POk3s
Escalante-Class Member
Sorry it’s taken me a couple days, upon returning to get a report written up. As you guys know, it’s hectic when you get back and have to go back to REAL LIFE.
FRIDAY 4/3
Alarm was set for 2 AM and I was proud of my family for getting up and getting out the door by 3! Made great time and stopped in hanksville for breakfast. Had the boat packed and was launched and motoring out of bullfrog by noon.
I put in the recreation section that the ramp flattens out at about 20 fow and going around the corner at the breakwater shows about 12 fow. Of course this is the depth under my boat.
Anyway, a great trip up lake. We checked out Hansen creek only to not really be blown away by the camping options.
Up to forgotten canyon and our old beach we stayed at in 2023 looked mighty inviting. The water was actually 6 foot lower that year but there wasn’t near the panic as flows were coming. This year…no flows!
We got camp set up and fished for a couple hours late afternoon at the main lake humps just downstream of tapestry wall. Lots of willing stripers in the area but they were spread out. Bait fishing landed us a few.
We hung out at a beach tucked back in and returned to camp by about 5:00 as we were all beat.
SATURDAY 4/4
We were up about 7:00 and waited for the sun to warm us. A chilly night and a chilly morning.
I wanted to try for some crappies and we did. I only caught one and could not figure out anything they wanted. I kept getting pestered by bluegill and although I’ll gladly catch them, I caught a lot last year and wanted those crappies.
I finally just gave up and decided to troll around before little man’s scheduled nap time we knew he needed after traveling the day before. We boated a few stripers and called it a morning.
After nap time we headed back to our tapestry wall location and caught stripers until the evening. The biggest surprise was catching a Colorado Pikeminnow. I had only ever heard of a Northern Pikeminnow and didn’t even know the species existed. I had never seen reports of other in nets or anyone caching one so I was sure shocked. Most of the fish, the rod was given to my boy to reel in. When I hoisted him out of the water I didn’t know what I was looking at for a bit…
Anyway @Dan Keller and @wayne gustaveson may be interested in these findings. It also had a bloody tail, indicative of spawning. I weighed it at 2.2 lbs.
Anyway, back to camp for fish tacos that actually weren’t great, for the first time ever. My cooking system didn’t allow me to get the oil hot enough. Everything was too soggy. But hey, it made a meal.
SUNDAY 4/5
Our last full day and what the weather report said would be our nicest day. Boy was it! Again I wanted crappies and again I tried for them in a couple locations with a couple methods and caught just one but caught stripers along with my attempts. Tried forgotten and Knowles.
You can catch stripers however you want to right now. Main lake structure of back of canyons. Most are the typical 12-16”ers but we did get some better ones as you can see from pics.
This was my planned day to head up to GHB. When I mentioned that to my wife she said “I’d rather stay close. You’re the one who likes GHB. We have plenty of fish here.” Hate when things make sense and really, I liked that plan too. Always just a bit more comfort to stay close to camp…just in case, with a little guy.
We spent nap time in the shade of a canyon wall, so as I filleted fish.
We spent the evening back at our typical location, hanging out at the hidden beach and catching stripers at the humps.
I hated to see Sunday end as I knew that was it. As the shadows grew longer and the sun got lower, I tried to soak it all in. I hope I did.
Back to camp we went for a meal of elk and whitetail tenderloin. Much better than the fish the night before!
MONDAY 4/7
Monday morning was spent around the fire, and getting camp taken down and everything organized in the boat. We were back at the boat ramp 10:00 AM and on the road by noon for the long drive home!
Sorry I’m long winded. Enjoy all the pics. Video coming (semi) soon!
FRIDAY 4/3
Alarm was set for 2 AM and I was proud of my family for getting up and getting out the door by 3! Made great time and stopped in hanksville for breakfast. Had the boat packed and was launched and motoring out of bullfrog by noon.
I put in the recreation section that the ramp flattens out at about 20 fow and going around the corner at the breakwater shows about 12 fow. Of course this is the depth under my boat.
Anyway, a great trip up lake. We checked out Hansen creek only to not really be blown away by the camping options.
Up to forgotten canyon and our old beach we stayed at in 2023 looked mighty inviting. The water was actually 6 foot lower that year but there wasn’t near the panic as flows were coming. This year…no flows!
We got camp set up and fished for a couple hours late afternoon at the main lake humps just downstream of tapestry wall. Lots of willing stripers in the area but they were spread out. Bait fishing landed us a few.
We hung out at a beach tucked back in and returned to camp by about 5:00 as we were all beat.
SATURDAY 4/4
We were up about 7:00 and waited for the sun to warm us. A chilly night and a chilly morning.
I wanted to try for some crappies and we did. I only caught one and could not figure out anything they wanted. I kept getting pestered by bluegill and although I’ll gladly catch them, I caught a lot last year and wanted those crappies.
I finally just gave up and decided to troll around before little man’s scheduled nap time we knew he needed after traveling the day before. We boated a few stripers and called it a morning.
After nap time we headed back to our tapestry wall location and caught stripers until the evening. The biggest surprise was catching a Colorado Pikeminnow. I had only ever heard of a Northern Pikeminnow and didn’t even know the species existed. I had never seen reports of other in nets or anyone caching one so I was sure shocked. Most of the fish, the rod was given to my boy to reel in. When I hoisted him out of the water I didn’t know what I was looking at for a bit…
Anyway @Dan Keller and @wayne gustaveson may be interested in these findings. It also had a bloody tail, indicative of spawning. I weighed it at 2.2 lbs.
Anyway, back to camp for fish tacos that actually weren’t great, for the first time ever. My cooking system didn’t allow me to get the oil hot enough. Everything was too soggy. But hey, it made a meal.
SUNDAY 4/5
Our last full day and what the weather report said would be our nicest day. Boy was it! Again I wanted crappies and again I tried for them in a couple locations with a couple methods and caught just one but caught stripers along with my attempts. Tried forgotten and Knowles.
You can catch stripers however you want to right now. Main lake structure of back of canyons. Most are the typical 12-16”ers but we did get some better ones as you can see from pics.
This was my planned day to head up to GHB. When I mentioned that to my wife she said “I’d rather stay close. You’re the one who likes GHB. We have plenty of fish here.” Hate when things make sense and really, I liked that plan too. Always just a bit more comfort to stay close to camp…just in case, with a little guy.
We spent nap time in the shade of a canyon wall, so as I filleted fish.
We spent the evening back at our typical location, hanging out at the hidden beach and catching stripers at the humps.
I hated to see Sunday end as I knew that was it. As the shadows grew longer and the sun got lower, I tried to soak it all in. I hope I did.
Back to camp we went for a meal of elk and whitetail tenderloin. Much better than the fish the night before!
MONDAY 4/7
Monday morning was spent around the fire, and getting camp taken down and everything organized in the boat. We were back at the boat ramp 10:00 AM and on the road by noon for the long drive home!
Sorry I’m long winded. Enjoy all the pics. Video coming (semi) soon!
