It's About To Get Crazy On Utah Lake

The White Bass are in the beginning stages of spawning at Utah Lake! Once you find them, the fishing is fast and furious. I landed several today in the half hour I had to fish before work. They will be the start of my cat fish bait supply to get me though the year. I have a feeling May is going to be epic!

Results of  30 minutes of fishing!

Fish Tacos and More Fishing

After the nice day of catching white bass and catfish, Roger and I decided to have a fish fry. Roger was nice enough to share his batter recipe with me (I'm working on having him let me post it because it's goooood)! We decided to make fish tacos, and I'll tell ya, they were some of the best I've ever eaten! Roger fried up the fish to perfection! We used corn tortillas and put cabbage, chopped cilantro and onions, a touch of tarter sauce, and some green salsa from a local Mexican restaurant called Beto's. We topped it with a splash of lemon juice and then ate til we about popped.

 



Almost time to chow down!

Best fish tacos I've had.

After we had our fill and cleaned up, my Father-in-law called and wanted to go fishing. Since my wife was headed to a concert with her sister, it was game on for another afternoon fishing trip. After eating, I wanted to go catch more white bass. That, with finding out that my Father-in-law had never caught a white bass on the fly, we decided to go back to my honey hole. We launched around 6 p.m. and were lucky enough to get the spot all to ourselves. I kept joking that I'd catch one on the first cast, but it turned out I got one on the first three! The hole was on fire again, and it was great seeing my father-in-law get his first white bass. He couldn't believe how fast the fishing was. We landed 50 in the hour we fished and kept 15 big ones for the fryer. Purple Woolly Buggers were the trick again.

Future fish taco.

All the keepers were about this size.

one of many doubles we had today.

Headed back after a successful trip.

We made it back to my house and started filleting the bass. While we were doing that, Roger came over to see how we did and to shoot the breeze. While we were all talking, it was decided that we needed to end the day with a night fishing trip to add some catfish to the mix, so we finished cleaning the fish, put the boats away and were off again.

 

We went to Pelican Bay Marina, since Roger did well there a week ago. We landed four catfish while we were there, but it was pretty slow going. The bait of choice was a chunk of white bass meat. we called it quites after a few hours. I love the time and stories shared on these fishing trips with family and friends. It really doesn't matter if you catch fish or not when you're with great company.

 

Night fishing at Pelican Point Marina.

Roger with the first catfish of the night.

Utah Lake by Land and Sea

Roger and I skipped the river today, and instead headed to Utah Lake to try our luck there. We wanted to have a fish-fry tomorrow, so Roger set up on the bank to go after catfish, and I headed out on my pontoon in search of white bass. As I headed to my honey hole, I fished for carp along the way. but the wind made you some difficult casting. I had a few chances at them, but no one came to the party. I continued on to a spot that usually holds white bass and started flingin flys.

 

I made my way around the area for about 20 minutes before I found them, and once I did it was game on! I started out using a purple wooly bugger, and the fish were fighting over it. As I stripped in line, I could see several flashes in the water as several whites were jockeying to see who got to eat it. I even had a little large mouth bass that took it.

 

After I landed several on the wolly bugger, I switched to a clouser minnow, and the fun continued. It got to wear I would only cast my leader out and drag it towards me, and I would get takes. It goes without saying that I love days like today. I ended the day catching 70 fish and keeping 63 white bass for the fish fry and also for catfish bait.

 

When I got back to the marina, I found that Roger had also gotten into some fish. He held up a stringer with four bullheads and a nice channel catfish. He also tangled with a big carp, and was able to land him. Needless to say, the trip was a success, and I can already taste the fish tacos we'll be eating tomorrow.

 

First hook-up today



even this little Large Mouth Bass  seemed to love the purple wooly bugger.

The clouser minnow got in on the action as well.

One of the bigger ones

Roger's four bullhead cats and nice channel catfish with my 63 keepers. Fish tacos, here we come!

100 Fish Day

That's right, Utah Lake produced a 100 fish day for me today! Actually it was 161 total in four hours of fishing. The weather was perfect today and no wind to speak of. Except for a couple of ski boats that thought they had to fly by me within casting distance, It was a perfect day! All the white bass were caught on clouser minnows and wolly buggers, and it was insane! Many times I didn't even have to cast. I would simply drop my fly from the end of my rod and they would smack it. I even had a fish take off with my wolly bugger while it was dangling in the water while I took a picture. I've never seen anything like this.
On the way back to the marina, I noticed a school of carp, so I pulled out the 8 weight, and after a few casts had a carp on. It fought for a few minutes before coming to the net. It's interesting netting a fish when your net already has 10 fish in it. I took the last 10 white bass I caught along with the carp for some catfish bait. I'm planning on night fishing a few nights this week. Hopefully the kitties will be as fast fishing as the white bass. We will soon find out...

Clouser minnow pattern

Clouser minnow pattern

There's room for everyone!

Future catfish bait.

Acrobatic White Bass Came To Play

We lucked out and had another perfect day, so I took a few hours and headed back to Utah Lake to try out the white bass with my fly rod. This was a first for me, but after the success I had with the carp yesterday, I figured why not? I headed to a spot I have had success in the past with spinners and there was a fisherman already there. He told me he had caught thirty or so and I watched him catch a few while we talked. He was packing up and he asked if I wanted the spot to which I gladly took it.

Once I got in and settled, I tied on a fly (I have no idea what the name of it is) and on my first cast I had a fish on! It didn't take long to land, and I can now take this species off my list of fish caught on a fly! I caught a dozen or so in the short time I was there and lost more than that. It was such a fun couple of hours. I tied on several different colors of wolly buggers and they all saw fish as well. All the fish were in the 10"-11" range and all were released. I guess you could say I have caught the fly fishing "bug".

My first white bass on a fly rod!

They are very acrobatic and fun to catch...

...finally got him to the net!

They love wolly buggers. It didn't seem to matter the color.

A few pelicans that buzzed over my head.

A New Toy And Some White Bass

I sold my boat about a month ago, and bought a new 9' Renegade with a Minn Kota trolling motor. I headed a few miles down to the American Fork boat harbor of Utah Lake and got all set up. The frame less Renegade is light at only 30 lbs, so getting it in and out of the truck was a breeze.  I started off toward the American Fork river inlet to see if the white bass were wanting to play. On my very first cast I had a fish! A silver Meps spinner seemed to be the ticket today. The white bass were there and I fooled around with them for a bit before I moved on to see if I could get into something bigger.

I ended up just cruising around to get used to how the boat handled. I just kept the motor in locked position and controlled the boat with my fins. This approach worked out great. I was out for a few hours before heading in. I'm looking forward to going on some rivers and other waters to see what this boat can do. Until then, tight lines!

 

My new toy; Dave Scadden's Renegade with Minn Kota Endura C2 Motor.

Small white bass. This was the typical size today.

Cr using back to the harbor.

Pelican Bay At Utah Lake

I had a few hours to kill so I headed down to Pelican Bay to see if the catfish were biting. As I arrived and got set up, I enjoyed a nice breeze and a fantastic view of some hang gliders that had a motor attached somehow. I was quite surprised at how well they could maneuver through the air. I had two poles set and in no time had hits on both of them. I set the hook and reeled in a white bass on each one. White bass are fun but i really wanted some catfish to eat. I kept them for cut bait but that nice breeze died down and the bugs came out. I could not believe how fast the bugs descended on me and how thick they were. As fast as I could go I packed up and headed for the truck. I got a half hour of fishing in and two white bass to show for it.

Hang gliders

Bait for the next trip to Utah Lake.