Abyss at UL? Shoot, did I say the "A" word?

[TroutFool]

Without letting the cat out of the bag, although it's already half out, has anyone dared venture to the Abyss? I mean that one secret place? []
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Ice was 4" in most places but as little as 2 1/2" in others last Saturday, with water on the ice. Don't think it has improved much since then.

Only 2-3' depth of water on the main lake going out so if you go through the ice you will get wet and freeze but probably won't drown.

Ssssshhh! You din't hear that from me.
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[Motor_head_53]

I have never been to the unspoken place, but I know kinda where its at and there is a lot of open water right now. I live close to it and planned to go out by there today but there is a lot of water and the ice is pulling back in a few spots. So I will hold off for now.
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[fsh4fun05]

Unless you get stuck in the mud []
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[BHuij]

Man, it's threads like this that PROVE we need that secret locked forum after all
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]BFT is not to blame for every spot that gets "out" and gets more traffic. The last two years i was out there on the ice I did walkaround surveys to ask how people heard about it. Virtually nobody said anything about BFT. And some of those people said they had known about it for years. Others said there was some old guy at the park telling everybody where to go.

There are plenty of "groups" that work to discover new spots and then spread the word among themselves.

The good news is that besides an increase in trash on the ice there is no negative effect on fishing. It would be impossible to fish out all the white bass in Utah Lake. Heavy harvest actually helps with the size and keeps the numbers at a reasonable level.

Ditto for Mantua. Folks on this board cry about too much publicity on the open forum. Again, a very large percentage of those on the ice have gotten their info from other sources. Not many even know about BFT and plenty do not even use computers.
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[BHuij]

Haha I was just kidding man. I don't even know where this place is, but so far I'm happy with good old AF Boat Harbor
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[crappielover89]

what there is a secret spot on utah lake where i would love to hear this one? tell me tell me tell me!!!!! please............... i promise i will only go out there by myself and never take another soul!!!!!!!!!!
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[Fin-S-Fish]

It's a minimum 40 min walk as fast as you can if you are fairly fit. Think twice before attempting even if you know where it is lol. Packing out a sled full of whities could potentially kill the average angler lol. I wouldn't walk out there just yet lol. That's a hella long ways from shore if that ice caves and you just happen to be in deep water over the spring hole. An olympic swimmer would not make it shore that kinda ocean distance.
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[TubeDude]

[quote crappielover89]what there is a secret spot on utah lake where i would love to hear this one? tell me tell me tell me!!!!! please............... i promise i will only go out there by myself and never take another soul!!!!!!!!!! [/quote]

[#0000FF]There are at least a thousand other desperate guys who said the same thing. And now there are several thousand others who heard about it from guys who promised not to tell.

Too late to keep it a secret but it is still not deserving of a GPS numbers post on a public forum.

Again, I have no problem with folks harvesting the superabundant white bass. But I hate it when 50 of your new close friends move in on you when you are catching more than they are. Last year two guys followed us out. They didn't even have an auger. So they just helped themselves to any hole we had drilled and were not currently fishing...even right in our little area. I finally blew up when one dropped his jig down the hole from which I had just pulled a fish. I drilled a few holes for them...a few yards away from us. I very nearly used the auger on them. They seemed upset that we didn't want them fishing with us. No gratitude.

That's the thing. Most guys just can't keep a secret. Yeah, no harm in telling good ol' Jim. But next time you go to your spot there is Jim with another 20 people. And the time after that you can't even find a place to fish because of all of Jim's friends and their friends...all who promised not to tell. Yeah, right.
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[crappielover89]

As tubedude knows since we fished there once last year by each other I know where it is. Been out there over a hundred times in the past 3 years open and hard deck. But like I told tubedude last year I won't be the one to go out this year and leave a trail for people to fallow me or my tracks to it.
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[Springbuck]

[quote TubeDude][#0000ff]Others said there was some old guy at the park telling everybody where to go.
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[]I don't want to know where the Abyss is, but where is this guy located?[:p]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Don't know about that one. But I'm an old guy and I have been known to tell people where to go.

My Mama always told me not to talk to strange old guys in the park.
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[Therapist]

You may need to clarify that statement " I have been known to tell people where to go !!! " I can attest that it is a true statement however.

[lavaman]

TD speaks the truth.

Same thing happened to me about six years ago. Now, I'm all for helping folks out (especially youth fishermen), and I understand that some lakes are better suited with all the fishing pressure than others.

About six or seven years ago I had publicly shared all my catch on this site- from a northern utah lake, I won't say which one. Some stranger I've never met PM'd me about helping them catch a few fish; they had never been ice fishing before and of course I naturally wanted to help out. I gave them the specifics, and even told them exactly where I was fishing on the hard deck.

You probably know the rest of the story: I went back out that next day only to find this self proclaimed oppressed gentleman with about 15 of his buddies...at the exact location I had given him. Oh, it didn't stop there. They were whoopin' and hollerin' and cussing up a storm, and keeping every single fish they had caught...even the small ones. I'm sure they were past their legal limits, but I couldn't prove it. And yes, the icing on the cake: they left their trash on the ice.

Lesson learned. Never again.
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[TubeDude]

[quote Therapist]You may need to clarify that statement " I have been known to tell people where to go !!! " I can attest that it is a true statement however.[/quote]

[#0000FF]Lest there be no misunderstandings. I am a sucker for a polite request...especially if there are younguns to be helped. But if you DEMAND anything from me...help, money, physical assistance or whatever...it ain't likely to happen. That's when I tell people where to go...usually to the theological place of eternal damnation.

Is that clear enough fer ya?
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[BHuij]

What's so special about this place anyway? Am I any more likely to catch fish from there than any of the boat harbors, bays, or marinas?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]It is a real anomaly on shallow Utah Lake. A large area about the size of a football field, with a big deep spring hole in the middle...over 50 feet deep. Most of the area is 20-25 feet deep...depending on the general water level of the lake. There is both depth and warm water there and it fills up with white bass under the ice. Occasionally there will be small catfish or a stray walleye taken but I don't recall seeing any crappies or bluegills. Did see one perch in about 4 years.

When schools of white bass come through my sonar reading changes from 24 feet to 12 or 13 feet...when the fish are so dense they produce a false bottom reading. And when the fish are really on the chew you can't get a lure to the bottom. Of course there are times when you see grundles of fish on sonar and nothing on the end of your line too. That's fishing. And the worst thing about sonar is it lets you know when you aren't catching something that is down there waiting for you.

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[Fin-S-Fish]

Exactly why I post soooo many reports lol [][] I can catch fish 365 days a year, but it took decades of empirical on the water research. Many of the tactics and presentations I've altered or completely come up with on my own. I'd make tons of money as a guide but I'd be afraid to take clients to the real spots with the real money lures and tactics. I counted well over ten thousand holes already cut into Mantua in less than a week as of last sunday. There was literally no virgin ice to drill!!! Mantua's no virgin no more for shore lol. There used to be tons of virgin ice there and elsewhere. Now it's all about timing.
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[lavaman]

True enough.

Thats why in certain waters one must possess enough common sense to not share all their info or brag it up by blasting it all over the internet, all in the name of popularity lol

Just my .02 cents
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