09-15-2013, 07:04 PM
Looking to try some new lakes for bass, I decided to hit Echo, Willard Bay and East Canyon. The fishing was not spectacular by any measure, although I did land a pretty nice bass at East Canyon, but we'll get to that.
I had tentatively planned on going fishing on Friday depending on the weather. I set the alarm for 5:00 am and woke up to this weather report:
[inline Weather.jpeg]
0% Chance? Yeah right. I drove up Parley's in pouring rain hoping that the rain would stop when I crossed the summit. Nope. I continued on to Echo anyway, in the rain. I have never fished Echo in the summer, I decided to try on the dam side. I started with top water lures and got 2 small, smallies.
[inline "small smallie.jpeg"]
I also set up a bobber rig trying to get some perch. I had a few bites, but could not get to them quickly enough to set the hook. If anyone has some tips to catch perch from the shore, I'd name a squirrel after them.
I fished from 6:30 to about 9:00, never saw another soul. The rain finally let up about 8:00.
[inline panorama.jpeg]
I switched it up and tried a worm off the bottom for a minute and got a couple quick hits, but ultimately missed them too. I didn't try too hard, but I am sure I could have caught some nice trout if I had kept going, but I decided to move on.
While i was there I did see quite a few, (10?) dead trout on the bank as well as quite a few larger, sickly looking trout trolling the shoreline.
[inline "trout shoreline.jpeg"]
I'm not too sure what was going on with that.
I drove down to Willard and tried to catch some Wipers.
I caught 2. This was the bigger of the two.
[inline wiper.jpeg]
Constant bites. Couldn't keep the bait on longer than a few minutes. There were no big ones coming through though. At about 1:30 the bad weather returned and sent me home.
[inline "willard storm.jpeg"]
Today I decided to give East Canyon a shot. I got there about 6:30 again and made the long hike down to the water. I tossed out my top water lure and within a few casts landed this guy
[inline "smallie ec.jpeg"]
He was as big as the biggest smallies I've been catching at Deer Creek. He was probably 12"-13". I tried for another 20 minutes and didn't even get another bite. It was a beautiful morning though
[inline sunrise.jpeg]
I decided to move and change over to a jig. After another 30 minutes or so of searching I got a great bite. My line started coming off the spool. Then the fish jumped. It was huge! (For me). After fighting him for a couple minutes and him stripping line, I finally got him in.
[inline bigun.jpeg]
[inline "bigun tape.jpeg"]
I snapped a couple quick pics and sent him back from which he came. You couldn't have smacked the
off my face. I'm sure most of you have caught bigger, but this is my biggest yet and hands down, the most exciting.
I tried fishing for another hour or so, with very little luck. I had trout chasing my lures into the shore, but they wouldn't hit. The one that did, got off after a few seconds of fighting.
I blame bad weather for my lack of catching fish. It couldn't be that I have no idea where to go or what to use on these lakes. It was definitely the weather.
I am going to Yuba on Thursday. I'll let you know how I do, if I do.
[signature]
I had tentatively planned on going fishing on Friday depending on the weather. I set the alarm for 5:00 am and woke up to this weather report:
[inline Weather.jpeg]
0% Chance? Yeah right. I drove up Parley's in pouring rain hoping that the rain would stop when I crossed the summit. Nope. I continued on to Echo anyway, in the rain. I have never fished Echo in the summer, I decided to try on the dam side. I started with top water lures and got 2 small, smallies.
[inline "small smallie.jpeg"]
I also set up a bobber rig trying to get some perch. I had a few bites, but could not get to them quickly enough to set the hook. If anyone has some tips to catch perch from the shore, I'd name a squirrel after them.
I fished from 6:30 to about 9:00, never saw another soul. The rain finally let up about 8:00.
[inline panorama.jpeg]
I switched it up and tried a worm off the bottom for a minute and got a couple quick hits, but ultimately missed them too. I didn't try too hard, but I am sure I could have caught some nice trout if I had kept going, but I decided to move on.
While i was there I did see quite a few, (10?) dead trout on the bank as well as quite a few larger, sickly looking trout trolling the shoreline.
[inline "trout shoreline.jpeg"]
I'm not too sure what was going on with that.
I drove down to Willard and tried to catch some Wipers.
I caught 2. This was the bigger of the two.
[inline wiper.jpeg]
Constant bites. Couldn't keep the bait on longer than a few minutes. There were no big ones coming through though. At about 1:30 the bad weather returned and sent me home.
[inline "willard storm.jpeg"]
Today I decided to give East Canyon a shot. I got there about 6:30 again and made the long hike down to the water. I tossed out my top water lure and within a few casts landed this guy
[inline "smallie ec.jpeg"]
He was as big as the biggest smallies I've been catching at Deer Creek. He was probably 12"-13". I tried for another 20 minutes and didn't even get another bite. It was a beautiful morning though
[inline sunrise.jpeg]
I decided to move and change over to a jig. After another 30 minutes or so of searching I got a great bite. My line started coming off the spool. Then the fish jumped. It was huge! (For me). After fighting him for a couple minutes and him stripping line, I finally got him in.
[inline bigun.jpeg]
[inline "bigun tape.jpeg"]
I snapped a couple quick pics and sent him back from which he came. You couldn't have smacked the
off my face. I'm sure most of you have caught bigger, but this is my biggest yet and hands down, the most exciting. I tried fishing for another hour or so, with very little luck. I had trout chasing my lures into the shore, but they wouldn't hit. The one that did, got off after a few seconds of fighting.
I blame bad weather for my lack of catching fish. It couldn't be that I have no idea where to go or what to use on these lakes. It was definitely the weather.
I am going to Yuba on Thursday. I'll let you know how I do, if I do.
[signature]
