01-05-2005, 02:54 PM
12/31/04 Pelican Lake. Intended victims, Gills and large Mouth Bass..
As we drove over the bridge at Starvation the lake as far as we could see it was capped although we didn’t stop to check the thickness of the ice.
Arriving at Pelican.
First I want to say that I drove right past the pond on purpose, no matter what someone else might tell ya. HA![laugh]
Actually for some dumb reason I thought that Pelican lake would have been bigger. But after driving an extra 5 miles it was decided we'd better go back to the big pond on the right side of the rode. Sure enough, after driving along the north side of the pond we found the sportman’s shoreline access rode and set out to do some damage. After using the plank and 2x4’s to access the ice we wandered out about 200 -250 yards and punched two holes and found 10' of water so we set up camp for the day.
Right from the get-go the Gills bite was very great but hooking them proved to be the real challenge (but only for my fishing partner). As expected Boogers and small tubes and ice flies tipped with anything from waxies to bit of crawler seem to do very well. Most seem to be around 6" but we caught several around 9" and the largest Gill for the day was a might 10" monster I iced. No final count kept but my best guess would be well over 40 between us even with my fishing partners (horrible) bite to hookup ratio. HA! [
]
I only caught one Bucket Mouth of 13" but lost two other at the hole. All fish were released.
Day two, Flaming Gorge on New Years day. Intended victims and intent, Mac's and Bows and to lay a Mack on the ice New Years day.
The drive from Vernal to just south of Sheep Creek at F/G wasnt bad over the switch backs although the road was snowy and icy. Unlike Friday the sun was shining although there was a fresh 1 of snow. I dont believe the old pickup would have been able to pull the bike trailer loaded with the 3 wheeler and Footer without chains so it was thought to be a good choice to leave it home at the time. We seen lots of critters along the way including several herds of deer and fast goats, and even a herd of Big Horn in the bottom of Sheep Creek. We stopped and I hopped out to snap a few pictures of the Ram while leaving the engine running and when I returned to the pickup I heard a slight rattle witch would later prove to be the altinator about to take a hike. [crazy]
Once we'd reach Buckboard we drove to the marina and eyeballed the area and took notice of lots of open water with only ice in Buckboard Wash. We wandered down onto the boat docks and took note that only a thin layer of ice existed in that exact area but also perhaps a person could have gotten on the ice on the south side of the bay and then we drove north again.
Upon stopping at the rode leading into the Confluence area the altinator decided it was time to really start spouting off.[pirate] After arriving in Green River, and placing several calls to local auto parts stores only to listen to the phone ring we finally got an answer at Checkers auto in RockSprings. And I quote, "I'd be happy to order one for ya". Next we found that Auto Zone in RockSprings was also open and when the counter help said "Yeah, I show having one in stock. Its a lifetime warranty and $39.99. Would you like me to hold it for ya?", it was happy days!![sly]
After squirting a bit of W-D-40 into the rear housing hoping to lube the rear bushing of the de-funk altnator we arrived in RockSprings 15 minutes later. We pulled into the Auto Zone parking lot with the intention to swap out the altinator right there and then, then head right back to FG. With any luck we figured we'd be back to FG by noon, 12:30pm at the latest, and the day wouldnt be a total lose.
[mad]HOWEVER!!, upon reaching the counter at Auto Zone, and I quote, "I'm sorry but I show one on the computer but its not on the shelf. Would you like me to call Evanston and see if they have one in stock?". Need I mention how hard I had to bit my
at that point??!!, LOL! At any rate, Evanston’s Auto Zone counter help claimed to have one, and he had it in his hands![unimpressed]
After taking quick note of our choices witch seem to be spending the weekend in a motel room waiting for an altinator to arrive, or, hopefully finding one Monday morning, we shot the altinator up with W-D-40 again and fueled the pickup before leaving town to drive to Evanston, 105 mile miles away!. The squealing altinator was still charging so we figured if the new altinator wasnt there in Evanston, we'd merely grab a second battery to get us back and bag the weekend. Lady luck was starting to
on us even though in Evanston the price of the altinator had somehow jumped to $49.99. [crazy] But by 3:03pm we were again traveling I-80 but this time east bound hell bent and determined to at least drop a line through an ice fishing hole on Near Years day 2005.
