quail creek/sand hollow report. NEW an IMPROVED!! now with pics!!

[jj74]

took a trip to so. utah from vegas yesterday to brave the wind and chase some bass. got to quail at about 3 pm and scoed out my favorite spot. a bunch of little kids were there throwing rocks n the water so i moved down shore a bit. nothing worse than disturbing a family of rock throwing kids by fishing in their way[mad]!! the lake is very near full, just about the same level as it was at peak last year. started throwing a watermelon/chartruse senko and on my first cast nailed a 13 incher. nothing after that for the next hour. saw a guy in a boat pull up a nice one but that was it. he said that a couple days prior, before the wind that they were up on their beds and the sight fishing was good but with that wind it was difficult to even cast!!!!

so i decided to go check out sand hollow even though i knew it would be windier there. got there bout 4:30 and went over to the left of the boat ramp to check it out, the lake is as deep as i've ever seen it and the walkable shore line over there is under water. in fact ALL my spots on that side were underwater. talked to a ranger and she said it is less that a foot from being 100% full. took a hike along the big rocks to look for spots protected from the wind. couldnt find any and the waves were huge coming up the rocks so i drove around the south side just looking to fnd a spot i could cast with the wind. saw i nice little bay with shome sagebrush in the water went out and saw a fish jump in bout 2 feet of water. tossed a white/black flake senko to the spot and nailed him. stayed in the same spot for about an hour and caught 11 more, one of which jumped into a shrub and got himself tied up in the bush but out of the water. thought about breaking the line but he could not have released himself, he was hung up ggod so i did what anyone would do, i took a dive and went in after him, bout 40' off shore, i waded out, got him untied, too a pic and set him free. he turned out to be a lovely 5lber. needless to say he was worth the bath. the water was a very pleasant temp, i didnt get a read with anything besides my legs but i would say low to mid 60's. its on at sand hollow right now, if you have a chance to get down here, MAKE THE TRIP!!! you wont be sorry!!!

here are some pics. i didn't take one of every fish, its hard when you're by yourself and you need to get them back in the water....

the first one is at quail, the rest are sand hollow.....
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[scartinez]

Thanks for the report, sounds like you had a good time. I can't say I've never gotten wet to release a fish that got tangled some how. You got to do what you got to do. I'm sure it was worth it.
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[Hunt4BigBucks]

[]Thanks for the report, I may be heading down their this weekend to try out my new pontoon boat. Just talked to the bass pro from the St. George Sportsmans and he said that on Friday the water temp was 62 degrees. I hope the weather cooperates this weekend so I can get down there!!! Any tips would be greatly appreciated, if you want them kept secret just P.M. me.
Thanks
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[hedgesd]

Fished there over this weekend also. If the wind wasn't blowing so hard it would of been much better. Found fish all over the lake but didn't get anything of size. I guess people don't know the regs because a couple guys kept a illegal limit of 16"ers.
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[jj74]

hey hunt4bigbucks, pm me. i'll be there next weekend too, probably in my tube this time unless there is too much wind then i'll be on shore again. i'm no expert by any means but i am learning some good spots and tricks on that lake i'll let ya in on...........
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[Kraizee_Skot]

[font "Times New Roman"][#ff4040][size 3]Great report jj74. Those are some nice bucketmouths that you got to hook up with. I think I am going to convince my uncle into going down there sometime this year. He is a real avid basser guy.[/size][/#ff4040][/font]
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[troutfinger]

great pictures, where are the the fish. lol
thems real perdy.
i'ts on for the end of the month.
there's a 95% chance i will leave here early friday morning so i can get some fishing in friday afternoon into evening and then we'll knock the crap out of them saturday and sunday.
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[jj74]

oh snap!!!!! i will leave friday after work and we will make a 3 dayer out of it!!!!! this has been in the making now for what, like nearly two yeras? lets make the most of it!!!!
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[troutfinger]

cool man.
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[Hunt4BigBucks]

I think were heading down on friday as well, i drive a maroon Chevy Silverado, I'll be in a green sportsmans 9 pontoon boat, see ya there! Thanks for the info![]
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[petty4life]

ill also be down there friday early afternoon. ill be in a brown chevy trailblazer. fishing the shore.
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[jj74]

i'll be there either sat or sun or both, i'm shootin for both.........see you guys there
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[petty4life]

i might swing over saturday morning for a bit
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[trollboy8]

That's a great report. Could you give a little info on tactics for fishing for bass from shore? Anything at all would be appreciated!
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[jj74]

i've had a lot of success from shore at both quail and sand hollow, a lot of it is just fishing the right spots at the right time, early in the year is the best when they are up on their beds. shallow water with good cover or near sunmerged trees in a little deeper water seems to have worked best for me. i almost always use senkos and if you can drop em right over them so they fall down on top of their hideout or beds or drag one right through their beds they almost always hit. after about the end of may i have to go out in my float tube to get to them but this time of year is great from shore.......at least on quail and sand hollow. as for northern utah, deer creek can net you some nice smallies from shore through the summer, fish along the rocky shoreline with curly tails or senkos or a plain ole worm......
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[petty4life]

couple questions for ya. ill be coming down from n. utah how do i get to sand hollow? and do you think top water stuff will work?
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[jj74]

to get to sand hollow just take the hurricane exit on i-15 just like your heading into zion. stay on the main road, go past quail creek and about 2 more miles there will be a chevron station on the left hand side of the road, acroos from tah you will see the brown sand hollow state park sign, turn right and when the road forks stay left and it will lead you righ to it, its only a few miles off the main road. costs $7 for a day pass........as for top water you may have some luck early in the morning or late evening, i haven't seen any top water action through the day there but i could be wrong cuz if i dont get a bite on topwater i give up real quick and go to what works best for me.......
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[trollboy8]

When using senkos, do you wacky rig them, texas rig, or something else?
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[jj74]

wacky rig!!!!! i love wacky rigging and thats what i do 90% of the time. i texas rig sometimes when i fish off the rocks by the boat ramp and it works pretty well. i like the weightlessness and natural slow sinking motion of the wacky rig.
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