Fishing Forum

Hi Everyone,
I've been a lurker here for a while and thought I'd try and make a contribution. First about me, I moved to Utah from Idaho two years ago. I live in Saratoga Springs and tend to fish this side of Utah Lake most of the time. Since the Knolls got all closed up, I've been launching my very un-remarkable grey and green pontoon from Pelican Point Marina (it helps that this is minutes from my house). Now I've seen the likes of Tube Dude fishing when I lived and launched on the other side of the lake (I didn't know it was Tube Dude at the time...he was just a dude on a tube). There is no danger of confusing someone like that with me. You see, he is organized, confident and his water craft of choice is squared away. I, on the other hand, might make you think things like "is he all right?"..."it looks like he's being attacked be a swarm of bees"...."should we help him? I think he's having a seizure"...."who is he cussing at?"...you get the idea.
Now the report. I launched from Pelican Point both Sunday morning and Monday afternoon. Saturday I headed south from the marina and was fishing at the crack of 8:00 AM. I flipped into the rip-rap around the marina for a while with no luck (BTW I keep hearing there are large mouth bass and walleye in Utah Lake, but all I ever seem to catch are white bass, catfish and carp...therefore those fish might as well be the Loch Ness Monster as far as I'm concerned...I keep trying to find Nessy though). Things picked up as I moved away from the marina and I amused myself catching white bass on my light 7ft rod with 4 pound test that I bought just for this purpose. The whities seemed to like 2.5" gulp minnows on 1/16th oz heads. I tried both dark and light colors with success, but when I switched to 3" minnows, I didn't do as well. There was a cold beverage in the cooler calling my name so I switched to the catfish setup and tossed out a nightcrawler with a chunk of shrimp near the reeds and prepared to kick back. My relaxation was interrupted a half dozen times by hungry kitties and I landed four in the 24" range. at about 2:00 PM the wind came up (from the wrong direction) and I got to row back into a stiff breeze.
Monday I launched at about 3:30 PM along with about 1000 of my closest friends and headed north away from the marina as fast as I could row. The water along the shore was muddier than the previous day I assume due to the boat traffic but the wind was calm and I was content to float and hang out. I decided today I would try to get some pictures and write a report which should have been the kiss of death as far as the catching goes. Things started normally with me playing with the whities who seemed to have the same tastes as the previous day.
I was tossing a 2.5" white and charteuse gulp minnow with a 1/16th oz jig head on my light rod when hell froze over. Suddenly I was holding a knife during a gun fight. At first I thought a silly catfish had grabbed my jig but the longer the fight went, the less I believed that to be the case. The fish had my pole doubled over and wasn't acting like any fish that I've ever caught in Utah Lake. Imagine my surprise five minutes later when I managed to tail and land my first ever walleye (luckily I watch enough fishing shows to know they have teeth). I didn't get a tape on him but there is an 18" tape on my pontoon and he hung off both ends. I'm estimating 23"-24".
Now remember, I had decided to get some pictures and also remember, I'm not the most organized boater on the lake so after the battle I managed to subdue Nessy and hold him down for a couple pics. He was docile and spent after the battle so imagine my surprise when the click of my i-phone camera suddenly brought him back to life and an epic battle erupted on my boat. My phone was flying through the air, the fish was flying through the air, curse words were flying through the air...you get the picture. I managed to grab my phone from mid-air and stow it in a pocket and lucky for me I had impaled my hand with Mr. Walleye's dorsal fin so he couldn't get away. Unfortunately, my cat like reflexes kicked in and I jerked my hand away and watched Nessy give one last big flop into the water. I like to think he learned his lesson and wont try messing with me again.
I spent to rest of the afternoon laughing at myself and catching kitties of the standard size and got off the water at 8:00 PM (when it was safe to go near the marina again).
Thanks to all of you who take the time to report. This was harder than I thought and the fact that you consistently take time to do it makes life better for those of us who spend way too much time not fishing.
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Hey good report, and congrats on the walleye I Have only caught white bass on that dang lake myself. Thanks for the pics. Nice fish
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That's awesome, congrats on your 1st walleye....

Great post. Brought a to my face in the wee hours of the morning as I try to get out of bed to go wet a few lines of my own.
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Welcome to BFT. Great writeup. Thanks for sharing it and taking us out with you.
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[#0000FF]Hey, hey, hey. Watch how you use my name on these holy posts.

