Flaming Gorge report (06/05, 06 & 07/ 03)

[wiperhunter2]

[size 2]Wiperslayer and I fished the Gorge on the 5,6 & 7th of June. I told Wiperslayer that he should change his login name to kokaneeslayer after this trip because he caught so many kokanee. We got there around 4pm and went straight to our favorite area, did anyone figure out where that was from the post I made yesterday? It took a while to figure out what speed to troll at (1/2mph) but when we did The Slayer caught 5 to my one, most were smaller than last year but one was 3,5lbs and almost 19inches. (Hey Wiperslayer, if I get some of these numbers wrong, post the facts as you remember them) The weather was great that first afternoon but that changed the next afternoon. We were hoping to catch some lake trout and that was one fish that eluded us. We made camp right before dark and after it was set up WS (wiperslayer) started catching smallmouth and a few trout casting from shore. The next day we started fishing in the area that we had camped, I caught a small koke but it was slow so we decided to head over to The Spot, from the day before. Water temp was 59degrees in the morning but warmed to 61 by afternoon. We trolled for a while and the speed of the day was 1mph and again the Kokanee Killer was the lure of choice and the kokes were anywhere from 24 to 44 ft deep. We were using lead cord and down riggers at varied depths but we also caught a couple on mono and every once in a while a bow would show up on are lines when we reeled in. After catching and releasing a dozen or so kokes we headed over to Lucerne for some fuel and to try for some macks, we heard a report of a 44lb mack that was caught in Lucerne bay the day before. After a couple hours of catchless fun we decided to head back for some more kokanee action. Another dozen kokes later the wind came up so we went back to camp to find that the tents were being blown up the canyon, lucky for us the wind wasn’t blowing the other way, into the water. After putting the camp back in place, with rocks inside the tents, the wind was still putting white caps on the water so we spent the time fishing from shore. It was non-stop smallmouth action with an occasional bow thrown in for good measure. The smallmouth seem to be a little bit bigger this year with the average fish being 12inches and a couple going over two pounds. Well the wind did not die down until a half hour before dark, so we hopped in the boat and did some more smallmouth fishing in another bay that was close by. Those smallmouth were going nuts chasing the brown Roostertails we were using, it had been a long day but we had to get to sleep for an early morning on Saturday, our last day there. We broke camp at 5:30am and headed over to The Spot for a last morning of fishing, the fish had moved from the day before and wanted us to go a little faster (1.5 mph) but the kokanee killer was still the hot lure. After we found the fish, we caught five fairly quick but the sixth koke (our limit) took a while. We had 6 fish on the ice and after doing a little more smallmouth fishing we decided to call it good and headed for home. It was a good time that came to an end all too soon but there is always next time. Oh yea, we did try jigging for Macks but it was nothing like Bear lake so I guess it is something to shoot for on the next trip. I guess it’s time to go chase some wipers, see you guys on the water. WH2[/size]
That's me and one of the kokes we caught

That's wiperslayer and his biggest kokanee, to bad my finger got in the way.
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[MGB]

Sounds like a good trip to the goerge with a lot of kokanee action. Nice picture but I can only see the one of you. WS picture does not come up.
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[wiperhunter2]

OK, I downsized the photo can you or anyone else see it now? WH2
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[Kent]

I can now see both pictures, and with you downsizing the picture the text of your message is also easier to read (before your text went off of my screen).
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[FlyFishingMoose]

Great report! I love fishing the gorge for Koke in the late fall, cool days, cool beer, hot Jalapenos to keep you warm from the inside out, good company and loads of fish.
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[EricCO]

Nice looking fish. Can't say much for the fisherman though!! LOL j/k

Thanks for the nice report. I'm heading to Flaming Gorge in July.

Where did you camp and how were the facilities if there were any?
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[wiperhunter2]

Hey Eric, you still haven't made that trip to the Gorge yet? There are a lot of places to camp at the Gorge and a few of them are right on the water. I'll just tell you about the area we camped in, I'm assuming you will be in a boat? We launched from sheep creek and you can camp in the back of the parking lot but there are few trees there. If you go to the first cutoff to Hideout canyon there is a small campground close to the corner with a boat dock, this is the first campground you come to as you head east from the launch area. Turn right at this corner and go through the cutoff to Hideout canyon and you will find a big campground there with boat docks. All of these campgrounds will cost you a few bucks to camp at but they do have boat docks and I think they all have bathrooms, I'm not sure about water. We just camped at one of the many small bays in the area, most have sandy beaches but few have trees and of course no docks or restrooms but they are free to camp at. I hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions. WH2
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