Fishing Forum

[fishin]well..... went to the gorge over the holiday weekend, ended up camping at the antelope flat C.G.. good thing as lucerne was packed!!!! boat ramp close and no wait to load or unload the boat (excellent)! arrived friday afternoon around 3 p.m, got camp set up before the women arrived, and headed out for some quick fishing! water was a cool 66 to 69 degrees and the wind was calm.... we all tied on a crainkbait and hit the shoreline looking for the smallies. And the first cast my buddy fishmonger snags a 20" bow! we continue down the bank (using the trolling motor i got for my birthday) small mouth, after smallmouth, after smallmouth.... then another trout etc..... what a day and what an amazing place to fish, the sights are breathtaking! ended up catching close to 50 bass and 10 trout between the three of us with the biggest trout being 20" and the biggest bass being about 12" (all estimates as i dont have a tape measure in boat) note to self...... get tape measure! lol. loaded the boat up just as the sun was setting over the lake, what an awesome day! woke up saturday morning to a beautiful sunrise and a bit of wind to boot! went fishing with the girls this time as i had taken the boys out already, and we headed out in search of the fish! wasnt as fast and furious as friday but all in all good fishing. ended up catching around 10 bass and 2 trout. no real size! but the women were happy( and thats what matters right?) []. another beautiful day on the lake! woke up sunday morning and decided to take all 6 of us on the boat and do some sight seeing! ended up back in one of the canyons because the wind had started picking up and fished with little luck... wind got so bad we ended up beaching the boat and trying our luck from shore. i ended up with 5 bows... biggest being 22"! now for the not so good news! it was time to head back to the marina as the winds were up to about 50+ mph and luckily the wind was blowing us toward the marina but unluckily the waves were 8ft high.(not boating weather when you've got a 15ft boat with 6 grown ups on it[shocked]! the ride back was at best horrifying for the girls and tense for us guys! the boat dock at the ramp was totally covered with every wave crashing in so there was no way to get close enough to let my buddy off to grab the truck, so he ended up diving off the boat with his keys in the mouth and swam to shore! there were a few people standing at the ramp and thank god they were as they assisted me in hooking up to the trailer! wow.... i know now why so many boats get turned over and people lose their lives on water! i felt like i had been on the ocean for hours, i was thankful noone was hurt and everything went as good as it could! went back to camp to find the wind had blown everything over! not the best day... but we were alive! monday we woke up to 50+ mph winds again and decided to just pack it up and head out! i never did really get the chance to fish for that mac i was hoping for, but there is plenty of time for that! all in all a good weekend! dont have all pics as this was just from my camera, but here's a few awesome pics! hope everyone enjoys
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Sounds (and looks) like you had a great time. Glad you got off the lake ok, that area can be real bad. We were down for the fireworks, but didn't get to fish. Thanks for sharing.
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Rough water can be scary stuff. Several times I've stepped off the boat and felt like kissing the dry ground. It probably wasn't on your mind at the time, but did you get any pictures of those waves?
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[fishin]yes sir i did get some pics and some video but not with my camera! ill try to post them as soon as i get them from my friends camera!
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Nice report n pics lunkster33[cool] glad you made it out of there safely love the radio collared bighorn[sly] if ya got more pics post em up thanks
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cool post dude! nice pics also!
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I was up there over labor day weekend ( across the lake at Swim Beach). While the bass and rainbow were active, we couldn't find many schools of Kokes or Lake trout that wanted to play ( from Anvil to Sheep Creek) ? While on the Swim beach side, we never seen winds exceed much more than 35 - 40 MPH ( beginning Sunday afternoon), but that is more than enough wind to really to churn up the gorge. The wind blew hard all night long and into Monday and wow did the temps ever drop overnight! We've noticed the Koke population seems to be way down from the previous years and it's seems to me the burbot are having a very negative effect on the kokanee population. This is the first time in 12 years of fishing over the Labor day weekend we caught ( jigging) more of those ugly, slimy, stinking burbot than we did lake trout or Kokanee -very concerning [:/]!!! I also had my very first ( accident) incident ever ( after 100's of loadings) trying to load my boat in the strong winds. Just as I was approaching my trailer for loading, a very strong gust of wind hit and drove the right side of bow into my trailers bunk guide support pole and it did some significant damaged to my boat - not to mention my male pride [pirate]. So we too had a very tough day with the wind at the gorge. Hopefully my insurance will cover it and repairs will be down in time to enjoy most of the fall fishing season.

