# Birthday Trip



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

It seems like I always end up working on my birthday every year, since it falls so close to Christmas. The holidays are always a busy time in the distribution business and time off doesn't come easy. Well I've paid my dues in years past and this time around, I scheduled far in advance to finally have my day. 

What would a guy like me do on a long awaited day off? :twisted:

The alarm sounded and I made myself a really good breakfast burrito with the works. Some fine organic coffee beans found their way into my grinder and then into the percolator to ensure I stayed awake and sharp for the potentially treacherous drive that awaited me.

The storm from the night before had left 8 inches of wet, heavy snow on the City of Orem. The streets were sure to be horrible on the way out and I could only hope that conditions elsewhere would be better.

A little voice in my head told me that I might have to settle for the river instead of getting in a good lake trip. I refused to listen (like usual :lol: ).

Observing the conditions outside my home, I saw no new snowfall and decided to go for it. First stop, Santaquin to pick up a loaner ice auger that a friend at work had left on his porch for me.

The drive in went much better than I had suspected. The roads were fine once I got out of Orem, actually. Nevertheless, I saw several cars either in the median or off the shoulder. One van just north of Santaquin was actually flipped onto its side in the median and no emergency crews had arrived yet. Other motorists were already pulled over and assisting, so I continued.

Even Salt Creek Canyon from Nephi to Fountain Green was easy. It wasn't as nice as the freeway, but I didn't see any cars off the side of THAT road.

When I crested the hill and dropped into the stretch of HWY 132 between Fountain Green and Moroni, I realized once again, that Sanpete County is ALWAYS beautiful. I don't recall ever leaving Sanpete thinking I had a bad day and the skies always either welcome or bid me farewell with something spectacular to ponder:










Man, I love this place. As nice as the clouds were to look at, I knew they probably carried some nasty weather and was glad they were moving the opposite direction from where I was heading.

When I arrived at Palisade Reservoir and drove along the dike, I was surprised to see some open water along the swim beach area inside the state park. It made me question what I was intent on doing.

Another fisherman had apparently arrived right before I did and was still in his car. Upon inspection, I recognized him as a fellow forum member, Ryan Creek. We introduced ourselves and left in search of the fish.

The last time I visited Palisade, the water level was so low that I could see a few interesting anomalies on the lake bed that I promised to remember for future reference.

Well, the first holes I drilled were right over these "structures" and it wasn't long before my hunch was validated.

The first taker came on a weightless nightcrawler on a bait holder (I know, so unorthodox :wink: ).










Second fish came from an actual ice fishing jig, an orange ratso tipped with a meal worm:










The ratso really started to hook up with them for a little while and then it went dead for about an hour. Another few fish would show up here and there for a bit before another siesta.

All fish were rainbows and weren't very large. They were fun to catch though and way better than getting skunked, although I believe both anglers on the lake today were hoping to wrangle up some tigers.

The ratso worked out pretty well and so did a shrimpo, both tipped with meal worms. Bright colors were the ticket for any action. Those jigs seemed to work best a couple of cranks off the bottom in 8-15 feet. The ice was between 3 and 4.5 inches where I fished, but I didn't explore too much. A couple of times, I went to go out further to drill a new hole and heard (felt) the ice pop under my feet. That might be normal for the ice vets, but being a noob, I wasn't comfortable with that at all and turned back.

I also tried a salt and pepper tube jig with a minnow and didn't get any hits at all. Drifting a minnow, weightless produced a couple of fish, but surprisingly they were also small rainbows.

My biggest fish of the day (no pic...only 14 inches) came during a long dry spell while jigging a kastmaster to entertain myself as a nightcrawler soaked. It was very surprising to feel the fish on the end, suddenly on my upstroke. That one was suspended a bit higher in the water column.

I'm not too sure how Ryan Creek fared, but I saw him rushing back and forth to man his rods quite often. He definitely caught some fish.

With the sun getting closer to the horizon, I knew it was getting to be time to return home to spend the evening with my family. I had a good day and got into more fish today than I did all of last year's ice season (which doesn't really say much, but...).










Looking forward to my next trip onto the ice.

Happy Fishing, Humans.


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## netresult (Aug 22, 2008)

Happy birthday LOAH! Very nice pics and report again.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

What a great birthday present to yourself!
Looks like Strawberry may be the place for some bigger trout.
I hope to get on the ice on Friday.
Mantua will be the target.

Happy Birthday LOAH, and tight lines
Grandpa D.


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## stevefan (Dec 24, 2008)

Another nice report from LOAH, you go fishing alone and then come back to the forum and take us all along for the trip. Thanks and Happy Birthday.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Thanks, and welcome to the forum.


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## RyanCreek (Dec 8, 2007)

That was funny to run into you up there, and arrive at the same time as well! What are the chances? I had planned to fish Scofield or Huntington but the weather report was better down there.

I didn't fare too well, just a few slimers. Dang minnow stealers! Last season I would fish that same depth and general area I was at yesterday, using the same stuff, and there would be spurts where I'd get double hook ups the fishing was so fast! Like I said it was one of my worst ice fishing experiences as far as the catch rate goes, but I'll make up for it.

That kastmaster fish was quite a suprise wasn't it?

I took a couple pics...

Wild Turkeys
[attachment=1:2vv74yzq]Wild Turkeys.jpg[/attachment:2vv74yzq]

LOAH baitin up
[attachment=0:2vv74yzq]LOAH.jpg[/attachment:2vv74yzq]


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## luv2fsh&hnt (Sep 22, 2007)

I am glad you had a good b-day Loah.I too enjoy your reports.Your writing skills remind me of the late great Patrick McManuss' writings I read when I was a kid.I bet you could get published if you pursued it.I always read your post's first when looking at the fishing reports.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Well I'm glad you enjoy reading them. I enjoy writing them. Thanks.



fatbass said:


> Thanks for the trip report. Did you keep dinner?


Yes, indeed.


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## iceicebaby (Dec 17, 2007)

Good job and great pics with story. When you are ready to catch some bigguns at the berry...give me a holler and I'll share some secrets with ya.  Take ya and anyone else who is interested, once ice is safe in the area I like to fish of course. Usually first of the year.


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## REPETER (Oct 3, 2007)

Good job LOAH and RyanC. Looks like a beautiful day from the pictures. Happy Birthday LOAH!


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