May 12- Three trips to report on. The weather has finally turned my way and it has been absolutely georgous this whole week so I decided yesterday to give Utah Lake another chance. I got to Lincoln Beach at around 5:00 p.m. and fished with waders from the farthest north-east point on west mountain. I threw the original Walleye jig in chartruese and bright orange for 30 min. before giving up. I decided to put on a silver blue fox spinner to see if the White Bass were biting at all. 2nd cast and WHAM! Man those things fight. from there I continued to catch a White Bass every 5th cast until I got to around 14 fish. The weather was perfect and it was great to finally get into fish at Utah Lake, but with the weather so nice I couldn't resist leaving the for sure catch on White Bass and trying for the elusive Largemouth of Utah Lake. I threw a drop shot with a gulp black shad minnow up and down along the tree sunken shoreline and had two bites which felt like small bluegill. I guess the Largemouth catch on Utah Lake will have to wait for another day.

The White Bass fishing was so good the night before that I thought it would be fun to take Cari down to Lincoln Beach and let those little fighters drag her around the lake a little. We got there around 6:00 p.m. and the wind was whipping right along with the waves. I told her we would brave it for 15 min. and if we didn't catch anything then we would go home. 2nd cast and WHAM! I have one on so I let Cari fight it and she gets it in. Thats fun to watch! I catch about three in four casts while Cari caught nothing and I realized that I had on a copper colored blue fox while she had on a silver and blue. Silver and blue is usually the better choice for White Bass but not today. I handed her my pole and she had one on in under 4 casts. She caught another in 4 more casts, and thats when the wind got unbearable so we decided to call it a night. On our way back to the car Cari hit a rock and went face first into the lake. Her waders filled up about half way and she hit her knee hard on the rock, she also dropped my pole right into the lake! I recovered it and the reel and pole is fine! Oh yea and Cari is to!

May 14- On friday I was working around Goshen and decided to walk down to the warm springs and see if there were any Largemouth Bass left in it. It has been closed for the past 2 years due to mine tailings leaching into the water. This means it has not been fished for two years! There are three small ponds all right next to each other. I got to the first one and it is crystal clear and very small so if there are fish in there I would be able to see them. I saw one small Largemouth and two decent sized Bluegill but thats all I could find. The next pond is a little bigger but you could still see every inch of it. I saw about 20 carp, 1,000 Bullfrogs and no bass or Bluegill. I walked over to the third pond which is quite a bit larger than the other two and started roaming the shoreline. Instantly I saw carp everywhere but I also saw two small bass right next to shore eyeing me down. I continued to see a few small bass and then there she was! There was a monster Largemouth sitting right next to shore sitting on her bed. This was one of the most exciting things i've seen in awhile. When the bass are on there beds they are guarding their eggs or their young ones, which in return, makes them very aggresive! I knew I had to get back and see if I could catch her so I decided to go this morning real early so no one would bother me due to the fact that it is still closed.
I got there early and the sun wasn't quite out so I couldn't see into the water. I set up a drop-shot rig with a watermelon green, storm worm. On the second cast I hooked up with a 10 inch bass. On the fourth cast I landed another one a couple inches bigger, but they were both very fat and healthy. After these two fish it started to slow down so I started casting across to the other shoreline hoping to catch one of the big mamas guarding her bed. Every once in awhile a fisherman throws a cast that is "the perfect cast" in which he is about 99% confident that he will catch a fish. I experienced this cast that day! I threw one that landed in what looked like a perfect bedding spot for bass and it landed about two inches from the reeds. As soon as it hit the water it sank for about 1 second and WHAM! Now I was on the ride of my life, it took me left then right, then left again almost tangling me into the reeds. I finally saw her and she was a beauty! All I could say since I was all by my lonesome was C'mon Chris you have to get this fish in. I finally did and it was a dinner plate! It was probably 15-16 inches long but very fat. I took pics but until I get my digital camera I can't post pics yet. Don't worry I'm getting one soon! I ended up catching 7 Largemouth total with one more close to the size of the big mama. Both of the nice ones though were not as big as the one I saw the day I was working, she was the real big mama! I caught four off of the drop-shot rig and 3 on a buzzbait spinner, white in color. What a great trip and I didn't get caught either which made it even better.