Glad you got to "experience" a walleye. Just like I always say "there are more walleye caught by accident than on purpose". Too bad you didn't get to invite it home to dinner. At least you got a picture...or snagged a good picture from another website.

I share your pain about the Knolls. We are still working to try to get it reopened to public access. But the wheels turn slowly.

I seldom launch from Pelican Bay because of all the yuppie craft. It is a steep, narrow ramp and even those with big boats and powerful trucks have their moments. Anybody else seemingly has no right to use their ramp. But there can be some good fishing in the area.

Glad you got some action and that you got to see a walleye (Nessie) up close and personal. If you only got holes in your hand you can consider yourself lucky. Those puppies got lots of armament (spines) and that stuff does not go well with inflatables. Lucky you didn't have to walk back in.
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Nothing but respect intended Tube Dude. I avoid the ramp most of the time myself. Unfortunately that involves carrying my boat over my head through an army of frolicing kids on the beach to the north of the ramp followed by three more trips to the parking lot to get gear. I never understood the need for those vice grip like lip grabbers I've seen on TV, but now I get it. Maybe I should start carrying a net (what's one more trip to the parking lot). Here's another pic of the walleye...nice photography skills huh?
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[#0000FF]There's a lot to be said for being prepared...and fishing with confidence. Can't begin to count the number of times I have been out fishing with guys who lost big fish because they did not have a net...or a big enough net...or didn't know how to handle bigger fish.

Having a big enough net and some lip grippers is no guarantee you will catch bigger fish. But it helps you be able to deal with one if it takes pity on you and bites your bait or lure.

Lessons hard learned are usually well learned.

Attaching a picture from last month at Lindon. It shows both a net and a pair of lip grippers in action. Those things save fingers and reduce the numbers of lost fish...at least after you have them aboard.
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great report! i can visualize that walleye floppin' out of the boat and the cursing that followed. haha
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Great report. Have you ever considered writing for Field and Stream or some other outdoors publication? You've got a flair for helping the reader "fishualize" the action. I liked the line about grabbing your flying phone in mid-air. You lucked out in more than one way!
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Nice walleye! Might need to get down there for some cats. To go along with tube dude- I found out the hard way what i needed when i hooked into my first pike on my pontoon. All i had was little hemostats, no net, and a big nasty fish with 2 treble hooks in its mouth. Bad planning on my part. Fun learning experience though.
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Hey LP great report enjoyed the read, thanks for sharing it. Later J
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Thanks for your kind words Skinny. As you can probably tell, I enjoy writing and if it's a funny story, all the better. I was a hunting guide for five years and a ski/snowboard instructor for six winters and from those experiences I learned you can take the fun out of anything by making it your job. I do admit to admiring the likes of Pat McManus (last page of Outdoor Life for years) and if you saw something like that in my write up, I am honored.
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Pat McManus would probably like your story as much as I did.
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Glad you are catching some good cats, but sorry you lost that walleye! I have never caught one from UL, despite TD's assertion that they occasionally hit what the WB hit, and the fact that I have caught several thousand whities since I started fishing UL consistently! Maybe I'll try the Gulp over the regular jigs/plastics I use. But fish for whities, catch walleye sometimes.

For bass, It's fish for panfish, catch bass sometimes, at least for me. LMB have been scarce since they beat down so many of the phragmites, for me but I heard about some great days early In April. Most years I get a good handful while fishing for whitebass, but even more so bluegill and crappie (which have also nearly dissappeared from the area, at least for my early spring trips). Bobbers and small jigs tipped with tiny worm chunks for bluegill got me a dozen bass from 10-15", two years back about this time of year right in the marina as the sun set. Gave the biggest and littlest back.

Pelican is usually where I end up when I go to UL, and semi-disorganization is a hallmark of my fishing, too. Maybe I'll run into you and say hi. You can show me where the cats have been hiding from me!

Look foreward to more reports.
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Thanks for the LMB info Springbuck. I was starting to doubt their existence. I'd be happy to show you everything I know about UL catfish if you have five minutes to spare. Not sure when my next trip will be but I'm always by myself, so it might be fun to compare locations and techniques with someone who spends some time at UL. PM me sometime if you're heading out and we'll see if we can meet up.
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