Ice Edge Tubing at Utah Lake

[TubeDude]

[cool][font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][#0000bf]TubeBabe and I "unlocked" the gate at Lindon about 6:30 this morning. Dropped our envelope with $5 in the "iron ranger" and drove out to launch off the point of the dike. Bummer. Ice jam right up into the mouth of the channel. No tube fishing outside today. Didn't wanna paddle around in the house sized open spot in the harbor. $5 wasted. Shoulda looked before paying.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Remembering that Lincoln Beach was opening up nice a couple of weeks ago, we headed south. Took the "faster" back way and got stuck behind a school bus and a bunch of cars. Stop, start, stop. Over a half hour to travel 10 minutes.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Drove out to the end of the dike to launch our tubes. Bummer. Ice jam right up to the dike. No launching or fishing from the end of the dike. At least we didn't have to pay any money to be disappointed.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Drove around to the big shallow cove on the other side of the pump house. The warm springs coming in there had kept it open, with a narrow open channel around the end of the pump house. It was launchable, but shallow. Maybe?????[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]We got geared up and launched off the shallow beach. Took a long ways and a lot of shuffling backwards to reach enough depth to be able to sit down in the tubes. Worked over to the edge of the ice. Sonar said 2.5 feet and 38 degree water temp. Didn't look too promising.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]But...having taken a few fish in that shallow cove before, I tried pitching a couple of casts up onto the ice and dragging them off. Thump. Walleye? Nope. Only a toothless golden walleye. Lots of them in Utah Lake. Quite a few fewer after our trip today.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]They were in there fairly thick. Almost every cast we had a "dorsal diner", "tail taker" or "side smacker". We actually caught quite a few that slurped in the little worm tipped jigs we were casting into open water between us and the ice shelf. Lots of fun on med. light rods and six pound line. Of course we released them all unharmed...after performing complimentary gillectomies or prefrontal lobotomies through the anal vent.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Had quite a few definite whacks, even in the shallow water. It was never more than 2.8 feet, but there were a few white bass that cruised in to get a couple more degrees of warm back where the springs flowed in...up to 42 degrees. I managed to stick a couple and had some enjoys with them.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Weather forecast was for light southerly breezes. The cold north wind chilled us off the water by 1 PM. We had a fun time stretching our string and bending our sticks with old buglemouth. I brought 15 or so to net, and longline released many more. Also left a few naked when I stripped off their scales with my jig. They probably froze to death.[/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]I caught one "mirror carp" with the patches of naked skin and only a few large scales. Including a picture for those who have never seen one. [/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Stopped back out at the end of the dike before we left. There was a guy fishing in a bathtub sized opening in the ice, next to shore. That's almost as pitiful as the tubers chasing carp in skinny water. [/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Bird Island was impressive. Lots of ice had accumulated from the wind blowing ice sheets around the lake. Looked like a big iceberg in the distance. [/#0000bf]
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[#0000bf]Also saw a bald eagle sitting on a chunk of ice, out next to some open water. Always great to see those big birds.[/#0000bf]
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[Dusty_T]

TD: Thanks for thinning the carp population in preperation for my early april trip to the happy valley. I plan on having a few practice trips here in NE over the next week or two since the ice on the local lake is bidding a quick goodbye with the high 50's this week --- so since there are no carp here (knock on wood) I may throw a few old boots in the drink to make it more realistic.
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[Bluegillman]

Pretty pictures with the snow capped mountians in the background!
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[Fishheiser]

Nice pics TubeDude I think I could get used to fishing there. Dusty I hate to break it to you but I bet there are carp in your local lake they seem be everywhere. Let me know when you are going "boot" fishing I'm going crazy having to look at my tube every time I go into the basement.
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[Dusty_T]

FH: Our local lake (pond 4 acres) was drained and rehabed in 2005, so the uglies have not made it back yet I am taking Tuesday off from work to take advantage of the 60 degree weather. Once I get home from work today I am going to try the shore out and try to find the best place to launch. I might not be able to make it to Tuseday and will have to break the tube out tomorrow. All in preperation for the 1500 new rainbow guests that are going to be "delivered" for lunch on the 17th at 11:30 AM (This is the first time I can remembered having the actual date and time when the stocking truck was going to show up).
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[smallmouth89]

Hey Pat,

Is the "Toothless Golden Walleye" a sub species of the "Jigmuncher"

I wasn't aware those gummy fish would be so co-operative in cold water.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Well, actually the TGW and the JM are just different nomenclatures for the same species. Kinda like "smalljaws", "bronzeback", "brown bass", etc.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Carp are surprisingly active even in cold water. They are often caught through the ice here, by guys fishing small jigs tipped with mealworms or other baits.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]They eat almost anything and I catch a lot of them on small jigs. As many of our "closet carpaholics" will verify, they slurp buggy things like flies pretty good too.[/#0000ff]
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[Dusty_T]

"closet carpaholics"

I hope they have a 12 step program for them. I am sure there are a lot of interventions and stuff.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]More like a 12 STOMP program. Most of us feel better after we have stomped a dozen carp to death.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This is especially therapeutic at Utah Lake, where carp have taken over and are now 90% of the biomass in the lake. And, they have recently been found to have high levels of PCB in their flesh, so they can't be harvested and sold for any kind of consumption.[/#0000ff]
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[zonker]

[cool]While you guys are dissing the puckermouths, I'll be preferring 10-20 pound carp on the fly over 10 inch planter trout and other dinks any day. When you C&R it doesn't matter.

(Tubedude, I know you were waiting for me to weigh in.)

Nice bugglers.

z~
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I toldja I would go fishing and put up some purty pitchers fer ya. See what I go through just to keep you happy?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Definitely no shame in mixing it up with a carpinski. If you go fishing to flex your rod and stretch your string, those ugly buggers give you all you can handle. I knew you would appreciate the carp story, even if nobody else does. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My only complaint was that the water was so cold (under 40 degrees) that the carp did not fight as hard as they are capable of doing. When they are in their "comfort zone" they make some long strong runs. The ones we caught in the cold water didn't do much more than pull and roll a bit. I could have sworn the look in their eyes was saying "please take me home to a warm place."[/#0000ff]
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[zonker]

You did very well in giving me a nice jolt of fishing emotion by posting those pics. Thanks.

I caught a few at the tail end of the fall last year after the water cooled down and they were sluggish, too. They really don't make a good showing for themselves until the water gets warm. In fact, the dog day of August are some of the best for them - that time when most folks are trying to hide from the sun. Then they're really hot.

And yes, I have to agree. They're ugly.

~z
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[tubeN2]

Nice report. I thought we got all the Bugle Mouth Bass and the Hill Billy Trout out of there back in the 70s.

At least there is still something to put a tug on the line.[cool]
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[Carp_Punisher]

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[size 1][b][#0000ff]More like a 12 STOMP program. Most of us feel better after we have stomped a dozen carp to death.[/#0000ff] [/size]

[#0000ff][size 1]carp have taken over and are now 90% of the biomass in the lake[/size][/#0000ff] [/quote]
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[/size][/b][#505000]12 stomp is right you have to walk over the backs of the ugly buggers to even get to an open spot of water to launch![/#505000] []
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