Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]Had to force myself to leave the fishing tackle home as TubeBabe and I headed south to do a circuit of Utah Lake. First stop was Lindon Harbor. Open water for a couple of hundred yards out fromthe west dike and both south and north. Ramp is still frozen but the water is high enough that you could launch a tube, toon or small boat from the end of the south dike. Hightest I have seen Utah Lake. Higher than it ever got last year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Headed toward Lincoln Beach but detoured to look at the mouth of the Spanish Fork River. Again, a lot of open water out for a couple of hundred yards. Little water flow but clean water. Launchable for tube or small boat.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]At Lincoln Beach the ramp is still iced in, but there is open water well out away from the end of the south dike. High water. Only a couple of feet from going over the top of the dike. Very launchable for small boat or tube or toon. The open water goes out over a couple of good holes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Started around the point, going west. The entire rocky shelf area of Lincoln Beach is now closed to access from land. Can't fish it anymore except from the water. That's gonna keep the walleyes from being beat up by the waderclad crowd.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Evidence of some severe "breezes". Bird Island looked like a giant iceberg out offshore. And, there were huge stacks of ice all along the shoreline around the point at Lincoln Beach.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Enjoyed the drive through "rural Utah", going through Goshen. Some places had six inches of snow on the ground. In other places there were green shoots poking up out of the fields. And, the willow trees are turning yellow, ready to pop some leaves.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Won't be long now.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got up on top of "The Knolls" and looked down on the whole lake. Pretty impressive. I have never seen Utah Lake so completely frozen for so long. But, there are openings all around the edges and lots of cracks and open leads showing on the lake. A bit more warm weather and some "gentle" Utah Lake zephyrs and the hard deck will be gone.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Took a short detour on the way back home to look at Saratoga Springs Marina. The ramp is still iced in, but there is some open water just on the other side of the dikes. And, the high water is flooding the dikes. Shore tanglers will probably not be able to get out to the ends when the ice melts.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lovely day. Made for some good photo ops. Got to show Mrs. Timpanogos in all her winter finery in many of my shots.[/#0000ff]
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What a difference a week makes. I was at LBH last Sunday with the my boys and there was almost no open water at all. The mouth of the harbor was starting to open up, but my boys could still chuck rocks out onto the ice. The whole area of open water out from the harbor was all ice. I figured it would be a while before there was any open water, now I'm getting even more excited. Nice pics TD.
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Surprising to see the lake so high, and even before the main spring run offs.
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Great pics TD... can't wait to get down there this year. []
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really enjoyed your post on utah lake. I took that trip once , that is one BIG lake ! the fishing will be great for several years. thanks
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Lol, why did you "force yourself to leave the poles home"?

shoulda packed the pole dude. been catchin' crappies, perch, whities, and blues off those docks at lindon, although it has been pretty slow lately.
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I have noticed that the Jordan river has been running very high for the past several weeks.
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Those are some great pictures TD! Great report also.
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TD

That lake has come up 3 feet in the last two weeks
I live in SS just above that marina. And i saw it under water like that last year but it was later in the spring
The fishes should have a good spawn again this year. Should be good fishing the next few years
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I WAS DOWN AT AF HARBOR MON AND THE ICE WAS 12" THICK I WAS THERE 2HRS WITH ONLY ONE BITE ICE WAS 2FT FROM SHORE.
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Blues?
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[cool][#0000ff]My "mission" on this trip was to "recon"...not "search and destroy". I knew that if I took "ordinance" that I would be tempted to compromise the original mission.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I can assure you that all further visits to the subject target zones will include proper "armament" to deal with the indigenous species. My only hope is that they will choose to engage. I'll show 'em plenty of shock and awe. Or maybe just some aw shucks.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks Bob. How is the back doing? Let me know when you are ready to go fishing again.[/#0000ff]
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TD nice pics and thanks for the recon mission.
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Lookin' great for another fantastic spring spawn down there. Hopefully the eyes will be a little more cooperative this year.
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Great pictures. I guess it is time to go get some more minnows and carpmeat for the cats. I am really going to try for some early walleyes, hope it is better than last year, got some, but not like in the past.

[cool][#0000ff]If it's any consolation, Utah Lake has been stingy with it's walleyes for everybody the past two years. Some of the best 'eye-chasers in the state have been frustrated. In fact, some real pros did not even catch a single walleye last spring (married either).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My personal theory is that it has been a combination of several factors. First of all, the walleyes took a big hit at the end of the drought years. Many of them starved to death because there were not enough young white bass to feed on...poor spawning conditions, etc. The second factor is just the opposite. Now that there is a lot of water, the fish spread out more...and they have more young whities to eat, so they are not as desperate for angler lures.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the things that is different now is that the walleyes are hanging out in structure more. It isn't that they like the brush so much, but that is where the groceries are. So, that is where they go to hunt. Wherever you find walleye food you will find walleyes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I remember some high water years from the early 80's when we had to fish walleyes with weedless plastics right up in the brush, almost like flipping for bass. That was mostly after the spawn and the fish were actively feeding again. Before that they were in the usual rocky structure or wandering over the flats. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My game plan, starting about next week, is to drag a minnow on a corky rig while casting plastics with my second rod. I will be fishing mostly 3" or 4" plastics, on light heads and fishing slow near rocks. I will also be trying some slip bobber rigs, with either crawlers or minnows, fished in or near structure in water at least four or five feet deep.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It will take some trial and error, but we need to find what kind of bottom and what depths the fish are using. It may be that the fish are reverting to their "natural" tendencies and seeking out the deeper holes. That could be in 15 feet of water with the current water conditions. Before the drought ended it was difficult to find water over about 7 feet deep. Now there are some deep spots both off Lincoln Beach and around Bird Island. The island is a bit far for me to kick in my tube, but I know some deep channels off Lincoln Beach.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I just gotta go back to school on those wascally wallies. We'll find 'em and figure 'em out sooner or later.[/#0000ff]
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When are the walleye going too pre spawn ? Would be nice to start fishing soft water again. Just got back from Clearwater Florida. Had lots of fun fishing the bays in the area. Wanted to catch snook but we were about two weeks early for that.
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[cool][#0000ff]From this point on, it's all about water temperatures. Iceout water temp is usually 34 to 36 degrees. Once the water sneaks towards 40, the walleyes sense that spawning is not too far away and try to take on some nourishment. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The spawn usually starts when the water gets about 43 to 45. Some years the weather is up and down and the water temps go up and down too. That usually prolongs the spawn, but when conditions settle down they all swarm the streams and shorelines and it is over fast.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I really don't care much about fishing the spawn. Let the fish do their thing and make more baby fishes. They are not really biting much anyway, except the rowdy little males. But, a couple of weeks after the spawn is over ALL the fish get hungry and aggressive. That's when you get the big MUNCH on your jigs and they seem to fight harder too. That usually starts happening around the end of April to the first of May and really gets rockin' by the first of June in most years. Then, when the water goes over 70, they slow down again and may only feed actively at night. That is by mid July through September some time.[/#0000ff]
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