I also have to note my total disgust in the way Wyoming and Utah DWR have not come together for a common method to coordinate mussel prevention efforts on this body of water. A Utah boater that has completed the on-line Aquatic Mussel certificate must also obtain a Wyoming ( non-resident) $30 mussel tag in order to boat in Wyoming side. I don't get it, it's all the same water so the management and Mussel certification efforts should be commonly coordinated ( reciprocal agreement) and the exact same regardless of which state the boats are registered or enter this common water. I give credit to the Utah DWR for focusing on the education aspect of mussel prevention and not using it as a purely money making opportunity like the Wyoming DWR has.
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[quote FishN2Dmax]I
I also have to note my total disgust in the way Wyoming and Utah DWR have not come together for a common method to coordinate mussel prevention efforts on this body of water. A Utah boater that has completed the on-line Aquatic Mussel certificate must also obtain a Wyoming ( non-resident) $30 mussel tag in order to boat in Wyoming side. I don't get it, it's all the same water so the management and Mussel certification efforts should be commonly coordinated ( reciprocal agreement) and the exact same regardless of which state the boats are registered or enter this common water. I give credit to the Utah DWR for focusing on the education aspect of mussel prevention and not using it as a purely money making opportunity like the Wyoming DWR has.[/quote]

The Wyoming g&f has more water then just the gorge to protect. They have the whole state to think about.Why should the gorge have special regulations,when it comes to the mussel program? If it bothers you that much to spend 30 dollars for a wyoming mussel sticker.You can always forgo the sticker and stay in Utah waters. Problem solved right???
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KokeKing,

My point was not about the $30, but the differences in the method used between Utah and Wyoming. So which is the more effective prevention method.
A, Education of boaters via the use of on on-line or printed mussel prevention check list that must be completed and displayed - no cost ( Utah)

B, Pay $15 to $30 for a cute sticker that says " Don't Move A Mussel" to put on the side of your boat - little education or prevention. ( Wyoming)

On shared bodies or Water like Flaming Gorge and Bear Lake, it only takes one boat on either side to effect both sides of the lake. With such differing prevention methods, one would hope a common prevention and education strategy could be developed and implemented for the good of all.
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[fishin] well put fishn2dmax! and option A is obviously my choice!
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[quote FishN2Dmax]KokeKing,

My point was not about the $30, but the differences in the method used between Utah and Wyoming. So which is the more effective prevention method.
A, Education of boaters via the use of on on-line or printed mussel prevention check list that must be completed and displayed - no cost ( Utah)

B, Pay $15 to $30 for a cute sticker that says " Don't Move A Mussel" to put on the side of your boat - little education or prevention. ( Wyoming)

On shared bodies or Water like Flaming Gorge and Bear Lake, it only takes one boat on either side to effect both sides of the lake. With such differing prevention methods, one would hope a common prevention and education strategy could be developed and implemented for the good of all.
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Sorry i have been so late getting back to this. Again as i said before the state of wyoming cant have different regs just for the gorge,then it does for the rest of the states waters for the mussel program.

Personally I would like to see a combination of both what Utah and Wyo have now. This would be both educational and the mussel program for Wyo would be self- supporting. with out having to raise fishing licenses or boat registration to pay for the program.

I hear that the Wyo g&f are going to fine tune their inspection locations,which in turn should cut down on the amount of boats that don't get inspected. Hopefully this will help to keep mussels of out the gorge.
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