Fishing

Went back for another round on the lake today with a little more honed skills and little better approach....We managed 5 Macks today, 2 @ 12lbs, 2 @ 14lbs and a nice 16.9lber.

Yes, the larger females were released.

The fights today fights today lasted over 20 minutes each. All fish were landed using the RMT JJ-Lamiglass Kokanee rod and we caught all the Macks (and 6 cuts to boot) on RMT kokanee gear.

A few pics for those who are interested

(Sorry the one Mack on the left isn't in full view, it was too heavy for him to lift up all the way for the photo)

wow





Have you read my Blog? I hear it's getting better!

http://redneckflyfishing.blogspot.com/

Nice Job on the mac's.

Wow I bet your faces hurt from smiling so much. Congrats on the big catches you guys got up there. Looks like you have them dialed right now. Thanks for the pics and post.


"Think like a fish.....no matter how crazy it gets!"

Them sure are some nice fish. I'm from Bear lake and hope that not all good fisherman as yourself keep the amount of nice macks you did but it is in your legal rights. Plus you will be helping keep the power squadron happy by keeping all them pesky fisherman off the lake when the macks are gone.

Bodine






Catch and release for the future!!!!!

Ah....I think there are enough to go around. We plotted over 275 today....caught 5.

And not trying to rain on your parade and your lake. As frustrating as that lake is to fish and to figure out, we all enjoy seeing a few pics of places that are especially difficult. There's a reason that lake has a bad rap. I fished 27 other lakes in UT and ID before catching my first fish on the that lake, it's challenging to say the least.

kok, I am waiting for everyone to help you out about killing fish. hell on a different thread everyone was pissed off at the bass lovers. lol, I hope you can get them boys over here to put the mack lovers in check. This site is not biased at all.

It's very important to kill fish, so small fish can grow to replace the fish you kill. Common cents!

Watchthis1:

Thanks for the FYI. I'm glad to hear it.

These are the first and largest fresh water fish my kids have ever caught. The both worked the rod the ENTIRE time. It's a public lake, I pay my annual fee, and I will compare gas budgets ANY time someone wants to.

That lake is HORRENDOUSLY hard. For me I could just as easily go to the gorge and pound 30+ fish day in and day out....frankly it's not that hard.

However it's about the kids. If anyone wants to tell my three year old that the fish he worked for over 20 minutes to land and that's as tall as he is, can't be kept so we can mount it for him, then they need to seriously re-think their priorities and I'm very sorry for them.

I'm going to probably stop posting success stories at Bear however, too many bent noses of FISH for crying out loud! It's a 160 square mile lake....holy crap. I KNOW others have busted ass on that lake too, seeing a little success now and then is a good thing.

Anyway, enough of the soap box. Glad to know that not everyone frowns on us making our kids a priority and making sure we spend quality time together as family doing whatever we like to do.

Two thumbs up for you!

-Tight lines.

Good on ya bud You have every right to keep fish within the law. Keep on posting, I love the Bear and I am not gonna cry about a three year old keeping a fish.

Keep posting. You got 5 large macs. There are only 1 million 20 lbers left. Darn! I enjoyed your post.

I really am sorry you took it in a bad way. When I reread it I see what you mean. I have little ones and grandchildren myself they love to catch big fish I just explained to them my and I express my opinion and the catching is just as fun as watching them swim away. I really didn't mean to hurt your feeling. Keep posting and tight lines

Bodine

PS- thats why I don't post much to many people gave me crap about the way I was holding the fish before I released them






Catch and release for the future!!!!!

Well let me be one of the few that will say congrats to ya. When ever I see macs coming out of Bear Lake I get all gitty and excited. Someday in the coming months I will have to get my 1st ever mac outta there! Oh and I loved how you posted the pounds instead of the numbers in the title. That is great and the fact that you titles get bigger must mean you are getiting better at them. Maybe you should have measured the smiles on everyone's faces instead as that number must have increased too.

The limits are there for a reason. If the population was really at risk of being fished out then the regs would be different. Kids or not you have total right to keep your fish and I encourage you to do so in the future. So try not to let everyone get you down. I look forward to your future posts, keep them coming!



-TDT (AKA Spike's Pike)

"Like you were gonna marry a carp and put in a tank or something, let it wear a pink dress, and have coffee and conversations with it." - harlin

Gotta agree with my twin....those numbers are only getting bigger....let's see you bust 100lbs!!!! Again great work....you have EVERY right to keep and kill your limit of fish. Keep up the great work....you make us in here in SLC wish we lived up there and caught as much as you do on Bear Lake. Congrats on the catch...I am sure the 3 year old will never forget caching a fish as big as himself.....a memory I wish I coulda had as a young one. Happy Catching and may your lines go straight and your stringer be full.


