Fishing Forum

While the lack of ice is the bane of ice fishermen, it truly is the boon of all boat fishermen!

I drove by Lindon and American Fork Harbor as it has been more than a month since I've taken a look at it.

I was very pleased by what I saw... rising water! I noticed the north side of Lindon Harbor where the trees used to be, that area is gaining depth and the area where I stood on last summer is now under water!

I looked to the south and I see the bubble up's pipe which was largely out of water is starting to rise and will slowly disappear. I noticed the Battle Creek is really raging, flowing into the lake, back up on the road by the dump's front road, it was overflowing, evidently by the debris clogged in the pipes under the street. The fields are flooded and the horses back there are having a tough go with what's left of dry ground to tromp on.

I then drove to American Fork Harbor. The "river" is starting to flow BUT still not that high compared to Battle Creek. Nonetheless, it was flowing out to Utah Lake and I can see the dry high water line from last year on the south side of the dike, was now underwater.

Bottom line: It's only January and we are expecting another storm this saturday, and then more coming feb, march, april... think about all this water coming off the mountians from the snow run-off, this will be a great recovery year for us boat fishermen on Utah Lake. The ski resorts are reporting 300+ inches total snowfall as of this date, with the bases nearing 150 inch mark (Compressed snow). And the ski season isn't even done yet and you can say that again for mother nature. Lots of water coming down in the spring. Might be problematic for those who are sick of water (see St.George's flooding).

We need to see the water rise like the good old days in the Provo Bay for those largemouth bass, and in the airport dike area. We need to see more water in Saratoga spring's harbor for sure. Lincoln will get plenty of water out of Spanish Fork river as there's plenty of snow up in the Payson mountians as well as Spanish Fork canyon.

Oh and one more thing contributing to this, this recently finished CUP project bringing more water from Strawberry, over the mountian into Utah Valley... just a lot more water to fill in the dishpan of Utah Lake![cool]
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You said it Paul! Keep that beautiful snow and water coming!!! It would be awesome to have a full recovery year where Deer Creek, Jordanelle and Utah Lake all refill.

I too remember those glory days when Provo bay was not a cornfield but rather a 3 to 4 foot deep bass and catfish paradise!! Not to mention duck hunting as well.
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For anyone who is interested, here is a link to the NRCS snow pack measurements for Utah.

ftp://ftp.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/data/snow/update/ut.txt
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Hey Paul, thanks for taking the time to write a very positive and informative post. It is, indeed, great news to think of what may happen to Utah Lake from now until the end of spring runoff. All of your excellent points are causing dreams of boating, fishing, and duck hunting in much deeper water to "dance through my head."

By the way, Paul and Cat_Man, where exactly is Provo Bay? I'm familiar with the airport and the dike to the west of the dike, so where is Provo Bay in relation to the dike?

Thanks,

PF
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[cool]Great news, indeed, Paul! Thanks for the report. Hopefully there will be enough water for the White Bass (or Whi-Ba, as the "locals" call them) to reproduce this coming summer! It REALLY seems like their numbers are down from the way it was in the good ole days. Here's to hoping for more moisture between now and meltoff!
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Provo Bay is south of the airport dikes. You take the first exit south of university avenue... that would be springville's 1st exit, and take a extreme right unto a dirt/gravel road, and you keep on going... you see all the vegetation, some of it burnt, but you keep going until you see some water rushing out of the freeway's wall... all that water you see or not see is the Provo Bay.
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So what you're saying, Paul is that Provo bay should be directly west of the Home Depot and Provo Towne Centre Mall? Or farther north than that? I know the road you're talking about off of Springville's first exit, but how far would you say you have to travel before you reach Provo Bay?
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Directly in front of home depot and Provo Towne Mall would be more like that! Heck I can remember in the old days, cops would give tickets to people parking directly off I-15 by driving up the embankment and parking it right there and just go over the barbed wires to the other side where the water comes out from underneath the freeway. This is highly discouraged.[shocked][pirate]

So to get there, you just go down that road I mentioned, and drive it all the way until you cannot drive anymore as you would come to the water.

There are two sections. At the 1st section, you can launch a jonboat, flat-bottomed boat or a float tube, the 1st one you will see a small parking lot with a small wooden fence, and a small launching dirt ramp.

If you don't want to be there, then you keep driving past over a small lump of dirt marked by a huge power pole, down all the way to the end of the road is the 2nd section and that is the main section where the water comes into the lake. Often populated with fishhooks, watch where you step LOL.[:/] Lots of fish in there when the water is high. You can only launch a float tube or wade in there. There is really no launching place for things bigger than a float tube.

I can remember back in the old days when the water would go over that road, and you definitely needed a high 4-WD drive to get there. (That's why people parked on I-15 because they didn't have 4WD LOL[crazy])
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Paul is right. If you've ever heard of Mud Lake, that's another name for Provo Bay too. Right now there's no way you could float tube Provo Bay, since most of it is high and dry. In fact, the last two or three years, a farmer has gone out there and plowed it and grown corn in the same area I used to catch catfish and bass in other years past. Most of Provo Bay is currently dry or marshy ground, with a long winding canal going through it, that is much to shallow to float tube in. Possibly a kayak or canoe could go through it, but you might get high centered and have to get out and portage once in awhile. Once you get out there a ways to the west, it gets deeper. The north border of Provo Bay is the south airport dike. If you just drive around the dike starting at either side, by the airport or by the State Park, you'll be able to get a good view and idea of what the bay is like. We used to launch a canoe down into the bay from the airport dike, so if you can't find the place Paul mentioned, just go out on the dike (preferably with a high clearance vehicle, or you might just lose an oil pan in a couple of places).

The good news is the lake is filling, and with any luck, that will include the bay. I suspect however it might take 2 or 3 winters like this to completely bring Utah Lake back up to its former high level.
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Thanks Paul and Cat for the excellent directions. I know exactly where you're talking about now.
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