Provo River- Bait Section

[scartinez]

Me and my buddy hit up that section of the provo river on sunday, that has been open to bait fishing this year. We fished just above the charleston bridge. We had fair success with eighteen fish being caught between the both of us. We drifted meal worms in deep pools to catch our fish. Released everything caught with the biggest being a 20 inch fat rainbow. A lot of decent browns caught but most are quite skinny, and averaging about 15 inches. The weather was great, and didn't expect such blue skies, with all the inversion in the valley. I had a blast and will looking forward to more fishing this weekend.

Anybody know if their ice fishing the pumphouse out at utah lake yet?
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[Hoobie]

Thanks for the report I've never fished the provo and wanted to try sometime this year maybe I'll have to talk my dad into trying it next week instead of ice fishin.
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[BRANDO]

HOW DO YOU GET TO THE CHARLSTON BRIDGE? I WOULD LOVE TO TRY THAT SECTION OF THE PROVO! SOUNDS LIKE FUN,ANY INFO WOULD BE GREAT . AND IM COMING FROM SALT LAKE!
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[Kent]

Get to Heber City. Head south until you reach the last light on the south end of town and turn right or west (should say Provo, or Provo Canyon on the sign). Keep going until you reach the last road on the right, before reaching Deer Creek (probably a sign there that says Charleston). Turn right or north and go until you reach the bridge that crosses the Provo River. That is the Charleston Bridge.
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[Out4Trout]

[shocked]BAITFISHED and RELEASED EVERYTHING caught? Ouch. Hope none of them were bleeding too bad. Fish released after being caught on bait have a 50% chance of dying if I remember the #'s right on the DWR website. These new "bait allowed" regulations on that part of the river were introduced starting this month to encourage anglers to keep their limits to help the fish population on the middle provo to get healthier. I'm sure you probably noticed how skinny the fish were. That's due to TOO MANY fish in that section of the river for the food that is there. Maybe next time you can take a couple home and give to your fish eating relatives or neighbors. Just a suggestion.

Don't mean to preach, man, just to inform.

Good fishin' to ya![cool]
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[FishFearMe]

Maybe me and rob should go hit that part of the lake. I am sure between our 2 dogs we could put a dent in it

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[scartinez]

I would have kept some fish, but I hate to eat trout. I know fish caught on bait have a higher mortality rate, but that's only if you hook them deep. Me and my buddy aren't rookies at fishing and know to set a hook as soon as the fish bite. We did hook two fish deep, but to increase the fishes chances we cut the line. The reason fish die so often when caught on bait is that the fisherman let the fish bite until they swallow the bait. We don't do this, we set the hook on the fist bite, and almost always hook a fish by the lip.
Thanks for the heads up though. I know your just concerned about people releasing a bunch of dead fish, and ruining a good fishery.
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[aquaman]

whoa ! this is different a guy getting dumped on for releasing fish i to release almost all the fish i catch i bet i took home under 20 fish last year for the in-laws i do very little bait fishing except thur the ice so heres a thought for all you "bait fishing release em fishermen" CIRCLE HOOKS will hook a fish in the jaw 95% of the time hope this doesn't sound like i'm dumping on you also scartinez i'm in your coner
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[scartinez]

I don't feel like anybody's dumping on me. I'm here to learn a little just like the next guy. I don't eat trout so there's no point in keeping them. Thanks aquaman for the heads up about circle hooks. I'll have to give them a try.
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[Out4Trout]

[cool]Right on, man. It's all good. You goin' fishin this weekend, scartinez? I'm heading to the party at Rockport. Good luck if you are heading out somewhere.
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[fishluvr]

Any more ideas or info on circle hooks???
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[Gumbo]

Circle hooks prevent gut-hooking fish. The fish can swallow the hook, and the hook will pull out of the throat and catch in the corner of the fish's mouth. The trick with circle hooks is not to set the hook; just start reeling in the fish applying steady pressure.

As for killing or releasing fish, anglers have to educate themselves to the condition of each body of water we fish. Then use selective harvest to remove the fish from the system that will benefit the fishery. Practicing selective harvest is a little harder than blind C&R or killing every fish caught because the angler has to learn about each body of water, but it's worth the effort.
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[Kayote]

I read an article on circle hooks in Bassmaster magazine a couple months ago. They did an in depth study on circle vs standard hooks for hooking efficiency. They stated many more bites were missed with circle hooks than standard hooks for bass. I sure like the 4/0 Mutu circles for live bait fishing off my yak in the ocean though.

Good Fishing, Kayote

Black Sea Bass





Used Car Salesman


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[Shrimpboy]

Kayote-

How do you think circle hooks would do on bluegill? I like to take some of the nieces and nephews out to Pelican to catch some fish, but we have a hard time using plastics with them. I would feel a whole lot better about letting them use a worm under a bobber if I knew that the bluegill wouldn't be swallowing the hook. I'm pretty fast on the hook and can usually hook them in the lip while using bait, but I know they'd have a ball if they could just start reeling in all by themseleves and have the fish on.

-Jack
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[Kayote]

I use a number four circle from Gamakatsu for split shot rigging Kalin's for bass sometimes that works very well. The bass seem to hook themselves. I have never seen any smaller though. I'll bet if you can find a tiny one, it would work well. You should try just a 12 or 14 baitholder also. I often have a dropper with a small baitholder and extra mealworm when it's slow at Pelican. The fish that take the hook rarely get gut hooked. I don't know why, just the way gills bite I suppose. I don't think deep hooking will be a problem either way.

Good Fishing, Kayote
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[wormandbobber]

Just recently a new hook was tested by biologists and the results posted in the American Fisheries Society Journal. The new Shelton hooks have proved to be just as effective as flies in terms of fish living after being caught even when they are hooked deep. It is a very interesting article...I read some of it after PBH posted about it on the Utah on the Fly site. He may be able to give more details about it.

Here is a good site with more information on the hook and how it works...this is a pretty neat innovation.
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[Fish-Dog]

I have been using the Eagle Claw Circle hooks for a about 3 years. You will miss more fish with them, however being able to release them unharmed is worth it. You need to learn to slowly pull the line instead of jerking it to set the hook. The idea is that the hook will slide out of the throat or stomach and hook in the corner of the lip as the fish swims away. Circle hooks are not a cure all, it has been my experiance that about 50% of the Cuts that I catch will be hooked down in the throat, but still visible. I always cut the line if the hook is not really shallow. With Rainbow about 60% to 70% are lip hooked. I haven't used other brands as much.

fdg
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