Fishing Forum

Let me start off by saying wow, PIKEMAN99 is easily one of the greatest and most knowledgeable fishermen I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. If you ever get the chance to be on the water with him, I suggest you beg/steal/kill to get on his boat. It doesn't hurt that he's also one of the nicest guys on planet. It didn't matter where we went or stopped, EVERY gas station, tire shop, marina, store or restaurant from Salt Lake to Page, AZ knew him by name and were happy to bend over backward to help him out. That alone speaks volumes on his character and what a stud he is. Again, if you ever get the chance to hit the lake with Glen, I'd strongly recommend it.

Enough of the mooshy stuff...

Day one: We arrive at Antelope Point Marina and the royal treatment began. Valet boat launch, valet loading of the gear to the house boat, valet valeting for hell sakes. I have never been served on this kind of scale before -- and I could get used to it, that's for sure. So once the valet driver dropped us off at our mansion, er... house boat, the fisherman in me couldn't help but notice the massive carp that were creeping around the docks; more on them in a bit, as shock and awe was setting in at the sight of the $2,000,000.00 triple decker house boat that we'd be staying in. Seriously, this thing is 10x nicer than any house I've ever lived in, and that's not to say that I haven't lived in a few nice places. Absurdly awesome detail went into this place, including granite everything, HD flatscreen tv's w/ blue ray players in every room, comfey leather couches, wave runners off the back, a star gazing deck, several fridges, ice makers, and an AC that'd make most Eskimo's homesick. My bed was softer and more luxurious than anything I've ever slept in. Not fair, really.

Anyhow, once I got over how poor I will always be, I turned my attention to Mr. Carp and his brood. The usual fare was thrown and they were happy to oblige. Caught a few on glo-bugs and then got a few on a big ol' caddis slurped off the top. I don't think PIKEMAN was as excited as I was by carp... []

Day 2: Up at 5am and on the water within minutes. Finally, someone who takes fishing as seriously as I do!



We were hunting Walleye and Smallies, and luckily the fish were happy to oblige. Thanks to my amazing fishing guru...



I was able to get into my first ever Walleye!



Although PM99 refused to be photographed holding such small fish, he also got into the smallies with me. I'm no such fish snob like Glen, so I took a few pics:




A little later on we were slowly cruising the shallows looking for bass when the fish finder went bonkers and PM99 said there was a Striper school below us. And just like the Mayan's, he is never wrong. I was able to strip a white/chartreuse streamer through the crystal clear water only to find that I wasn't getting any hits. I finally got upset and quickly stripped my fly in so I could change it out when BAM, my first Striper. That was the ticket, man -- strip 'em fast and furious and hold on to your butt. I had three or four fighting each other to get to the fly first -- how amazing it was to watch and see. (I suck at taking action shots, and this is the only picture that worked



Nothing of real size, at least according to PM99, but I am in heaven when I'm catching a bunch of aggressive fish like that. We then decided to do some deeper trolling for the big boys and we were able to smash a few bigger boys on big ol' Rapala style cranks.

By 2 o'clock, PM99 stated that the bite was off for the day and that he wanted to head in. Weak. [] I didn't mind all that much because he was nice enough to let me bring my pontoon boat along with me, so I set that sucker up (smashing my finger in one of the connector ring/gizzy/things):



...and trolled across the marina to some rocky cliffs and flooded brush. This was an all new experience for me, as I've never fished for bass of any kind in this type of water. I had a hell of a time figuring out what technique and presentation to use, but eventually, I started figuring it out. I landed approx 10 smallies over the next couple of hours before the wind finally took my spirits (and my ability to successfully maneuver the damn boat) and I headed back in. I would've had more success but I had a bad batch of tippit and lost 10 flies on small strikes. Of all the things to overlook while preparing for a world class fishing trip, tippit was a painful one.









