Hyrum Attempt 12/28

[SkunkedAgain]

Well I finally got out fishing again, but the day didn't go as hoped... I knew my boat needed some attention before I got on the water, so I waited until light to get ready to go... Then the relatives were in slow motion getting ready... Finally got in the truck and headed to Hyrum, just before we hit Hyrum we got a call and my bro in laws dog had gotten a flig in it's foot... Probably mine, I cut one off while getting ready to go and lost it when it fell... So we turned around and Greg did some masterful surgery and the dog didn't even whine... Unlike me being late to the pond... Then we tried again, got all the way to the pond this time and since we were the only one there, the parks crew went through all our paper work to verify we were legal... We passed 15 minutes later and got launched around 11:00 I guess... I left my remote for the trolling motor in the boat and it got wet and wouldn't work, so we tried trolling with the big motor, but I guess 3.2 mph only works for wipers in the summer time... so we found a couple groups of fish on the side finder and tried to verticle jig them, they didn't really want to play, so we tried over by the beach and graphed a couple perch looking groups of fish, but never could get anchored on them, so no luck there and the wind kept getting stronger along with the rain getting wetter, so we headed to the south wall where the wind was partially broken and tried it again... This time Greg had a bow about pull his rod out of the boat, so he decided he better try and catch that one... Which he did, even though I forgot the landing net....  Well then it decided to really rain, so we decided to head in, as we raced across the lake the whitecaps soaked us, but we had made a return to fishing trip and it was all good...  BTW the bow was 15.5" which I was pretty happy about, they are usually 12"ers over there... Later J

[BearLakeFishGuy]

That's a tough, miserable, day.

[Muskyon46]

X2 tough day Jeff. Kept the skunk outta the boat though. A+ on persistence

[EyLayo]

Hey at least you finally got out. Next time will certainly be an improvement. If it makes you feel any better, my first trip of the ice season was pretty smelly.

[Cowboypirate]

Hey ya got out. Good to hear. Hope some ice reports start showing with your line tight

[dubob]

Jeff - Dude - tough day!  

Based on your reported fishing success for all of 2024, I have a suggestion for you.  Think about prioritizing your life in 2025 to include actually budgeting time for recreation.  You really sucked at that in 2024.  Plan at least a week in advance and be sure to consult weather and solunar charts ahead of time.  Recreation is just as important as those existence requirement thingies like eating and earning a living.  Know what I mean Vern?

[SkunkedAgain]

Well ya know what, it must not have been too bad I’m planning on going in the morning. Just bought a new park pass, sure hope I use it more than the last one. Like maybe two trips last year. Still no new mussel course so I guess I’ll sign the one day pass. Happy new year everyone. Hope to see you on the pond. Later Jeff

[SkunkedAgain]

Quick follow up, had Willard all to ourselves today. No one else that stupid I guess. My weather ap said 2-3 mph till noon. Well they missed it. Must have been 10 mph plus today, 2-3’ waves all morning with no let up. We chased a few marks in the north marina but 2 anchors and my electric motor wouldn’t hold us where we wanted to be. We briefly tried the main lake and the marks looked wonderful, but I couldn’t slow down enough to fish them. Water temp 36.2 air temp 30.0 when we left not sure what wind chill was but by 10:00 I was froze out in my heavy ice gear so it was time to call the polar skunk fest to an end. One day I’ll catch a fish. Later J

[lavaman]

Quick follow up, had Willard all to ourselves today. No one else that stupid I guess. My weather ap said 2-3 mph till noon. Well they missed it. Must have been 10 mph plus today, 2-3’ waves all morning with no let up. We chased a few marks in the north marina but 2 anchors and my electric motor wouldn’t hold us where we wanted to be. We briefly tried the main lake and the marks looked wonderful, but I couldn’t slow down enough to fish them. Water temp 36.2 air temp 30.0 when we left not sure what wind chill was but by 10:00 I was froze out in my heavy ice gear so it was time to call the polar skunk fest to an end. One day I’ll catch a fish. Later J

Hey at least you're trying! Awesome that you're getting out fishing, Jeff. You'll get em next time!

