Panguitch Lake, Utah 26-29 June 2012

[wolfs4evr]

[#000000][size 3][/size][/#000000][#000000][size 3]Time for a change up and some cooler weather! Nothing like upper 40s in the AM and highs in the upper 70s compared to our current weather in Vegas. [/size][/#000000][size 3][#000000] [/#000000][/size][size 3][#000000] [/#000000][/size][#000000][size 3][/size][/#000000]
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[size 3][#000000]Headed up to Panguitch Tuesday bright and early. Managed to squeeze in 5 hours or so of fishing after we got camp all set up in the Panguitch north campground. Got off the lake at 3 pm since I was spooked about the ramp and having a 2 wheel drive SUV. Ended up not being a concern even though the lake is over 20 feet low right now since they worked on the levee/dam last year and let the lake get low. Caught 20 or so. From fingerlings to 2.5 pounders. We kept one Cutthroat just under the slot and one Rainbow for dinner. (Only fish we kept the entire trip. I brought 2 good dinners worth of food with us with the plan that the 3rd was going to be trout! So the pressure was on to catch something. Fortunatly Madison was on the ball since both of the ones we kept were hers.)[/#000000][/size]
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[#000000][size 3]Wednesday we got in 7 hours or so of fishing. Forgot to bring lunch so headed back at noon then decided to hang out in camp and have a early dinner so we could get in a couple evening hours in. Those evening hours ended up being the best as far as size. In 90 minutes or so we landed 15 Rainbows and Cutthroats and all of them were really good catches. 2 pound or so averages. Ended up with 30+ or so for the day.[/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3][/size][/#000000] [size 3][#000000]Thursday we hit the water by 7am and had lunch with us. We didn't get off the lake till 6pm. I know we caught at least 50 trouts that day. More than likely more. Tried lots of stuff trying to just target the bigger ones so didn't catch as many as we could of but did catch lots of nice ones.[/#000000][/size]
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[size 3][#000000]Friday we just took our time breaking down camp and getting home loving that wind out of the south all the way home [mad][/#000000][/size]
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[#000000][size 3]All 3 days the wind was 20-30mph. The mornings were very nice for a short period and that was it for calm weather. Didn't really get a chance to break out the fly rods at all. The only choice was to drift or troll. We did both. But mostly trolling. Covered alot of water. We ran around that lake to the tune of 40 miles in those 3 days trolling. I think we have that place down pretty well [/size][/#000000][size 3][#000000] [/#000000][/size]
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[#000000][size 3]The few we got drifting and using anchor lock on the TM motor were really nice fish. We were using our dropshot set-up for Lake Mead and a night crawler. Even a 1/0 hook. Worked great. Trolling wise we ran 3 rods. 2 with lures and the 3rd with a rainbow like colored crank. The crank was the bigger fish lure and worked well for that exact purpose. The basic gold colored lures caught big ones too but also small ones. We had to run both the front electric trolling motor and big motor the entire time trolling for boat control in that wind. It worked sooooo goood. Just use the big motor for forward propulsion and the electric on the front for steering. If you have never owned or tried a Minnkota Terrova electric trolling motor you are missing out. It was so nice having that remote around my neck to control the boat all weekend. Almost cheating [angelic][/size][/#000000]
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[size 3][#000000]Anyways... Well over 100 trouts landed. Madison caught the biggest Rainbow at just shy of 3 pounds. She caught the biggest Cutthroats and the only 2 Cutbows we landed. I got beat up! Not sure how that happens. lol[/#000000][/size]
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[size 3][#000000]Some pics.[/#000000][/size]
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[#000000][size 3]These guys broke down in the wind the first day. If we hadn't come along when we did in less than 60 second they would of been in the big rocks and I am betting eventually sunk it or at least beat it to the junk yard. It was a sketchy recovery in that wind but got it done.[/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]First nights dinner courtesy of Madison.[/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]Lots of firewood![/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]One of many Cutthroats caught.[/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]Her biggest Rainbow.[/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]One of two Cutbows Madison caught. (At least what I think this one is...)[/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]The lake was this windy the entire time. Tue/Wed it was sunny with zero clouds and Thursday was a pinch scary with the systems rolling in one after the other. No rain though.[/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]About the only way she could hang onto a Trout. They kicked her tail. She is so use to the typical Bass that just sits there and doesn't flop all over the place. Plus these have teeth! I would of had a ton more pictures but it was just too difficult for Madi to hang onto them for a pic so I only took a few.[/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]She got the hang of hanging onto them a little bit by Thursday. It was a 3 ringed circus though [laugh][/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]This one kicked her tail... lol Notice it is levitating. Good timing on the picture as he is flying out of her hands.[/size][/#000000]
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[#000000][size 3]Our pet Chipmunk for the last couple days up there.[/size][/#000000]
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[Erawk]

Great report, wolfs. Thank for posting. We used to go up every year but we haven't made it the past few years. I love that place and I love those trout. They are spunky and delicious. Did most of the trout fall within the slot?
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[wolfs4evr]

I am guessing 75% of the fish we caught were cutthroats and out of that say 30% were in the slot. The rest under. Nothing over. I seen one well over the slot though. Madi was bringing in a 10-12 inch fingerling and it was in hot persuit looking for a easy meal. Betting 24-25 incher. 7-8 pounds maybe. Would of loved to of got hooked up with that one! No slot on the Rainbows any more at Panguitch. Most of the RBs we caught were either really nice or fairly new plants. Not a lot in between.
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[Gvec]

Thanks for the post! I will be at Panguitch camping here in a few weeks. But unfortunately no boat. How deep were you trolling and did you string up with flashers/down riggers?

