True Freinds "Memorial Day Weekend Trip to Panguitch Lake, Utah"

[nighthawk]

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What Friends Are About [/center] [center][/center]





Well Southernman and I made a trip to Panguitch Lake this past Memorial Day Weekend. We have planned it for over a year to go out and fish the Boulder Mountain area but Mother Nature didn’t cooperate with us. The weather reports that kept coming in were calling for a winter advisory for most of Utah. We decided to chance the idea and go to Panguitch Lake instead. Southernman would head up on Thursday while I would go up on Saturday. I got a call from SM and he had reserved a campsite and boat for the weekend.

When you work for the government you never know what is going to happen. While trying to get to work Friday they decided to cancel the day and send everyone home due to high winds. A 40 knot cross wind at the airport were we land on isn’t good. Well they didn’t break my heart so I left for Utah. I got packed and headed out to Utah by noon. I hopped on I-15 and headed north. While leaving Las Vegas I saw several Nevada Highway Patrol cars enforcing our new stricter laws. Like the high gas prices of $2.30 weren’t enough? I noticed the wind was on my tail helping me save gas all the way to the Arizona border. Boy did I get some excellent gas mileage? While traveling through the Virgin River George I saw 2 Arizona Department of Public Safety Cops. The Virgin river was low this time of year. Maybe they are trying to fill up the lakes and reservoirs before summer hits. I stopped in St George, Utah and filled up with gas and bought some night crawlers. Hey, gas was 20 cents cheaper here. I started to head for Cedar City; when 2 Sheriff Cars past me doing about 100 MPH. I know this because I was doing 85 MPH. Glad I didn’t get stopped. Well several miles down the road there was a local speed trap set up? I sure glad I was doing the speed limit. There were 6 Sheriff Cars along the road where they had stopped cars.

I finally got to Cedar City and turned onto Highway 14 towards Brian Head. I decided to cash in some GeoCaching while I was in the area.

GeoCaching, (pronounced Geo-cashing, like cashing a check), is a game/sport/pastime/hobby that involves finding, and hiding "treasure chests" using the latitude and longitude of the hidden item. [center]What Does GeoCaching Mean?[/center]

“This is a sport where one uses expensive global positioning technology to locate useless dollar store items in remote
locations of the planet?”



[#000000]GeoCaching uses the newly declassified Global Positioning System technology as a way of playing treasure hunt. People hide caches -- watertight containers with various trinkets in them -- on public lands and then post coordinates on [/#000000][url "http://www.geocaching.com/"]www.geocaching .com[/url][#000000] so someone else can find it. There usually is a log book that goes with each cache, so there is a record of what was in the cache and what the new finder put back into the cache. When you post a cache on the site, a volunteer reviews the post and then will allow it to go public. A driving force behind this game is that you must replenish the cache after you find one. A typical cache might contain some type of small toy or trinket, like a deck of cards, toy soldiers or a CD[/#000000]

[#000000]My first stop would be near the stream next to the road. The coordinates lead me to this site. It was what we call a Visual cache. Just get some information by taking a photo of the area or object. In this case it was a monument of “The Old Mill[/#000000] [center][/center]

[#000000]After this find I continued up the mountain. I would try to stop at several more along the road if I could. Well the motor homes and trailers stopped me from doing this. There was just too many so I decided I would do it another day and continued to Cedar Breaks and on to Panguitch Lake. I got to Panguitch Lake about 3 PM. I sure made great time getting there. [/#000000]

