Utah Fishing

One of my clients had pushed me over the edge and even though there was a lot to get done, if I didn't get out and get away for a little bit, I was going to have a nervous breakdown. I had heard that the fishing at Strawberry was starting to pick up, so we gave it a shot. I called Mark and he brought a buddy and we planned an early morning trip. We got there bright and early to try and be the first on the water. One other boat was there before us but not that far ahead. We tried trolling a little to see if we could find the fish. We had a bite or two but nothing significant. So we went across the lake (which takes about 30 minutes because we are using a 1978 6hp Johnson motor that doesn't really like to go fast. I am not complaining just giving you a little background. Thank you Dad for letting me use the boat...). Once we got to the other side we pulled in our lines and started to cast to shore... bam... I caught one right off of a point and we start to get a few fish. We coast around a corner and start to get cold again. The wind picks up so we go to get some cover from the wind on another side of the lake. We hit the jackpot. Almost every other cast we were catching fish, watching fish come all the way to the boat, watching the fish jump out of the water after our lures and just flat out killing it. One of the guys we had with us needed us to go so we decided to make one more stop on our way back to the dock. This is a spot where I had seen a buddy of mine catch and lose one of the larger fish I have seen on this lake. So, as we get there, we start to catch a couple of little ones and then a monster just misses Mark's lure... I know this is one of those old fashioned fish stories but I wouldn't doubt that fish was at least 6-8 pounds. We'll have to go back and try again to see if we can put a picture to the legend. Maybe by that time he'll be 9 or 10 pounds. Awesome day and I'd like to get back there soon.

One of my favorite things to do is to get the family together, pack up some food and go into the mountains where our cellphones don't work, there's hardly any radio signals and we just get to spend some time as a family. I had been working very hard for the last few weeks and had only seen my family for a couple of hours during the week so it was time to have a family day out away from home. We packed up our lunches, brought a couple of fishing poles and just drove. We ended up at Nebo Creek which is a cool little path. Our goal was to get the highest point in the trail and have our lunch. Along the way, my daughter Allison, wanted to catch a fish. So every now and then, we'd stop the truck and catch ourselves a fish. In almost every hole that we stopped, we would catch a fish and then have a couple chances at catching one more. None of the fish were very big but the time with my family and away from everything going on in the world was awesome. As we continued up the path, we came across a car who lost his tire... the tire fell in the river and I am pretty sure that car will be sitting there today. Overall, this was one of my favorite trips because it was with my family, and they got to share a little in the fun and peace that fishing brings to me. As much as I love fishing, there's nothing that replaces the love that I have for my family. I am just fortunate that they put up with my passion for the sport and seem to enjoy coming along for the ride.

The weather had gotten a bit warmer and the ice had started to melt on the lakes. As the ice melts, the combination is normally pretty good for fishing. They come out, they are hungry and will eat anything in their way. This wasn't the case on our trip to Deer Creek. Let me give you a background on Deer Creek. If you look back at my previous posts, I give a little picture history of some of the favorite places that I have fished. You will notice that Deer Creek Reservoir is not one of them. This is because every time I go there, something bad happens. This trip was no exception to the rule. We got there and the wind was blowing some pretty big white caps along the water so as we go to launch the boat, Mark's job was to keep the boat from pounding against the dock. As he was fulfilling his responsibility and I get out from parking the truck, I look over to see Mark screaming and stomping his feet. Come to find out, as he was bent over to keep the boat from hitting the dock, his cell phone fell out of his pocket and into the water. However, his chap stick which fell out of that same pocket landed on the dock safely. We decided that the offering of Mark's cellphone to the lake should provide us a little competitive edge and nothing. The wind didn't stop until we took the boat in to go home and we ended up with only a few fish. Not worth the sacrifice and I'd rather go fish a stream than go to Deer Creek Reservoir again... Any pointers about how I can have a better experience at the lake would be greatly appreciated.

Our previous experience wasn't one for the record books but this trip turned out to be a lot different... for me at least. Mark caught a few, but I caught A LOT. There were some good sized fish out there this time and they were putting on a show for us. We would catch them and they would jump for their lives. It was some awesome fishing and we didn't stop until it got dark. We got tired of taking pictures so here are a few of the ones that we caught earlier that day.

So the last time I went to Hobble Creek, I was on a roll. I decided to get a buddy of mine, Mark to go with me and see if we would have the same success. This time it was right after a storm, the fish were not hungry and we only caught a few. We were so determined to try and catch a few more, I think we made Mark late for work. If he doesn't start showing some more discipline, I think he might get fired!

This is just another day where I had some time to get out and get in some local fishing. Depending on the time that I have, I normally go to Hobble Creek or Thistle. Today was a Hobble Creek day. In the time that I had, I caught a good amount of fish and all of them were very aggressive. They would jump out of the water and were worth every minute. It was some fun fishing and next time, I'll get someone to go with me.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I thought I'd start getting out to some of the local streams and try my luck. Last week I went with some buddies to Thistle Creek and while we saw a lot of fish, we didn't catch a single one. I decided to try again a couple of days ago at Hobble Creek. I normally don't cast into the catch basin but I decided to give it a shot anyways. Between the stream and the catch basin, I caught and landed 16 fish, lost about a dozen more and saw a ton of fish within 3 hours of fishing. After being skunked on the outing prior, this was a pretty good feeling. I have included a couple of pictures and since I was the only one there, all the pictures are strictly of the fish. I hope to convince some others to come out with me in the future so if you're ever interested, let me know and we'll make it happen.

This was one of my favorite places to go fishing and we always had success until they changed the management of the property and jacked up their prices for camping. The fishing hasn't been the same since and it's hard to justify paying the prices that they are asking these days. I will always give it a shot when I am in the area just in case, but they need to do something different before this place falls apart.

Currently, this has to be one of my all time favorite places to camp and fish. It's just beautiful up there mixed in with Zion's National Park. It may look like a small reservoir but I have caught plenty 5 and 6 pound fish out of this place.

This is another favorite of mine as long as you get there at the right time of the year. They use this place a lot for irrigation and the water gets pretty muddy and dirty but if you can get there when it's clean and clear, you can't stop to relax before you have another fish!

This is an awesome place to fish for all types of species of trout. We have caught rainbow trout, cutthroat trout and tiger trout here.

These are the pictures from the local Hobble Creek. This is one of my most visited fishing spots because it's close and it's pretty fun to fish.

Here are a few of the pictures taken on some of our trips up to Strawberry Reservoir. It's a great lake to fish.