rctalbot's  album on Photobucket

April 30, 2013

Utah Lake Carpin'

The Carp are here! I launched from American Fork Harbor to gusting winds. There were white caps in the open lake so I hugged the shoreline which helped. I found schools of Carp all over once I left the marina. I started out with my fly rod casting a few different dry patterns, but the wind was really affecting my accuracy. It would take several casts before I got the fly where I wanted it. Once I did, more often than not today, It was fish on!
As I cruised along the reeds looking for rising schools of Carp, I also got to enjoy seeing all the waterfowl swimming around me. There were a variety of different ducks and several pelicans. Once I spotted a dark patch of water in front of me though, It was time to focus on fishing again. I was typically able to get some action on most of the bigger schools, and the drag on my reel was put to the test repeatedly. These Carp don't like to give up. After a few hours, I called it quits for the day. The Carp should be pretty thick for the next month, so now is the time to get out if you've ever wanted catch one on a fly.
The hunting ground.

Three different schools. Take the closest to you and work your way in.

It was tough casting dries in the wind, but it paid off.

Some spinning rod action when the wind was to bad to cast.

Another Carp on!

Several this size were landed today.

April 13, 2013

Recon Trip To Utah Lake

It's almost time to start "Carpin" again! It's still a touch early, But I decided to do some recon and see what I could find. I launched at American Fork boat harbor at around 10 in the morning. and fished until Noon. I mostly cruised around to some of go-to spots for Carp to see if any were rising yet. Upon arriving, most areas were empty of any signs of fish. I made some blind casts in each spot but came us with nothing.
The last spot I went to had three carp that I could see right ion the serface. I made several casts at them without so much as a look. I switched from a purple wolly bugger to a brown one and my second cast had action. I set the hook, and the fight was on! I kicked away from the shore line to get away from anything breaking me off. Seriously, the fight that a Carp will give you is hard to match in freshwater. I landed him after several times of getting him close, only to have him make another run. I think it's going to be couple more weeks before you start seeing big numbers of Carp on the surface. All-in-all, it was a great two hour trip.
 
First Carp of 2013.

April 8, 2013

South Fork of the Snake River

This weekend was filled with family and fishing! My in-laws invited all of the family up to their cabin in Idaho, and most of us were able to make it. I love getting together with family and catching up on everything that's going on. I also love that when we get together, it turns into a non-stop food-fest! I swear I gain a few pounds every time we get together, and while I enjoy it, my waste-line suffers the consequences.
Their cabin is close to the south fork of the Snake River, so we decided to do a little recon/fishing trip to get a better idea of where some good fishing spots were. There are several places to launch from, and many sections of river to fish. We ended up choosing a section just a few miles away since we only had a few hours to fish. We got our pontoons and gear ready an launched around 7 am.
We floated a few hundred yards before we started fishing. As I was getting my rod out, I looked up to see my Father-in-law hook into a fish on his first cast on his fly rod! He had a quick fight, and soon landed the first fish of the day which was a Whitefish. Talk about the right way to start a trip!
As we continued down the river, it started raining, and the fish didn't seem to want to eat. With having no luck with my fly rod, I switched to my spinning rod and started throwing jigs. They didn't seem to want them either at first. That seemed to change as the rain stopped. I floated onto a promising hole, and no sooner did my jig hit the water, a Brown smacked it! He came to the net quickly, and I snapped a quick shot, and released him. I picked up three more trout in the next hole, including a Snake River cutthroat. My brother-in-law also hooked into one on a fly, but the fish managed to come off before he could get him in. It soon started raining again, and continued for the rest of the trip.
In all, we landed six fish, and had a few get away. That's a successful recon trip in my book any day. We plan to hit several more section throughout the next few months. I'm looking forward to exploring this great river, and figuring out how to unlock the beastly trout that it holds.
 

Setting out on our trip.

First Brown of the day.

Not the best weather, but beautiful just the same.

The one-and-only Snake River Cutthroat of this trip.