"Think like a fish.....no matter how crazy it gets!"

This is the reason why I don't post pics on here anymore. That's great your kids caught some really nice macks. Congrads! :-)

I hope you will keep posting it's fun to see some nice fish out of that lake. It wasn't long ago that all the fish were snakes over there because they were so over populated. Now look how nice they are and think what a great memory that will be for your kids when they remember catching them with Dad. Good job. Plus if you smoke the ones your not mounting they are great to eat. Later J

This response is for Mr Bodine11; but in followup to those posted by CVfisher, Marathonman, TyeDyeTwins, EvilTyeDyeTwin, FishinFool53 and SkunkedAgain

Thanks to all for the responses and your input.

Having had the WORST luck on that lake short of dying, and yeah, I'll compare notes ANY time anyone wants to. [[No, I'm not talking just lost lures, poles or lost downriggers, I'm talking if you haven't swamped your boat completely under the waves in January or had a FIRE on your boat on that lake in 11 degree weather]]. If you want the details, you are welcome to stop by Pugmire's place and ask him.

Anyway, being that the lake has seriously kicked my a$$ time and again, I am glad to know that for the most part, the posts from the weekend were meant to share the fact that once in a while, you can get lucky. We couldn't be more thrilled to be able to share in what for us was a key memory making event with our kids and that once in a blue moon, you can work hard enough that the Bear will let her beautiful guard down and share some of her amazing treasures with you....nothing more.

I also thought it was funny that Kokanee fishing gear of all things was THE hot choice hardware. Go figure that one out!

I harbor no hard feelings and hope the same applies. We'll continue to post successes stories and pics and I sincerely wish you all the best and hope to see everyone's smiling mug shots with a kid's ear-to-ear grin and fishy-company soon!

Tight Lines.
-Kokaddict

Just out of curiosity, why were you fishing koke gear if there are no kokanee in Bear Lake? I realize that in the Gorge, you may catch a lake trout occasionally while kokanee fishing. But it seems strange to target lake trout with kokanee gear when there are no kokes in the lake.

Excellent question, and why Kokanee gear...because NOTHING else works! I would be happy to show anyone my collection of lures/hardware that I've tried on that lake, I have over $1,700 in tackle that does NOT work on Bear.

We weren't targeting Macks at all, that's exactly what prompted us to post the thread in the first place. We were actually going after the cuts and the Macks just seemed to like the gear/presentation more.

I'm not a lake expert, so sadly I have NO idea why the Macks took a liking to Kokanee gear. I wish i did. I'm sure someone here that's more savy can share their 2cents as to why it works.

All I know is that when fishing at the Gorge we tried the same set up and had several 30+ fish (Kokanee & bow) days there; and it got me to thinking to try the same setup for cuts on Bear. Yeah, we did land cuts, some nice ones actually, but a 7lb cut has to take a back seat to a 18+lb Mack any day of the week in my book.

And know you know the rest of the story.

It just seemed weird to me but your explanation makes perfect sense. The only lake trout I may have caught was a small one, although it could have been a splake since it came out of Fish Lake. So I don't have any info on what tackle works and why.

Yeah, I was hoping that someone on this forum might chime in with their two cents worth. I am sadly ignorant to lake fishing and the nitty-gritty of what makes them tick, but it would be very interesting to find out.

I frankly was floored when we caught the first Mack. When we dropped that same lure back in and not 4 minutes later....BOOM had the second one hit and I knew we were onto something.

Who knows...if only we could think exactly like a fish huh?!!

There was a brand of lures that said this on the back of the package.
"Think like a fish no matter how crazy it gets!"



-TDT (AKA Spike's Pike)

"Like you were gonna marry a carp and put in a tank or something, let it wear a pink dress, and have coffee and conversations with it." - harlin

How funny! Thanks for the chuckle.

sorry i am from the nevada boards but i thought i could chime in...

i fish stripers just like i fish trout and pike in northern nevada and i slay them just about every time i go out. i troll, thats it.

i grew up on lake michigan and the same techniques work for these fish. I agree with the one who made this post.. .when nothing else works try what you know works.


just my 2 cents, but FLAME ON!

I have got to say good on ya for back to back kick butt days on a very difficult fishery!!

As for the "why" the fish hit that set up. Well you will have to ask the fish gods that question. But the truth is fish will often hit a very different presentation, just because it is different!

The squidies everyone uses for kokes at Flaming Gorge we never used before the mid 90's. Or so the story goes, that some guy just got back from AK and had squidies in his tackle box. Was not having any luck with anything else, so he put one on. Next thing you know he brags about it, and after some time everyone finds out and starts using that gear. That is the story that Flaming Gorge Lodge told us when we recognized the squidies from our first trips to AK, on their board of what to use.