Hyrum Masses... 1-4-2020

[SkunkedAgain]

Yup I think your right on the money there, but Saturday they filled most of the pond with groups of fishermen, so most of the lake had people fishing it, but I know on regular days what you say is true... I'll bet it's fishing a lot better today, hope so anyway... Later Jeff
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[dubob]

[quote killerhook] The beach access is the only place people can get on hyrum . . . [/quote][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 3]Hmmm! I guess the folks getting on at the boat ramp and off the dam didn't get the word. [cool][/size][/#800000][/font]
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[Springbuck]

[quote SkunkedAgain]Ya but, there’s a lot of cool spots I’ve learned about on line that I might not have discovered on my own......................................... So I think I’ll take the good with the bad and I realize that everything cycles................................ So I’ll share the good times and hope they don’t pass too soon.................................... I’m glad I got to be part of it. Time to hunt out other areas. Later Jeff[/quote]

Jeff, I really value your attitude. I believe strongly in the do-for-yourself attitude, and I want to do just that. However, the day I met you at Bear Lake, trying for whitefish, when you offered to share your boat in exchange a tiny bit of help launching it, made that trip SO) much better. Circumstances what they are, that was the LAST TIME I have been to Bear Lake LAST TIME I have tried to catch a whitefish. "Boot-work" is a great principle, but one trip every 5-6 years???? That's an impossible learning curve to climb. Yet, THAT day, we ALMOST caught something!!!!! Remember that huge fish you had on for a few seconds in shallow water, on that white tube jig the size of a hot-dog? I remember it!!! I'll never forget it.

My elderly friend and I showed up that cold, clear wintery day, hoping that some wild plan I had concocted MIGHT net us our first ever Bear Lake fish, since we lacked other resources. When we got there, I could see from the conditions that my plan was doomed. Your generosity made it a fishing trip, instead of a long, disappointing drive.

I have fished, and loved fishing, since I was 4 years old (caught my first Bluegill in Roper Lake, near Safford, AZ. in 1975) When I decided about 15 years ago to actually LEARN how to fish (my father being too busy and responsible a man to fish more than a few times per year) this website was INVALUABLE in teaching me how to do things, and what I had been doing wrong. I am HUGELY grateful.

I had, for instance, fished UTAH Lake maybe 5-6 times since moving to Utah, and hadn't caught one fish. This despite reading Outdoor Life since I could read, calling the DWR fishing report hotline weekly, talking to the guys at Angler's Inn, and reading the little weekly Utah Fishing and Outdoors weekly that was published through the late 80's and early 90's. (Remember how it looked like it was published on a Canon copier, but was still a pretty cool little rag?).

Tubedude, Gumby, and about a dozen other fellas have helped me so much. Learning when to fish for what was a huge step. I would have never figured out ice-fishing at all without help.

Last week I went to Mantua and met two new friends on their VERY FIRST ice-fishing trip, though both of them fish regularly on softer water. I say without criticism, their lines were too stiff, their jigs were WAY too big, they had nothing set up for detecting the delicate bites winter fish take, etc....... As we got acquainted, at the risk of sounding like a no-it-all, I set them up with some ice-flies, tiny bobbers, and tippet material, then a little coaching on what to look for and some common ice-fishing lore (move until you find fish, etc..) That's all it took.

Within a few minutes, with the day fading, they each caught several medium bluegills and perch. That was it. But, they were thrilled, just like I was the first time. One even texted me pics while he fried em up!

I have taken and taught several people how to catch lots of nice bluegills in the spring, and guess what? Mantua still has lots of good bluegills in it.

I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me, (please don't, I am very blessed). But, I have a wife who fights depression and anxiety daily, an oldest who suffers from very poor mental health and lupus, an autistic 2nd chikd with a high IQ, but SO many other struggles, and a youngest child with cerebral palsy, legally blind and in a wheelchair. I may only get out 4 times per year and my fishing budget may be a couple hundred dollars/year total. Thanks to those who make those few trips NOT be uphill battles.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Ya know what? I remember that fish too, it nearly tore that rod right out of my hands... Had to be a good one, sure woke me up that it was time to fish... That was I think my first attempt at white fishing during the spawn, and like you say, thanks to help from the BFT veterans I've learned a thing or two since that trip, not that I'm catching many more fish, but every now and then I find one.. I appreciate what you have wrote and I know it's easy to get upset, when our favorite spot get's sort of blown out, but this forum does do a lot of good for a lot of us, not to mention a fun pass time to look into verses getting in trouble other ways... Glad you could help that crew at Mantua, I'm sure that will make a big difference for them... A lot more fun to catch a few than just standing on the ice and freezing... Thanks for the kind words and hope to fish with you again... Let's hope for ice for cisco this year... later Jeff
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[PACKFAN]

I can remember driving across the lake with my F-250 about this time of year in 1993 I think it was there were two of us that did this that morning by noon there another 1/2 dozen vehicles on the ice, reminded me of home back in Wis. A week or so later that was all over as it warmed up enough to make it softer along the edge coming on at the boat ramp. The ice was 12 to 14 inches of good solid ice.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Wow you’re a lot braver than I am to take a truck on the ice. I remember seeing a Ford Pinto go cruising across the lake one time. I was sure they would die but they didn’t. Guess if you learned how to do it in the ice belt, you know your stuff. I don’t think I’d dare do it. But we don’t ever get that much ice so I’ll stick to a snowmobile. Later Jeff
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