01-17-2014, 11:24 PM
[#0000FF]Waljustia and I figured it was about time for our annual assault on the whities at the "abyss"...the deep spring hole waaaaaay out there on Utah Lake. Met up about 7 and Dave was on the verge of tears. He hadn't been able to get the wheeler started. But I waved my hands over it and it roared to life. Pays to be an old geezer with powers.
11 degrees at daybreak. TDC. Glad we were at least able to get out there faster with the machine. Not sure I could have survived another epic exercise day like I had Wednesday with WH2 on Willard.
One other hardy soul had trudged all the way out, following the ice road trucker trail from the inlet park area. Since we took the wheeler out and reported on it last year it seems like eveybody in Utah has been out there and GPSed it. See pics. Where formerly we had to use Dave's GPS to even find the area all we had to do was follow the ice road and look for the big area of Swiss cheese. Jeez Louise. It's been banged hard.
The other angler turned out to be a fellow BFTer, CrappieLover89...if I reckymember keerectly. He caught a fair number of dinkster whities before he had to quit fishing and go to work...a four letter word. But then, again, so is fish.
Dave and I usually start on the far eastern edge of the area...finding a zone where the depth dropped from 7 to 9 to 17 feet deep within about a 20 foot line of holes. We set up in the 20 foot area and saw lots of fish on sonar...a lot more than on the end of our lines. Never have seen so many white bass without being able to get more attention from them. Not sure if we could blame it on the moon or the increased hammering out there.
Few bites and few fish until late morning. Then the fish started to get more active. I had moved all the way across the area to the western side and found some fish at mid depth in about 23 feet of water. I started getting bonks on my first drops. After icing a few fish in short order I hollered Dave to come over and set up nearby...which he did. The half dozen holes we drilled in that area kept us busy until we bailed about 1:30.
I had wanted to try some new propeller jigging spoons and some small painted body baitbugs. Also some new wobble head jigs. The good news is that all the new stuff performed well. Dave especially liked the pink "Pistol Pat" jigging spoons with the little propeller blades on them...until he broke one off on a fish when the ice cut his line. But I know the guy who makes them so he got another one.
Weather was beautiful...even with the "haze". Fishing was fast enough to keep us from napping. Got lots of small whities...averaging about 7-9 inches...but healthy enough to justify keeping a few for a batch of chowder. Even got a double once.
Tried soaking minnows on the bottom for cats but nary a sniff from anything besides white bass.
Thanks Dave, for a fun outing...and the taxi ride.
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[signature]
11 degrees at daybreak. TDC. Glad we were at least able to get out there faster with the machine. Not sure I could have survived another epic exercise day like I had Wednesday with WH2 on Willard.
One other hardy soul had trudged all the way out, following the ice road trucker trail from the inlet park area. Since we took the wheeler out and reported on it last year it seems like eveybody in Utah has been out there and GPSed it. See pics. Where formerly we had to use Dave's GPS to even find the area all we had to do was follow the ice road and look for the big area of Swiss cheese. Jeez Louise. It's been banged hard.
The other angler turned out to be a fellow BFTer, CrappieLover89...if I reckymember keerectly. He caught a fair number of dinkster whities before he had to quit fishing and go to work...a four letter word. But then, again, so is fish.
Dave and I usually start on the far eastern edge of the area...finding a zone where the depth dropped from 7 to 9 to 17 feet deep within about a 20 foot line of holes. We set up in the 20 foot area and saw lots of fish on sonar...a lot more than on the end of our lines. Never have seen so many white bass without being able to get more attention from them. Not sure if we could blame it on the moon or the increased hammering out there.
Few bites and few fish until late morning. Then the fish started to get more active. I had moved all the way across the area to the western side and found some fish at mid depth in about 23 feet of water. I started getting bonks on my first drops. After icing a few fish in short order I hollered Dave to come over and set up nearby...which he did. The half dozen holes we drilled in that area kept us busy until we bailed about 1:30.
I had wanted to try some new propeller jigging spoons and some small painted body baitbugs. Also some new wobble head jigs. The good news is that all the new stuff performed well. Dave especially liked the pink "Pistol Pat" jigging spoons with the little propeller blades on them...until he broke one off on a fish when the ice cut his line. But I know the guy who makes them so he got another one.
Weather was beautiful...even with the "haze". Fishing was fast enough to keep us from napping. Got lots of small whities...averaging about 7-9 inches...but healthy enough to justify keeping a few for a batch of chowder. Even got a double once.
Tried soaking minnows on the bottom for cats but nary a sniff from anything besides white bass.
Thanks Dave, for a fun outing...and the taxi ride.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]