# Fishing Reports



## TOgden (Sep 10, 2007)

I thought I'd start a thread to gather more information about this site's fisherman.

Looking back until November of last year there have been just over a dozen folks posting fishing reports. I know that the heaviest use of this website is the big game guys and that's okay but come on we need to get more of you guys that are fishing and just not sharing your experience.

I submit reports but they are probably not much help for those of you that don't fly fish but at least you can see photos and approximate locations of the places I go and the species that I catch. We have some great fishing holes in our state, and I know from what I have seen the last two years of the crud that there are a lot of folks out fishing. It's hard to tell the weekdays on the water from the weekends as far as the crowds go.

Come on, lets see a few more reports, even if you didn't catch the big one.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

_ I cant afford the fuel to go fishing anymore. I'll live vicariously through the reports though and try to remember what fishing was like. _


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

TOgden said:


> I thought I'd start a thread to gather more information about this site's fisherman.
> 
> Looking back until November of last year there have been just over a dozen folks posting fishing reports. I know that the heaviest use of this website is the big game guys and that's okay but come on we need to get more of you guys that are fishing and just not sharing your experience.
> 
> ...



Preach, brutha! It has been pretty dead on here lately. All folks want to talk about are trail cams, gas prices, and string trimmers. Part of it is the time of year; ice fishing winding down, too cold for other types of action. Also, even "the other leading Utah fishing forum" has simply slowed down in participation. I suppose many would rather brag and imbibe conspiracy theories on Facebook these days. Nonetheless, I think more guys do get out and have something worthwhile to share. 

Anywho, spring is coming and the action will be heating up in places that won't bust the fuel budget to get to.


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## TOgden (Sep 10, 2007)

Catherder said:


> Anywho, spring is coming and the action will be heating up in places that won't bust the fuel budget to get to.


I'm sure that folks will be fishing closer to home and not making as many trips with the cost of fuel. I just got back from a quick trip to California and the gas station that I stopped at limit your credit card to $100 per transaction. At over $6 a gallon, I maxed it out and it didn't fill the tank.  

Gas is $6.72 gallon at Bullfrog, if your able to launch your boat.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

Come on TO. A guy probably can’t go fishing and post pics of fish he caught while fishing in the most logical place to try and catch those fish without people acusing them of stealing their top secret spot and being a jack wad 🤔

We’ve only done two berry trips the last month but did ok on each. All cuts. We caught several smaller than usual cuts but managed several upper slot sized fish. Best luck was on 1/8oz Henley plastics tipped with mealworms. We were in 80’ of water with all the fish running in the 40-60 foot column.

The bathtub should be waking up soon and I have been focusing on gearing up for that. I learned a ton my first year last year and stuffed the freezer with walleye and wipers. Now I’m looking to dial things in even better this year. I actually stated converting the boat back into the tub troller just today actually. I might have some reports coming on that soon.


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## utahbigbull (May 9, 2012)

On a side note, I wonder if I’m going to be one of the few able to get out of the marina at the tub come June?? Looking pretty bad. It is much lower than last year at this time and it never rose at all last year. 😬


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## Finnegan (Sep 7, 2007)

Back in the day, I used to post a lot of fishing reports but I got fed up with the snarky criticisms and snotty attitudes. When the Area 51 forum was created (speaking of snotty attitude), that was it for me. But it's been awhile and I'm ready to give it another go. I recently started posting a bit on BFT and I'll start posting here again...see if the karens are still lurking. It appears that nobody's posting in Area 51 anymore, so that encouraging. I've fished enough years and caught enough fish that I can get as much pleasure out of seeing others catch fish as I do out of catching them myself.

Being optimistic, gas prices are going to come back down to something that's only moderately insane. So I'll be hitting the Gorge chasing lunker mackinaw as I always do.



















I haven't done a lot of ice fishing this year, but have recently been doing really well for big browns at Jordanelle. Ice is still good. I've done best fishing close to shore with small Gitzits early in the morning. It seems like as soon as the sun hits the ice, the big boys disappear. Surprisingly, I haven't caught a single perch - maybe because they're too busy trying to keep from being eaten with the low water level and loss of cover. And by the bye, has anyone pulled a wiper out of Jordanelle?