Day 3:

Up again and on the water before sunrise:



PM99 pretty much catered to my every whim on this day, which was amazing. He knew I wanted to nail some bass with some top water poppers that I had tied up:





And to my joy, he put me in a honey hole and I blasted my first fish:



I must say, there is nothing quite like seeing a fish explode on the surface like that. So freaking awesome. I was able to get maybe another half-dozen strikes on various colors, but couldn't get any hook ups. I believe the hooks I tied them on didn't have a big enough gap or shank -- next time I'll know better.

We spent the rest of the day trolling deep and taking small detours into back canyons in search of hungry bass and again, the fish didn't disappoint. By 2pm, PM99 was ready to call it a day again and we headed back in. Rinse and repeat the day before on the pontoon boat, but this time I took my spinning outfit with me and caught maybe 30 to 40 small mouth Vs the 10 that I caught on the fly. You jig chuckers might be onto something...

The most exciting part of the trip, however, came when I didn't catch anything. So, there I was, looking at this batch of flooded brush and thinking to myself, "Self, you do realize that you spent over $100.00 at Fishtech on plastics and grubs, not to mention the giant waste of money on several bags of "Senko's", right?" Fine. I've never fished a Senko, but I'd read about it and PM99 gave me a few good pointers. My very first cast resulted in me watching my line go from slack to arrow straight in .2 seconds, and a monster small mouth being jerked out of the brush. "Wow" I thought, "That was actually kind of cool." I kept on treking down the shoreline pitching that silly worm when it happened again. Limp line went shooting forward like a bullet, and just like I'd seen Bill Dance do a million times, I jerked back on my rod and set that sum'bitch! "HO-LEE-S***!" That was went through my head when I saw the LMB come out of the water on his first jump. I can't really classify it as a "jump" as I currently know it; I'm used to seeing trout, and now small mouth, jump up out of the water, and this was no "jump". You see, since this fish could have easily been mistaken for Nessie of the famed Loch Ness, it was more of a "Trundling Capriole" than a "jump". Seriously, the head and mouth on this thing were bigger than most of the fish I have caught life-to-date. And then... into the trees he went, and into Depressed-ville I went. Snap went Mr. Line. I didn't think that it was possible to go from pure elation to pure despair in 5 seconds, but it happened. Didn't matter, that was still awesome. I kept on going and it happened again. Pretty much the exact same scenario, right down to the cursing going on in my head. And then it happened again. Sons of dirty June Suckers! At this point, the sun was going down and I decided to call it a trip. Simply amazing though. My transition to The Dark Side of the Fish is pretty much complete, and my Sith Lord, Darth TubeDude has taken any/all love of Trout fishing from me. Now I know why warm water fishing is so damn popular. I'm an official addict.

All in all, I gave this trip and experience 10 out of 5 stars. PIKEMAN99 was amazing, the fishing was amazing, the lodging was amazing. Lake Powell is a jewel in the middle of the freaking wastelands, and I'm chomping at the bit to get back. I don't recall ever going anywhere and catching five different species in the same body of water, and knowing that I could've very easily added two more to the five. (crappie and sunfish/bluegill) All props and thanks go to PIKEMAN99 who made this trip possible. What an animal!
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Nice report. Looks like a fun trip.
I will definitely agree with you on Glen being a great guy, and very knowledgeable.
Glad you guys had fun.
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Awesome trip. Pikeman addicts another fisherman.
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Very cool report guys. Looks like you had a great time.
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Sounds like an awesome trip. I'm glad you've seen the light and understand the warm water addiction. There's just something about watching your line take off when fishing weightless plastics. I love this time of year.
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Great pics, but I need more! I was pretty jealous at Fish Tech when I saw you. You sure can take a guy off cloud 9 by saying "I'm going to Powell". Glad the years in the making trip was full of memories for years to come.
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Hey Dave, sounds like you had a great time. I was on that trip last year at this time. I also begged my way onto Glen's boat and had a terrific time. He really knows how o show guys a good time. Not only is Glen a great guide, he and his wife are a fantastic cooks. Did he throw grub for you too?
Good for you having the privilege to be in on that trip!
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