04-09-2005, 05:33 PM
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Our trip to Powell was a lot of fun. I went down with old crestliner and fishnate. The fishing wasn’t stellar, the traveling conditions were pretty bad but the scenery was beautiful and the company was good. With that being said I’ll get into a few details.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The trip down and back sucked. Wind, wind, wind. I had the camper on the back of the truck and the boat hooked up. We hit strong cross and head winds all the way down and back. We had more than one eye opening moment with my high profile rig being pushed around plus our gas mileage went right into the toilet. Can we say 10 MPG or less? At $2.40 per gallon for diesel that can be a little pricey. One interesting side note, as we pulled into a diesel pump with a big rig fueling up on the other side, the driver came up to me and asked me if I wanted $30 worth of diesel for $20 cash. “Well of course” I said. He pulled the pump from his rig stuffed it in my Dodge and filled her up. I didn’t ask questions and handed the guy a $20 bill.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We stayed at the Painted Hills RV campground there in Bullfrog. Full hook ups, acceptable bathroom and shower facilities but nothing I would brag about. The showers have NO privacy walls from the main toilet facilities except for the shower curtain so if you are a little modest, you’ll opt for the late night or early morning shower routine when there is less traffic going in and out.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The launch ramp was very acceptable. I had heard that the launching was shallow and iffy but I was mildly surprised it was as good as it was. Stay just to the right off the metal houseboat ramp to have the deepest launch. There is a good dock for picking up and dropping off people, just stay out and go around the large, round, white buoy at the end of the houseboat ramp to stay in deeper water. The MAJOR di
vantage to the launch is the ½-mile walk to park your vehicle. Oh yea, ask fishnate about the attacking tumbleweeds after dark![/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The fishing, oh yes, the fishing. We were after stripers. Smallmouth, Largemouth, walleye, Bah-Humbug! This was a meat hunting expedition. We caught fish every trip out. Not a lot but we scratched up fish. We mainly trolled using a combo of JP rigs and deep diving cranks. We also bait fished at night and jigged when the opportunity presented itself. By far, the slow trolled JP rigs out performed everything else. Our largest fish was over 5 lbs. We did hook up on one smallie, about 2-1/2 lbs and one walleye which I hooked up trolling a deep diving reef runner in 36 ft of water in the main bay.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We used the JP rigs off downriggers and on the drop with 3-4 ounce sinkers. Our most productive speed was 1.0-1.2 mph. We tried .4 to 2.0 but the 1.0 mph seemed to be the preferred speed. We caught fish from 25 ft to 45 ft deep even in depths of over 100ft deep. We trolled the open bay and structure points. We trolled a submerged point in Bullfrog and did pretty well going back and forth over the structure, picking up a fish or strike every pass.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We went out night fishing and didn’t do very well. Whether it was our location or presentation, we only managed one striper for several hours of fishing and chumming. We fished one night off the private houseboats in bullfrog and one night off the tire line at Halls Crossing. We threw out a green submersible light and chummed occasionally. We’d drop our bait from 25 ft to 60 ft. We’d see fish but no takers.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The new Lowrance 4800M GPS shined for nighttime fishing. We created a “Trail” line out and followed it back in the pitch black condition. The navigational buoys really helped out also. Using your console or handheld GPS in this way insures that your return trip should be a safe bet less floating debris that we occasionally saw.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We fished all over but our best results were right in the Bay. We ventured north and south but always ended up back in Bullfrog for the catching.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We did do a fish fry and it was great! We had deep fried battered fish, striper, bass, and catfish along with Dutch oven potatoes. I believe nobody left hungry and a few learned a good way to remove bloodlines and cook fish.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I’m planning the next trip already. The spawn could be a good time to go. Also a September and October trip is being discussed. Powell is a lot of fun. Our biggest expense was fuel. The gas and diesel are up there and will continue to rise. We spent close to $280 just in fuel expenses between truck and boat. Total cost for three guys to travel, fish, and eat was $145 per person. This included the entrance permits for both the truck and boat. My camping didn’t cost anything because I used my Camperworld membership otherwise it would have been over $200 for the six days. I believe if you want to reduce this cost, there is a primitive campground that was free. Road knows more about this.