Cottonwood Res 8/17/24

[joatmon]

Took my canoe out to the Uintah Basin yesterday with the intent to fish Cottonwood Reservoir and Big Sand Wash. I started at Cottonwood with the hope of catching some wipers and possibly a tiger muskie. The only other time I fished Cottonwood I got skunked on a sunup to sundown ice fishing trip.

One pole I set up for tiger muskies, with a slip bobber, 60# fluorocarbon, and wire quick strike rig with dual treble hooks. Used a little bigger chub minnows. My other rod was an ice fishing rod with a medium sized jig. My plan was to stay in about 15 feet of water or less. I would row, then anchor up and fish. I had my ice flasher for depth and fish observations while jigging. 

I caught a whole bunch of nothing on the tiger muskie rig. However, had better luck on the short pole. At the first location, I marked fish in the 12-15 foot depth (0-3 feet off the bottom), so targeted my jigging in that interval. I used a chunk of nightcrawler and eventually got a wiper to play. Then nothing even though I was still marking fish. I switched over and tried mussels, still no additional bites. Eventually I tried pieces of chub minnow but by then I wasn’t marking many fish, so made a big move. I occasionally stopped and fished but didn’t anchor up until I was marking multiple fish in a small cove. The wipers seemed to like just a small piece of chub meat. If I cut a minnow in half, that was too much. Just the head or and “end of the pinky” sized section of chub minnow was the ticket. I had caught several additional wipers when I got a huge hit, then line went limp. Hook, line, and sinker (jig) all gone. Suspect it may haven a tiger muskie and maybe I should have been better prepared for that. 

Tied on a little bit bigger jig and…. nothing. Put a smaller jig on and game on again. Caught about 6 wipers (all in the 12-14.5 inch range) in the 2-3 hours I fished at Cottonwood. Took three home for dinner. The wind started picking up and the clouds were gathering, so I rowed back to shore and got loaded before the rain started. As I was beaching my canoe, I noticed a small dead minnow, which I think was a bluegill (see photo). I know they have stocked bluegill in there, but not sure about the forage base there.

I decided to drive by Big Sand Wash on the way home. Having never been there, it took me a while to find the unmarked road to the dam and ramp. It was quite windy with lots of waves at that time, so I decided to just head for home.

[wiperhunter2]

Took my canoe out to the Uintah Basin yesterday with the intent to fish Cottonwood Reservoir and Big Sand Wash. I started at Cottonwood with the hope of catching some wipers and possibly a tiger muskie. The only other time I fished Cottonwood I got skunked on a sunup to sundown ice fishing trip.

One pole I set up for tiger muskies, with a slip bobber, 60# fluorocarbon, and wire quick strike rig with dual treble hooks. Used a little bigger chub minnows. My other rod was an ice fishing rod with a medium sized jig. My plan was to stay in about 15 feet of water or less. I would row, then anchor up and fish. I had my ice flasher for depth and fish observations while jigging. 

I caught a whole bunch of nothing on the tiger muskie rig. However, had better luck on the short pole. At the first location, I marked fish in the 12-15 foot depth (0-3 feet off the bottom), so targeted my jigging in that interval. I used a chunk of nightcrawler and eventually got a wiper to play. Then nothing even though I was still marking fish. I switched over and tried mussels, still no additional bites. Eventually I tried pieces of chub minnow but by then I wasn’t marking many fish, so made a big move. I occasionally stopped and fished but didn’t anchor up until I was marking multiple fish in a small cove. The wipers seemed to like just a small piece of chub meat. If I cut a minnow in half, that was too much. Just the head or and “end of the pinky” sized section of chub minnow was the ticket. I had caught several additional wipers when I got a huge hit, then line went limp. Hook, line, and sinker (jig) all gone. Suspect it may haven a tiger muskie and maybe I should have been better prepared for that. 

Tied on a little bit bigger jig and…. nothing. Put a smaller jig on and game on again. Caught about 6 wipers (all in the 12-14.5 inch range) in the 2-3 hours I fished at Cottonwood. Took three home for dinner. The wind started picking up and the clouds were gathering, so I rowed back to shore and got loaded before the rain started. As I was beaching my canoe, I noticed a small dead minnow, which I think was a bluegill (see photo). I know they have stocked bluegill in there, but not sure about the forage base there.

I decided to drive by Big Sand Wash on the way home. Having never been there, it took me a while to find the unmarked road to the dam and ramp. It was quite windy with lots of waves at that time, so I decided to just head for home.

Thanks for the report, that's a lake we get few reports from, good to read you had success while you were there, too bad the TM did not hit the right setup. How far is BSW off the main road? I've always wanted to fish that lake but have never made it there.

[joatmon]

Looks like it's about 10 miles north of US 40.

At about mile 9, there is a "Y" in the road, GPS will take you to the right (which is correct) but GPS tries to have you turn down someone's driveway. Continue on a 1/4 mile or so and there is an unmarked paved road to the left, leading to and up the side of the dam to the ramp. I may have missed a sign but don't think there was one.

[wiperhunter2]

Looks like it's about 10 miles north of US 40.

At about mile 9, there is a "Y" in the road, GPS will take you to the right (which is correct) but GPS tries to have you turn down someone's driveway. Continue on a 1/4 mile or so and there is an unmarked paved road to the left, leading to and up the side of the dam to the ramp. I may have missed a sign but don't think there was one.

Great, thanks for the added info.

[joatmon]

Looks like it's about 10 miles north of US 40.

At about mile 9, there is a "Y" in the road, GPS will take you to the right (which is correct) but GPS tries to have you turn down someone's driveway. Continue on a 1/4 mile or so and there is an unmarked paved road to the left, leading to and up the side of the dam to the ramp. I may have missed a sign but don't think there was one.

Great, thanks for the added info.

[wiperhunter2]

Looks like it's about 10 miles north of US 40.

At about mile 9, there is a "Y" in the road, GPS will take you to the right (which is correct) but GPS tries to have you turn down someone's driveway. Continue on a 1/4 mile or so and there is an unmarked paved road to the left, leading to and up the side of the dam to the ramp. I may have missed a sign but don't think there was one.

Great, thanks for the added info.

Thanks, that looks easier to get to than I thought.