best utah waters for floating

[fishboy2]

hey tube dude and any other utah floaters i just wnat to know where the best utah waters are and wut to fish for there and wut to use ect. help me out guys.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, my lad. I'm betting you have already seen the other thread started by ReelMn a couple of days ago and feel silly. I put up my list of my own personal favorites. If you have any specific lakes you would like to cover in greater "depth", we can go into more detail.

Deer Creek and Jordanelle...a couple close to you...are probably about as good as any, once you learn them. Same goes for Strawberry...or any lake for that matter. Nothing like a bit of good instruction and then a lot of practice. And, of course, you have to practice the right way...and stay alert for the lessons the fish will teach you, if you pay attention.

You asked a pretty broad question, that could take a couple of books to answer thoroughly. Narrow it down to a couple of waters and maybe a couple of species and I'll give it a shot.
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[fishboy2]

okay i will then, wheres the best waters for large mouth bass? how about samllies. i have never caught a bluegill or any thing from that family so where they at. I do agree tube dude that was pretty broad i guess i wanted to know what your favoriote lakes of all time were. you do a great job tube tude keep it up.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Thank ya kindly, young man. Since you are being so complimentary and all, I'm gonna steer ya straight...straight to Pelican Lake. Now that you are a fully fledged member of the float tube fraternity, and you know how to wave a fairy wand, you gotta dunk that donut in Pelican Lake.

I don't know how much you have heard about it, but basically it is a big shallow (maximum depth about 12 feet) bowl out in the middle of some farm country...out past Roosevelt...near Ouray. It is fed by springs as well as runoff. It has a lot of weed growth, and that produces lots of aquatic insects...like mayflies, damsels, etc. With that kind of feed, the bluegills get big there. Here's a pic of a pair...male and female...that went well over one pound each, from Pelican.



There are lots of bass too...from the feisty little guys that belt the same flies you fish for bluegills to some five and six pounders. Bass up to three or four pounds will hit leeches, wooly buggers and streamers on the fly rod. For the bigger bass, switch to the spinning rod and purple plastic worms or other plastics. Actually, they will hit a wide range of standard bass lures. And, when you are tubing around the stands of reeds out in the middle of the lake, you will see some than make your heart flutter.

The bluegills are pretty easy to entice on both flies and small tube jigs. I used to do best on a size 8 or 10 Silver Hilton (steelhead pattern...black with silver ribbing). Also did well on small size 6 - 10 "fry flies"...small, simple streamers...for both bluegills and bass. Poppers and other topwater stuff can work well at daybreak and dusk.

Don't worry about having a bunch of special flies or lures for Pelican. Those fish are very accomodating. They will suck up almost anything a trout would in similar waters. Hares ears, prince nymphs, peacock ladies, captains, renegades...they eat 'em all.

For fly fishing, I use a full floating line early in the morning and switch ot a sink tip later. If the fish are deep, you can go to a full sinking and do the old float tube distance cast...let out line and kick troll backward.

Sometimes you will find the fish bunched up around a spawning bed...or one of the springs. If you find them concentrated you can catch a fish per cast until your rod arm wears out. On other occasions, you might have to move right over top of them, in the deeper pockets, and vertical jig for them.

Pelican Lake is a longer drive than Strawberry, and even farther than Starvation. That's good and bad. It tends to weed out the wimps, but you really have to wanna go there to make it worth the trip. If you do go, you can launch almost anywhere around the lake you can find road access.

Two words of advice. 1. Never go tubing there without waders. Swimmers' itch. Nuff said. 2. Always carry insect repellent, and in some months even a head net. The latter is not so much for the mosquitos as for the small winged insects that form clouds over the water and get in your eyes, nose and mouth if you don't have protection.

After iceout, the bluegills could be anywhere. They roam around, foraging for underwater bugs until they settle down for spawning...usually sometime in June. Then you can look down and see the white depressions all grouped together in the spawning area. This is when you can hang some truly large bluegills, and big mamas too. But it is the males that guard the nests and strike intruding lures most savagely.

