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Hit Lincoln Beach on Sunday 16th. Fished from 8am-noon and did not catch a thing. I did talk to a fella who had caught a 27" Walleye. I fished from the north rock jetty and used cocktail shrimp because my dog had ate my smelly raw shrimp and shrimp cocktail is all i could find at 7:00am Sunday morning. I know there out there, maybe the incoming storm spooked em? Saw others catching some Walleyes and Mudcats from boats. I always fish from the shore. Does anyone know how to get to the water pumps on Utah Lake. I here there is good fishing out there?
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I think all the warm water fish have lock jaw right now
Thanks for the report
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[cool][#0000ff]Are you referring to the "pumps" where the Jordan River leaves Utah Lake? They are just south of the bridge where Highway 73 crosses the Jordan River. You can get on Highway 73 either off I-15 in American Fork or off Highway 68 (Redwood Road).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Historically, there is good fishing at the pumps. However, I might suggest you fish from the dikes around one of the harbors for the time being. The water flow is very heavy coming out of the lake right now and the fishing is not as good.[/#0000ff]
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Thanks for the info, but I was told there are some other pumps further down 68 on the west side of the lake. Some pumps near a park is what I was told. I am going to look for it on Friday so hopefully I will find it and get some cats.
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[cool][#0000ff]I would also be interested in knowing about that. The only pumps/park combo I know about is at the Jordan River outflow. There is a park there and places to fish from the bank, including a side channel away from the main flow. Lots of folks like to just pull up, setup some lawn chairs and drown crawlers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have circled the whole lake several times and fish all over the west side. I am not familiar with any pumps next to a park. The only other possibility might be the Saratoga Springs marina. It has a nice park, with restrooms, etc. But, no pumps that I am aware of. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Once you get past Saratoga Springs, Hwy 68 runs well up off the lake, with occasional rutted dirt roads going down to shore. Then, after you pass "The Knolls" (mile marker 19) the road leaves the lake and wanders around through desert and fields until Hwy 68 ends at the junction of Hwy 6, near Goshen.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, go head on 'til your head hurts. I love to go "exploricating" my own self. You can find some of your own private spots that way. Most anglers prefer the quick and easy thing and go where the access is easy and where there is lots of company. I prefer to fish in solitude sometimes and those out of the way spots fill the bill nicely.[/#0000ff]
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Yea, I think I will be exploring this Friday. I always take a friend fishing but I try to avoid the crowds. Someone gave me directions to some other pumps off of 68 near Saratoga Springs so if I find what I am looking for I will let you know! I have only been to Lincoln beach to fish Utah Lake so I am eager to drive around the lake and see what I can find. The water level at Lincoln was really high, ive never seen it that high and the water was really murky. When does the water clear up a bit and will the water level go down at all?
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[cool][#0000ff]Some parts of the lake are cleaner than others right now. A lot of that has to do with runoff. The area around the Provo River (cleaner water) is less murky than that around Lincoln Beach. The latter is affected by inflows from both the Spanish Fork River and Benjamin Slough. They are running chocolate right now and when the prevailing winds keep the muddy water along that end of the lake, the water will stay murky.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The lake IS high now. That helps a bit with the clarity because the lower the water level the more the lake is muddied by winds. It has been "clean and green" until the muddy runoff increased.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The high levels of the lake and the murky water will both be with us until about the first of July, when snowmelt runoff is over. Actually, it usually starts to get better before that, but this has been a major snowpack year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I fished Utah Lake in the spring and summer of '83...one of the more memorable years of heavy snowpack and spring runoff. That was probably the highest I have ever seen Utah Lake. The water came well up into many fields around the lake and the carp followed. They were thrashing and splashing in fields that have not seen water since.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I remember fishing at the outflow of the Jordan, out in front of the pumps. I was wading and casting for walleyes that set up at the mouth to munch white bass and mudcats that swept by them on the way downriver. I'm a big guy, and I was standing almost chest deep where two months before it had been dry lake bed.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I think we are going to see still higher lake levels for the next couple of months, at least, and maybe well into the summer. Good for spawning fish, but it really cuts down on the shore access for anglers.[/#0000ff]
