Waglets at the Pumphouse 1/7/2011

[wagdog]

My boys have been asking me about ice fishing just about nonstop for the past few months. They were thrilled when we had the cold snap in November and had a little ice on Utah Lake. We only got one quick trip in and we didn't catch a whole lot. Yesterday I left work early to take them out to the pumphouse. I've taken them there before and they are fans of the fast catching even if it is fish on the smaller side.

We got there about 2:30 pm, walked out on the swiss cheese ice, and punched a few holes ourselves. I figured we could get a solid two hours in and the kids would be happy. I was right. Several bluegill, a couple of perch, and one wimpy white bass later, the kids were getting a little cold, a little hungry, and glad they had gotten to ice fish again. My oldest was kind enough to let me have a turn with his rod and reel so I could catch a fish before we left. It was a lot of fun and I got to test out my ice ducer. The kids got a kick out of the video game fishing. Hopefully I'll have them hooked for life on fishing. I took a few pics until they told me to quit. Only got a few of the older boy. He said he was too busy fishing to pose for pictures. Some fish were released unharmed...others were released into hot grease later. I don't think they made it...[]
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[Dfish]

Looks like a lot of fun Wagdog[]!!! It looks like the boys are really hooked on fishing. so how does that work when you take to the tube when the soft water comes along again? Thanks for the post.

[joevanoni]

nice fish pics.. I fished utah lake for 35 years and hardly ever caught gills or perch that big. Are all the walleyes gone to let the pan fish grow up? Joe
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[wagdog]

I wish I knew the answer to that question but I've only fished Utah Lake for a couple of years and I have yet to catch a walleye there. The bluegill in the pumphouse area are typically 4-6 inches long. You have to wade through a BUNCH of those that size before you get into the nice eaters that are 7 inches or better. They are in there and you can find them. It just takes time. There are bigger bluegill in other parts of the lake. The biggest I have personally caught was just over 9 inches but I recall a report from spring of last year where a solid 10-10.5 inch gill was caught. The yellow perch for me this year have been more plentiful than last year. I don't know if the population is improving or my technique is. Based on reports from other waters, the yellow perch in Utah Lake are not jumbos. Your typical perch is around 8 inches but I did catch one at Lindon a few weeks ago that was 11 inches long. That is probably typical (maybe even on the small side) at Starvation and other waters. There are also black crappie around the pumphouse but it is a similar story to the bluegill. You can get into a lot of small ones with the rare larger one being jerked up through the ice. I've heard of big crappie being caught (not at the pumphouse, other parts of the lake) but to date the biggest I have personally caught was around 11 inches. In the pic below you'll see the typical Utah Lake 9 inch crappie above the 11 incher. There is a big difference in body condition between these two fish. Hopefully I will make it out to Willard this year and catch a few of those shad-fed crappie that are there!
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[wagdog]

Well to be honest, the kids have asked me a SEVERAL times to take them out on a float tube even though I've showed them that it wouldn't be safe for either one of us. I guess I'll have to break down and get a small boat or something so we can all go out together. Honestly though, my kids are more into catching than fishing. Ice fishing and spring-fling time fishing are when they really like to go since they can get into a lot of fish that are willing to bite and stay on the hook.
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[joevanoni]

Those are some nice crapies. I grew up in lehi and fished the lake with my dad 2 or 3 times per week, always caught cats whitebass and carp never gills or crapies.
Did the fish and game put the crapies in or did they get there by bucket planting by someone.?
Utah lake allways will be a grait place to fish for differant species. hope to get back soon and try to catch one of each kind, Chanal cat, mud cat, white bass, perch, blugill, green sunfish,crapies, carp, june sucker, large mouth ,small mouth,walleye,even a trout in the river mouths. Never know whats going to be at the end of your line. Back when the pioneers were first here, they caught huge boniville cut throat trout . You can find old pictures on the web of there catches of trout and suckers . quite impresive. Needs to be a grand slam award for if you catch them all. Joe
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Fine work, lad. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Don't discount putting the kids afloat in tubes during the summer. You can find some good deals on round tubes from guys who are upgrading...or who never could make the tubes work for them. Round tubes are safer for kids and they always have plenty of fun, even when the fishing might be slow. But, as you know, they can get a good ride if they hook up to Mr. Whiskers. You might have to chase them down to help them but it's all good.[/#0000ff]
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[fishermen777]

What kind of small boat would you be looking for?
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[wagdog]

That's a good idea TD. I know they would get a kick out of that and I would prefer them to be in a tube rather than buying a boat. Heck, that may be the leverage I need to finally pull the trigger on a trolling motor. "But honey, I need it so I can pull the kids around when we are fishing. It's a FAMILY-oriented activity." [][][][]
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[IceHunter1]

How do you get to the pumphouse on utah lake, heard about it, never been able to fish it, I usually fish the marinas
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[crazycanuck]

Hey IceHunter1,
I was looking how to get to the Pumphouse too. Found this link, hopefully this helps.

http://wildlife.utah.gov/walkinaccess/pr...phouse.php
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