One of the two times in my fishing career that I have taken two bluegills on one lure happened on a spawning bed in Pelican. I was throwing a size 7 countdown Rapala, for bass, when I had a decent strike. I began reeling in the fish and it got suddenly much heavier and more active. When I got it to the tube, there were two chunky male bluegills...one fastened on each set of trebles. Good fish story, huh? Hey, I'm a fisherman. Would I lie.

On the smallie issue, I'm gonna stake my (flimsy) reputation on Jordanelle. I would bet that the state record will come out of there this year. It is going to take a combination of knowledge and luck to catch the record, but there are probably a greater percentage of fish over 12" in Jordanelle than any other Utah waters. While the perch are increasing, and before walleye get a toehold, the smallies have good grub. If you wanna get a big one, think PERCH IMITATION lures.

Well, how was that?
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[fishboy2]

thats what we love you for tube dude those books of posts.lol. Thanks a bunch since I will be getting my permit in a month or so that would be a good trip to log some hours, huh. I am tying wollies like a pro now i can even do it blindfolded. i want to learn some other patterns that work well. What type of flies have you used at deer creek? thank you so much
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Here's a scan I made of some of my primary fly patterns, good on many waters, and most proven on Deer Creek.



The top one is an all around favorite...a claret bodied wooly bugger with black marabou tail and black hackle. Big rainbows love this one after dark, on Deer Creek. Walleyes, largemouth and cutts like it elsewhere too.

The next two are variations of the Silver Hilton. The upper one being the traditional tie, and the next one using some of the new synthetics.

The next two are representational minnow patterns...for chubs, carp minnows or small perch or sunfish.

The white with a red eye will catch almost any fish in Utah...especially white bass, crappies and walleyes. The other two white flies are variations of my "over and under" series, using strips of sparkle braid for lines on the back or underbelly, as a contrasting color. Again, good for lots of trout and bass...and some nice walleyes out of willard too.

The last one is obviously an attempt to imitate a perch. But, guess what, besides a couple of whacko browns, I never did much in Deer Creek with it. But, the redfish in Louisiana slurped it in like candy. I don't know what they thought it was, but it showed up good in murky water during a good tidal flow. And, sometimes the key to success is to get the fish to see the fly more than to just imitate something.

If you are getting comfortable with your fly tying skills now, I will put together some step by step pics and instructions on tying some flies besides the woolies. They are a great place to start, and they always catch fish, but I'm sure you would like to branch out. Do you have any good books?
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[fishboy2]

hey thanx tube dude,

Those pics did not work could you mabye pm them to me i would appreciate it a lot. I would appreciate some fly tying instruction and will get out o pelican some time in the summer.
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[EmuScud]

Hey Fishboy2! Sounds like you and I have alot in common. I float tube as well and am somewhat proficient using the 'fairy wand' in the Provo river. I've just started to explore the local lakes, primarily Utah Lake (I live in Provo, UT).

As far as monster Bluegills, you have to hit Pelican! I went in May a couple of years ago. I fished for about 5 hours and easily landed 80 fish, all on the fly-rod. For every 3-4 bluegill I netted, I hooked a 8-10 inch largemouth. I am salivating at the chance to return this spring!

I have a bluegill fly I love, and by far did the most damage a couple of years ago. It is a simple tie to boot!

Take a standard hook (2x) in size 10. Tie in chartruese maraboo at the bend, just like the bugger. Next, tie in a strip of chartruese foam (3/8" wide) so that the foam extends over the tail. I then will wrap chartreuse chenille about half way up the shank, tie in some rubber legs, finish wrapping up to the eye and tie off the chenille. Then pull over the foam and tie off at the head of the fly as well.

I cast it on a floating line. The foam lets it float just in the surface film. Slap the fly on the water as hard as you can. then just let it sit until the rings dissapate. Twitch the fly and then wait some more. Pretty soon, you'll have a scrappy bluegill on the end of your line!

Hopefully this photo turns out (click at the bottom of the post to view the attachment), some of my warmwater attempts! PM me if you would like. I've been tying flies for quite a while now. I used to tie professionally, but now just do it for fun.

Best wishes!

ES
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