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks Derek, Guess I'm trying to catch up a little after a long year away from my favorite pass time... I have a little leave left to use before this pay period ends so I think I'll go tomorrow and try it one more time... I don't think the weather will be great, and I don't think it's been cold enough to make any ice safe enough for me to try... So probably back in the boat and heading to Willard to try and redeem myself... unless it looks windy.... Won't try that again... unless I can find a bigger anchor.... waves went over the back end of my boat and into the wet well and just about spilled into the passenger area... That was when I decided to pull anchors and get back to the marina area that was partially protected.. Sure glad I've got the bigger boat, my old one would have sunk in those waves, no, I wouldn't have tried fishing in the old boat, would have known better... I think this was the trip where I learned the limits on the new boat... Would have been okay if my anchors held solid, but my front anchor kept slipping and back one held sort of so kept putting the side and back of boat into the waves... not good when the set of really big waves would hit... Anyway, still don't like to fish in the wind, it's not really worth going on those days... Later J

[Kent]

Quick follow up, had Willard all to ourselves today. No one else that stupid I guess. My weather ap said 2-3 mph till noon. Well they missed it. Must have been 10 mph plus today, 2-3’ waves all morning with no let up. We chased a few marks in the north marina but 2 anchors and my electric motor wouldn’t hold us where we wanted to be. We briefly tried the main lake and the marks looked wonderful, but I couldn’t slow down enough to fish them. Water temp 36.2 air temp 30.0 when we left not sure what wind chill was but by 10:00 I was froze out in my heavy ice gear so it was time to call the polar skunk fest to an end. One day I’ll catch a fish. Later J

Jeff, will you please start posting what days and where you will be fishing?  If I knew that vital information I would know when and where to avoid going fishing!

[lavaman]

Remember: WIND is a four-letter word, y'all. I'll fish in rain, snow, below freezing temps, blistering heat. But not those blasted gales.

[SkunkedAgain]

Kent, I think I need to have Pat do my weather planning for me, I've proven to be unfit at choosing a good day to go fish... But with that said, I'm off work tomorrow, and looking at Willard, just so you know where not to be.... Weather looks similar to yesterday so sure it will be a good day... Later Jeff

---

Hey Derek, don't ya just love loading a boat on the trailer alone on a windy day.... Some days I'm glad i had a prayer before I went fishing, think that is all that gets me through some of those nasty places I get myself into... Even more fun that most lakes take all the ramps out when you need them most... high winds and cold water temperatures... Yup I'm with ya four letter word for sure... Later J

[wiperhunter2]

Jeff, try the wind forecast site:
https://www.windfinder.com/forecast/willard

Ira and I have found it very helpful over the years. Tomorrow looks pretty good but in the Winter I hate going out when the wind is much over 5 mph

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks Curt, I like that site.... appreciate you passing that along... Jeff

[gofish435]

Here is another helpful site for wind forecasting.  

[url=https://sailflow.com/][/url]
sailflow.com

[SkunkedAgain]

Wow so big difference on their forecasts tomorrow for Willard... Curt has 5-7 mph and yours is showing 8-23mph in the same time range... Got to admit, I hope Curt's is more accurate... but if I go, I'll bet your's is.... You're closer to my weather app that I usually use so that's two votes for higher wind tomorrow vs one at acceptable levels... Maybe I can check current wind speeds when I get up and see if I want to try it or not.... hate to drive over to find out it's too windy, but also hate to miss a good day if it turns out mellow.... Thank you for the option to look at... Later Jeff

[2knots]

Weather guy on tv this am said it was going to be windy tomorrow 20 plus in the west desert from the southwest, not sure how that affects Willard area

[obifishkenobi]

Wow so big difference on their forecasts tomorrow for Willard... Curt has 5-7 mph and yours is showing 8-23mph in the same time range... Got to admit, I hope Curt's is more accurate... but if I go, I'll bet your's is.... You're closer to my weather app that I usually use so that's two votes for higher wind tomorrow vs one at acceptable levels...  Maybe I can check current wind speeds when I get up and see if I want to try it or not.... hate to drive over to find out it's too windy, but also hate to miss a good day if it turns out mellow.... Thank you for the option to look at... Later Jeff

Jeff, 
I hope my wind app predictwind.com is correct, it is saying light wind in the 1-3mph range for Willard Bay tomorrow, Ill be there at 6:30 am. give me a call or text if your not on your way yet and I'll give you the current conditions at the pond then. In my boat if the wind picks up too much to effectively vertically jig we will switch to fligs and drive into the wind at .5 mph.

[SkunkedAgain]

Alan, thanks for the tips.... Shawn, you have the best weather Ap... That morning I checked the first two mentioned above. Curts was saying 5-9, the Sailwind one was 7-12 and I was almost to call it and not go.... But went anyway... Got there to flat calm conditions just like Shawn mentioned... It was a perfect day for jigging. Unfortunately the fish didn't want to cooperate... We fished till noon and only had 3 bites and I tried to let my nephew catch them and he got too excited on the first fish and tried to horse it in and lost it... I had one hit and I went to set the hook to hand it to him, but it never had a follow up hit... Last one was on a flig that nailed it hard, but Ethan missed it completely so I went home smelling of skunk on a perfect weather day.... Thanks everyone for your tips and help on this one... Later Jeff