Smith and Morehouse

Last week I went to Smith and Morehouse with Mike and his two kids Luxie, and Quinlin! I have only been to this lake one other time. I did not catch anything the first time because it stormed most of the day so I was excited to go again!

By the time I met Mike and his kids at the lake, they had already caught a couple fish!  I met Mike and his kids around 0715 hours in the morning. With the summer heat, I was hoping to get a shot at catching some fish early in the morning.

While I tried typical trout lures, Luxie and Quinlin continued to catch fish on their special poles!

It soon became obvious, you needed a princess pole or a spider man pole to catch fish.

Mike set his kid's poles up with a sinker, and a treble hook with garlic powerbait. This fish they caught came with a free lure and bobber!

 

Powerbait is another good method for catching fish with children. There are different ways to rig a line for power bait. The best way I have seen is by using a water bubble. First, put a water bubble on the line above a swivel, fill the bubble with water, then add some line to the swivel, add a treble hook with power bait and you are set!

 

Mike decided he wanted in on the action! 

Mike's kids finished with eight rainbow trout!

JOE'S TIP OF THE DAY

If you fish with children, make sure you bring snacks for when the fishing is slow. Also, Mike's kids caught all the fish on garlic and corn flavored power bait. It's illegal to fish with corn, but corn flavored power bait is okay. If you have questions, always double check the fishing proclamation before you fish!

Oquirrh Lake

 Last Friday night, my wife and I went fishing with Dustin, Jessica, Braylyn, and Kanyon. We decided to go to Oquirrh Lake in the Daybreak community. If you have not been in this area you should check it out! This is a wonderful place to take your family for a walk, play on the playgrounds, kayak, or go fishing! I have been fishing here a few times so I knew it would be  a great place to help Braylyn and Kanyon catch some fish!

We decided to fish for catfish because it is easy and the fish get pretty big. We fished for catfish by putting a large hook on the line and a couple sinkers. Our bait of choice was a piece of a hotdog. You just cast the line out and let it sink to the bottom. 

It didn't take long before we had a fish on the line! Often times the fish in this lake will hit the bait hard, and if you aren't paying attention, your pole could get dragged into the lake!

 Jessica was the first to try holding a catfish for a picture!

As the sun continued to set, the fish started biting more and more. Catfish are very active in the evening and night hours.

 

Dustin showing Braylyn and Kanyon its okay to touch the fish!

During our fishing experience, we tried to get Braylyn and Kanyon involved.

Dustin and Braylyn reeled in a large catfish. I was lucky to capture their facial expressions when they first saw how big the fish was!

I enjoy taking people fishing because I get to help them experience the joy and excitement fishing can bring!

 

This is one of the catfish we caught! The fish are healthy in this lake and grow to good sizes!

At first, Braylyn and Kanyon were scared to touch the fish. After seeing Jessica and Dustin hold a fish, they decided to give it a try! 

This is one of the larger catfish we reeled in that night.

Right before we left, Dustin reeled in another good sized catfish! 

We caught a total of 5 or 6 channel catfish in only an hour and a half of fishing. We had several other bites but we were unable to hook them.  The hotdogs slip off the hook pretty easily so it's good to check your line every five minutes or so! We released all the fish back to the lake.

JOE'S TIP OF THE DAY

  

There are several different ways to rig a line for catfish. For catfish, my favorite way is to use a barrel or egg sinker. Tie a barrel swivel on the line after you put a sinker on. Then add some line to the other end of the swivel about 12"-15" in length. Place a large hook on the end of the line and you are set!

Pineview Reservoir

Yesterday I went to Pineview Reservoir to try and catch some crappie and perch. However, due to low water levels, the spot I wanted to fish was completely dried up! I found a new spot to fish, but wasn't too crazy about it. There were lots of boaters on the water stirring up the lake. I used a white curly tail jig with a red head. I've caught crappie with this jig before but did not have any luck yesterday.

I ended up catching three small mouth bass with the curly tail jig. This brings me to my question, what do you use to catch crappie or perch?