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[  ] Thanks for the information, thats interesting and good to know. I hope I can find places to fish from shore out where im heading, I dont have a boat or a tube or a toon or anything like that. I fish exclusively from shore, but only because I dont have any other options YET! I think there might be some major flooding with all this runoff, I wonder if SLC will have to sandbag 9th west or 7th east again! Went to Pineview a few weeks ago (got skunked) and the river was very high flowing from the damn in the canyon, it looked like all those houses in the canyon along the river would be flooded. So much water
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[cool][#0000ff]If you have chest waders there are a lot of spots you can wade out to the edge of the flooded reeds and brush. The water is often only about two or three feet deep there and the fishing is sometimes pretty good just at the edge. Throw jigs or spinners right along that edge, or cast out into deeper water and retrieve in to shore. You can also score some good cats at times by soaking bait in that zone, either just letting it lay on the bottom, using a corky rig or below a bobber.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The cats have not really turned on yet, but I have been catching them from a tube in 3.5 to 4.5 feet of water , near shore and just out from the reeds. When they get more active, they will start coming right into the shoreline structure, looking for spawning areas. Then you need to fish the open holes in the vegetation with a bobber and heavy line. If a biggun hits you need stout gear to wrestle them out of the stickups.[/#0000ff]
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[  ] Thanks TubeDude, you are very informative, I appreciate the information. I know im gonna catch some big cats, I can feel it. Or maybe not, its not a big deal, but im hoping to catch some big uns. Ill let you know how I do! I will try the things you mentioned. Where do you really like to go fishing besides Utah Lake?
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[cool][#0000ff]Utah Lake is my "go-to" lake for big cats, walleyes and white bass. I do Willard for smaller cats, walleyes and wipers...and sometimes crappies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Jordanelle is my smallmouth, perch and trout lake. I also like Yuba. It is a longer drive, but the trout are awesome. For some reason I don't do Strawberry much. I do plan to hit it for ice out.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Mantua is fun for perch, bluegill and bass. Pineview is so-so, but does have potential for bass, crappies and (of course) tigers. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I love Pelican Lake for flyrodding and ice fishing for bluegills and bass. The price of gas makes it a "special occasion" destination. Same with Starvation.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Actually, I set up a pretty aggressive fishing schedule for this year. I have targeted 33 species and 39 waters. Off to a slow start with the weather, but I have six waters and ten species so far. That will be at least doubled by the end of May or the middle of June.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Any good cats you get between now and mid May are bonus. By then they will be a lot more active and everybody will be doing much better.[/#0000ff]
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I cant swear to the fact they still exists but once upon a time in the land of Knod there were two pumps that kept the water level steady in the Provo Airport moat. One was located along the east side Airport dike and pumped into mud bay, the other was along the west side of the airport and pumped into the lake itself.. As I said, I'm not sure either one still exists.
The only pumps you might locate south along 68 are perhaps pumps they use to feed the farm lands, like those that feed the orchards near LB.. But here again, those would be pulling from the lake rather than pumping into the puddle..
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Hey CF, the pump on the west side and on the east side of the airport are both still there. It didn't look like the one on the west was in operation however. A few years back it would turn on every 15 minutes or so, and the one ont the east every hour or so.
I'm not sure where it pumped from (the moat?) but on the west side there is very little water on the airport side, maybe they don't need to pump it anymore. Then again, with such a high water year this year, maybe they'll have to start pumping it again.
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I'll be dating myself,, but yeah,, I recall in the late 70's and early 80's that west pump was a fair spot for whities. Last time I drove past it (3 - 4 years ago) it didnt look to be in operation and hadnt been for quite awhile. Here again, I drove by during the drought so who knows...
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Well, in 1998 it was HOT for bluegill and crappie. The very next year it went high and dry and been that way since until this year.
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