Fishing Forum

My mother bought a mazda miata from my grandpa. My grandpa lives in Las Cruses New Mexico and my mothers back cannot take that type of drive anymore. The deal was I fly down there and take the car to SLC and in return I would get my 8th moab vacation on the way home! But I would have to release my fish (no fish in the car) and buy a net and rod down in New Mexico. Still what a DEAL!!!!!

So Saturday at the airport a TSA personal was following my every move. Hmm must be the hair....turns out she has not seen me since 8th grade. We were very good friends till I moved. On the flight I saw that the Tushars, the boulders, and even cedar breaks got some snow! Arrived at El Paso Texas and made it to New Mexico to be united with my Fed Ex'd tackle box at my uncles. He said he almost didn't accept it as it had blood on it. So sunday morning I shot like a bat out of hell to Moab. 10 hours later I managed this site at the campground of choice. Not named on purpose folks!


Not the greatest site but oh well. So I got into arches national park and was 10 mins late to everything I wanted to do. Had to settle for this shot and call it a day.


DAY 2

The next morning I hit up Carona Arch for a 3 mile hike


The hike path.....


So I hit arches national park and and saw some fall colors


Then I went to sandstone arch............


After that I made my way to Broken Arch


And a rattle snake was spotted.........



So for the sunset I decided to do Delicate arch for the sunset and a hike down in the dark. On the way up I got off trail and decided to go with it and see where it took me. Once I got to this view I knew I got into something new...............


So I wondered what the ridge would provide as a view.



I decided to call it "poachers point" as I was finally alone and got an uncommon view on a common place.



Well knowing it was getting dark I went back and joined the masses at the normal view point.



DAY 3
The next morning at camp I awoke and decided to wait out camp #6 and admired some rock art.


While enjoying my coffee at this beautiful site


I heard a loud rock clashing thunder! I shot so fast for the over hang to protect me you would have thought my socks blew off! Well it was a 60 foot tree that hit 30 yards down trail.I have heard my buddy say "run like a logger" many a times while ice fishing but never understood it till then. Well the wait paid off and I got my site #6.


I also managed a reflection shot that I turned upside down for your viewing pleasure. These are hard to get in Moab as you not only need the right angle but you also need WATER!


So I hit the windows area at arches and was disappointed by all the crowds. Needing some tugs I headed for Kens Lake. Well there was a guy there that was in charge of moving the artificial structures. He told me if I wanted pike there was a lake not too far off. So I carried on and got 24 largemouth bass that were mostly between 14 to 16 inches. Here is a few of them...................




And one greensunfish till my spinnerbait broke off on a bass!


Day 4

So Recapture was the pike water on the hit list and I backtracked past Monticello and hit the water by 1pm. Within 6 casts I got a 16.5 inch largemouth bass with steel leader and all.


So I tried for the elusive pike and managed my 1st pike at recapture. A skinny 22.5 incher!


Within a few more casts at that spot I got a 18.5 inch pike.


Well a bass boat showed up and went for the trolling speed record of 45 miles and hour for quite some time. Just doing circles around the entire shoreline despite me moving around. Could not help but think it was spooking the fish to be racing the shallows like that for hours. So I camped at along the former hwy that runs right through the center of the lake.

DAY 5
The next day I casted and casted. From 8am till 1pm I got the skunk with only one bass sighted. Got my best rod and reel shot while I was out there.


And a decent fall shot at Recapture


Sure enough a bass leaped from the water in the shallows to get my lure. I quickly casted it about 10 feet out and BAM he took it. Just a 15 incher but figured I'd try the release shot.


Within 30mins I lost my rare lure to a snag so I called it a day and made the LONG trek back to the car at the dam. The Miata cannot handle any rocks above 6 inches so I always had to stay away from dirt roads.

In total I covered about 80 percent of that lake. Quite the work out!!!!!!!

On the way home at 90 mph with the top down I took a break for dinner at the Los Jilbertos. The top was always down because my hair couldn't fit. Although when you park you have to put the top up. Los Jilbertos is a very common stop for me in Price when I head to south eastern utah!

