05-06-2014, 05:16 PM
Been a long long time since I posted. I haven't been on the water much in the last year for a number of excuses. I lost my fishing buddy when my oldest son began working a lot to pay for school then went away to study in S. Utah, and my business has changed such that when I go weeks and weeks without work, thinking to myself "Hey, I'll go fishing" doesn't fit my conscience as much as trying to find work. And frankly, with the water levels so low the last couple a years, the fishing hasn't been that inspiring for how I know to fish...
Last year's final trip was to Deer Creek. We covered that whole lake only to catch a couple. And several things went wrong with the old boat and we were fortunate just to make it back to the marina... Frustrated at cutting the day short, my son cast out from the dock and caught a 10 incher on his first retrieve. Perhaps a dozen or so for each of us and the fish moved off.
My boat sat all winter until I could get what I could fixed myself (and find parts), but decided the severe flooding problem with the carburetor would have to be addressed by a pro. I finally found a mechanic willing to work on an engine almost as old as I am. He got it running, but simply could no longer find gaskets for something made back in the 60's. So, I hoped I could get a few more years out of it.
I picked up my son from school after his last final exam last week and hoped to do something I've never done before - take the boat out in May! I got some good intel and it's been several years since I gave Willard a try. Man, I thought it would be great to catch a wiper before it warmed and I could get back to fishing what I know better, Utah Lake.
The boat fired up great, but halfway to the island the engine popped then died... Swell... I could get it started easily enough, but it ran so irregularly that I couldn't get it to troll at slow speeds for more than a few minutes. There were two other boats circling the island, and they had no luck either. The electric motor could get me over 1 mph (only if I went with the wind). So we headed the direction of Freeway Bay and the sonar saw only a taught horizontal string of nothingness.... We tried every color and depth of Rap we had with no inquiries. (For those that care, the water was 60 degrees in the morning, 62 at the end and it was overcast most of the day with intermittent mild wind.)
We went over to the North Marina but there were enough fishermen and boats that with so little control of my boat I chose to avoid them. And, I went out with such confidence that I didn't do what I always do - over pack on gear "juuuust in case....". Having thus limited my options, we speeded over to the West side and the wind had died down and the water was totally still. At 8' depth there were clouds on the sonar of what looked just like it did a couple years ago when so few were catching because "the wipers only had to swim with their mouth open and get full"). We saw a few fish like markings on the sonar just outside that depth on the bottom, where my son caught an underfooter SM Bass. At least we didn't get skunked... The "Well... it feels good to get out anyway" cliche' proceeded out of our mouths as we try to temper our disappointment in not having a better day catching.
The water was still enough that carp were on the surface, but they wouldn't let us get close enough for a bow.
Further along that path I got one good hit, but that was it all the way to the light pole. There we ran into other boats and not wanting to invade their space, we thought we'd try going along the West side again hoping the few sonar marks would wake up. Unfortunately, one of the boaters we'd tried to avoid tracked right in front of us... So, rather than trying out deeper on a different line when we saw nothing there all day, we turned around and headed to the South dike. I'd like to thank that fellow that caused us to turn around.
We planned to troll the South side and call it quits. My son caught another bass, but the engine cut out and the wind had picked up and blew my line into the prop and created a problem. Another boat came by and asked what the Wiper limit was, they said they were catching and wondered if the trouble we were having was two wipers tangling our lines. I thought to dismiss that boat as a mirage, but the visitors shared that we were using the same lures they were. A silver Rap with a blue back.
By this time our electric battery was waning, and the wind had come up suddenly making the water choppy just after 5 PM. No choice but to troll at the slowest speed my engine could muster, 4.4 mph. Way to fast I figured. But not a minute later it was like a speeding truck grabbed one of our lines. A nice wiper - COOL! The day had been justified.
[inline ConWip.jpg]
We never had to troll more than a couple minutes after that without a repeat. A couple hit the lures so hard that they were false hooked - one was literally double impaled by the treble hook in the middle of his side. We could be going as fast as 6 mph and it didn't matter the speed. I'm guessing that we caught at least 16 wipers. Unbelievable - particularly so for me.
[inline RogWip.jpg]
With the boat struggling to start, we headed back with gratitude that the day's work paid off in such an amazing way!
I've gone to places like Strawberry the day after reading numerous stellar "100 fish day" reports. Then I'd strong arm a brother that rarely gets out and rarely catches fish hoping to change his luck, but then only finding that we missed the party yet again and would only catch a few for the day. Well... it finally was MY turn at Willard! Yessss... (note, fist pump.)
Unfortunately, the excitement wasn't over. A car motored up on the freeway with the window rolled down and pointing at the boat. Looking back in the mirror I saw the wheel on the trailer smoking like crazy. I pulled off to the side of the road and the recently well greased bearings were completely gone. As luck would have it, this was at the Exit for Old Coot's place - and he and his lovely wife and their friendly pooch were unbelievably kind and willing to meet us in his driveway. He jacked up the trailer and if I didn't believe in "guardian angels" - I do now. I was astonished that the wheel didn't come flying off... I'm not sure if Coot was more surprised about that - or the fact that we caught so many fish!
No idea what I'm going to do with the boat... It's hard to know if I should sink any more $ into the engine that I don't have - or even how to go about looking for a reliable used one (suggestions welcome). But, my spirits were high, because nothing could be as bad as what "might have been" on the freeway, and that we had a story to tell of gratitude across the board. Not the least of which, is my desire to publicly thank the fellow BTF members proven to be so willing to give of themselves and help out a fellow angler in more ways that just catching fish!
