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Looks like a fun outing. I need to get down there and catch me some of those crappie for sturgeon bait.
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That was a good video it's always cool to meet up with new fishing buddies that kid had it down thanks for the update onthe white bass hope i can get down nixt weekend to try my hand at them
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I turned mine loose, so they are waiting for ya. But, I just read a post about PV, sounds like you could fill up faster there, if size was not a concern
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Thanks For the report. Going to head down Saturday morning with a few kids and try our luck at the state park.
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I live about three minutes from here, but have no idea where this nice rock embankment is. Any possibility you'd be so kind as to share a location? I've been down to the Saratoga marina, but I understand that's all private.
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[#0000FF]The old original Saratoga Springs marina IS private, and is limited to residents. But the one referred to is the Saratoga Springs Marina at Pelican Bay...a few miles further south on Redwood Road. See the attached PDF file for info.
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Thanks a bunch TD. I'll have to start launching the boat over there rather than Lindon.
As an aside, I have a file on my computer full of your PDFs going back the 6 or 7 years I've been on the site. One of my favorites is about Provo River walleye. That info ruined many a homework assignment in college. Thanks again.
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[#0000FF]Sorry about messin' up your scholastic pursuits. Back in the 60's...when I was a student at that institution...I had a tough time concentrating on classes until I could bust loose and ride my bike down to the lower Provo during the "pike" (walleye) run. Walleye had only been in Utah Lake a few years and the local troutaholics didn't have a clue about how to fish for the toothy critters...or that they were so much better eating than trout. Seemed like the only way the local goobers were able to harvest any walleyes was with the "Provo River dry fly"...a large treble hook with a sinker on it. But I did well with my big streamers and some homemade spinners.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]The Pelican Bay Marina may be closer to you, but unless you have a decent tow vehicle for the size boat you have, you might have fun with the ramp. As I mention...and show in the pictures...the ramp is pretty steep. And on busy days it can be fun trying to launch or trailer a boat with all of the undergunned tow vehicles spinning out on the ramp algae or unable to pull their boats back up the hill.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]The good news is that there is good fishing right inside the marina most of the time. But there are lots of good spots nearby both north and south...and around the corner and down to the Knolls.
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I'd pay good money to take a ride in a DeLorean at 88 MPH and see what it was like to fish the river back then, and to see how different Provo, Utah Lake, and the state as a whole was.
Seems like the rock dike there at the Marina might get a little crowded on Saturday, especially after pirate's very helpful post. Probably overkill, but I'll take the boat on Saturday just to have a live well and a nice place to sit. If anyone cares to join they're welcome.
I have an 18' Crestliner Superhawk with a 115 Johnson. I'm pulling it with a 3/4 ton Suburban with an 8.1 liter big block and 4x4. If that doesn't get me up the ramp, nothing will.
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[#0000FF]That spot he featured is easy access to foot traffic. Plus, there is the structure of the new water inlet facilities. But that ain't the onliest place to catch fish inside the marina. Fishing all around the ends of the docks can be good. Just vertical jig or fish below a bobber about 4-5 feet down. And a lot of places around the whole rock dike can be productive. Use the biblical system...seek and ye shall find.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF][font "Arial Black"][#000000][size 3]"I'd pay good money to take a ride in a DeLorean at 88 MPH and see what it was like to fish the river back then, and to see how different Provo, Utah Lake, and the state as a whole was."[/size][/#000000][/font][/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF][font "Arial Black"][#000000][size 3][#0000FF]Be careful when that flux capacitor kicks in. I often reminisce about those days. There really wasn't much of a marina...just a shallow enclosure with a boat ramp. And there were no high rock dikes...only a low dirt road running along the shore between the harbor and the river. Fishing for walleyes used to be good right out off the end of that road.[/#0000FF][/size][/#000000][/font][/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF][font "Arial Black"][#000000][size 3][#0000FF]I fished the river down there 12 months a year. And depending on season, water flows, etc., you could catch walleyes, largemouths, white bass, catfish and even trout. Some nice browns worked their way down from upstream in the winter. And DWR always planted a bunch of big rainbow brood stock fish about February. You could always tell when that happened by all the goobers soaking cheese and nightcrawlers...and fighting for spots to fish for those big finless freddies.[/#0000FF][/size][/#000000][/font][/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF][font "Arial Black"][#000000][size 3][#0000FF]Upstream...around Madsen Bend...it was good for walleyes from the first of March to the end of April. Then the white bass came upstream to spawn and they were a hoot. In those days 12-14 inchers were average. By May the channel cats ran up the river to spawn in the rocks and undercut banks. A piece of sucker meat...from all the suckers crowding the gravel beds...was the prime bait.[/#0000FF][/size][/#000000][/font][/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF][font "Arial Black"][#000000][size 3][#0000FF]Some of the cats I cleaned were full of stone fly nymphs. Yes, the lower Provo was a lot cleaner then and still had stoneflies that far down. I had a couple of spots where fast water dumped into a hole where I could dredge with a good stonefly pattern fly and catch the heck out of channel cats...along with an occasional walleye or even a trout...brown or rainbow.[/#0000FF][/size][/#000000][/font][/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF][font "Arial Black"][#000000][size 3][#0000FF]During late summer...when the water flows were low...I would stalk along the banks and find some deeper holes. A big jig dropped into the deeper shaded spots often produced largemouths up to 6#. Of course they also ate the whole crawlers I fished for catfish.[/#0000FF][/size][/#000000][/font][/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF][font "Arial Black"][#000000][size 3][#0000FF]In late fall I would fish off the big floating metal barges anchored along the lower Provo River. Soaking a dead carp minnow produced some humongo white bass, some catfish and even largemouth bass and brown trout. Like a box of chocklits...ya never knew what you was goin' to git.[/#0000FF][/size][/#000000][/font][/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF][font "Arial Black"][#000000][size 3][#0000FF]Those memories of my BYU days stayed with me during the next few decades. And they helped a lot in my decision to finally retire here. Things are different now...but not all bad. Some new species and some different wrinkles on fishing for the old ones. And, of course, the Utah Lake State Park is vastly different than in the old days. Also, there are a lot more folks fishing for the non-trout species these days so you usually have a lot more company...expecially when one species or another is really active. Not all bad.[/#0000FF][/size][/#000000][/font]
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I hope you can swing in and participate in some Utah Lake fun. I can assure you that spot will have anglers on Saturday. It's a very popular spot all week. But like TD said the whole marina has some willing water beasts. The American Fork harbor also seems to collect some early winter critters that might be willing to play
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Thanks for the great video and the report. It was interesting to see the YOY white bass still present there. I had been catching them regularly in the Provo Harbor, but about the end of Oct. they just disappeared. Still plenty of adult whites and a few crappie but the little guys vanished. Maybe the pike ate them all.
Keep up the good work!
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That would be my uncle. He can catch a fish in a dry pond!
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