As we again entered the dirt rode leading into the Confluence area it was slightly cloudy and the sun was setting. Not knowing the area real well it took a few minutes to wander our way to the ice witch was smooth and as clear as glass with only a few spots of snow here and there and by the fracture lines I could see it was at least 8” thick. We managed to find a few ice hole mounds right off the bat and only 200’ feet off shore. Hoping the auger wasn’t needed we grabbed our rods, a couple paddle bugs and crawlers, then skated our way to the ice hole mounds hoping they were still open. They weren’t but they only had a thin layer of ice witch we heel kicked. A couple moments after my fishing partner drop a paddle bug tipped with ½ a crawler a fat 14” bow was iced and couple minutes later I’d iced a baby Mac of 26” so our goal for the day was somewhat a done deal. I then dashed/skated my way back to the pickup for the tape and camera. On the way back to the Mac I passed my fishing partner who’s feet were by then freezing and heading for the pickup because we’d only wore our everyday foot and outerwear onto the ice in a last ditch effort to ice something on New years day before dark. Heehaw! I had a Mack for New Years Day 2005 even though it was a dinker! Btw, it will be good eatin’![sly]
Day Three. The return to F/G. Again the intended victims were Bows and possibly Mac-a-doo’s
The day started out bright and Sunny with little if any W. We started fishing the same area we’d heel kick the hole the day before. I wouldn’t say the bite was hot but instead it kept our attention and like Friday at Pelican someone was having a hard time with the hook set but this time the shoe was on the other foot! The finder said we were fishing in 9’ of water and within 10 minutes my fishing partner had iced a fair bow and I was still bouncing the jig and minnow. 30 minutes later the partner had iced 3 more and I was still waiting on the first taker. Finally I managed to ice a fair 18” bow then again watched someone else doing all the catching until the bite slowed for my fishing partner. After I‘d switching holes a half dozen times and about 11:00 I rolled a 12”er bow out the hole. Its was then decided the far shoreline might have some appeal so we drug the Jet and coolers the ½ mile across the bay. We marked several fish over the couple hours we spent there but only had a couple nips so after slapping together turkey sandwiches for lunch we wander the ½ mile back towards the pickup. The bite still hadn’t picked up but due to the light breeze now blowing we choose to stay put rather than get caught in a possible big blow a mile from the pickup without having the wheeler. Well the breeze died down to nothing before sundown the same as it had Saturday evening and over the last hour of daylight my partner iced 5 or 6 more bows and I managed one. But Hey! I had a New Years Day Mac!!, even though a dinker. Besides, in my defense, I wasn’t wearing my lucky old thermal’s!!! LOL!![]
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As we drove over the bridge at Starvation the lake as far as we could see it was capped although we didn’t stop to check the thickness of the ice.
Arriving at Pelican.
First I want to say that I drove right past the pond on purpose, no matter what someone else might tell ya. HA![laugh]
Actually for some dumb reason I thought that Pelican lake would have been bigger. But after driving an extra 5 miles it was decided we'd better go back to the big pond on the right side of the rode. Sure enough, after driving along the north side of the pond we found the sportman’s shoreline access rode and set out to do some damage. After using the plank and 2x4’s to access the ice we wandered out about 200 -250 yards and punched two holes and found 10' of water so we set up camp for the day.
Right from the get-go the Gills bite was very great but hooking them proved to be the real challenge (but only for my fishing partner). As expected Boogers and small tubes and ice flies tipped with anything from waxies to bit of crawler seem to do very well. Most seem to be around 6" but we caught several around 9" and the largest Gill for the day was a might 10" monster I iced. No final count kept but my best guess would be well over 40 between us even with my fishing partners (horrible) bite to hookup ratio. HA! [
] I only caught one Bucket Mouth of 13" but lost two other at the hole. All fish were released.
Day two, Flaming Gorge on New Years day. Intended victims and intent, Mac's and Bows and to lay a Mack on the ice New Years day.
The drive from Vernal to just south of Sheep Creek at F/G wasnt bad over the switch backs although the road was snowy and icy. Unlike Friday the sun was shining although there was a fresh 1 of snow. I dont believe the old pickup would have been able to pull the bike trailer loaded with the 3 wheeler and Footer without chains so it was thought to be a good choice to leave it home at the time. We seen lots of critters along the way including several herds of deer and fast goats, and even a herd of Big Horn in the bottom of Sheep Creek. We stopped and I hopped out to snap a few pictures of the Ram while leaving the engine running and when I returned to the pickup I heard a slight rattle witch would later prove to be the altinator about to take a hike. [crazy]
Once we'd reach Buckboard we drove to the marina and eyeballed the area and took notice of lots of open water with only ice in Buckboard Wash. We wandered down onto the boat docks and took note that only a thin layer of ice existed in that exact area but also perhaps a person could have gotten on the ice on the south side of the bay and then we drove north again.