[signature]
Last year's final trip was to Deer Creek. We covered that whole lake only to catch a couple. And several things went wrong with the old boat and we were fortunate just to make it back to the marina... Frustrated at cutting the day short, my son cast out from the dock and caught a 10 incher on his first retrieve. Perhaps a dozen or so for each of us and the fish moved off.
My boat sat all winter until I could get what I could fixed myself (and find parts), but decided the severe flooding problem with the carburetor would have to be addressed by a pro. I finally found a mechanic willing to work on an engine almost as old as I am. He got it running, but simply could no longer find gaskets for something made back in the 60's. So, I hoped I could get a few more years out of it.
I picked up my son from school after his last final exam last week and hoped to do something I've never done before - take the boat out in May! I got some good intel and it's been several years since I gave Willard a try. Man, I thought it would be great to catch a wiper before it warmed and I could get back to fishing what I know better, Utah Lake.
The boat fired up great, but halfway to the island the engine popped then died... Swell... I could get it started easily enough, but it ran so irregularly that I couldn't get it to troll at slow speeds for more than a few minutes. There were two other boats circling the island, and they had no luck either. The electric motor could get me over 1 mph (only if I went with the wind). So we headed the direction of Freeway Bay and the sonar saw only a taught horizontal string of nothingness.... We tried every color and depth of Rap we had with no inquiries. (For those that care, the water was 60 degrees in the morning, 62 at the end and it was overcast most of the day with intermittent mild wind.)
We went over to the North Marina but there were enough fishermen and boats that with so little control of my boat I chose to avoid them. And, I went out with such confidence that I didn't do what I always do - over pack on gear "juuuust in case....". Having thus limited my options, we speeded over to the West side and the wind had died down and the water was totally still. At 8' depth there were clouds on the sonar of what looked just like it did a couple years ago when so few were catching because "the wipers only had to swim with their mouth open and get full"). We saw a few fish like markings on the sonar just outside that depth on the bottom, where my son caught an underfooter SM Bass. At least we didn't get skunked... The "Well... it feels good to get out anyway" cliche' proceeded out of our mouths as we try to temper our disappointment in not having a better day catching.
The water was still enough that carp were on the surface, but they wouldn't let us get close enough for a bow.
Further along that path I got one good hit, but that was it all the way to the light pole. There we ran into other boats and not wanting to invade their space, we thought we'd try going along the West side again hoping the few sonar marks would wake up. Unfortunately, one of the boaters we'd tried to avoid tracked right in front of us... So, rather than trying out deeper on a different line when we saw nothing there all day, we turned around and headed to the South dike. I'd like to thank that fellow that caused us to turn around.
We planned to troll the South side and call it quits. My son caught another bass, but the engine cut out and the wind had picked up and blew my line into the prop and created a problem. Another boat came by and asked what the Wiper limit was, they said they were catching and wondered if the trouble we were having was two wipers tangling our lines. I thought to dismiss that boat as a mirage, but the visitors shared that we were using the same lures they were. A silver Rap with a blue back.
By this time our electric battery was waning, and the wind had come up suddenly making the water choppy just after 5 PM. No choice but to troll at the slowest speed my engine could muster, 4.4 mph. Way to fast I figured. But not a minute later it was like a speeding truck grabbed one of our lines. A nice wiper - COOL! The day had been justified.
[inline ConWip.jpg]
We never had to troll more than a couple minutes after that without a repeat. A couple hit the lures so hard that they were false hooked - one was literally double impaled by the treble hook in the middle of his side. We could be going as fast as 6 mph and it didn't matter the speed. I'm guessing that we caught at least 16 wipers. Unbelievable - particularly so for me.
[inline RogWip.jpg]
With the boat struggling to start, we headed back with gratitude that the day's work paid off in such an amazing way!
I've gone to places like Strawberry the day after reading numerous stellar "100 fish day" reports. Then I'd strong arm a brother that rarely gets out and rarely catches fish hoping to change his luck, but then only finding that we missed the party yet again and would only catch a few for the day. Well... it finally was MY turn at Willard! Yessss... (note, fist pump.)
Unfortunately, the excitement wasn't over. A car motored up on the freeway with the window rolled down and pointing at the boat. Looking back in the mirror I saw the wheel on the trailer smoking like crazy. I pulled off to the side of the road and the recently well greased bearings were completely gone. As luck would have it, this was at the Exit for Old Coot's place - and he and his lovely wife and their friendly pooch were unbelievably kind and willing to meet us in his driveway. He jacked up the trailer and if I didn't believe in "guardian angels" - I do now. I was astonished that the wheel didn't come flying off... I'm not sure if Coot was more surprised about that - or the fact that we caught so many fish!
No idea what I'm going to do with the boat... It's hard to know if I should sink any more $ into the engine that I don't have - or even how to go about looking for a reliable used one (suggestions welcome). But, my spirits were high, because nothing could be as bad as what "might have been" on the freeway, and that we had a story to tell of gratitude across the board. Not the least of which, is my desire to publicly thank the fellow BTF members proven to be so willing to give of themselves and help out a fellow angler in more ways that just catching fish!
[signature]
] But they were so aggressive, I don't think speed was that relevant. What I did notice tho, was that when the boat cut out, that's often when they'd strike! So, perhaps the change up of speed was the "trigger"! [cool]