[#000000]I quickly looked for the campsite Southernman had reserved. I finally found the site and it was a great one. Campsite 10 was the only site that had its own water tap. The rest room was right across the site and had plenty of firewood nearby. Southernman was in the site. I think he was overwhelmed that I had arrived early. SM showed me the site and helped me unload the truck. If you have ever been on a trip with me I bring plenty of items along. I mostly use Dutch ovens for my cooking. There is nothing like making a meal in one and you can do anything in them. I would later make a dinner consisting of my famous Dutch oven Swiss Steak and Cherry Dump Cake for Sundays Dinner. I know SM’s mouth was watering already. He has been a great friend for several years and we have enjoyed all the trips we have made going camping and fishing. I decided he needed something special for all he has done so I got him a Chicago Cub’s hat. Thanks Southernman for the memories. Later that day he decided to give me a tour of the lake. The lake was about 20 feet from the top of the dam. I don’t know if this was normal or not. After the tour we decided to get back to camp and have dinner. Southernman showed me his new tent form REI he had bought the other day. It looked pretty good. The only thing it lacked was room for his heater and backpack. Ahh... …the comforts of home. [/#000000]

[#000000]We ate dinner and went to bed early so we could get an early start tomorrow. Remember that weather forecast, well it wasn’t to far off. It started to rain around 10 o’clock. It kept raining most of the night and the next day. Mixed with sleet rain, and snow we went fishing the next day. [/#000000]

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[#000000]We started at the boat dock near the dam area. Southernman had the best luck by getting the first 4 rainbows. [/#000000] [center][#000000][/#000000][/center] [center][#000000][/#000000][/center]

[#000000]He got some real nice size around 13-15 inches long. [/#000000]

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[#000000]It wasn’t until two hours later I started to bring them in. He was using Rainbow Power Bait and I used Purple Passion Power Bait. My first was about 13 inches. [/#000000]

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[#000000]I would later get 18 inches and get a 20 inch one. Just when I was going to cut him loose he did it for me. I was not able to get a photo of that one.[/#000000]

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At noon we decided to go to Aspen Cove Lodge to have lunch and warm up. While there I met Southerman’s friend Rudy, the cook at the lodge. We had an excellent meal that SM bought. We went back to the same spot and caught several more trout.





After a long and cool day we decided to get back to camp and have dinner. We got the grill ready for the Steaks SM brought and I prepared my Special cherry dump cake. Man did that hit the spot. We sit around the campfire and finally went to bed. We would get an early start tomorrow and try our luck trolling in a boat SM had reserved with the lodge.

We got up and had an easy breakfast and headed for the Lodge where our boat was waiting. There was no wind so it looked to be a great sunny day. Boy would we be wrong later. Rudy had saved the best boat for us. SM asked me if I had ever run a boat before and I said it had been a long time ago. It didn’t take long for it to come to me and we were off out of the dock and down the channel that had been built for the lodge to get their boats in and out of the cove. We headed out toward the south side of the lake. It took a little bit of weaving around several boats that were anchored nearby. We finally got our poles in the water. I would first try a Gold Fiord Spoon. [center][/center]

Before we could get across the lake I had a fish on. It was a small planter. It looked like one that had just been planted. I continued with the set up but that was all I could get on that lure. I tried a [center][/center]

gold one but I didn’t catch anything with it. I decided to change and go to a silver shad spinner. [center][/center]

Well this worked on the first cast and I got my second trout of the day. SM finally got a bite but lost it while trying to get it in. We encircled the lake twice and only got 2 trout. Both were planters and not very big. The wind started to pick up and it got colder. Once a gain I tried several other lures but I couldn’t get a bite.

After several hours we decided to go back to the Aspen Cone Lodge and buy SM some lunch. We hit the lake again and I decide to go back to some gold colored lures. To my surprise I was using a multi colored gold, orange, and black renegade when I got the hot hand. [center][/center]

They just couldn’t resist this lure. We just stayed in a cove near the north east shore

where we trolled the rest of the day. The wind was really kicking up now. You could see lots of white caps out there. SM still wasn’t getting any bites until he changed to a lure that had some orange on it. That is when he got the hot hand. He was knocking them dead with that lure. What a great day of fishing. We still didn’t get any real big fish but we were successful in catching over 20 planters for the day. I have listed 16 areas were we caught fish. I lost the rest due to batteries with my GPS.

