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Met up with fonduvfishin around 5 am bound for UL. Launched at Provo Harbor and mad our way in the waves to our destination. Fonduvfishing has a very nice boat - it's big enough to handle some fair sized waters. After a little looking, we arrived at the Island and made our way to the lee side to get out of the whitecaps and have a little wind break. Winds started out from the south southwest, so we choose to anchor on the north east side.
We settled in for some cat fishing - I began with a minnow and a crawler suspended off the bottom under a float, fonduvfishin rigged to fish the bottom. We got several hits and boated a few mudders. We both changed tactics several times to try to get the cats to come out and play with little success. Finally, I threw half an anchovie(the other half was stolen by "maybe" a walleye on a previous cast) and let it rest on the bottom. After just a few minutes I had boated a 4.4 # channel. Hopefully fonduvfishin can post the photo - the photos I have on my camera(my very first photos of fish with my new camera) will have to wait until the neighbor that sold me the camera can show me how to get it on my computer and load some software that he said I would need to do it. After a few more mudcat encounters, the wind pick up substantially and changed directions. We headed to the other side of the Island(the south side) and anchored. We were there for just a little while and the wind got steadily worse. So, we decided to try a different place.
As we made our way back north we ran into some strong winds and 3 foot swells and whitecaps. Fonduvfishin's boat handled it quite well - we were doing some serious bouncing and pounding in the surf with an occasional launch in the air - my boat would not have been able to navigate that water without some serious modifications before hand - as a side note, the wind made the water about a class three kind of rapid and would have been a total blast on my river raft or non-motorized pontoon boat - in short it would have been perfect sailing weather if we were on the ocean in really deep water a long ways from land, but, inland it was just entertaining for a couple of experienced ocean going sailors that have some respect for the water.
Well we ended the day out on the flats just north of the Provo Harbor trying to entice the cats - but that didn't provide any solid action.
All in all, it was a great day to be out fishing and I enjoyed some great conversation, great company and took home some big cat fillets that tasted just great !
Can't wait to do it again fonduvfishin ! Maybe next time we can go find ourselves some really big water to navigate and bob around on.
Sorry again about getting all that fish blood on your nice boat.
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You should have gotten out earlier. It was glass until about 10:30 in the morning.
Sorry you had to deal with the W. Nothing like W at UT Lake to make the cats hide and not bite.
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WOW, we got there before 6 am and had whitecaps right off the bat - where were you that it was all glass till 10:30 am ? You are talking about Utah Lake aren't you ? We only had a short time period of calm water while out at Bird Island.
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I was at the bubble up and it was glass, surprising that it can be capping on one end and glass on the other.
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OK, CBR(or anyone else familiar with UL), help me out here, I am a little  . Is there some physical obstruction in Utah Lake that would stop the rolling waves coming across the lake from the south or south south west that we encountered on our way out from Provo harbor going south into the wind and already substantial waves/whitecaps toward the Island, that would shelter the bubble up area from the wave action ? Normally, the north or north east end of a lake would experience the largest waves in those winds - by my calculations, in this case, that's about right where the bubble up would be - it seems like that area and northward to and even beyond AFBH would have gotten the brunt of the weather's effect on the water surface for the entire time that the wind was affecting the water.
Were you in the Burmuda triangle, or were we ? Or, do you have one of those "weather dances" that tubedude is famous for ? Next time, I'm gonna ask you to come along to mitigate the laws of physics - is that how you catch so many fish ?
Dang, will someone please teach me some of those weather or fish catching dances - so I'm not at the mercy of the climate or it's effects on the fish's physiology and/or natural tendencies ?
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I'd like to know also, the wind was darn near non-existant with partly sunny skies where I was. Sounds kinda creepy if you ask me.
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Sounds to me like CBR was in the lee of the West Mountain, just like you tried to be in the lee of Bird Island. The island won't block much wind, but the mountains can. I've been on Yuba before and watched the south east side churn like the dickens while the west side was almost dead calm.
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Well according to my map and observation of the weather that day, the bubble up would not have been in the lee of the west mountian at almost any time except the few moments of relatively calm water that happened during mid-morning when the wind shifted. Saratoga or Nautica might have been somewhat sheltered for a short time because of the mountain, but the bubble up is not protected from a wind from a south and/or south south west direction any more than Provo Harbor would be - unless, there is a physical obstruction directly to the south/south south west of the bubble up that could have blocked the wave action - that's what I was about - I don't know of any such buffer and was wondering if there was one that I haven't ever heard of. If there is, it would be great off-shore fishing structure.
BTW - we had to be right on top of the Island on the lee side(somewhere around north north east to east north east) to get what selter it could have provided - a few meters in any direction would have put us in the waves - like the four other boats out there that were bobbing in the surf on two of the other sides of Bird Island - no-one was on the south or south south west side of the island for good reason - that's where the waves were the worst(and that would be the orientation of the bubble up in the path of the wind and waves) - there were people on the north side and on the north north west and west north west and they were were bobbing in the wave action. Even if the mountain could have blocked the wind(and it really could not have), there is nothing that I know of in that body of water that could have interupted the waves rolling northward - and waves do NOT just dissipate by them selves - especially when there is a continual wind coming from the same direction for an extended period of time, as was the case yesterday morning.
I am still holding out for a magic talisman or special pre-fishing dance or mantra to chant from CBR so I can take advantage of those "non-stellar" fishing opportunities that are all to often affected by conditions that seem to be out of my area of influence - like the prevailing weather patterns, geology, laws of physics, and/or the fish's physiology. Maybe I just need to be less analytical and scientific and more superstitious and get me a lucky hat or shirt for fishing - unfortunately, I am already a scientist(by education and at one point, by profession) and have developed some analytical and critical thought processes that seem to proclude believing something that does not match up with what could be termed as a commonly shared reality observable to an observer outside of myself.