I recently moved to a place about 5 miles from Smith & Morehouse, so I've been fiddling around there a lot catching small bows and a few grayling. Meantime I'm learning the Weber river that never did freeze completely this winter. Fly fishing is a weak spot for me, but I think that will change over the course of the summer. But as a guy who just bought his first fly rod, I got a lot to learn.

A favorite spring fishing hole of mine has been Willard Bay where I love catching walleye and wipers, but I'm not sure we'll even have enough water for a boat this year. Last time I looked, it was looking pretty low and docks were on the dirt. We'll see. There's always Deer Creek.

My future fishing will get interrupted somewhat this year with my upcoming bear hunt. Who knows what else might come up in this crazy world we're living in. Remember when we could only fish in our resident county? Who'd have thought something like that would ever happen? But short of getting kilt by a bear or vaporized in a nuclear war, I'll start posting reports again.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Nice report, Finnegan. I never was able to make it to Jordanelle on the hard deck this year. I usually get up there a time or two on the ice. Glad you had some success. 



Finnegan said:


> Back in the day, I used to post a lot of fishing reports but I got fed up with the snarky criticisms and snotty attitudes. When the Area 51 forum was created (speaking of snotty attitude), that was it for me.


I think the traffic on the fishing side is low enough that us that are left don't get snarky. Also, it helps that there isn't any new controversial legislation or WB edicts either, like there is for hunting. 

That said, if one goes down to Lake Powell and catch a bunch of strippers, we might have to yuck it up a little.


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## PBH (Nov 7, 2007)

I can't remember the last fish I caught -- must have been a striper*. And I'm afraid it's going to be a while before I catch the next one. I hope it's a trout! I don't want catherder to make fun of me...

Softball season has begun. This means that the weather will be horrible, and there won't be any time to hunt turkeys or cast for cruising rainbows. Everything will be on hold until mid May.

I've slowly started working on my next project at home -- this is going to be chum salmon driftwood mount #2. I hate the black board this particular mount is on. It's ugly. I've found a nice piece of driftwood and began prepping it. I'll get some pictures taken, and post up something to show the transformation. That's about as close to a fishing report as I'm going to get for a bit...



*maybe it was this catfish??


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

PBH said:


> Softball season has begun. This means that the weather will be horrible, and there won't be any time to hunt turkeys or cast for cruising rainbows. Everything will be on hold until mid May.
> 
> 
> *maybe it was this catfish??



I hear you about sports seasons. One time though when my daughter was playing soccer, they had a road game at Wasatch and I went a little early with the fly rod and hit the middle Provo. I (barely) made it to the game on time and all was well. (I even caught an 18 inch brown that day, which is pretty good for me there) Maybe a similar opportunity will open up for you.

Yep, thats a catfish. Richard will still let you come on gillnetting surveys.


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## wyoming2utah (Sep 12, 2007)

Catherder said:


> I think the traffic on the fishing side is low enough that us that are left don't get snarky. Also, it helps that there isn't any new controversial legislation or WB edicts either, like there is for hunting.
> 
> That said, if one goes down to Lake Powell and catch a bunch of strippers, we might have to yuck it up a little.


I don't know...some of us are always snarky. The thing that gets me the most snarkiest (is that good grammar?), though, is when people get so caught up in "hotspotting"--some guys get bent out of shape when I identify their location after they post a report of their favorite spot, include pictures, and show everybody where they are.

I miss the old Utah on the Fly site. The BFT Utah Lake, Willard Bay, Strawberry reports just don't do it for me. I love Togden's reports because they always seem to be from somewhere not reported on as much.

I guess I need to start reporting...but, my kids are so involved in sports now too that getting out is getting tough. That's a first for me...usually, I can get out in late afternoons and weekends all year round. I'm having a hard time adjusting...


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## TOgden (Sep 10, 2007)

PBH said:


> Softball season has begun. This means that the weather will be horrible, and there won't be any time to hunt turkeys or cast for cruising rainbows. Everything will be on hold until mid May.


When our boys were playing high school baseball the weather was always horrible too. 

Let me know the days your daughter is playing and I'll be sure not to plan a fishing trip.


