crappies, like these brutes, are in Pineview, but night fishing on the ice is the best way to get into them. Otherwise, the daytime hours tend to only produce dinks. This is hopefully an indication of good spring fishing to come!
Pineview Reservoir is on the rebound, especially when it comes to perch numbers. A few bigger ones like this guy are occasionally showing up too. The lake has been at the bottom of a "Boom or Bust" cycle for several years now, but appears to finally be on the mend.
Jamison Tuckett, 15, of Layton, lost his life in an accident in mid-January. The fishing world has lost one of its kindred spirits. May our Father in Heaven continue to bless his family.