The water level dropped lower than most of the rocks.

JOE'S TIP OF THE DAY

Sometimes if the fishing isn't great, it can be refreshing to go for a swim!

Strawberry Reservoir

On Wednesday I went up to Strawberry Reservoir with my friend JR and his son Justice. The goal was to explore the Strawberry Narrows with a small motorized raft. I have always wanted to fish this section of the reservoir so I was pretty excited to see how the fishing was!

We got on the lake around 0730-0800 hours. The lake was picture perfect and seemed to be the perfect day for fishing. We started by trolling various lures behind the raft as we made our way into the narrows.

 

JR started off by catching a nice rainbow with a multicolored Blue Fox lure. I had never used one of these lures, but was happy to see it work!

The narrows had several areas that seemed to be ideal for fishing.

We docked the raft on a small island and fished for a little while. Surprisingly, none of us got any bites so we decided to get back in the raft and float by the steep cliffs.

Finally, I started getting bites on a salt and pepper tube jig, tipped with a red worm. I was able to land a nice rainbow while trying a vertical jigging method. I let JR and Justice try tube jigs as well. They also got some bites but were unable to land any fish with a tube jig. 

You can see the tube jig in this photo. I've found success on various fishing trips with yellow, green, and silver/blue tube jigs. Salt and pepper tube jigs are my favorite though!

JR and his son Justice caught a large cutthroat trout with a gold Jake lure. I was somewhat surprised to see a large cutthroat take the Jake lure, but then again, they are a bread and butter lure that every angler should have in his tackle box. You can catch fish with silver Jake lures as well.

Cutthroat trout are awesome fish because they are aggressive and often put up a good fight as you reel them in. They can also get very large!

Too my surprise, we also caught a total of 6 chubs. I did not know these non-game fish were in Strawberry Reservoir. We caught the chubs on a gold Jake lure and the multicolored Blue Fox lure. 

Our day got cut a little short when this crazy lightning storm swept over the lake. Lets just say the little trolling motor was no match for the wind and white cap waves. JR and I got a good workout as we assisted the motor by paddling through the wind! All in all it was a great day out on the water.

JOE'S TIP OF THE DAY

Fishing for trout in the summer months can often be difficult. As the water heats up, the trout dive down to the deeper, colder parts of the lake. With this in mind, try rigging your line with baits suited for deep fishing. As always, morning and evening hours can also help as the temperatures are lower then midday.

Rockport Reservoir

This last week I went to Rockport Reservoir with a friend named Jason. Like me, Jason enjoys trying to catch different kinds of fish! I chose Rockport because the lake has a variety of fish species. You can catch small mouth bass, perch, brown trout, rainbow trout, and possibly a few other kinds of fish! Jason and I got to the lake around 0645 am and didn't get in the area we wanted to fish until about 0700 am. We fished for a while and weren't having any luck. I decided to switch from the typical trout lures, to a new lure I bought. I put on a different Joe's flies and lure lucky striker than what I've used before. Immediately I started getting hits from small mouth bass!

I caught a total of 11 small mouth bass in just a couple hours. I had several other bites but was unable to hook them! I caught bass ranging in a variety of sizes. 

 Small mouth bass are fun to catch because they hit your jig or lure pretty hard. You will be reeling in quite casually and then your lure will get thumped! If you haven't caught bass, give it a try!

 Jason caught a few on a white curly tail jig with a red or pink head. You can buy a whole package of them at any fishing store. Walmart even sells the curly tail jigs!

Jason caught most of his bass with my other Joe's flies and lure lucky striker. The one Jason used has a red tail and has a silver spinner which happens to be the same one I used to catch trout up in the Uintas!

JOE'S TIP OF THE DAY

If you want to catch fish, do a little research prior to your fishing trip. Learn what kind of fish are in the body of water you are fishing. Once you know what fish are in the lake, fish for specific kinds of fish. This will increase your chances of catching a fish. Often times people have little to no luck because they don't really know what they are fishing for. Worms are great generic bait, but you'll catch more fish if you try and get specific on the type of fish you want to catch!