Flaming Gorge - June, 2014

 

Jon and I went on a 2 day adventure to Flaming Gorge with guide Ashley Bonser. Highlights included a 25 pound lake trout, including several smaller ones. Kokanee salmon and rainbow trout were also a part of our limit. We released the bigger lakers so they would continue to offer good fishing for years to come. That 25 pounder was likely 30 years old!

We brought home some beautiful salmon and trout fillets for the smoker and the frying pan. The weather was the only inconsistent factor we had; everything from wind to snow to sunshine! We'll be going back, for sure!







Strawberry Full Moon

Cindy always tells me not to go fishing on a full moon. Well we went anyway, but as the moon would have it, we did very poorly. We saw fish on the finder, but getting them to bite was a real problem. I had only 2 bites, hooked one and lost him on the way up. Cam caught 2; a cutthroat and a cuttbow. Here he poses with the nice cutt. I guess we'll wait a couple of weeks and then go again. The lake is frozen over big-time, and won't be melting for a while. Strawberry is often fishable from the ice into April.

 

Ice Fishing Picture

My 4 year old grandson, Paxton, drew this picture about his ice fishing experiences. He spent a lot of time on it, and no one knew what he was doing until he showed us the final product. You can't tell me that experiences like this don't make a lasting impression on kids! He has our little tent-city drawn in with us inside keeping warm and fishing with our poles. And the fish below are the ones we were catching that day. I was amazed how he had the cut-away view showing below the ice as well. He's very creative for only 4.
Way to go, Pax!

Back to Mantua

 

Cam and Jake went to Mantua today with some scouts. Jake poses here with a nice bass he caught. Jon, Paxton, and Paul also went along. It snowed 4 inches on us while there. Fun day on the ice!

 

Mantua Grand Slam

New Year's Day found us on the ice again, this time at Mantua Reservoir. Jon, Paxton and I went up early to try to get in on the morning bite. And did we ever! I saw fish on the finder, and caught fish continually until we left about 2:00pm. I caught the Grand Slam for that lake:  largemouth bass, perch, bluegill, and rainbow trout.
Paxton had a ball, and is learning better every trip how to recognize a bite and set the hook. We had a great time.
The sun was out, very little breeze, if any, and temps in the 20's. A perfect day. We kept enough fish for a meal or two, and put the fillet knife to them that evening.

Search for Pineview Perch

I went solo to Pineview this morning. The fishing was slow, but I was able to stay fairly busy with the occasional fish coming through on the finder. But the bite wasn't very good; fish would come and check out the jigs, but wouldn't always hit. It was a light bite, too, and very difficult to detect a strike. Wire bobbers saved me, or I likely wouldn't have caught anything at all. I finished with only 7 perch, and one yellow catfish. However, the weather was beautiful and I enjoyed the morning in a haze-free environment.

Rockport on the Hard Deck

Our first ice fishing trip of the year found us at Rockport Reservoir. Little Paxton caught the biggest fish of the day; a nice rainbow trout. The rest of us struggled to get hits, and I only caught one little planter rainbow. If I had caught all the fish that gave me quick bites, I'd have had a very good day. But it was difficult to set the hook on these short-biters. However the weather was great, and we got out of the inversion and haze for a few hours.
More trips to come . . .