A few more fishing trips to write about starting on April 27. I got a free day so I decided to head up to Jordanelle and try for some of the monster Brown Trout that start to hit after ice off. I got a late start and got to the rock cliff arm around 9:30 a.m. I hiked down the north side just past all of the dead trees that lie along the shoreline. I put on a drop-shot with a gulp minnow in black shad color. It was tough fishing due to snags but I finally landed a 15 inch rainbow. After that I had the curse of not being able to hook up again. I had around 4 more on but never could get them to the shore. I think I had on to big of a hook, but didn't have any smaller. I had one more hard hit as I was walking back tossing into the trees and it was probably a bass but the curse continued and I did not hook up.

April 29, I just got my boat back again! The carburetor was jammed and kept flooding the engine. So I dragged my dad out to Jordanelle to try the boat out and get a little fishing in. We got to the lake about 8:15 a.m. and launched from the PWC ramp. The boat fired right up and we were off. We headed to the end of the rock cliff arm where the Provo River comes in and tried there. My dad put on the traditional worm and power nugget, while I tried the same drop-shot in black shad color. I had a couple dink bites but nothing in the boat. My dad didn't get a bite. We then tried various spots up and down the rock cliff arm on both sides without getting a bite. We made our way back to the Provo River outlet around noon and I tried drop-shotting a crawler. My dad finally hooked up and the first fish of the day was a sucker. I then hooked up with excitement only to find out that I also had a sucker on. We had continuous sucker bites for around a half hour before we gave up. We hit the area just south of the PWC ramp for a half hour before taking off. It was a sucker of a trip! Ha Ha!!! Then of course after the boat ran perfect all day it had to sputter out on us at the end of the day, making it so I will be weiry taking it on the next trip!

May 4, I am sick of not catching fish so I went somewhere I knew I would not get skunked. The ice is finally off Scofield so I headed up there for an evening trip. I got to the lake at 5:30 p.m. only to find a hurricane going through Scofield. I waited it out in the truck for about a half hour until conditions calmed down. I started out using a black curly tailed jig underneath a bobber. Nothing! I tried using a white foxy jig underneath a bobber and nothing! I then tried using the same black shad drop-shot rig that I used at Jordanelle and got snagged everytime. Finally I used my brain and put on a silver blue fox spinner and started casting it along the shorelines. I immediately started catching fish. I caught 7 fish in the span of about an hour. 5 rainbows, one that came out of the water about 4 ft. man those guys fight hard, then 1 cutthroat, and even a small tiger trout that the DWR planted in Scofield for the first time last fall. It was only about 9 inches long. If I would have used the spinner earlier I'm sure I could have caught a lot more. I had around 12 bites that were not hook ups. Either way it was a good trip and I needed it to help my confidence. A huge storm came in just before dark and the fishing died so I left, and had to drive down Spanish Fork Canyon in pouring rain. I hydroplaned a couple times but I'm still here to tell about it! Scary though!!!

Well I've been on a few fishing trips in the past couple of days with nothing exciting to write about! The first one was April 20. I had just got my boat out of the shop, 277 dollars later, and wanted to get it on the water. I decided to take it to Jordanelle because there have been reports of some monster browns coming from there. I picked Hunt up around 5:50 am and we got to the lake before 7:00. It was a beautiful day and the water was like glass. We launched the boat and it fired right up. I picked Hunt up from the docks and got ready to take off when the boat died. After removing the cover to the engine we realized that the carburetor was pumping to much gas to the engine causing it to flood itself. GREAT!!! We decided to use the thruster and troll over to some of the closer coves next to the marina. I graphed around 2 fish all morning and I had one bite with no takers. Hunt didn't even get a bite. Just another day on the lake with my boat! FRUSTRATING!

April 22- Hunt just bought a brand new ski boat and was taking it to Utah Lake to test it out. I met him and his wife at the AF Boat Harbor and we went for a ride. We stopped at the Bubble Up and threw a jig for around a half hour with no bites. They dropped me off at the docks and I decided to take my truck over to the Bubble Up and wade out as far as I could and fish. Not a great idea because the lake this year is so high that I got off the shore about 20 feet before being chest deep. It wasn't even far enough to get past the reeds surrounding the lake. I tried to fish anyway and threw a drop-shot watermelon color senko rigged wacky style. I did this for about a half hour before giving up due to snagging every cast. I did get solicited for sex by an 80 year old man though when I got back to my truck. I told him to get out of town. it was gross! YUCK!!!

