06-05-2007, 10:05 PM
Hookjaw (Matt) and I left Ogden around 4am Saturday morning on our annual Gorge/Green trip. We were to meet up with hartz (Jeff) in Manila at 6:30am. We had a few problems getting out of town, so we didn't get to Manila until about 7:15am, but Jeff called and I told him just to meet us at Little Hole.
Finally get to Little Hole around 9am (I think), and I get Jeff on the phone, and he informs me that the fish are rising everywhere, and he got one on the 1st cast. This was Jeff's 1st trip to the Green and the Gorge, and I think he was impressed by the scenery.
Matt and I start walking up river looking for Jeff, and we start fishing at the 1st hole we come accross. Matt scored a nice bow right off the bat. Still looking for Jeff ahead of us, when he actually catches up to us. Apparently he hadn't moved from the stretch he was fishing since he got there. After all the pleasentries and hand shakes we start fishing again. Jeff was fly fishing, while Matt and I were both using the spinning rods. We could not keep the fish off of Rapalas. We would score 3 or 4 fish in most holes before moving on. Jeff worked a bit slower, but was nailing fish after fish on a small wooley bugger. Fun stuff.
We fished about 2.5 miles up towards the dam before we decided to start heading back. We had reservations at the Cedar Springs campground, and we hadn't set up camp yet. On the way back we ran into a couple of guys decked out in all their Orvis brand gear, and we asked them how fishing was. They tell me today they weren's fishing, but were "on boat salvage duty." "I asked them what they meant by that, and apparently the day before they had sunk their drift boat, and lost 4 fly rod and reel combos, coolers, most of their flies, their oars... pretty much everything they brought, and they had gone back today to get what they could. I guess they hired someone to get the boat out, but lost everything else. Tough way to loose a couple grand.
After setting up camp, we decided we would launch the boat and see if we could manage a koke or a mack before calling it a day. We go to a spot where we have jigged up a few macks in the past, and kill the motor. Just our luck, the W decided to make things very difficult. Not even worth trying without an electric trolling motor. So we decide to start trolling the cliffs directly accross from the marina. We troll, and we troll, and we troll.... nothin, nada, zip. I don't think we even had a bite. The W in this area was nowhere to be found so we think... let's just throw lures towards the shoreline and see what we can do. We caught a few smallies, but that was enough of on the boat for the day. We threw spinners from shore at the marina for an hour or so, and caught several dink bows and smallies.
Woke up the next morning at 5:30am, and we were determined to catch some kokes. We get on the water and head to an area we have caught several kokes in the past. I hook Jeff up with a Cripplure, I use a home made koke-a-nut behind a dodger, and Matt uses a Humdinger behind a dodger. Within 5 minutes Jeff had a bite. Things look promising. Another bite a few minutes later, and Jeff reels in a 6" planter bow... [mad] Matt gets hit and hooks into something nice, but it gets loose before we see it. Me... I didn't have a bite trolling the ENTIRE TIME! [
] Matt and Jeff each catch a few smaller bows, but no kokes or decent trout to be found. We get sick of trolling and try to get a few lakers. We fish areas that was produced in the past, and see fish on the sonar on the bottom between 50-90'.... they must have all had lockjaw. Nada. We throw the shoreline for some bass which we get plenty of, but we had enough of fishing on the Gorge.... Itr can be soooo frustrating for us at times.
We head back to the Green, where we catch more fish, and say farewell to Jeff... he had to work Monday morning. Before he left he scored a nice brown on a Griffiths gnat while I watched above him.
After leaving the Green, Matt and I head to Dutch John for a bite, and a look at a map. We find some smaller ponds that we could hike to, or were close, and off we go.
We find a smaller pond, and as we walk through the field to it, we see numerous fish rising. Hmmm...
This pond is full of nice bows and brookies. There was a father and son fishing as well, and they said fishing has been good with small dry flies. We had a few, so we put them on the spinning rods with a bubble, and give 'er a go. We spanked em! BIG bows and brooks. Matt scored the big fish of the trip here... a bow that was around 22" or so, but had to be close to 6lbs! What a hawg! In between we caught numerous 2 lbs bows, and a few that may have reached to 3lbs. It was almost dark, so we headed back to camp.
We returned in the morning to find less active fish, but we still managed several. I caught the biggest brookie of my life, and caught some nice bows as well. About 11am we called it a trip!
