06-10-2015, 03:28 AM
Lately I've been wanting to "expand my fishing horizons" and try new things. So, based on the fishing reports from Utah Lake, I decided to skip out of work a few hours early and try and catch me some White Bass. I haven't been to Utah Lake in about 25 years. Not since a less than successful fishing trip with my scout troop. Either the fishing is slowing down, or I showed up on an off day (or I'm just bad at this). I caught 33 white bass in 2 hours. Actually, it was more like an hour since the first and last half hours were less than productive. So I wasn't as successful as others have been, but it was still a fun trip. I did learn a few things as well.
First, size does matter. When I first got there, I started fishing with an 1/8 ounce jig. I thought it might be a little big, but I didn't think the smaller one would cast far enough. I fished with that for 15 or 20 minutes with no luck whatsoever. I'd feel a bump now and then, but no bites. Once I switched over to the 1/32 ounce jig in the same pattern, things changed instantly. I caught one on the next cast, and the next 20 after that. The decreased casting distance didn't seem to matter since they would usually bite about 10 feet in front of me anyway.
After that, they slowed down a bit and seemed to shift about 15 feet north where someone else was fishing. After another half hour they seemed to die off altogether with only the odd nibble now an then. I ended up keeping 8 that I thought would be good for something other than hors d'oeuvres (I was wrong). But at least I got some practice filleting (still terrible at it).
First, size does matter. When I first got there, I started fishing with an 1/8 ounce jig. I thought it might be a little big, but I didn't think the smaller one would cast far enough. I fished with that for 15 or 20 minutes with no luck whatsoever. I'd feel a bump now and then, but no bites. Once I switched over to the 1/32 ounce jig in the same pattern, things changed instantly. I caught one on the next cast, and the next 20 after that. The decreased casting distance didn't seem to matter since they would usually bite about 10 feet in front of me anyway.
After that, they slowed down a bit and seemed to shift about 15 feet north where someone else was fishing. After another half hour they seemed to die off altogether with only the odd nibble now an then. I ended up keeping 8 that I thought would be good for something other than hors d'oeuvres (I was wrong). But at least I got some practice filleting (still terrible at it).