Fishing Forum

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks to some bozo who has been hotspotting Utah Lake there have been quite a few folks heading down to Lincoln Beach for the first time. Some of them just find a spot, chuck and chance it. Others follow the crowds of waders, bank tanglers and boaters, figuring the other guys know what they are doing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Evidently, Lincoln Beach is a bit more of a challenge than most newbies expected. I know. I were one once. Still am on a lot of trips. Because every year is different in terms of water levels, water temps, ice off conditions, fish movements, etc., you gotta know some basics about the underwater contours as well as the habits of the fishies. They play by their schedule...not ours.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Sorry. I can't tell anybody where to fish, on any given day. But, I can help folks understand what they are up against. What a lot of anglers do not realize is that there is no other area on Utah Lake even close to Lincoln Beach in terms of underwater conformation and structure. Most of the lake is a gradually deepening mud bottomed bowl, with no real structure or definition. Lincoln beach is a "moonscape" of rocks, craters, cracks, crevices, channels, dropoffs and ledges. In short...a walleye condominium community. Lots of other species like all of those variable living condtions too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Right now the lake is approaching the high water mark. It covers all of the stuff I just mentioned. If you didn't know it was there you would be amazed if the lake suddenly drained and you got a look at it. Those who go there for the first time got no clue. So, I am attaching a pic of an old Google of Lincoln Point, showing what it looks like in low water. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am also attaching two pics I took, about 6 months apart, showing low water in December of '04 and what the lake looked like after a bodacious runoff the next spring. In the first pic you can see vehicles parked out on the exposed rock shelf of the first spring...and people fishing the channel that ran out into the lake. In the second picture the lake water completely covers all of those rock shelves and the edges are now about 5 - 7 feet underwater. And, that is where a lot of the walleyes are to be found.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]If you have been out in a boat and followed the crowds...only to be skunked while seeing fish caught from nearby boats...it ain't necessarily because you suck as a fisherman. Chances are that the guys catching fish have a GPS or triangulation spot that has produced fish in the past and they know just how to anchor and fish it. Some of those narrow channels must be fished from just exactly the right spot to present the jigs to the walleyes in the right direction. Casting a few feet to one side...or casting in from another angler...and you might as well be at home fishing in your bathtub. It can be that exacting.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I don't pretent to know all the spots myself. But, I do have a few generalized areas that are usually kind to me. Still, I have gone home with only a few whities or catfish on days when I was hankerin' for some walleye fillets.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]If it makes you feel any better there are lots of guys who have fished that lake for decades and still do not catch a lot of fish on every trip...and smell skunk on more trips than they would like to admit.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]You just gotta put in the time, pay close attention to your sonar and temp guage, watch the other guys as close as possible without getting shot and work on your presentation and technique at every opportunity. [/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]Be properly grateful for every walleye you catch, even if it came while you were fishing for white bass or something else. And, any day you catch more than a couple you can claim the title of "expert".[/#0000ff]
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Those are great pics.
I can't remeber the exact year but it was the summer of 1990 or 91 the lake was the lowest I have ever seen it. I remember walking out by the bubble up 1/4 plus mile just to get to the water and then another 1/4 plus just to get in about 3 feet of water. Lindon boat harbor was just about dry. Word was you could walk across the lake and never wade in water deeper then 4 feet. That was also the year I started fishing Utah lake and bought my first fishing license. That should tell you how old I was[].
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Thanks for the post Pat! I will wait for a low water year and go get back all of your Jigs off of the bottom that I have left on the last few trips. I went with a guy with a $$$$Sonar and it was cool to see just how freeky it is down there, no wonder I loose so many jigs.

Shawn
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Awesome pics TD!!! Never thought anywhere in the lake looked like that!!
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Just to add my 2cents to what TD has said. The whole point of West Mtn ( name of the large land mass that makes up Lincoln Beach, etc) stretches out into the lake in a series of shelves. When things formed down there, the magma was squeezed out , layer upon layer. Some of the drops are only 12 inches or so, others maybe 18 inches. The shelf formed may be 10 - 20 yards wide, up to over 100yds. They are laid out stepwise from the shore out to about a mile or so till they hit the mud basin that continues out till you get to the base of Bird Island which is 5 or 6 miles off shore. There are literally miles of structure out there to fish, all of it holds fish year round. Right now, the fishies are thinking about one thing, spawning, therefore they are moving in to the shallower water to do so. During the day, you can drop back and work some of the deeper water and still pick up fish. Really one of the most intriguing places to fish that you will ever find.