Upon stopping at the rode leading into the Confluence area the altinator decided it was time to really start spouting off.[pirate] After arriving in Green River, and placing several calls to local auto parts stores only to listen to the phone ring we finally got an answer at Checkers auto in RockSprings. And I quote, "I'd be happy to order one for ya". Next we found that Auto Zone in RockSprings was also open and when the counter help said "Yeah, I show having one in stock. Its a lifetime warranty and $39.99. Would you like me to hold it for ya?", it was happy days!![sly]
After squirting a bit of W-D-40 into the rear housing hoping to lube the rear bushing of the de-funk altnator we arrived in RockSprings 15 minutes later. We pulled into the Auto Zone parking lot with the intention to swap out the altinator right there and then, then head right back to FG. With any luck we figured we'd be back to FG by noon, 12:30pm at the latest, and the day wouldnt be a total lose.
[mad]HOWEVER!!, upon reaching the counter at Auto Zone, and I quote, "I'm sorry but I show one on the computer but its not on the shelf. Would you like me to call Evanston and see if they have one in stock?". Need I mention how hard I had to bit my
at that point??!!, LOL! At any rate, Evanston’s Auto Zone counter help claimed to have one, and he had it in his hands![unimpressed] After taking quick note of our choices witch seem to be spending the weekend in a motel room waiting for an altinator to arrive, or, hopefully finding one Monday morning, we shot the altinator up with W-D-40 again and fueled the pickup before leaving town to drive to Evanston, 105 mile miles away!. The squealing altinator was still charging so we figured if the new altinator wasnt there in Evanston, we'd merely grab a second battery to get us back and bag the weekend. Lady luck was starting to
on us even though in Evanston the price of the altinator had somehow jumped to $49.99. [crazy] But by 3:03pm we were again traveling I-80 but this time east bound hell bent and determined to at least drop a line through an ice fishing hole on Near Years day 2005. As we again entered the dirt rode leading into the Confluence area it was slightly cloudy and the sun was setting. Not knowing the area real well it took a few minutes to wander our way to the ice witch was smooth and as clear as glass with only a few spots of snow here and there and by the fracture lines I could see it was at least 8” thick. We managed to find a few ice hole mounds right off the bat and only 200’ feet off shore. Hoping the auger wasn’t needed we grabbed our rods, a couple paddle bugs and crawlers, then skated our way to the ice hole mounds hoping they were still open. They weren’t but they only had a thin layer of ice witch we heel kicked. A couple moments after my fishing partner drop a paddle bug tipped with ½ a crawler a fat 14” bow was iced and couple minutes later I’d iced a baby Mac of 26” so our goal for the day was somewhat a done deal. I then dashed/skated my way back to the pickup for the tape and camera. On the way back to the Mac I passed my fishing partner who’s feet were by then freezing and heading for the pickup because we’d only wore our everyday foot and outerwear onto the ice in a last ditch effort to ice something on New years day before dark. Heehaw! I had a Mack for New Years Day 2005 even though it was a dinker! Btw, it will be good eatin’![sly]
Day Three. The return to F/G. Again the intended victims were Bows and possibly Mac-a-doo’s
The day started out bright and Sunny with little if any W. We started fishing the same area we’d heel kick the hole the day before. I wouldn’t say the bite was hot but instead it kept our attention and like Friday at Pelican someone was having a hard time with the hook set but this time the shoe was on the other foot! The finder said we were fishing in 9’ of water and within 10 minutes my fishing partner had iced a fair bow and I was still bouncing the jig and minnow. 30 minutes later the partner had iced 3 more and I was still waiting on the first taker. Finally I managed to ice a fair 18” bow then again watched someone else doing all the catching until the bite slowed for my fishing partner. After I‘d switching holes a half dozen times and about 11:00 I rolled a 12”er bow out the hole. Its was then decided the far shoreline might have some appeal so we drug the Jet and coolers the ½ mile across the bay. We marked several fish over the couple hours we spent there but only had a couple nips so after slapping together turkey sandwiches for lunch we wander the ½ mile back towards the pickup. The bite still hadn’t picked up but due to the light breeze now blowing we choose to stay put rather than get caught in a possible big blow a mile from the pickup without having the wheeler. Well the breeze died down to nothing before sundown the same as it had Saturday evening and over the last hour of daylight my partner iced 5 or 6 more bows and I managed one. But Hey! I had a New Years Day Mac!!, even though a dinker. Besides, in my defense, I wasn’t wearing my lucky old thermal’s!!! LOL!![
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