Newton

On Wednesday, my friend Ben invited me out to go after the "fish of 1000 casts" (Tiger Muskie). I first heard of these fish when I first met Ben when we moved in January...

(Picture taken off internet)

We didn't catch one today and I have yet to catch one this year but I did end up catching a few other fish...that is, after the crazy boats decided to stop trying to sink us...a couple of big ski boats kept coming past us and close so their wakes kept almost coming over Ben's small fishing boat.

We got to one of the places we were planning on fishing at and I was able to land my first large mouth bass! It was a dinky baby but it was still my first. I also landed a nice 10 inch yellow perch. It has been years since I've caught a perch.

After that we kept catching small fish so we moved locations. We kept catching smaller fish, but i did manage this bigger sized bass.

We may not have caught that elusive muskie that I've been after, but we had a great time.

The last two weeks

These last two weeks I have been doing my two week training period with the national guard. I still took some time to go fishing though :). The first four days were in Manti so I was able to stay with my parents in Fayette. Growing up in Fayette is where fishing started in my life. I remember as a kid going out to the river and calling the catfish "Here fishy fishy fishy!". I also remember going clubbing carp during the flood season. We would go out to the flooded fields with clubs, pitchforks, etc, and walk around bashing the carp. (I know it may sound brutal to some but it was a lot of fun and carp are a trash fish in Utah). So for memory sake I dug up a very small worm out of the garden and hopped on the 4-wheeler down to the river. I threw the worm on (which was barely bigger than the hook) and cast it out not expecting to catch anything. I heard a splash over on the other side of the bridge and saw a deer crossing the river...

I didn't catch anything at the river but one night my friend Taylor and I went out to Yuba Reservoir for old time sake. Taylor and I have fished this stretch of the res for years on end. I remember one summer the cat-fishing was particularly good and he pulled out a 16 lb catfish. The res was drained for repairs on the dam and the cat-fishing has never been the same. In fact, on the DNR website it has catfish being in Yuba but in parenthesis it says something like "though they may not be there anymore" We didn't catch any cats but there were still plenty of carp! and a cool sunset too! We braved a small storm but it passed quick and we had a fun night.

Later in the week we had to travel to Camp Williams near Lehi UT. Taylor and I and a fellow soldier Andy Jones (from here on out I will call him Peeta because he reminds me of Peeta from Hunger Games) took a few trips to the Jordan river and Utah Lake. The first spot we tried along the Jordan turned out to be the best of all the spots we tried. Peeta hadn't fished in a long time so he bought a license and stuck first with this wopper of a fish!

Later Taylor struck with this decent Channel (it was the biggest cat of the two weeks).

Peeta landed his second fish and first ever mudcat! (man I really hate those things)...

We caught a few more fish then headed home. The next day Taylor had to leave and so some errands so Peeta and I decided to try Utah Lake at the American Fork Harbor. ( A guy suggested this to me on a fishing forum I use ) We didn't catch any cats but I caught my first ever White Bass! I may be wrong but I think in Utah the only place to catch them is Utah Lake and maybe Willard Res...either way I wasn't expecting to catch them but really wanted to...

Another species of fish to tack onto my list! (Now if I could only catch a Tiger Muskie)... Both Peeta and I caught white bass that night and that's all that wanted to bite. A couple of days later, Tay, Petta, and I went down to where the Jordan River first starts at Saratoga Springs. We caught a few white bass but they were all small. Overall the week was fun. Its always fun to get a chance to try new waters or go back to old ones. Interesting fact about the Jordan, it received its name because it flows Northward from a fresh water lake, and empties into a Salt water Lake just like the Jordan River in Israel where Christ was baptized.

"Ricky's" second fish!

I took Ricky out again yesterday and was determined to get him to catch something better than a mud cat. We used worms again and after about an hour or so I finally was able to land my first and only fish of the day ...

I know, I know, it was a GIANT! That's why I had to take a pic! (I almost think the worm was bigger than the fish lol). While we were looking at my fish and releasing it back into the waters, we didn't notice Ricky's pole bending pretty hard. I reached down and set the hook and it was on, Ricky had a fun time pulling it in, it fought good and hard, taking the drag a couple of times. We finally managed to bring it in and this picture says it all... :)

I couldn't resist taking another nature shot, it just looked really nice, I love being outdoors!

July 3/4

On the third of July, my friends Ben and John decided to do a late night trip to Cutler Dam. I have always wanted to head that way and I wasn't disappointed in the scenery.