"no wonder I loose so many jigs."

[cool][#0000ff]A lot of walleye guys agree with the old statement "If you ain't losin' lures you ain't fishin' in the right area.". But, as we have discussed, using proper head size jigs and fishing at the right retrieve speed will help reduce your contribution to the rock gods. That's one of the big reasons I make my own jigs. I can pour a 1/16 oz. head on a 3/0 hook, to fish large plastics slow without getting a "piece of the rock".[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]But, no matter how good and careful you are you need to donate a jig once in a while just to prove you been there.[/#0000ff]
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A couple of years back Tiff and I sat through a walleye presentation at the Sportsman Expo. After listening to the presentation someone asked where and when to fish for them. The answer given was start driving around the south end of Utah lake a few weeks after ice off. When you see the line of fisherman shoulder to shoulder with a line of boats in front of them you found the spot and time to try. He then pulled out a picture to show he wasn't kidding. He also recomended taking lots and lots of jigs to donate to the lake.

Cool pictures of the lake.
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[]to sum it up, be patient, be cool to others, and yes.... pay your dues.
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you nailed it there! TUBEDUDE I found little trick that I use is with your needle nose grab the tip of the hook and bend it back just a bit that seem to save me alot of jigs.
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Back in the day, I used to pour 1/16 and 1/32 oz hds for a customer with 2/0 hooks. He used these on Ut.Lake with tubes and curl tails for the walleye. I would love for TD to show some pics of his 3/0 customs. My guess is that they will have the Matuzo sickle hooks, red in color. That is a great hook because the wire is so thin even in larger sizes. My old Mustad 2/0's are probably half again as large in diameter as the Matuzo's that he use's.

Also, if you really want some GREAT walleye fishing, wait till after the spawn is over and the start eating again. Mid to late April till end of June = Summer Peak. It will be glorious.

Another good way to know when and where the Walleye are playing is to look for the real fishermen. They show up when the spawn starts. They are big and white and swim around in groups waiting for Walleye to surface. About every year you can find a couple dead with big fish stuck in their throats.
They haven't showed up yet. Well a couple but not a bunch. Somehow they know when the spawn is on.
Remember where you see them and you know more places to try.
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"I would love for TD to show some pics of his 3/0 customs. My guess is that they will have the Matuzo sickle hooks, red in color. That is a great hook because the wire is so thin even in larger sizes. My old Mustad 2/0's are probably half again as large in diameter as the Matuzo's that he use's."

[cool][#0000ff]Ask and ye shall be knocked...or however that goes.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]Here are some pics of different models and colors of jig heads. I pour almost exclusively on the Matzuo sickle hooks these days but still have some guys that prefer the Eagle Claw 570 hooks.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]The last pic, with the plastic, is a good illustration of the use of light head (1/16 oz.) on a 2/0 hook. With good 4 or 6 pound line you can still make fairly long casts and then slow swim these jigs over the hungry rocks.[/#0000ff]
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[quote walleyebob] Another good way to know when and where the Walleye are playing is to look for the real fishermen. They show up when the spawn starts. They are big and white and swim around in groups waiting for Walleye to surface. About every year you can find a couple dead with big fish stuck in their throats.
They haven't showed up yet. Well a couple but not a bunch. Somehow they know when the spawn is on.
Remember where you see them and you know more places to try.[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]You are no doubt referring to these "big-beaked ducks".[/#0000ff]
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hey guys some really great info here. I have fished all over the state for these buggers all my life. Some this info I never knew. I catch my fair share but every little bit of advice is always appreciated. You can never learn enough in my mind.
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Too bad the those real black fisherman don't choke on fish like the white ones do! LOL. I don't know what I detest the most, cormorants or pelicans. I think the cormorants do more damage than pelicans because they dive into the water after the fish. Pelicans are only effective in shallow water or when the idiotic fish surface to thrash around.
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Funny how nature does that. I'll have to add that to my list of tips. Thanks.
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yeah, they taste like chicken, , , smothered in swamp
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I thought you were talking about fisherman Bob

"They are big and white and swim around in groups waiting for Walleye to surface. About every year you can find a couple dead with big fish stuck in their throats. "

Lol,

Shawn
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