Night Fishing at the Gorge ... 5/21/16

[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Last year, Randy (N.E.T.O.) and I decided to try a few hours of pre-dawn mack fishing at the Gorge. We boated one night fishing and almost a second. Since it seemed to work,[/size][/#800000][/font][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4] we decided to try it again this year but with a little more sincerity.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Coming along with us this year was Nate (KokeMaster). He is an excellent fisherman but had never caught a Flaming Gorge mack and was eager to get his first.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]We pulled into Manila Wednesday evening and set up camp in room #10 of the Villa Inn. Launched Thursday morning in Lucerne to fish all day in absolutely beautiful conditions. All morning, the weather was perfect for presenting a vertical jig. We actually had a hard time finding fish Thursday and when we did, we couldn't get them to bite our lures. We went from spot to spot and not even a bite. We tried Swim beach, under the pipeline, and Antelope Flats, with no success. We wondered if it might be the full moon, or maybe May was too early for "stacks". We, being rookies, didn't know what to make of it.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]I could see "the agony of defeat" starting to set in already.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]So by the end of day 1 (of 3), and after about 600 vertical jigs we had zero fish! Nate was getting a little concerned that he wouldn't be feeling the bend of his custom 55 inch rod. And frankly, I too was a bit concerned.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Back at the motel, we planned our next day's tactics. We decided to get up at 1:30 AM and try some night fishing. We launched on day two at about 2:45 and headed for Swim Beach under a bright full moon-lit sky. [/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]We were jigging 1.0 oz custom jig heads (Nate made and supplied them) inside 5" Radical Glow tubes. Finally, at about 4:00 AM I got my first bite and hooked a 20 pounder.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Just to make sure that Nate would be able to feel a Gorge mack on a custom 55 inch mack rod, I handed the pole to him and he brought it the rest of the way in.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Because we both shared the experience of bringing it in, we had this pic snapped.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]I was a little nervous with the whole "bro-hug" thing, but Nate assured me that it was OK as long as we didn't look into each other's eyes while we were hugging. [crazy][/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Then, an hour later (still not even first light), I landed this smaller 15 pounder.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]We worked Swim Beach pretty hard throughout the morning but no more takers.With the wind coming hard from the south in the early afternoon, we decided to give Linwood a try.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Finally, Randy broke his dry spell and boated his first of the trip ... this nice 15 pounder:[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]It wasn't the 20 or 30 pounder we were hoping for but hey, it still doubled over his rod.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]With the wind blowing hard by then, and our I-Pilot struggling to keep up, we decided to go back to the motel and hit the sack early again to get up early again and try our last of three days to get Nate his first Gorge mack. We were already mentally preparing him for beginner's defeat.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Day three, we launched about a half an hour earlier than day two but that didn't seam to help. I (and I suspect Randy and Nate too) was absolutely exhausted from the early hours and grueling jigging technique.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Once again, we motored out to Swim Beach where we had seen better fish activity the day before.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]We droped our lines and after about two hours of jigging, I suddenly hear Nate yell "got em!!". And ole Nate was NOT about to loose that fish. Sure nuff, Nate had hooked and boated his first ever Gorge lake trout. It weighed in at 17½ pounds.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]That fish definitely woke us all up and gave us a second wind. But mother nature had ideas of her own. Within minutes of landing that mack, the wind kicked up and was blowing HARD again! We headed for the marina. It was kind of weird coming into the marina around 6:30 AM after a day (night) of fishing while everyone else was just starting to go out. As they were launching, I couldn't help but think the weather was about to ruin their day on the water.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]We returned to the motel where all three of us went back to bed and slept for a 2½ hour power nap. Then we got up, packed, and left for home by the 10:00 AM check out time.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]On our way home, we ran into lots of rain, strong wind, and in Evanston, there was snow flakes the size of silver dollars![/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]It was a crazy, but very good, mack fishing trip. We didn't catch many lake trout and the ones we did catch weren't real big but we appreciated and loved catching the ones we got.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]As always, thanks for driving the boat 95% of the time Randy. And Nate, it sure was a hoot having you along. But next time, you're bringing the TV dinners! (Inside joke)[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]--- Coot ---[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[FishSlayerMP]

Sweet report! That first picture is a classic. Congrats on your fist Mack!! Full moon cycles can be a real pain sometimes.

[fishon]
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[Kent]

[quote Old_Coot][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]As always, thanks for driving the boat 95% of the time Randy.

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Hey, I have been missing out on something. Thanks for letting me know of the possibilities.
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[PACKFAN]

Memories made Ralph, looks like you guys had a good time I enjoyed the read. Thanks for posting it.
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[fish_hntr]

I remember my first gorge trip and big laker(19 pounds and went right back in the water), but even more importantly I remember the guys I was able to share the experience with and what I learned. 9 months later I bought my own boat and love the gorge, although I haven't caught anything bigger than 7 pounds since that first trip I always come home with fresh fish for the freezer that my wife turns into some amazing dishes, even better since we bought a commercial vacuum sealer for the fillets.

And I will agree, jigging can be a workout, but I feel more 'connected' to the water and fish than I do when trolling.
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[Waresm]

We were there at the same time I think at the villa , we had a new gray bass tracker and a black&gold nitro. Fishing was slow for us but found a few on Thursday! Did you guys happen to see a transom saver laying around? Thanks for sharing the pics!
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[Old_Coot]

Glad you were able to find some fish Thursday. We got humbled that day.

Nope, didn't see a transom saver anywhere.
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[WeekendWarrior]

Thanks for the post Ralph! I hope to make it out to Flaming Gorge with my boat someday. I just need to convince the wife to let me put a couple of days together to make it worth my while! Glad you guys got into some fish, even though it was slower than you had hoped. I also applaud the dedication hitting the night fishing multiple nights in a row!
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[fishinfool]

Nice report OC, Loved the read and the pictures.

I'm so happy the rookie got one. That is so cool.

Tight Lines

fnf[cool]
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[WiperMac]

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[font "Calibri"]Good read Ralph, thanks for posting. [/font]
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[font "Calibri"]That’s mighty fine of ya to take and hook the newbie up with his first FG Mack. Fish Gods will down next time for your generosity! [][/font]
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[TheWeekender]

Man I love night fishing Mack's at the gorge! Caught my biggest Mack to date last year at 11:45pm trolling. Tried to weigh it in a big rubber net...not a good idea. Started tearing and bending my net at 38lbs. Firm believer in nocturnal fishing!
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