Fishing Forum

I have a few questions regarding Pelican Lake for those of you who may have fished it recently and for those of you who are familiar with its past water levels in late summer and into fall before it freezes.

On the UDWR's web site it says that water levels are dropping fast, so launching with a "larger" boat is difficult if not impossible. Do any of you know how far below the concrete launch the water has gotten, or am I still able to launch on the concrete? I don't know what they mean by "larger" boats. I have an 18-foot fiberglass boat with an open bow. It’s pretty heavy. Do any of you know if I will have trouble launching into late September, into October, and maybe into November. I hope to combine some bass fishing with some duck/goose hunting during October and November. Will the lake be way too low to launch at that point? I thought that Utah had received some pretty good moisture in the Uinta Basin this summer? Does the lake ever begin to rise in the fall?

I know these are a lot of questions, but I'm hoping a few of you may be able to help me out.

Thanks,

PF

Give Kayote a pm. He is usually the one that knows about Pelican.
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Thanks, icefool. Will do.
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Princefisher,

Sorry I didn't get back sooner, I was working. I answered your questions on the board in case anyone else is headed out there. Pelican is just about at C-Pool. If you can trim your motor up, you can launch your boat at C- Pool. Beware of rocks from the gabion on the ramp. It's best to motor out with your electric when it's low. The C-Pool is marked by a metal disk in the middle of the ramp and it actually says C-Pool on it. However, Pelican will continue to drop into september and october and you will not be able to launch. They stop irrigating at C-Pool but evaporation will continue and it could lose another foot. There has been some rain, but the Basin is still in a dire drought. I advise you borrow a rowboat, float tube, canoe or perhaps a kayak, hehehe. Your Senkos should work great, but I think you'll have trouble with cranks in the fall. Pelican developes a lot of weeds that will foul trebles. Anything you can rig weedless is best. Top water can be hot if you rig weedless, like a frog. Best bass bite will be early am and right before dark. Look for deep holes in mid lake until fall. Hope that covers it. Thanks for the pitch Icefool. Good luck.

Good Fishing, Kayote
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Thanks Kayote for all your answers to my questions. It would have been bad to tow my boat from Provo all the way to Pelican in October only to turn back. I guess I'll have to borrow the neighbor's canoe.

One more question if you don't mind: Do you hunt at all? I'm wondering if the duck and goose hunting is any good at Pelican in the fall? It sounds like fun to combine a little bass fishing with some waterfowl hunting.

Thanks,

PF
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I'll chip in on this one.....

I do most of my duck hunting in the Basin. Pelican can be a great shoot in two instances.

1. The first 15 min of the opener. After that all of the skybusting idiots get the ducks really smart. From then on, the birds will fly in sky high and then dive bomb into the middle of the lake. Now, if you have a layout boat, then that won't be as much of a problem.

2. If you hit it just as a new migration comes in. The fresh birds may take a couple of hours to figure out where they are safe.

Seriously, Pelican has the potential to be a sweet hunting spot, but it gets way to hard by people that don't know enough about waterfowling to know that they're doing things wrong. It's news to them that steel shot won't drop a bird at 100 yards. If I were you, I'd head down the road to Ouray NWR. It can be a great shoot if it has got water. The last couple of years have been tough though.
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