# Palisade / Nine Mile / Yuba / etc.



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

The alarm actually sounded this week and I was able to get out the door right when I had planned.

As soon as I saw what was outside that door, I knew I could be in for a long day. There was a good layer of snow covering the ground and it was coming down thick.

Perfect weather for driving through some mountains!

The freeway was horrible! Somewhere around Santaquin, I thought I'd just go to Yuba and skip the rest. I say somewhere around Santaquin because I completely missed it. I couldn't see more than 20 feet in front of me in some spots.

I almost turned around, but I got out of the worst of it. It was barely snowing in Nephi, so I took the canyon and was pretty surprised with what I saw right by the retention pond:



















Apparently, the owner of this vehicle was on his paper route and lit up a cigarette and the next thing he knew, his car was on fire. Plenty of fuel too, with all the newspapers in the back. He said I showed up about 30 seconds after he pulled over.

I sat and waited with him until the highway patrol showed up. He looked pretty freaked out, but he wasn't hurt. I made sure the cops didn't need me for anything and was glad to get out of their way.

I got a little bit of video from it too:



So after a slight delay, I was primed for Palisade. I'd only been once before and only caught a tiny cutt that day, so I had hopes to do a little better than that this time.

I pulled up and basically had the place to myself so I flicked a spinner for a moment and then got back in the car to drive over onto the dam. I parked there and tossed out a minnow to soak while preparing my tube.

I rigged up the fly rod and brought the ultra light too. The water was ready for me.










I kicked out to the fallen trees in the center of that photo while dragging a streamer and a red copper john. I dropped a minnow and proceeded to attempt fly fishing once again and all could manage was to whip my setup into orbit, never to be seen again. :|

Just about then, I realized that my right foot was getting really cold and it felt wet. The left? No. Great. Now I've sprung a leak in my waders and it's not exactly the warmest water.

I made sure to drop a minnow out further than I could cast, leaving the bale open, and then kicked back to the dam where my car was and got out to a numb right leg. My kicking had worked a bit more water into the waders and my 3 layers of insulation (long johns, sweat pants, pajama bottoms) were soaked on one side.

Once I got on solid ground, I found the leak, since it was draining in a solid stream of water coming from the middle of the ankle on my boot. Grrr. Only got a year out of them. :x (Cabelas brand)

At least I was all alone because I had some changing to do in the car. Luckily I had a pair of pants that I shed before donning the waders.

So now with one sock, but otherwise dry and happy, I could get back to fishing. The minnow that I had strategically dropped off about 50 yards out had been picked up by something. Ahh, my favorite type of suspense. What ever could it be?

Well, I wasn't sure, but I was using an ultra light rod and once the fight started, it felt like a buffalo. :shock: It was pretty far out, so it took a little longer than normal to get in.

It turned out to be an 18 inch tiger trout. Not the biggest thing out there, but good enough.










The fishing was slow, but I didn't have anything better to do so I threw on a Kastmaster and started hurling that out. I kept trying different retrieves and finally got what I wanted. I hooked up with a couple of rainbows at about 15 inches on that. They were clean hookups and I still had at least one more lake to visit, so back they went. They fought harder than the tiger. Pretty fun on that UL.



















I was anxious to try my hand at Nine Mile, so I packed everything up and moved out. Just a few minutes later, I was driving along the dike to get to the dam.

Nine Mile seems pretty shallow with a very gradual drop off, so the dam was the only place I felt good about.

I lip hooked a really feisty rainbow on a worm within minutes and I released it expecting more.










There wouldn't be any more though. 

Wrap it up, drive to Painted Rocks.

Even in a snowstorm, I love Painted Rocks. I don't know what it is about that place, but I'm drawn to it. Here's what the weather looked like:




























Hey the docks are out! :lol:










I stayed there trying different things to no avail. Yuba was dead. I thought about driving over to Oasis and trying my luck there, but opted to get back on the highway and point my car north.

I-15 was still a mess, but the snow wasn't sticking to the road, so it wasn't too bad. It was a cake walk compared to the morning drive. Still some slipping and hydroplaning though.

Pucker, pucker.

On a whim, I took the southern-most Payson exit, drove through town and hit Salem Pond for an hour. Nothing. I didn't really give it my all, but the spot I fished was a bit frustrating. I saw plenty of fish rising and they wouldn't have anything to do with me. Oh well. Just little planters.

All in all, it was a good day. I took a long drive, warmed up next to a cozy fire (poor kid), filled my waders with cold water, caught some fish, and made it back safely.

Hoping for better weather next weekend for a family trip.

Happy Fishing, Humans.


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## waltny (Sep 8, 2007)

You may be able to save those cabela waders, the ones I bought had a hole in them from day one! I aqua sealed them inside and out and they have been good to me since.

Great trip report as always


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## allremington (Nov 11, 2007)

Great report, LOAH. Sorry to hear about the waders, though.
I'd drag those waders back to Cabelas and stand at the Customer Service counter until you're satisfied!!
I had a pair of their Dry-Plus rain pants with a bad zipper that I had used for a couple of hunting seasons that they exchanged for a new pair. I think it's worth the difference in price between them and SW when you can get service after the sale. Anyway, just my 2 bits, hope it works out for you.