April 23- Don't ask me why but around 1:30 am I got a brilliant idea that if I fished Utah Lake in the dark that I might get into some Walleye. So at 5:30 am I went to AF Boat Harbor and waded out in the dark. I fished for about an hour with no bites until i realized that the fishing is just not going to get better at Utah Lake for awhile. I decided to give up on the Walleye and go fish inside the harbor and try to catch some of the elusive bass that supposedly live in Utah Lake that I have never caught. Didn't even get a bite! I tried drop-shotting, crankbaits, texas rigs, and nothing! I'm about ready to give up on Utah Lake for awhile. I need to try somewhere else to get gain a little confidence back.

Went fishing down to Utah Lake on April 12, and then again on April 13. Its getting embarrasing to write over and over but I got skunked both trips. The first night I went to American Fork Boat Harbor and fished for 2 hours. There were two other guys there that I was talking with and one of them pulled in a White Bass, but that was it for all three of us. The next night I went to AF Boat Harbor again and fished for about 30 min. Then I decided this was going to be a repeat of last night so I jumped in the truck and went over near the Bubble Up by Lindon Boat Harbor. I waded out as far as I could and fished the open water for about 45 minutes and caught nothing. I was using a chartruese and bright orange, 3 inch curly tailed jig. I then decided to walk along the brush lines in hope of some bass. I got two good hits with nothing to show for it and I would give anything to know what they were. I have still yet to catch a Largemouth Bass out of Utah Lake, and people swear they are in there in good numbers. The weather was nice but its not steady, there are storm after storm lined up to hit the Wasatch front. Yesterday on April 18 we got about 4 inches of snow on the benches and 2 in the valleys. It looks like another flood repeat from last year.

Its been a little while since I went fishing last and I bet you can't guess why? Weather! It has been dumping on us for almost a week straight. We finally got a break so I decided to go down to Utah Lake to see if I couldn't drag something in. SKUNKED!!! Yes again, the weather was nice to, but maybe it takes a day or two after the type of storm we had go through. I was at AF boat harbor. What a weird year. I saw one guy catch a White Bass and it was the biggest I have ever seen, so again it tells me that they are growing in size, but I think its due to the decline of them being overharvested. There is no limit on White Bass at Utah Lake. I want to catch some trout also but most the lakes are still frozen other than Jordanelle and Deer Creek. They are catching some monster Browns out of Jordanelle. I need to get up there but can't seem to find the time. We need some good weather, I don't think we have had more than two days of decent weather before another monster storm rolls in. I guess thats why they call it Spring!!!

Its March 30, and you would think the weather has warmed up by now. NOPE!!! not even close. This is one of the only days this past week that there has been blue skies and its not windy and freezing outside, so I decided I had to get out somewhere. I had heard that a few Walleyes had been taken around Lincoln Beach so I went there. I am new to Walleye fishing but I can't believe that they are not biting yet this year, I have still yet to catch one. I got out to Lincoln Beach around 5:00 P.M. and the weather was great! Surprisingly there was no wind (usually very windy out there in the evenings) the blue sky was out and I was excited. I threw on my waders and waded out on the north point of West Mountain. I was very surprised with how deep the water was in the lake. Between this year and last year I would say that the 7 year drought we have been in is over. I waded out chest deep which was about 100-200 ft. less than you could have went 2 years ago and started fishing! I was rigged with two curly tailed jigs with 1/4 oz. weight, one with bright orange and the other with chartruese green and white. I found out quickly that this was to much weight and I was snagging dragging bottom. (in future downsize with two jigs to 1/8 oz. weight). I decided to use one jig, the green and white one. I threw this at them for almost an hour until I finally caught a nice sized White Bass. The White Bass are sure showing some size this year! I continued to throw this jig until almost sundown with no more success and then left. At least I didn't get skunked! Yes! I broke the skunk streak! Still no Walleye up to this point.

March 25 I decided that I was going to go nuts if I didn't start catching some warm water species so I decided to go back to the warm springs on the Jordan River. Crappy weather has continued throughout March making it tough on any warm water angler, and when I say crappy I mean the wettest March since 1983. We have had 16 wet days and the other days weren't sunshine and nice, they were cold and windy bringing in the next storm. Anyway I got to the Jordan River only to find out that they had released the gates from Utah Lake and the river was overflowing. I still tried to fish it anyway don't ask me why! (note to self- DO NOT fish rivers when they have just been flushed with water moving 50,000 gallons per minute, it kind of screws up the fishing!) I didn't give it long til I realized how stupid I was for even trying so I moved to the pumps on the lake to try my luck there. It was windy and very cold so I just threw out a dead minnow hoping that anything would hit. After getting to cold an hour later I had caught nothing. I decided to let the weather warm up and go over to American Fork Boat Harbor and try for bass along the docks. I got there and it was still cold and first cast I threw a curly tailed jig right into an old floating tire. Lost my jig! Did I give up.... unfortunately no. I went back to my truck and rigged up a dropshot with a wave worm in sparkle blue. This lasted about 4 casts and I got hung up in the weeds and lost it. At this point I said to myself, give up. Please give up. So I did! Thats now three trips in a row with nothing to show for it.

