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[#0000FF]The Utah Lake Commission just put out their October newsletter. [url "https://mailchi.mp/e89dced6d928/field-trips-future-plans-and-waterfowl-hunting-fall-at-utah-lake?e=[UNIQID]"]LINK[/url]
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[#0000FF]One of the interesting items in the newsletter was a link to a story on the Commission website about a hydrologist diver who descended 63 feet into the "Abyss"...one of 6 deep springs in Utah Lake. [url "http://utahlakecommission.org/man-dives-63-feet-in-zero-visibility-at-utah-lake-lives-to-tell-the-tale/?utm_source=Utah+Lake+Newsletter&utm_campaign=43e43e5fff-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_10_12_09_12&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f45f8a91c1-43e43e5fff-20097713"]LINK[/url][/#0000FF]
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It's nice of you to let them use your picture for their newsletter.
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Live to hunt----- Hunt to live.
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[#0000FF]What can I say. I'm just a nice guy...unless you ask for a second opinion from my wife. And, if she wants my opinion, she gives it to me. Awful wedded bliss.
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I was curious to know the location of the spring; in the questions and comments following the article, approximate coordinates were given. When I looked them up on the map it put it 10 miles east of the airport. Do you think this may have been an attempt to obfuscate or a simple mistake? Do you know the location and would you want to share it?
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The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
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[#0000ff]Yeah, I do know where it is. I have fished it several times through the ice and can verify it is a deep anomaly in Utah Lake. During normal water years, when "normal" water levels are at least 5-6 feet deep around that hole, it is a magnet for masses of white bass under the ice. The few degrees extra warmth and extra depth create a big aquarium.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view_flat;post=560117;page=1"]Here is a link[/url] to a report which includes catching some channel cats under the ice. Most trips just produced large numbers of white bass.
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[#0000ff]I had refrained from posting info on a public forum, but the "happy harvesters" followed our wheeler tracks out in some new snow one year and now it is a trash city environment each winter. No secret anymore.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here is a map I made from a Google Earth shot during extreme low water...which shows the "Abyss" as a darker green spot of cleaner water in a surrounding sea of muddier water. It is a fairly large area with underwater contours like a big morning glory flower...with a deep narrow center and the flower around it a shallower (but still deep) flat plain.
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[#0000ff]Our best fishing was usually in about 20 to 25 feet of water...with the white bass cruising around in big circle about mid-depth. It was common to be watching your sonar showing 20 feet of water or more and then suddenly drop to read 13 feet as a thick school of white bass went by under your transducer.
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Thanks for the map. My online map coordinates are way off. From what you wrote I guess I can find it by just following the mess. Too
. What access point do you use?
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[#0000FF]The only times I have fished it have been while (A.) hiking out from the little public part at Saratoga Springs...or (B.) taking a wheeler onto the ice at the inlet park near the pump house. However, I did ride over there in a boat launched at American Fork...or you can launch at the Saratoga Springs Marina at Pelican Bay. The other Saratoga Springs Harbor is private and available to residents only.
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Hey Tube Dude... I have been threatening to go fish for some white bass at Ut Lake for a few years now, but have never made it. I recorded the GPS Coordinates but they don't match up to my map datum. What map datum are these coordinates? (UTM, Nad27, WGS 84 or ???)
Thanks
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[#0000FF]I picked off the numbers shown on Google Earth when I moved the pointer over that spot. I can't personally vouch for them, since I have never had to find it myself using only GPS. I have always been with the guy who originally found it and has the numbers on his hand held unit.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]If you know the general area, as per the map I posted, you can do some cross-hatching in a boat and watch your sonar. It's a big enough area that you should be able to find it if you do it right.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]There are lots of good spots for whities around the lake besides that hole. But they can change with changing seasons and water levels. And during low water conditions...such as we have right now...I have been unable to find any fish even in that hole sometimes. It ain't guaranteed for fish...only for a lot more depth than the rest of the lake.
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hay Pat can you tell me if the boat ramp at Dry Fork , going straight south on Saratoga rd. Is open to public?
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[#0000FF]The only public launch facility open to the public in or around Saratoga is at the marina at Pelican Bay. All others are private or gated.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]Not familiar with Dry Fork.
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Thanks Pat... I went to Google Earth and looked up my home address and compared it to my GPS. Looks like Google Earth uses WGS 84 which is the most commonly used Map Datum. Having the GPS set to the correct map datum is vital for accuracy.
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Sorry its called dry creek. About one mile west of American fork. But I can see a gate.😟
How is the water level. Can you launch at AF .
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[quote doitall5000]Sorry its called dry creek. About one mile west of American fork. But I can see a gate.😟
How is the water level. Can you launch at AF .[/quote]
[#0000FF]I have heard of a couple of guys trying to get in that small private area from the open lake. Apparently it is shallow and weedy even during higher water. But it is not open to the public.
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[#0000FF]I haven't personally been to American Fork Harbor for a while, nor have I heard any recent reports. But it is usually about the same as Lindon or Lincoln Beach...both of which are not launchable right now.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]There is a website for [url "https://afcity.org/246/Beach-Boat-Harbor"]AMERICAN FORK HARBOR[/url]. You can call or email them for current conditions.[/#0000FF]
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