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Great story... excellent photos. That must have been a blast.
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Nice report and nice bass! I hope to make it down south for some bassin' this winter. Arches is a beautiful park. Thanks for the pics, we weren't able to make it to moab this year. Sounds like a great trip man.
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[cool][#0000ff]Another epic adventure. Great report and pics.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Amazing how much beautiful country there is in Utah...and how much water that goes largely unfished by the masses. Always fun to get to fish a new lake and to get it figured out enough to score a few fishies. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good news - bad news about having to cancel our trip to Yuba on Thursday. You definitely had more fun than I did. And it was cold down there in the morning...like 20 degrees cold. I have fished in much colder conditions down there but not when I didn't need to. My mama drowned all the dumb ones...except my sister. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Weather looks funky for a good part of next week. But let's keep our gear on the launch pad for the first window of opportunity.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]By the way, hope you didn't try to use that big worm with rattles for bait. Glad you got him to for a pic before he nipped at you. That can mess up your whole day. When we lived in Arizona we had to always watch for them around the lakes whenever we went tubing.[/#0000ff]
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I didn't know fish slime made for an excellent hair gell
natures hair gell..awesome adventure,almost
better than Pee Wee's great adventure haha!

Nice bass,fish tacos anyone...
P.
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So did you go to Yuba?

Anyway you really do have to watch out for the rattlers...especially the baby ones. Not only do they have a more potent bite but they also have a very weak rattle so they are almost impossible to hear.

I was at the visitor center inquiring about the fiery furnace permits and there was a couple saying they saw a rattler. The ranger told them that was quite the treat that those snakes are rare around arches. Hmmm about 1 hour later I saw that guy.

Considering I had never been to Recapture I was astounded that I managed 2 pike on the 1st trip.
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No I released all my fish this trip. No cooking supplies and besides I could not put a fish in that car. Pee Wee's Big Adventure (ie the Tushar Trip) was way more fun. I do have intentions of backcountry skiing the La Sals there in Moab. I scouted them out 2 years ago but have been waiting for the right snow conditions to give it a whirl. There would be some fishin involved too. Now that I know there is pike down there!
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[cool][#0000ff]Did NOT go to Yuba. Guess my wording was a bit vague. Got some things I had to take care of on Thursday so I postponed my trip and then opted for Jordanelle. All's well that ends.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The good news is that there should be a few pike available well into next month. And then when it freezes we can feed them some minnows.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I definitely want to hit Yuba for a perch search right after the first of November. Might as well prospect for toothy critters too. I ain't too proud. And the smaller ones are dandy in the pan. Big ones are okay but smaller are easier to handle and fillet and the fillets are of a better thickness for most recipes.[/#0000ff]
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Awesome trip. Reminds me of the "How I spent my Summer Vacation Videos" you see in the movies.[laugh]

New name for ya, Spike's Pike!
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Thanks FG. The Spike's Pike idea has been added to my signature.
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Nice report [] you got to know when it is time to run like a logger !!!![cool]
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Rockin!

I was thinnin' this might have to move to off-topic, all them damned rock pictures, FINALLY you got onto some good fishpix! Shew... (kidding - Dad's a Geologist, and I love rocks, and rolls!)

I'd say you could just strap a cooler to the roof to carry the fish, but DUOH! Bet them spikes had a backward bend after them 90 mph breezes done blaster your crop-top!


Nice report bud. Sounds like a fun cruise.

I HATE that my kids have not seen southern Utah! Need to fix THAT!

Yeah well Recapture was a backtrack to Blanding pretty much. About 70 miles one way. So if I had known of it I would have done recapture the 1st day. Oh well I got my pike in a new place so it was all good.

I will admit that my trip consisted of 90mph on the highways most of the time. As you could see in that bass pic from recapture it did take a toll on the front row of spikes but hey the beyond the zone hair glue survived on day 7 (from being put in) and at 90mph. Amazingly strong stuff!

Southern Utah is great to explore. I have done the winter, fall, summer, and spring and each have a different thing to offer but honestly summer is the best. Hot as hell which means less people on the trails.

Although the January hike up to delicate arch under the full moon from 11 years ago is a memory that will last forever.

I would highly recommend southeastern utah to you and your family. I personally like to see new things so this trip was not the greatest. Couldn't go very many places with the miata. 6 inch clearance sucks when you have seen all the main attractions. If I had a better car I could have seen some new places for sure.

As I stated earlier I might be going for a tushar like trip down there someday. The La Sals are great mountains for backcountry skiing. With Kens Lake right at the foot of them and pike in the area.......oh it don't get much better than that in the spring!!!!!
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