It was a trip that would have probably been rather dissapointing if it were not for the pond. But We'll take what we can get I guess. It was great meeting and fishing with Jeff. Great fishing with Matt too. (as it has been for the last 15 years or so... lol [
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Finally get to Little Hole around 9am (I think), and I get Jeff on the phone, and he informs me that the fish are rising everywhere, and he got one on the 1st cast. This was Jeff's 1st trip to the Green and the Gorge, and I think he was impressed by the scenery.
Matt and I start walking up river looking for Jeff, and we start fishing at the 1st hole we come accross. Matt scored a nice bow right off the bat. Still looking for Jeff ahead of us, when he actually catches up to us. Apparently he hadn't moved from the stretch he was fishing since he got there. After all the pleasentries and hand shakes we start fishing again. Jeff was fly fishing, while Matt and I were both using the spinning rods. We could not keep the fish off of Rapalas. We would score 3 or 4 fish in most holes before moving on. Jeff worked a bit slower, but was nailing fish after fish on a small wooley bugger. Fun stuff.
We fished about 2.5 miles up towards the dam before we decided to start heading back. We had reservations at the Cedar Springs campground, and we hadn't set up camp yet. On the way back we ran into a couple of guys decked out in all their Orvis brand gear, and we asked them how fishing was. They tell me today they weren's fishing, but were "on boat salvage duty." "I asked them what they meant by that, and apparently the day before they had sunk their drift boat, and lost 4 fly rod and reel combos, coolers, most of their flies, their oars... pretty much everything they brought, and they had gone back today to get what they could. I guess they hired someone to get the boat out, but lost everything else. Tough way to loose a couple grand.
After setting up camp, we decided we would launch the boat and see if we could manage a koke or a mack before calling it a day. We go to a spot where we have jigged up a few macks in the past, and kill the motor. Just our luck, the W decided to make things very difficult. Not even worth trying without an electric trolling motor. So we decide to start trolling the cliffs directly accross from the marina. We troll, and we troll, and we troll.... nothin, nada, zip. I don't think we even had a bite. The W in this area was nowhere to be found so we think... let's just throw lures towards the shoreline and see what we can do. We caught a few smallies, but that was enough of on the boat for the day. We threw spinners from shore at the marina for an hour or so, and caught several dink bows and smallies.
Woke up the next morning at 5:30am, and we were determined to catch some kokes. We get on the water and head to an area we have caught several kokes in the past. I hook Jeff up with a Cripplure, I use a home made koke-a-nut behind a dodger, and Matt uses a Humdinger behind a dodger. Within 5 minutes Jeff had a bite. Things look promising. Another bite a few minutes later, and Jeff reels in a 6" planter bow... [mad] Matt gets hit and hooks into something nice, but it gets loose before we see it. Me... I didn't have a bite trolling the ENTIRE TIME! [
] Matt and Jeff each catch a few smaller bows, but no kokes or decent trout to be found. We get sick of trolling and try to get a few lakers. We fish areas that was produced in the past, and see fish on the sonar on the bottom between 50-90'.... they must have all had lockjaw. Nada. We throw the shoreline for some bass which we get plenty of, but we had enough of fishing on the Gorge.... Itr can be soooo frustrating for us at times. We head back to the Green, where we catch more fish, and say farewell to Jeff... he had to work Monday morning. Before he left he scored a nice brown on a Griffiths gnat while I watched above him.
After leaving the Green, Matt and I head to Dutch John for a bite, and a look at a map. We find some smaller ponds that we could hike to, or were close, and off we go.
We find a smaller pond, and as we walk through the field to it, we see numerous fish rising. Hmmm...
This pond is full of nice bows and brookies. There was a father and son fishing as well, and they said fishing has been good with small dry flies. We had a few, so we put them on the spinning rods with a bubble, and give 'er a go. We spanked em! BIG bows and brooks. Matt scored the big fish of the trip here... a bow that was around 22" or so, but had to be close to 6lbs! What a hawg! In between we caught numerous 2 lbs bows, and a few that may have reached to 3lbs. It was almost dark, so we headed back to camp.
We returned in the morning to find less active fish, but we still managed several. I caught the biggest brookie of my life, and caught some nice bows as well. About 11am we called it a trip!
It was a trip that would have probably been rather dissapointing if it were not for the pond. But We'll take what we can get I guess. It was great meeting and fishing with Jeff. Great fishing with Matt too. (as it has been for the last 15 years or so... lol [
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