Thanks!
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[wolfs4evr]

No flashers/downrigger. With the lake low I am guessing shore fishing has to be a bear. The biggest population of fish is out in the deeper areas of the lake and the only way to get remotely near them is boat. From shore there is zero access to deep water. There isn't a spot on that lake that you can cast to deeper than 10 feet from shore. Well, one spot. NE corner of the lake by the levee. If one goes over by the levee (west side entrance into the levee) and casts from the rocky entrance into the levee out into the main lake or slightly south (left) toward the next rocky point you can get into 20 feet of water. That is where Madi caught her big Rainbow and where we seen that huge Cut chashing down a fingerling Madi was reeling in. There was some fish to be found in the shallow waters though. Every now and then we would get into 10 feet water and though we didn't catch much something bigger ever now and then was to be found. Especially when it is cloudy. I noticed on the one day it was cloudy they moved in closer to shore compared to sunny days. The thermocline is in 15-30 feet of water.

Sunny and where the biggest population was:



On the one cloudy day we were there:



Where the nutrients/temp really changes in the lake:



Our track from 3 days of trolling/running around the lake:


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[wolfs4evr]

Most, if not all of the spots we shore fished from last year when we went to Panguitch are now useless. You can't fish from them with the lake so low. You can see 20+ feet of the levee right now. The water is that low. If you go over to the s-sw end of the lake where you would typically see all the guys in float tubes by the inlet creek you will see land/no one. If you try to fish anywhere from that area all the way to the store/marina you will be fishing in 5 feet of water no mater how far you can cast and of that 5 feet of water only the top 1-2 feet is clear of grass.
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[Gvec]

Wolf,

Your post has me excited! Talked the wife into renting a boat while we are up there. For tackle, I assume you used spoons like kastmasters? I noted you said gold worked well, hit dd you try silver or other colors?

Also, we are going to go camping, preferably on the nort side. Did you have to reserve a site? We are seeing conflicting information on the web - some sites say first come first server, and another says they require reservations and are sold out.

Thanks again for the detailed reviews!
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[wolfs4evr]

I am sure most anything out there in the water with some bling will work. Madi did troll with a silver Super Duper for a day or two and did really well. I only switched her to another basic gold spoon I had since it was heavier and could get down deeper. The Super Dupers I had are very light and don't go very deep unless you Carolina rig them with a decent weight to get them down deeper, which is how I ran them on her rod. I ran a silver Kastmaster for a bit on mine and never got anything on it. But didn't run it that long.

Panguitch North for sure for camping. The pads are paved and the road in/around the campground. Panguitch South is all dirt and the bathrooms are not nearly as nice. Plus driving a loop around the South campground last year I noticed there isn't a lot of level sites in there. Tough camping imo.

I have never bothered with the reservation thing there. Just got lucky I suppose. Why we went mid week. To avoid the crowds and hopefully get the spot I wanted. (Which we did.) I think less than half maybe closer to a 1/4 of North is reservable. The rest is first come first serve as far as I could tell. It is now 15 dollars a night verse 12 like last year. Firewood from the camp host is 6 dollars a bundle. 2 bundles is perfect for a evening fire/cooking up some marshmellows!

Spot 19 is our/my favorite. Where we were at this past week. Last year we were in 22 which is right next to it (22 isn't even on any of the maps online for that campground). Both good but 19 is better. 22 puts the tent close to the fire pit. Workable but a little on the close side. Both of those spots have a "semi" ok view of the lake and more importantly are more secluded with no one really close to you.
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[wolfs4evr]

When you leave the little marina with a rental go east towards the south launch ramp for peeps with boats then go north to just shy of half way across the lake. If it is calm. Drop bait or whatever straight down to 40 feet and good to go. They where there all 3 days but in the winds we had a pain to work so spent more time trolling around the lake. We did some drop shotting with nightcrawlers right there and caught a very nice Rainbow and a very nice Cutthroat in a short period. The pic above showing all the fish in almost 40 feet of water is what it is like out there other than it was dead at 40 feet in that area. I guess closer to 41 since my transducer is about a foot under the water...
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[wolfs4evr]

Actually look at that basic outline of the lake map above. Every blue dot is where I seen massive quantities of fish hanging out except the two blue dots in the north. I was just marking some structure there that I wanted a picture of. That little pinch of red is where the south launch ramp is.

We did the best in the lower right corner of that map where there is 4 blue dots. Working east to west laps trolling. Almost to the south launch ramp then back east again.

Here is a visual way to hit the area we did really well in. Get out on the lake like I mentioned about and over to the 4 blue dots on the SE end of the lake. Look west and you will see one very big and nice cabin on the hillside with a red roof. Then look the opposite direction to the bank on the east side of the lake for a pretty decent sized lone tree. Troll between the two or slightly north of that imaginary line and you will do good. 2.5mph was a good speed to run.
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[wolfs4evr]

You are also going to see the majority of boats head to the NW end of the lake (20-30 boats in the AM during a mid week day). I have no idea whatsoever why. Didn't care for that area myself and didn't do that well either. It is 10-20 feet deep. There is fish there but on the smaller side. I think it is a case of that is where everyone goes... My electronics and catches for the 3 days on the water say otherwise...
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[wolfs4evr]

PS... There is ZERO cell phone service at the lake. If you need to make a call make it before you get to the lake. Once there you either have to drive east towards the city of Panguitch or west back up the mountain to make a call.
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