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TD, can you launch south of the cooling ponds, or do you have to come in from Lindon Harbor?
[cool][#0000ff]Until a couple of years ago there was no free access south of Lindon. Then Utah County cleaned up the shoreline...removing reeds and debris...and put in a nice little free park...with picnic pavilions and nice sandy beach. There is free parking across Vineyard road (see map) and both stairs and a wheelchair ramp going down to the little park. In addition, you can walk along the old road around the end of the cooling pond on the south and launch anywhere along that shoreline. It is nice to see that shoreline clean of all the phragmites and trash that used to restrict access.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There were a couple of times last year that I motored down there from Lindon and found tubers who had launched from shore nearby. I have launched there myself but not since I began using the motor. That's a long ways to carry a motor and battery.[/#0000ff]
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I can see not launching there if you have to carry things a ways. It would be easier to motor down from Linden then. Plus you get to check the fish situation around the harbor first.
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[cool][#0000ff]Having the motor really does expand the horizons and increase the options. There are days when I plan to head to the bubbleup but get hijacked by white bass and walleyes at the mouth of the harbor. On other days I find a lot of active kitties between Lindon and the bubbleup and spend time rasslin' with them. But I can almost always count on bending my stick at the bubbleup.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That new county park is really a nice touch...and there is a bicycle path along the whole eastern shoreline of the lake. It runs along the one edge of that park. A super free service from the county.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The one thing that can affect the launching is water level. At high water it is easy to launch off the sandy beach at the park. But when the water level drops a bit it is very shallow for a long ways out and tough to launch. But at the beginning of the bubbleup it drops off fairly quickly and is a good launch. However you do have to know how to launch over some larger slippery rocks.[/#0000ff]
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I was down there a couple of days ago just looking around, and I was very impressed with the clean-up. Virtually the whole area is now open and accessible, and looks more like it did in the "old days" before the phragmites invasion. I was sure happy to see it. I'd be interested to know HOW they did it.
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I've been pretty impressed with utah lake in general this last year, the fishing is great and it seems like they have started to really make a dent in the carp. I only caught 1 carp this last year when i was just tossing out worms. There are still alot more carp to go but i think they've done a decent joob so far. Just wish it could get back to being the lake it used to be.
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[cool][#0000ff]I did not witness it but it was supposedly a combination of digging chopping and burning. It is definitely more angler friendly now.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Back in the 70s that whole stretch of shoreline used to be one of my favorite zones for all species. Caught lots of walleyes during the post spawn feeding glut along there...in fairly shallow water. This past spring was the first it has been open in many years and there were quite a few bank tanglers discovering it for the first time. And a lot of walleyes and other species were taken there. Only problem is that there are still a lot of snags.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The Lindon Harbor folks are doing their part there too. They own the corner where the lake turns out along the dike. They have cleared it off too and are putting in grass and a sand beach. Attached is a preliminary pic from my launch there last week.[/#0000ff]
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The whole area from Lindon ramp south to 'county park' as you call it has changed 100% from the 80's. Back then, it was crazy,,, bonfires, people screaming, occasional gun shotgun blasts.,... kind of like present day Knolls on a bad day/night. Fishing was nuts...., also the thick creosote/ash/smoke that was pluming from the stacks at night. Seemed like Geneva would like to 'up it up a notch' , using the night for 'cover' for smoking it up. My Corrola wagon would have ash all over it by midnight. Still, great fishing and a nice escape from school at zoobie land. Funny how places turn into fishing meccas so quickly.
Good report Pat.
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[cool][#0000ff]Thanks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My history with that little "piece of heaven" goes back a couple more decades. REALLY an evolution over the years. Looks like it is going to be better from now on.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I do recall the nighttime downpour of sooty smelly junk from the blast furnaces. That was one of the reasons that I seldom joined in the madness in that area. Also not too keen on filleting or eating the "marinated" fish that came from the outflow water. I was never able to understand the appeal of standing shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of your new best friends...snagging poor walleyes that were already half cooked and stunk of creosote.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Geneva Steel provided jobs and revenue to the valley. But it left a legacy of pollution that may never be entirely expunged from Utah Lake. We are all better off for its demise.[/#0000ff]
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]thanks TD, your the man. seriously the most knowledgeable angler ive talked to and know UL like the back of your hand, plus every other lake in utah. gunna have to try the bubbleup one of these days.