Southern Utah Trip, Lake 1

Well, on a spur of the moment idea, I decided it would be a great idea to take a trip to the warmer end of the state and get some fishing done. A whole bunch of reservoirs, lakes, and rivers await down here, and most of them have minimal pressure.

Every time I'm down here, I always here amazing things from friends about Sand Hollow and Quail Creek reservoirs. However, every time I pay those places a visit, I come away empty handed. Also, I'm not much for bass fishing. I prefer trout, so I tend to not spend as much time on water that has a larger population of bass, like Sand Hollow and Quail Creek do.

Anyways, I started out my fishing on a small, out of the way reservoir that's fed by the Santa Clara river. I've always had some great luck down here for really big browns (we're talking 4-8 pounders every time I visit, I promise I'm not exaggerating) but all I caught this trip was rainbows.

I think that any browns living in this reservoir died when it froze solid. This reservoir rarely freezes, but we had such a cold winter this year it ended up being a solid sheet of ice. Browns aren't the greatest species of fish to survive a freeze like the one this reservoir experienced.

I started out using a small green tube jig, throwing it about 20 feet off the shore. I didn't have any action on it whatsoever, so I switched to my favorite Kastmaster lure.

This Kastmaster has served me well over the years, and about ten minutes after tying it on, I had a hit. The fish took it so hard, I didn't even have to really set the hook. My drag was tightened up pretty good, but this fish just pulled it out. I let the fish tire itself out for a while, and started pulling it back towards shore. It jumped a couple of times, and I was surprised at the fight I was getting. 

I finally landed the fish - it was a rainbow, and I'd guess it was about 18 inches long. I didn't get a chance to measure it or take a picture before it flopped out of my hands back into the water.

I kept fishing for another three hours, and pulled in this good-sized rainbow. Even though it was a planter, it put up a great fight. It was a little over 16 inches long. 

I also got this little guy on a worm. The action slowed down on spinners, and I had to send a few emails for work, so I threw a worm out into the water for a sec while my attention was diverted elsewhere. But I still managed to get a nice little fish out of it. 

It looked absolutely gorgeous out there yesterday. I had a great time, and I'm going to try and get to at least two different waters today. I'll be chasing a trophy size cutthroat!