# One Goal Down



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

_Earlier this year, several forum topics from around the web focused on 2011 goals and one of mine this year was to beat my personal best tiger trout._

Ah, what a relief it is to finally see some real spring weather! After what seems like eons of foul-weather weekends, my family and I exploited a beautiful Saturday and took a long drive in search of some lunker tiger trout.

We picked up our friend, Holdsworth, some minnows, and hit the road. Along the route, we stopped at a family favorite rest area, where we've always enjoyed stretching our legs and playing with the squirrels.










They'll come right up and take food from an open hand, so the kids really love that.

After our break, we continued our journey and eventually made it to our destination. This lake has historically been a tough one to fish, leaving me skunked and scratching my head more than once. All the same, it has also given up some great fish, so it's worth checking out a couple of times per year.

As is the norm with family trips, we arrived much later than we should have and the notorious canyon bellows were already pumping up a wicked breeze. This particular lake has a narrow window of calm conditions in the early mornings and then it's wind-in-your-face for the rest of the day. It makes casting a weightless minnow very difficult and you can forget even attempting to use a fly rod.

Despite the gusts, we got busy with the usual tiger techniques and it became clear that the fishing was going to be rough. The first hour ticked by without any sign of life, but a well placed shiner eventually found its way into the kype of a thickly-shouldered male of 18 inches.










It was great to break the monotony and it gave the kids something to be excited about. Their patience is typically on the verge of tantrum status when the fishing is slow, so a good catch is a major morale booster.

A short while later, from the same spot, another minnow found a mouth and I handed the rod to my 5 year old son so he could get a feel for a good sized angry tiger. He was very happy to reel in a 17 inch female.










The next fish, again from that magic spot, was a real pig and it gave me a very nice battle, making strong runs and then going vertical with head shaking aerial displays. It was very entertaining to bring in this 22.5" beast.










It weighed 3 lbs, 1 oz.

So in a relatively short amount of time, I'd managed to bring in 3 nice fish (counting the one I hooked for my boy), but nobody else had so much as a bump so far. Sure, I was glad to catch fish, but it was hard to watch my wife and friend get the skunk while I cashed in.

My wife informed me that it was "her turn", so I took a break from fishing, got some lunch ready for the kids, and kept them entertained for about an hour.

After my break, the skunk was still hanging around the rest of my party, so I started casting various lures. Kastmasters were good for cutting through the wind, so I shuffled through several colors of those. In the end, it was my favorite gold that got slammed on a slow retrieve.

Right away, I could tell that this fish was nice. My companions looked on with bitter-sweet enthusiasm as my rod remained doubled over and my reel moaned in protest of the powerful runs the fish was taking at will. Once the valiant battle subsided, I gazed proudly at my new personal best (in terms of length) tiger trout of 25 inches!



















That really put the cherry on my sundae and a smile on my face! At 25", it only weighed 4 lbs, 1 oz, but it was still a great catch and very healthy.

So it was a great day for me, but my poor wife and friend got the shaft. They were glad to be out in the nice weather, day-tripping to far away places though.

Happy Fishing, Humans.


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

Nice work! Sounds like a great place to windsurf. Hope you didn't have to bust the gas tank to get there.
BTW, it not just the fish that bite, squirrels do too! Forgive me for sounding like a "squirrel hugger" but when you feed them it is just like any other wildlife, they become dependent on food from humans and usually die.


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## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

WAHOOOOOOOO....NICE JOB LOAH!!! Making a goal and going after it...Good on you CONGRATS...I'm think'n your 3Ps paid off!!!


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

tye dye twins said:


> Forgive me for sounding like a "squirrel hugger" but when you feed them it is just like any other wildlife, they become dependent on food from humans and usually die.


Whatever, squirrel hugger! :lol:

Nah, these squirrels more than likely are already dependent upon the offerings of passers-by. They're truck stop prairie dogs. It's a very busy truck stop and any given time you visit, you'll see people tossing them morsels. Then again, little rodents are pretty good at finding food. They'll be fine, but I'm not too concerned about preserving the prairie dog population in Utah. They're considered a pest, I believe.



k2muskie said:


> WAHOOOOOOOO....NICE JOB LOAH!!! Making a goal and going after it...Good on you CONGRATS...I'm think'n your 3Ps paid off!!!


It's so weird that I had all the luck. I really wanted to get Sonia into a fatty. Her personal best fish came from the same lake @ 22.5", a few years ago.


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## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

It's funny how one person can have the hot rod.
Yesterday, I was fishing from my boat, using 2 identical set ups. One rod caught 90% of all the fish.
No reason for that that I can think of. Sometimes it just happens that way.

By the way congratulations on your new best catch.
Now go back and do it again!


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

Good going LOAH. Congrats on a personal best! 8)


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Holy Cow!


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## Size Matters (Dec 22, 2007)

Congrats it sounds like you had a awesome day thanks for the report and photos. 8)


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## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

Great report as always. Congrats on a personal best.


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

tye dye twins said:


> Nice work! Sounds like a great place to windsurf. Hope you didn't have to bust the gas tank to get there.
> BTW, it not just the fish that bite, squirrels do too! Forgive me for sounding like a "squirrel hugger" but when you feed them it is just like any other wildlife, they become dependent on food from humans and usually die.


So. :?:


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

So? I like the squirels. It's a fact that they DIE so if you feel like killing a squirrel be my guest. To some it might just be a rat with pretty fur but to me it sounds like you oughtta catch it next time and use it as Catfish bait in the Green or Colorado River. 
Come on now if its gonna die lets put it to some good use. :rotfl: 
You sure that isn't how you nailed the awesome Tiger?


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

I like the squirrels too. Chipmunks and squirrels are a blast at touristy places. At Provo River Falls in the Uintas, the chipmunks there will practically sit in your hand and eat. 

The ones at Zion actually do.

Whether or not they rely purely on it, they're still going to get it from the hoards of other folks that think it's "cute".


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## blueboy22 (Sep 30, 2007)

Ive been feeding the little guys like that for over 40 years but..... I no longer shoot them. And that kills them quicker then just Feeding them


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## tye dye twins (Mar 8, 2011)

Okay enough about the squirrels, kinda detracting from Loahs awesome adventures. Take it or leave it.....some of you guys are taking it pretty hard. Forgot I made this comment on a hunting/fishing fourm. I was just making a comment to Loah, not the rest of ya. I would eat one, wear it as a hat, and use the bones to kill another one given the chance.

I never did comment on trip reports, I was just into lurking until I saw it was brought up in a previous post about how other sites trip reports get more responses. Keep it up Loah your close to a fishing wizard in my book, and thanks to you my twin and I nailed our 1st Tigers.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

tye dye twins said:


> I would eat one, wear it as a hat, and use the bones to kill another one given the chance.


Now that's funny! :lol:



> thanks to you my twin and I nailed our 1st Tigers.


??? Was I directly involved in this?


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Nice fish LOAH... glad you got them all out fishing. I have to admit, when I went fishing Saturday, I halfway hoped you and your family would be at my location so I could say hi and chat with you. Anyway, nice catch and thats cool of you to let your son reel in that fatty!!


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Nice, where did you go fishing?


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

PM sent. Just headed east and south for some Tigers, Cutts and Bows... oh my. Wound up only having time to fish for the first two. Wanted to stop and chuck maribou for some other trout species on the way home but the wind kicked my butt in the tube and I was having to fight off the urge to doze on the drive home. Almost thought about just pulling off and napping for a bit. :?


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Know that feeling!


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