Friday, January 16, 2009

Bear River Reservoir - Part 1

Since the storm last month, I haven't been to Bear River. When I was at Cooks Station the other day, there was a considerable amount of snow still on the ground. I would suspect that Bear River being a bit higher, the snow would be rather thick there. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind trudging through snow to get to a lake or stream, but with the road closed at the corner to the resort (which is closed until spring both the resort and the road), it's a long walk hauling your gear, especially if two things are present. First is a bunch of snow on the road and by the lake. Second if the lake itself is frozen. There are a number of fishermen out there that ice fish. I'm not one of them. Call me chicken, but you're not getting me out on the ice. I don't care how thick it is. I was talking to one fisherman last summer that said a guy was ice fishing last winter and fell through. Granted he was apparently where he shouldn't be, but fell through anyway. Thanks, I'll pass.

So let's talk about Bear River in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and sometimes Winter. Let's start with where I fish. I spend most of the time on the near side of the first dam. One, you can drive down almost to the lake. Two, it's a nice little area to get settled in and fish the day away. I have, on the other hand fished the other dam also. I start at the near side of the second dam and fish around the point to the far side of the first dam. It's here that I was first introduced to "slip bobber" fishing. Other than those two areas, I've never needed to look for other places on the lake. I'm sure there are lots more and if you'd like to let me know, I'd be glad to try them and let you know how I do.

Now that you have the where, let's talk about the how. I found that if you get to the lake before the sun hits the water, a Silver Panther Martin works really good from the side of the dam out about fifty feet. Once the sun hits the water, I switch to gold. There are days when you can throw everything at the trout and you're pretty much ignored. So then you have to be creative. I always have the two rod fishing license (this year $54.05) so I can lure fish with one and "bait" fish with the other. Maximizes your catching ability.

Last Summer, when I got the Cabela's Master Fishing 2008 catalogue in the mail, I noticed this stuff called Gulp Trout Dough. It's advertised that field testing showed it worked 55% greater
than competing brands. I bought a couple of jars of the color called Orange Pulp. I always have to buy two. One for me, one for my Son. If I buy a new type of lure, I have to buy three. One for me, one for my Son, and one for my Grandson. Grandpa's do stuff like that.

One day I put this trout dough on my "bait" rod and stuck it in the rod holder. I barely casted my lure out when I got a hit on the trout dough. Reeled in the fish, rebaited, and cast out again. By the time I reeled in the lure on the other rod, I had another bite on the trout dough. Reeled in that fish and the rest of day went on just like that. Couple of ladies fishing next to me asked what I'd been using and I gave them a good finger full to try. We all went home with limits. In this case, no hits on the lures I tried. There is a moral to this story, but it will come during another writing.

I'll talk more about Bear River the next time in Part 2. Until then, remember: "A bad day fishing is better than any day at work".

Shoreman

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