16" Rainbow - Bountiful Lake

[rainbowlunker]

My wife is having surgery today so I took the day off from work. We found out that she did not have to go in until later today so I decided to hit the local pond. Fished from sunrise till about 9:30 in the morning.

The fishing was slow to start. I fished near the boat ramp with no luck. The wind was pretty strong so the only thing moving my pole was the wind! I decided to find a different spot with maybe a little protection from the wind.

The move to the new spot on the west side of the lake ended up being a good one. I threw some powerbait on the bottom and then the biting began.

The first fish was a cookie cutter rainbow from the hatchery, large enough to keep and fry up so kept him for dinner. My next fish wasn't as large so I de-hooked him quickly and sent him on his way. I hoped that my desire for a larger fish would not come back to haunt me.

I tossed some green glitter powerbait on the bottom and within 10 seconds my pole started twitching dramatically. I quickly grabbed my pole to set the hook. Fish On! This thing did not want to cooperate. He kept flipping around and fighting more than I am used to at these community ponds. I about jumped into the lake to get him in the net. Pulled him in and called it a day, limit reached.

Not bad for a quick, local trip to take up time while I wait to take in the wife.

Pictures to follow as soon as I get the cord I need to download them tonight.

I had already cleaned the fish before I took the pictures.
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[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like a fun little trip and well worth the effort. Hope everything went good with your wife too. WH2
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[Springbuck]

Yeah, anything over 12" in a trout gets a nod as a pretty decent fish outta there. Good luck to your wife, too.
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[FishHunterSmoot]

man dude. I know they have stocked bountiful quite alot this year but I assumed they were all tiny in there. I went yesterday and the day before and in all put aroung 6 hours into both those trips( 3 hours a day), caught maybe 25 fish. my biggest one was only 10 in. most of them were under 7. Nice work. so you say that you were on the west side? I have never caught a fish out there. all my fish are by the canal on the east. just curious, were you close at all to where it drains out, by the bridge on the west side? I have seen a million people catch bows there but I have never gottan a nibble.
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[Blakedaddy]

I caught 2 18 inchers earlier this season in june on worm/mello ! And a couple cats that were 4lbs ! One was 24 inches !! That place is alright at the rite times for sure !
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[MarineSpear]

On that water there is a little canal that leads in/out from the North. You will often see a dozen people fishing with spinners from that bridge and directly near it. That is extremely fast fishing but it is honestly alot like fishing in a barrel. It also only will get you a ton of baby bows that will most likely die from getting the hook out.

also I spoke with a DWR ranger a few months ago and he gave me some advice on Bountiful. He told me not to bother on the south dock as the water is too shallow. He says staying up north from the west curve to the east dock and north of um is the best chance for any of your species on that lake.

I personally like going roughly half way between the east dock and the parking lot. There are alot of breaks in the trees that allow you to cast out. The area is great for monster carp and cats. I also get a good amount of bass and trout from right there using Spinners tipped with worm or a worm/powerbait a foot off the bottom.

I don't mean that you won't catch a respectable fish from the north bridge but between the amount of dinks you would go through and the mortality of pulling them up the five feet to the shore I personally don't like that area much

But yes Boutiful can produce alot of great fish if you take the time on it...

OP grats on the fish
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[rainbowlunker]

I agree, I have only caught dinks on the Northeast side of the lake, plus it is also too packed with people. I fish to "get away from it all" so I usually look for spots away from people[]. On this particular day, I drove down the dirt road towards Farmington Bay WMA and parked by the gate. I crossed the bridge and setup on that side of the lake. It was actually the first time I fished the lake from that side. I guess I lucked out[laugh]
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[rainbowlunker]

My wife is on the long road to recovery but is doing rather well given the circumstances. Thanks for the well wishes[]
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[rainbowlunker]

It was quite a nice surprise to get a fish that size out of there. Thanks for the well wishes too[]
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