Lake Trout at Flaming Gorge

Three of the last four days have been on the water. Canoeing and fishing for lake trout! The other day was not so pleasant, mouseproofing our house.

On Thursday we loaded the canoe and drove, about two blocks, to a place where we could easily launch the canoe. The lake is clear and deep so we stayed out of the main lake and explored Marina bay.

As we paddled up the bay we spotted smallmouth bass on their beds. Ducks and huge carp moved away from us. A mother and her ducklings did not like us one bit as they frantically paddled! When we got to the back recesses of the bay, we spotted a doe with two fawns. The doe looked at us and then went back to grazing while the fawns hid behind some large bushes. After peeking at us from the bushes edge they lost their fear of us and walked over to mom, where they also started to graze.

On our return, we paddled into the marina itself and passed huge boats and houseboats, like you see on tv shows. A man waved hello and told us that canoeing looked like too much work? Not knowing what work is we waved and glided silently by.
After loading the canoe we tried our hand at fishing by catching some crayfish and fishing for the smallmouths, but to no avail.

The two days spent downrigging were surprisingly successful. While we only caught two lakers, we lost three more and threw back four salmon,(they are so plentiful they were even hiting our huge squid and anchovie baits).

We had talked with a guide who said that the lakers were slow to bite in the summertime. It kind of surprised me as they sure bit at other lakes we have fished.
So we went out searching, and actually found a spot for lake trout.

The fish were in 80 feet of water on the edge of a shelf. Using a white opalesecent dodger and squid we trolled back and forth while watching the pole tips. The bites were a series of wiggles as the fish would eat the anchovie baited squid and then pop the release clip. The pole would then go straight up before bending with the fish's weight.

While we didn't get any big fish we did catch a 23 and a 25 inch lake trout, so finding a spot for lakers and figuring out a technique that works here gave us satisfaction for future days,(the lake is known for 40 plus pound lakers).

Mouseproofing the house was a lot less fun. While we have been mouse free for our trip, such was not the case here as Renita yelled as a mouse scurried across the floor. Trapping seems to have worked and, after a quick trip to Green River, we purchesed a can of insulating foam, whcih we were told should be sprayed into all the possible entry points, blocking their ingress. It seems to have worked as the traps have been mouse free, yeah, Clear skies.