These are Latitude and Longitude Coordinates [ol] [li]N 37º 43.008 W 112º 38.741[/li] [li]N 37º 42.757 W 112º 38.029[/li] [li]N 37º 42.954 W 112º 37.487[/li] [li]N 37º 43.186 W 112º 38.260[/li] [li]N 37º 43.171 W 112º 38.332[/li] [li]N 37º 43.187 W 112º 38.075[/li] [li]N 37º 43.111 W 112º 37.629[/li] [li]N 37º 43.032 W 112º 37.647[/li] [li]N 37º 43.299 W 112º 37.624[/li] [li]N 37º 43.315 W 112º 37.624[/li] [li]N 37º 43.336 W 112º 37.686[/li] [li]N 37º 43.387 W 112º 37.901[/li] [li]N 37º 43.287 W 112º 37.634[/li] [li]N 37º 43.359 W 112º 37.887[/li] [li]N 37º 43.360 W 112º 37.868[/li] [li]N 37º 43.307 W 112º 37.858[/li][/ol]





After a wonderful day on the lake we decided to head back to our campsite. I would start my Swiss steak dinner while SM got the fire going. After we had a wonderful dinner we sat by the campfire and talked about our past adventures. We talked about people that take advantage of others. Why they are too cheap to help pitch in on camping trips and fishing trips. With SM and me we know what to expect. Sometimes I don’t have a lot of money and I know SM is the same way but we manage to work things out and help each other. I want to thank SM to all he has done. A true friend to have along with you any time. Thanks Southernman!

The next morning we fixed up what we had left over and broke camp. SM was the first to leave and I would be on my way shortly after him. I decided to check out the GeoCache that was on the hill overlooking the lake. I found the Big Fish Geocache with no problem at N 37º 42.410 W 112º37.494. I traded an item and signed the log.



What a great weekend. I want to thank Southerman for a wonderful weekend. I can’t wait for my next fishing adventure.

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[hedgesd]

Wow what a post. I always expect such great things from you nighthawk and Southernman. Keep'em coming.
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[Powermaker]

[size 2] [font "Comic Sans MS"] Thanks for the report, Nighthawk. Now that's the kind of report I remember, it's great to have you back posting.

[size 2] [font "Comic Sans MS"] David
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[southernman]

wow, what a great report, i really liked the map you made with the waypoints on it, thats cool . . yah this was a great trip, thanks for leaving out me breaking two rods! (8 foot rod on 16 foot aluminum boat - ohhhhh)

and thanks alot for the kind words, nighthawk! you're the best!

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sm
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[nighthawk]

Sometimes things are best not said unless the person wants to talk aout it.
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[WiNtErKiLLnv]

That sounded like an awesome trip... I really appreciated the photos of the lures you used, that really paints the picture....
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[nighthawk]

Thanks for the kind remarks. I am not afraid to show other anglers what I use. Some anglers won't do that. Any time we go out is a welcome for others to come along. Southernman and I haven't planned another fishing trip but when we do you are welcome to come along.
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[nighthawk]

Thanks Hedgesd. When are you going to come with us again?
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[nighthawk]

Hey Powermaker we have to hook up again sometime where we can catch some fish.
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[WiNtErKiLLnv]

Thanks for the invite. I will have to take you up on it. I finally bought a new truck and sold my POS car and will be able to travel the distance to do some fishin. My old lady is sick and tired of always putting the miles on her new ride....I look forward to getting out there...
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[Powermaker]

[size 2] [font "Comic Sans MS"] Nighthawk, we do have to hook up again. With the reports about some lakes and reservoirs up north, we may plan a trip up there or something.

[size 1][size 2] [font "Comic Sans MS"] David[/size]
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[hedgesd]

Let's get a trip planed. I'm game for the 4th of July weekend or any other weekend for that matter.

Cedar Mtn. always has some good fishing and great scenery. If you've never been to Utah then this is the place. All the best parks, Cedar Breaks, Kolob, Zion, and Bryce Canyon are on the way and makes a great excuse to get the family out.

I know a few of you have tight scedules so let make a new post and pick a date. Make it a BFTer's party and well leave the cooking to Nighthawk.
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