# Fishing the gorge in september



## fivexfive (Aug 21, 2010)

Anybody have any information how flaming gorge fishs in september? My brother is coming up from San Diego next month and we would like to try the gorge or strawberry. I have a boat, sonar and trolling poles but I dont have any down riggers. Any suggestions would be helpful. (except for the one to take a long walk on a short peir) :lol:


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

Hi fivexfive - welcome to the forum.

September can be a great month on the Gorge. Typically it gets better as it gets cooler. Labor day weekend can still be kind of warm up there and the fish are still in the summer pattern. Towards the end of the month you'll start seeing red kokanees getting ready to spawn. Rainbows and macs are probably your best bet. 

Long lining lures like rapalas can work well for rainbows. The macs probably won't be up enough in the water column to catch without quite a bit of weight. If you want to target them, your best bet will probably be a large set of pop-gear. Chartreuse was the ticket when I was there earlier this year.

Do you know where you want to put in and where you want to stay? That will probably dictate where you should fish.

Strawberry can also be very good in later September. Earlier in the month, you'll probably do better at Strawberry than the Gorge whereas at the end of the month the opposite is true.


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## fivexfive (Aug 21, 2010)

Thanks for the welcome Dodger. I am some what familiar with the Buckboard area, so I thought thats were we would start. 

I figured that the kokanees would be getting into their pr-spawn by that time so mainly we will be targeting the rainbows. This is like an every year trip for us, usually we hit pineview and strawberry, Lake Powell in April, but this time I thought I would take my brother some place new. 

Thanks again for the tips and I will be sure to post how it turns out.

ps; We torn the strippers up in powell this year.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

Buckboard is a good area to fish in September. It seems to be the colder part of the lake and fishing will probably improve there first. Be aware though that you need the sportsman's invasive mussel sticker for your boat. It is $30 and you can get it at the marina or at the Walmart in Evanston. (To be clear, you only need one for your boat, not for each fisherman). You also need a $10 reciprocal fishing license to fish on the Wyoming side of the lake. (Also to be clear again, that's for each fisherman in the boat). But, in Wyoming, you can also use 2 rods without a second pole permit.

If you are up in Buckboard and you know some rainbow spots, you'll probably be fine with your normal trolling setup. If you want to go for macs, you are going to need to get deeper. The macs will be around in Buckboard.

There's some good rainbow fishing around the point at the entry to the Gorge and down into Sheep Creek too.

Someday I want to go down to powell and catch some stripers. I caught a 32" striper in the surf last year and he was darn tasty. Catching them on lighter tackle in Powell would be a lot of fun I think.

P.S. Once you hit the Gorge, you are hooked for life.


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## fivexfive (Aug 21, 2010)

Thanks for the reminder on the invasive mussel sticker, I got a letter from them back in march letting me know if I was to bring my boat up there it was going to cost a little more.

Let me know when your ready to try powell, I have gotten pretty familiar with the south end (wahweep, page az side) and I can probably put you into some nice bass fishing, maybe we could even hook up for a weekend trip, although my weekends are usually during the week.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

That would be great. Come next spring, my weekends might be all week for a couple of months. I'd love to get down for some stripers. 

I'm ashamed to admit I've never caught a bass that is identified by the size of its mouth either. That's going to have to change.


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## wyoguy (Mar 4, 2010)

Dodger gave u some great advice. You also can troll rapalas in shallow water around rocky points for Smallmouth, or throw lures in same areas. 2lb. smallmouth are quite common, and a few 4lb.ers are around


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## fivexfive (Aug 21, 2010)

Thanks for the advise, I had forgotten about the bronze back population in the lake. Are you still catching burbut up around the buckboard area?


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## wyoguy (Mar 4, 2010)

fivexfive said:


> Thanks for the advise, I had forgotten about the bronze back population in the lake. Are you still catching burbut up around the buckboard area?


I have not fished for them, but the guys who do are still catching them at nite with glow tube jigs tipped with sucker meat.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

I don't have much to add to that. I haven't fished for smallies or burbot up there.


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## buddyugg99 (Sep 3, 2010)

Anybody have any information how flaming gorge fishs in september? My brother is coming up from San Diego next month and we would like to try the gorge or strawberry. I have a boat, sonar and trolling poles but I dont have any down riggers. Any suggestions would be helpful. (except for the one to take a long walk on a short peir)


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## fivexfive (Aug 21, 2010)

Thanks for the info, Dodger and wyoguy any last minute suggestions on trolling speed or setups, are dodgers and flashers better then a string of popgear. 
I wont be leaving until Tuesday morning and how long we will be staying depends on the fishing.
last day at work before vacation starts is dragging.


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## Dodger (Oct 20, 2009)

You'll catch rainbows and maybe kokanee with the popgear. If that isn't producing, you could try running the flashers by themselves. I rarely run dodgers off the top but, I don't really run a lot off the top anyway. 

One thing you should try though is some flashers with 3 inch squids. I like pearl white, black-flake green, or root beer on the squids. Also try some trolling spinner type lures like the assassin spinner from Rocky Mountain, scorpion spinner from Shasta, or a Mac's wedding ring. Think pinks and greens.

For speeds, I'd stay about 1.8 to 2.2 mph GPS. That might be too fast if the fish are deep. If they are deeper, slow down to 1.2 to 1.8 ish. 

If you can, I'd take a set-up with lead core line. It will get you down if the fish are still deep. 

If you need more information, PM me.


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