It was March 23, and I was not going to be denied by the I-80 ponds. Today was the first day all year that I think it hit 60 degrees so I was excited thinking nothing will stop the bass from biting today. I WAS WRONG!!! I tried everything from jigs to senkos, to crankbaits you name it. I even got the brilliant idea to get to the other side of the pond. I hiked east for about a mile trying to find a dry area to cross and did not find one. Dumb as I am and determined that the bass must be hanging on the other side of the pond I waded through the gunk and got to the other side. Now I was excited the bass must be over here..... NOPE! nothing, I couldn't even see a fish swimming around. I am truly wondering if the pond has been poisoned or drained letting all the bass out. I am not sure but I will have to go back there to find out. Not to mention that by the end of the trip I had hiked approximately 2-3 miles and waded through the muckiest thickest cattails/mud ever. Not my best fishing trip. Two in a row skunked at the I-80 ponds.

It was March 21, and more bad weather all week. I decided that I was going to catch some bass this year even if I had to go to the I-80 ponds to do it! I have never been skunked there. I got to the pond around 10:00 A.M. There were clouds all around me but the sun was shining on the pond giving me hope. I didn't see a thing in the water, usually you see bass and bluegill swimming all over the shoreline. I decided they must be deep so I rigged with a green and black sparkled curly tail on a 1/4 oz. jig. casted up and down the lake with not even a bite. I then tried topwater- nothing. Then I tried dropshotting- nothing. It then started to snow on me so I left SKUNKED!!!

It was March 16, I have waited through the bad weather long enough. This march has been one of the snowiest I can remember. I saw a glimmer of sunlight and I ran to get out and catch something. I decided to hit the warm spring that flows into the Jordan River next to Inlet Park in Lehi. I walked up to the river where the spring comes in and it was steaming showing that there was warm water moving in. It was also very shallow due to no water being let out from the lake yet. I looked into the hole and could see many small Bluegill lining the shoreline, I then saw a nice Largemouth swimming through the small fishing hole. I rigged up with a drop-shot rig baited with a live worm. First cast gave me nothing. Second cast I saw my line start going up river. Wham I set the hook and pulled in the first Largemouth of the year, it was about 8 inches long. I continued to cast and my bait would get hammered from all of the small Bluegill. I could not catch them though becaust my hook was to big. I kept fishing trying to catch the nice Bass that was continuosly swimming around but the Bluegill would not give up and I finally caught one finding out that they were about 2-3 inches long. I decided to go with a plastic zoom worm in earth green color with sparkles trying to keep the Bluegill off. Many casts and no more Largemouth. So I decided for fun to use a small yellow tube jig tipped with a piece of worm under a bobber and caught Bluegill for a while. This finally got boring so I called it a day.

It was March 1, and I decided even with the continuous bad weather that I would get out and see if anything was biting yet! I decided that since I live in Lehi that I would hit American Fork Boat Harbor in search of some early Walleyes starting to spawn. I arrived at around 5:00 P.M. Threw my waders on and was off. Cast #1- nothing, Cast#2- got something, feels like the first Walleye of the year..... nope its a 4 pound Carp! I continued to cast using a chartruese and bright orange curly tail jig with no success. I decided to give it 5 more casts. Cast#1-nothing, Cast#2- zilch, Cast#3- nada, Cast#4- wham I caugh a decent White Bass, Cast #5- nothing. Of course after this method worked I decided to try the 5 more casts tactic. Nothing all five casts so I went home.

I am starting a log of all fishing excursions that I go on starting from ice off 2006. The starting date will be March 1rst. From January to March 2006 I have only ice fished and it has been an okay year with many fish caught, but no big ones to write home about. This is why the log will start from March 1, 2006 and go throughout the year. Since I am starting this log on April 3, 2006 it will show this date on each post until I catch up with the current date. Even though I'm starting this log on April 3, I want to go back and start from March 1rst which is the first day I fished with no ice, so I will post the actual date in my post.