East Canyon with Paxton

We spent a Saturday morning at East Canyon with Paxton, and he had the hot stick all morning long. These are some of the rainbows he caught on PowerBait. Yellow-corn and rainbow were the 2 hot colors.

 

Here's Pax reeling in one of his 'bows. They jumped and fought hard for him. And he had a blast!

 

Paxton's first limit of trout. He brought in all 4 of them, each about a pound to 2 pounds each. Made for a heavy stringer, but he could handle it okay. Jon gave him a new pole for Easter, and he was determined to get out and give it a go. We're glad he insisted.

Strawberry Still Capped

After an unusually warm winter, on the very highest lakes are still frozen. And we've suffered from a poor fishing year at these locations. Fish numbers are there, as the fish finders and underwater cameras show. But the bit is almost impossible. I got sunburned pretty bad yesterday, and only recorded one cutthroat to show for my efforts. Jake caught one and lost one at the hole, and Cam lost one at the hole, too. Other than that . . .
Here's s shot of my cutt; he was around 18". We may go back one more time! The cold weather is holding at the Berry. It was 2 degrees when we arrived, and only 32 when we left at 3:00.

First Ice Is On!

Finally, the weather has gotten cold enough to start freezing the lakes for ice fishing.
It was a long, mild fall and early winter, so everyone was anxious to get out on the hard deck.
I got a new Aqua-Vu underwater camera for Christmas using gift cards and Cabela bucks. It's a color model, with a 3 1/2 inch screen; small enough to put in your pocket. Excellent screen resolution, too.
We've only gotten out once so far, to Scofield. Fishing was slow and not very rewarding. We won't be going back down there this year. For a 2 1/2 hour drive, the fishing just wasn't good.
Looking ahead, Mantua, Lost Creek, East Canyon, Causey, and Strawberry are all fishing good. We'll be taking grandkids to Mantua next weekend for trout and whatever else might be biting. Usually a few perch, bass, and bluegill.
Looking WAY ahead, we have a Flaming Gorge trip booked for June with Captain Ashley Bonser again. 2 days out for big lakers, and one day for kokanee. Should be a blast. It was last year. We're kind of doing this instead of saving up thousands to go to Alaska again.
See you on the ice!

Big Day at Lost Creek

Jon and I did a half-day at Lost Creek last Saturday, and he just knocked them dead! I caught one nice cutthroat on a black Rooster-Tail, but Jon was using an orange squid tipped with a worm, behind a pink and silver dodger. He easily caught more than 20 fish, and about 5 were the larger cutts like you see in the photo. 18+", and full of fight. Fish numbers are high, and the new slot limit seems to be helping the cutthroats grow.
We're excited for ice fishing up there now. Boating weather has just about passed us by. Cold and snowy weather has moved in, and pushed out our beautiful fall that we enjoyed.

Good time, few fish

An overnighter to East Canyon Reservoir didn't produce but 2 hits, and one trout. But Macy and Paxton had a great time anyway!

We slept in our vehicles rather than do battle with a tent for just one night. Both trucks fold down seats in the back and make for a sleeping area. We cooked chicken nuggets and fries over the fire, and then made s'mores. We had a good time even though the trout fishing and crayfish hunting was poor. We found the only cooperative fish near the surface.

Aren't those some good looking grandkids?!?!?

More Bear Lake Results

I just received these shots from my son-in-law Kris, and thought I'd post them, too.
A nice cutthroat of my own, and one that Paxton caught with the help of his dad.

Bear Lake Reunion fish excursions

We caught some nice native cutthroat from Bear Lake during out July, 2014 family reunion. No big lake trout this year, but everybody caught something. The grandsons included! All had to be immediately released because they were natives, so we had no smoked fish on this trip. But we did have a good time trolling with downriggers from 35 to 55 feet down.