Dungee
Keeper of San Juan Secrets
Wordlings,
Wasn’t going to post since there have been some other recent reports and ours isn’t too much different, but then I thought that I could ready 100 of the same reports from the wonderful people here so it couldn’t hurt.
First of all, finally ran into @Squirrel and @Jack Herrin this trip, unfortunately Nixon was with me this trip so they missed him, sorry for that. Pleasure to meet you guys!
Andrew brought his little boy Ford down, and I brought Cass. So it was a great father and sons outing and one of the longer trips we’ve been able to do in a while so that was amazing.
We stayed at the campground, the sign detailing the instructions for camping by the kiosk had just broken in the recent wind storms. Almost ran over the exposed screws on it as it was of course just laying in the road by the kiosk. Maybe in six months it will be put back together more than just leaning against the kiosk now. The campground was great, convenient but made for later starts etc with our little boys.
All three days fished about the same, we hit main channels and side canyons all the way up to seven mile. We were nervous about the dirty water after talking with Jack who had trolled well below the bathrooms. We threw a mix of green pumpkin single tail grubs, powerbait gulp minnows and a couple cranks when the wind got bad. We always keep it super simple. Fishing was good/great and sometimes inconsistent but we still ended with around 300ish fish for the days. It was a good mixture of everything as usual, but like others we noticed certain stretches that lacked as many smallmouth as you’d normally think.
All the afternoons were pretty windy so we could hide in side canyons and fish those with similar success. Spot lock really helps with the wind, we could spot lock and then still fan cast areas or particular banks. Can’t imagine life without it.
Highlight of the trip was running into a spot where for a two hour period one evening we landed about 80-90 Crappie. Most were in the smaller end up but every fifth or so was a quality fish. The whole experience was amazing however as I’d never experienced that prior. The most Crappie we’ve ever caught in one sitting is about a dozen which we did in a couple spots as well. I just wish my dad was there as that’s like his dream scenario, so it was a little bitter sweet describing it to him. But, the next day we tried to duplicate the pattern in similar brush areas and couldn’t find any. We only kept 2, and both of those were because they bleed on the hook. We don’t keep Crappie.
Lost four really good Largies jumping this trip, but still caught a good number of them, again like others have mentioned. Caught a dozen or so really good Walleye, a group that had went south and fished structure heading to Rincon caught quite a bit more than us that day doing the same technique so keep that in mind anyone deciding which way.
The boys had the time of their lives and I would highly encourage anyone contemplating bringing little ones down to fish to just do if. That’s how I was raised and my kids have loved it so much. They fished, swam, ate snacks, napped, fought and played.
Nixon and I are heading back down to page Friday (pray for us) to fish with my BIL from Gilbert and his boy. Trying to replicate the good reports from the south end.
Preston
Wasn’t going to post since there have been some other recent reports and ours isn’t too much different, but then I thought that I could ready 100 of the same reports from the wonderful people here so it couldn’t hurt.
First of all, finally ran into @Squirrel and @Jack Herrin this trip, unfortunately Nixon was with me this trip so they missed him, sorry for that. Pleasure to meet you guys!
Andrew brought his little boy Ford down, and I brought Cass. So it was a great father and sons outing and one of the longer trips we’ve been able to do in a while so that was amazing.
We stayed at the campground, the sign detailing the instructions for camping by the kiosk had just broken in the recent wind storms. Almost ran over the exposed screws on it as it was of course just laying in the road by the kiosk. Maybe in six months it will be put back together more than just leaning against the kiosk now. The campground was great, convenient but made for later starts etc with our little boys.
All three days fished about the same, we hit main channels and side canyons all the way up to seven mile. We were nervous about the dirty water after talking with Jack who had trolled well below the bathrooms. We threw a mix of green pumpkin single tail grubs, powerbait gulp minnows and a couple cranks when the wind got bad. We always keep it super simple. Fishing was good/great and sometimes inconsistent but we still ended with around 300ish fish for the days. It was a good mixture of everything as usual, but like others we noticed certain stretches that lacked as many smallmouth as you’d normally think.
All the afternoons were pretty windy so we could hide in side canyons and fish those with similar success. Spot lock really helps with the wind, we could spot lock and then still fan cast areas or particular banks. Can’t imagine life without it.
Highlight of the trip was running into a spot where for a two hour period one evening we landed about 80-90 Crappie. Most were in the smaller end up but every fifth or so was a quality fish. The whole experience was amazing however as I’d never experienced that prior. The most Crappie we’ve ever caught in one sitting is about a dozen which we did in a couple spots as well. I just wish my dad was there as that’s like his dream scenario, so it was a little bitter sweet describing it to him. But, the next day we tried to duplicate the pattern in similar brush areas and couldn’t find any. We only kept 2, and both of those were because they bleed on the hook. We don’t keep Crappie.
Lost four really good Largies jumping this trip, but still caught a good number of them, again like others have mentioned. Caught a dozen or so really good Walleye, a group that had went south and fished structure heading to Rincon caught quite a bit more than us that day doing the same technique so keep that in mind anyone deciding which way.
The boys had the time of their lives and I would highly encourage anyone contemplating bringing little ones down to fish to just do if. That’s how I was raised and my kids have loved it so much. They fished, swam, ate snacks, napped, fought and played.
Nixon and I are heading back down to page Friday (pray for us) to fish with my BIL from Gilbert and his boy. Trying to replicate the good reports from the south end.
Preston
I’m heading down in the am with Dworwood for a short trip. Hope I we can do 1/2 as well. Thanks again
good luck!