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The trip down and back sucked. Wind, wind, wind. I had the camper on the back of the truck and the boat hooked up. We hit strong cross and head winds all the way down and back. We had more than one eye opening moment with my high profile rig being pushed around plus our gas mileage went right into the toilet. Can we say 10 MPG or less? At $2.40 per gallon for diesel that can be a little pricey. One interesting side note, as we pulled into a diesel pump with a big rig fueling up on the other side, the driver came up to me and asked me if I wanted $30 worth of diesel for $20 cash. “Well of course” I said. He pulled the pump from his rig stuffed it in my Dodge and filled her up. I didn’t ask questions and handed the guy a $20 bill.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We stayed at the Painted Hills RV campground there in Bullfrog. Full hook ups, acceptable bathroom and shower facilities but nothing I would brag about. The showers have NO privacy walls from the main toilet facilities except for the shower curtain so if you are a little modest, you’ll opt for the late night or early morning shower routine when there is less traffic going in and out.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The launch ramp was very acceptable. I had heard that the launching was shallow and iffy but I was mildly surprised it was as good as it was. Stay just to the right off the metal houseboat ramp to have the deepest launch. There is a good dock for picking up and dropping off people, just stay out and go around the large, round, white buoy at the end of the houseboat ramp to stay in deeper water. The MAJOR di
vantage to the launch is the ½-mile walk to park your vehicle. Oh yea, ask fishnate about the attacking tumbleweeds after dark![/size][/black][/font] [font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The fishing, oh yes, the fishing. We were after stripers. Smallmouth, Largemouth, walleye, Bah-Humbug! This was a meat hunting expedition. We caught fish every trip out. Not a lot but we scratched up fish. We mainly trolled using a combo of JP rigs and deep diving cranks. We also bait fished at night and jigged when the opportunity presented itself. By far, the slow trolled JP rigs out performed everything else. Our largest fish was over 5 lbs. We did hook up on one smallie, about 2-1/2 lbs and one walleye which I hooked up trolling a deep diving reef runner in 36 ft of water in the main bay.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We used the JP rigs off downriggers and on the drop with 3-4 ounce sinkers. Our most productive speed was 1.0-1.2 mph. We tried .4 to 2.0 but the 1.0 mph seemed to be the preferred speed. We caught fish from 25 ft to 45 ft deep even in depths of over 100ft deep. We trolled the open bay and structure points. We trolled a submerged point in Bullfrog and did pretty well going back and forth over the structure, picking up a fish or strike every pass.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We went out night fishing and didn’t do very well. Whether it was our location or presentation, we only managed one striper for several hours of fishing and chumming. We fished one night off the private houseboats in bullfrog and one night off the tire line at Halls Crossing. We threw out a green submersible light and chummed occasionally. We’d drop our bait from 25 ft to 60 ft. We’d see fish but no takers.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]The new Lowrance 4800M GPS shined for nighttime fishing. We created a “Trail” line out and followed it back in the pitch black condition. The navigational buoys really helped out also. Using your console or handheld GPS in this way insures that your return trip should be a safe bet less floating debris that we occasionally saw.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We fished all over but our best results were right in the Bay. We ventured north and south but always ended up back in Bullfrog for the catching.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We did do a fish fry and it was great! We had deep fried battered fish, striper, bass, and catfish along with Dutch oven potatoes. I believe nobody left hungry and a few learned a good way to remove bloodlines and cook fish.[/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3][/size][/black][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I’m planning the next trip already. The spawn could be a good time to go. Also a September and October trip is being discussed. Powell is a lot of fun. Our biggest expense was fuel. The gas and diesel are up there and will continue to rise. We spent close to $280 just in fuel expenses between truck and boat. Total cost for three guys to travel, fish, and eat was $145 per person. This included the entrance permits for both the truck and boat. My camping didn’t cost anything because I used my Camperworld membership otherwise it would have been over $200 for the six days. I believe if you want to reduce this cost, there is a primitive campground that was free. Road knows more about this.[/size][/black][/font]
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