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

Great pictures, everyone.

My reports are boring. Typically I go to Strawberry, I fish with Powerbait, and I catch a handful of small to average rainbows. I usually don't take pictures because I haven't figured out a great way to do it without making a mess of the camera or dropping it in the water. Past experience has taught me that reports without pictures or much insightful information aren't very engaging, so I don't bother.

I'll try to make it a point to post if I have something useful or interesting to share.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Okay. I'll start posting again.😁 I haven't fished since December, but I do have 3 years worth of unreported fishing to catch up on.

I need some vehicle-related things to happen for me before I get back to it, but once that's out of the way, I have many plans. Until then, I'll post a few make-up reports.


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

LOAH said:


> Okay. I'll start posting again.😁 I haven't fished since December, but I do have 3 years worth of unreported fishing to catch up on.
> 
> I need some vehicle-related things to happen for me before I get back to it, but once that's out of the way, I have many plans. Until then, I'll post a few make-up reports.



Good to hear from you again. Hope all is well.


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## turkinator (May 25, 2008)

LOAH hasn't fished since December?!?! Something needs to change. I'm looking forward to catching up on your 3 years of back logged fishing reports! Also looking to see others reports as well!

My 15yo son has been bugging me to get out. Guess I better make that happen and come back with a report of my own. Thanks for starting the thread TO!


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

turkinator said:


> LOAH hasn't fished since December?!?! Something needs to change.


Yes, I believe it's the longest I've gone without fishing for close to 20 years. I could use some relief. I still have water on the brain daily. Vehicle stuff and some personal things are currently in my way and my desire to go to local spots gets defeated quickly at the moment.

My Rodeo was sold last year and getting a replacement has been a mess. I ended up buying a Jeep Liberty last March and had all sorts of high hopes for it. Had a budget to build it up (lift kit, tires, roof basket, etc) and it was going to be the new LOAH-mobile.

I got two months of daily driving and two road trips out of it before the engine took a crap. The cost of repair was equal to what I'd already put into it, so that's not going to happen. Cutting my losses there before it gets worse. With the Jeep woes being compounded by my car's transmission going out later last year, it was time to get a new ride with low miles soI bit the bullet and got a loan. I'm not one to be in debt, so it's way out of my comfort zone.

The used vehicle market sucks right now (and back in October when I dealt with this). Most 4x4's under $10k that meet my requirements all have nearly 200k miles on them and are beat to hell. XJ's and 4 Runners are just a bit out of reach and getting a loan for such high mileage would make me a slave to the payments.

Time on my loaner car was running out and I had to act, so I settled on a reliable gas mileage car with low miles. 2012 Altima with under 70k miles. I really didn't want it, but it was the best choice I had, given the circumstances. The family liked it, so whatever.

Then I got rear ended in Feb.😡

Though it was a really frustrating situation, it ended up being a blessing in disguise and my turd sandwich ended up having a golden crust. Now I have a car and no more loan! The trunk doesn't work so well, but I no longer have a payment every month and can take my time procuring a good 4x4.

I already have my sights set on a vehicle down the road from my workplace and have had good conversations with the owner. Hoping that works out. If so, I'll be back in business and laughing at this silly world from higher ground.

Just not in that good place quite yet.


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## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Why are so many people so secretive over fishing spots? It's just a fish!


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## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

ridgetop said:


> Why are so many people so secretive over fishing spots? It's just a fish!


I guess its just not wanting to share that fish with 347 other fishermen 1 day after the location is shared. I'm mostly easy going on this, but when I can reach out and actually touch the person next to me with my hand while fishing, it gets a little old after awhile. But that's just a WAG.


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## Gordon (Sep 11, 2007)

ridgetop said:


> Why are so many people so secretive over fishing spots? It's just a fish!


Just a turkey, just a pheasant, just some chukars, etc......
When you earn it with time or sweat or boot leather you tend to hold it near and dear


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## TPrawitt91 (Sep 1, 2015)

I used to share quite a bit, reports and Youtube videos. GDOG didn't like that I told people I fished at Big Cottonwood Creek in SLC and kept giving me ****. So I stopped sharing.


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