We fished right at the dam next to a small rocky island for a while and while both Ben and John caught some mudcats early on to get rid of their skunk, it took me a while to catch one as well. I finally landed a baby carp and it was fish on from there. The only problem was we weren't catching anything but mudcats. I was using marshmallow on my hook to help it float off the bottom, and added worm to it for a tasty meal for fish. Ben was using I believe worm and beef liver and John I believe was using shrimp and worms. Ben finally got a big one on his line. In his own words "It was by far the biggest fish I have felt on my pole this year" (And he has caught some pretty big fish already. Unfortunately he said he could feel the line running against rock as he was trying to bring the fish in and before he could maneuver his position the line snapped. Now I know that fisherman tend to exagerate their "fish that got away" stories, but Ben is an honest man and had no need to lie to us. That fish was big, and one of these days we will probably go after him again. The action from there turned to just mudcats so we decided to switch places and head back up the canyon a ways. By that time the sun had set and night had come but the moon was so bright it lit up the canyon quite nicely. We settled near a rocky cove and I cast my line into the cove. I landed my biggest fish of the night there...

He wasn't a monster but was okay sized. From there I kept my line in the cove for a while and pulled a few more channels, though they progressivly got smaller. I cast out the other side of the boat into deeper water and changed one of my poles to a minnow. The minnow was a big hit, but only for more mudcats. Ben pulled out the biggest of the fish (20 inches) but he was in his own boat so I didn't get to snap a picture. We stayed there for a while longer then headed home. It was a great night out, it stayed about 70 degrees the whole time. JULY 4th... My brother Ben and his wife came up our way for the 4th. We went to a parade, had a nice BBQ and finally convinced our wives that it was a good idea to head up the mountain a bit to fish. We went up Blacksmith Fork canyon a ways and started fishing. We couldn't get the fish interested in any of our flies at all but it sure was some nice scenery.

All the scenery reminded me of why I love fly fishing. I've been so consumed with cat fishing lately because of a contest I'm in that I forget there are other fish in the sea (pun intended :))

Late night round two

I went out with Ben and Ben again last night to try and catch the big channel cats again. We were able to get out there a little earlier this time and scout it out a little bit. We chose our spot and were able to get set up right as the sun was setting.

Mine was the first line out and soon ended up with an okay sized channel (teenger)

unfortunately that was to be the only fish caught in that location. We fished there til about 11:30 and after not catching anything else we decided to move locations. We found another spot that looked like it had potential and fished there for a while. A kid fishing nearby and packing up came over and chatted with us and told us he caught a big one over where Brother Ben had casted out. We didn't catch anything the rest of the night except for a small carp that Friend Ben finally managed to catch (it was biting at his line all night long). Some people would call it a waist of a trip but for me it is always fun to get out and hang out with the guys. The stars were out and the moon was shining, it was a fun night out.

The Skunk

The Skunk is a word most fisherman fear most. It is a word that sends one home very disappointing, with a desire to shake it off as soon as possible. those of you not familiar with fishing terms, the skunk does not refer to an actual skunk (thank goodness). To get "skunked" means you did not catch a single fish. I took out Jedediah (name changed)on thursday to the exact same place that I took Tyrone the day before. We used the same bait, the same place, and about the same time as well, but we only had a few little nibbles. I couldn't believe our luck, Tyrone and I had a great time there just the day before but it was not to be for us this time, the fish just plain out weren't biting. Oh well, it's like they say, that's why they call it fishing and not catching...happens to the best of us.

Escaping the Sun

The last time i went out with Tyrone (name changed), we got a lot of sun mixed with a lot of annoying little mud cats. For those who don't know, mud cats are a small species of catfish that are really annoying and usually swallow the hook. They aren't any fun to catch because they don't put up a fight at all. Well, we went out today and when I asked him what he wanted to do he said "Fishing, but not where we will catch those dang mudcats". I told him I would do my best but couldn't guarantee there wouldn't be mudcats. There was a spot I've been wanting to try along the bear river for quite some time now so we headed over there. We decided to fish underneath the bridge there so we could escape the hot sun. It was worth it! It was nice and cool under there. I caught a fish within the first five minutes, got it right to shore and saw that it was a channel cat and got really excited for its decent size. (I'm in an ongoing catfish contest that lasts until the end of summer.) Right as I was bringing it to shore it got off the hook and swam away! ...(maybe I should invest in a net?). The fishing continued, Tyrone also had a channel on, it got to shore, then zipped back into deeper waters, as he was struggling to bring it in, the line snapped and it got away. (Okay it didn't snap, I apparently just didn't tie the hook on tight enough and the knot came undone.) All in all it was a pleasant afternoon. We ended up catching catfish, a baby small mouth bass, a baby walleye (pic below), and some carp. I find it funny because in Fayette, we hated catching carp. Carp in Fayette are like mudcats here, they don't hardly put up a fight and are very annoying and are everywhere it seems. Here however, some of my best fighting fish I've caught have been carp.