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## rapalahunter (Oct 13, 2007)

I woke up this morning and my wife said "snow". I didn't question whether or not you braved the elements, I just muttered to myself, "Justin's a crazy SOB". I was right. 

Don't you love how everything feels like a trophy fish on an UL. 8) 

Sounds like a great day. I spent the day visiting in-laws, so pretty much anything sounds like a great day.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

rapalahunter said:


> Don't you love how everything feels like a trophy fish on an UL. 8)


No kidding. I likes. 8)

That Nine Mile bow made my Ugly Stick feel like the ultra light. It was bigger than it looks in that photo. I was really impressed with the way the Palisade bows slammed that kastmaster. They landed a good hit and set themselves.

Good stuff.

I really wish my waders didn't spring a leak though. I was just getting to my destination, too.

I could've used that tube at Nine Mile.

Better weather coming.


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## Greenguy88 (Sep 7, 2007)

Good job on the fish LOAH. I woke up today to see the snow too, but I knew you would be out there braving the elements! I hope to hit Palisades at least once this year. That sucks about that guys car!


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## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Sounds like you had a great solo adventure. You are da man with the kastmaster and minnow setup. No skunkage on a bad weather day, can you get a boat out on palisades? It's only monday and I am yearning for more open water fishing!


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Electric motors only on Palisade. It's more of a canoe / pontoon place. I don't think there's an actual ramp.


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## BRL1 (Sep 12, 2007)

Sounds like a great trip, even with the bad weather. Alot better than, the day I had, towing someone else's Ford 40 miles home to change the in tank fuel pump.

Good luck with the waders, I found a hole in the bootfoot of mine when I hit one of your favorite tiger trout spots just after ice off 2 years ago. VERY COLD!!


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## gwailow (Jan 20, 2008)

Good report....I was on my way to Palisades Saturday morning too, but I whimped out and went to Yuba. I should have just stayed in bed.  SKUNK!!!!


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## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

Great report LOAH. Thanks a bunch. I think it is time to resurect the canoe and electric motor. Mmmmmmm........ when will I do that..............well soon.   :?


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## threshershark (Sep 7, 2007)

Nice LOAH! Glad you put fly to water too, keep it up. What line were you using?

On the waders: Fill the leaky leg up with water from your hose and then squeeze. Watch where the water spouts out, and then mark the spot. Let the waders dry, and just slap some aqua seal on the hole (inside & out). Good as new.

Good to see a LOAH tiger pic again.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

First of all, I'm ridiculous with my fly rod. I can't remember (for shame), but I think the line is a type 3 WF sinking. I remember it being considered an "intermediate" sink rate. I'm starting to wonder if I wasted all that money. Think of all the cool gear I could've gotten with 3 Benjamins.

I suppose I just need to try it next to someone that knows their stuff because I'm clueless.

For the waders, I know right where the spot is. When I got out of the water and bent my knees, I could see a solid stream of water shooting out. It looked like my ankle was peeing. :lol:


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## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

Nice pics LOAH. i always look forward to seeing your pics. Don't get disappointed with the fly rod. If you want I'll show you some awesome waters to tube around. I never have anyone to fly fish with, all my buddies do other types of fishin.


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## RKD5 (Sep 13, 2007)

Just take those waders back to cabela's they will give you a new pair. I had a pair for about three years that the seam in the crotch went bad. I sent them in the mail with a letter and told them I wanted a new size even and within a week I had a brand new pair sent to me. I have a friend that took some in and they gave him a new pair no questions asked and his were probably 5 years old.


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## Poo Pie (Nov 23, 2007)

Glad you got out LOAH, some of those pics look COLD! Brrrr, is it spring yet?


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## Lakecitypirate (Mar 4, 2008)

Good report LOAH, I like how you add so much detail to all your reports . Makes me need to go fishing


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## metal_fish (Mar 19, 2008)

Kastmasters are awesome it seems fish hit them harder than other lures idk. 
Looks fun i wish i could of joined ya but had to go to a reception on sunday.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

It wouldn't have been very fun for anyone else to have joined me. The fishing was slow and the weather wasn't very nice. The drive down had me pretty concerned.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

B'DOW!

Went to Cabela's with the leaky waders and they didn't give me a hassle at all.




























Thanks for the advice, y'all.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

LOAH, don't give up on the fly rod and sinking line.
You need to fish Strawberry with someone that knows the ropes as far as fishing sinking line.
They can set you up with the correct line set up and flies.
You also need to know how deep to let the line drop and how slow or fast to retrieve and how to strip the line in.
After you get this down, you will love fishing with a sinking line and flies.
You will want to always bring both a spinning rod and a fly rod with you.
There is a time and place for both to work best.
Give it some time for the sinking line to work.
Right now a woolly bugger with a floating line may work better than a type 3 sinking line.
A type 3 is not an intermediate sinking line. 
If I remember correct, an intermediat line will omly sink to about 6' bellow the surface.
A type 3 line will sink to 20' or lower depending on how long you let it sink before you start to move it. 
Stay with it and you will love it!


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