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Don't forget about canyon winds and other similar phenomena. If you live anywhere near the mouth of any canyon along the wasatch front, you know that almost every morning and almost every evening the valley sort of "breathes" -- in in the morning and exhales in the evening. I have been in strong gale force canyon winds at my parents house in Orem, but then if I walk down the street just a block or two, it is dead calm there, then walk back to their house and gale force winds again.
I'm not saying this was canyon winds during the storm, but I am saying that wind can be quite localized. That's what happens during a microburst as well, as small area gets nailed hard while the surrounding areas don't get nearly the intensity in the wind.
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I think it is my lucky BFT hat. Every time I wear it I have a killer day, and when I don't it's less than eventful. The hat was intact this trip.
From as far as I could see on Utah lake it was calm all morning with a very very slight breeze coming from the south west. I did notice that all around me there were clouds except for where I was, it was clear, could this have been the eye of the big storm? I took photos and will post them as soon as I get them off my camera.
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Where would a feller get one of those BFT hats ? Does it have to be an official hat or would just a sticker work - like aquaman's ?
BTW, I have been in the eye of a storm on the ocean before - the winds are neutralized(kind of like in an eddie in the water) by the pressure of the counter rotation of the wind's cyclonic action of the storm making it appear calm, but, the waves and the wind's effects on them are not - in the case of the ocean, the body of water most likely has a greater effect on the weather than vice versa - the ocean is larger than the storm system on it, so the analogy would have a limited application here. In the case of Utah lake however, the body of water is a drop in the bucket compared to the size of storm system affecting it and the effects of the wind and other climactic influences would linger for some time after the actual event.
CBR, I am not trying to badger you or drag this out ad-nauseum, I am trying to get a better understanding of the lake and maybe update my "over-generalization or "rule of thumb" for Utah Lake, that goes something like this: If the wind is from the south, my boat can navigate the southern part of the lake. If the wind is coming from the north, my boat can navigate the northern part of the lake. Or, where ever the wind is coming from, is the side of the lake that is the calmest and can be(maybe) navigated in my fishing boat. Your description of your experience seems to dash that into pieces and I'm trying to figure out why, and, how I should adjust my understanding for my future fishing plans to be safer in my boat on that body of water.
Well, as a scientist, I am used to finding out that what I thought needs to be updated and that my observations could be incorrect due to some unknown factor or variable. In other words, the more I know, the more I know I don't know.
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CBR, too bad we didn't pick you up, we could have used your wit and charm or whatever you offer mother nature to pacify her rage.[mad]
We could have used your expertise as well. We literally threw the entire kitchen sink at 'em, including what was in the garbage disposer and they ignored our buffet of goodies. [crazy]
However, we are more determined now, more than ever, to conquer the kitties, rest assured we've only begun: here kitty, kitty...
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Fishhound-
As you can imagine, Im a certified weather geek. I am 100% convinced that every time I think I have figured out a weather pattern, Mother Nature sees fit to prank me by changing it up.
All I know for sure is that you cant trust the weather (or weather forecaster) any more than you can trust a fisherman to tell the truth[ ]
[#ff0000](Hey now, we resemble that remark.)[/#ff0000]
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Hey FlyingFish,
I'll only take the weather guesser's forcast seriously if they happen to be with me and only forcast for what's due in the next 5 minutes - otherwise, I go with my own S.W.A.G for the short term and for the long term, I just expect to be surprised right up front and avoid the disappointment of being let down.
It was great to fish with you at DC ! I hope you enjoyed the MOJO experience as much as I did - you did seem to pick it up quicker than I did. Maybe we can practice sometime.
BTW - I think we may have provided bassrods with some good laughs and entertainment. As he reminded us while on his boat, if a person talks about fishing - it's a fish story - isn't it ?
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If you think Im good comic relief fishing -- You should see me golf!![ ]
It was good to meet you to.
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Fishhound, you are braver than me. I won't go near Bird Island in any significant wind or chance of storm. I talked to a guy once who told me he was out there a few years back when 19 boats capsized and a young man lost his life. It might be a little safer out there now with the water level being higher, but still one must be very careful.
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Hey Kent,
If I remember correctly, you and I had some good fun in the waves at UL in your boat. Brave ? No, I don't think so - more like dumb sometimes - remember, I'm the guy that skis off cliffs in the winter, used to white water raft and trys to encounter mountain lions for hobbies - heck, I've even hang glided. So, it probably it's not a case of brave - but more likely a lack of contact with reality on some level.
Thanks for the words of wisdom though, in spite of everything else, I like to think that I try to be carefull - but that's just an hopefull observation from my perspective. Any assistance from outside observers is more than welcome.
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We never encountered any waves on UL in my boat -- you should have been with me last Saturday -- that was some waves -- we put on the life jackets, and I can count on one hand when I have done that because of rough water in either of my two boats. UL anywhere in a bad storm is dangerous, but being around Bird Island is by far the worst, because after one's prop gets eaten up by the rocks it is of no value in helping one to get away from the island.
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I read that report from you about saturday - sounded like quite the adventure - you are right, it wasn't exactly like our experience on the water in your boat, but if I remember correctly, we did have some good wind and 1.5 to 2 foot swells, but then again we weren't in the middle of the lake and there never was a time where we needed to worry about anything serious.
I can assure you that I have a deep respect for that water in all of it's shallowness and potential danger. And I have been on it when it was far worse than the conditions that fonduvfishin and I or you and I experienced. It makes me anything but overconfident about the possibilities. Again thank you for the reminders though. It's always good to get a reality check form an outside observer with applicable experience.
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