My girlfriend wanted to drive out to Colorado to attend this years Rockygrass festival so I, as usual, scheduled a few side trips to break up an otherwise long, boring drive. 

Our first stop was Bryce Canyon.  Although Bryce is in Southern Utah the elevation makes the mid-summer temps much more bareable than in nearby Zion - mostly upper 80s and low 90s.  We camped in Kings Creek campground on the Tropic Reservoir.  It's about a 30-40 minute drive from the park and has really nice, shaded sites with nice, clean bathrooms.  There was a fire burning very close by which made us change our plans around a bit but we still saw Bryce Canyon and did some fishing in the reservoir. 

The reservoir is not used very heavily by fisherman.  The area is, like most of Southern Utah, used mainly by ATV enthusiasts.  While they can be noisy, I didn't mind since we had the lake mostly to ourselves.  It was pretty funny to sit at the campsite at night and watch the same families make endless laps on thier ATVs.  They have to slow to 5mph in the campground, making it look sort of like a fat redneck parade.  Some of them should get off and take a walk sometime . .ha ha.  Everybody we met was really cool, though, so I kind of even feel bad for making fun of them (but I still will).

Here is a shot of Tropic Lake.  Not fog - smoke!


The lake has rainbows, cutthroats, browns and brookies.  Some of the browns get pretty big, from what I have read.  We didn't catch any trophies but used silver spinners and kastmasters and had plenty of action.

We caught a bunch of little trout like these:


and these:


We saw this guy along the road to the campground:


Because of the fire we decided to head to our next stop a day early.  This was the part I was most excited about - the Flaming Gorge in North Eastern Utah near the Wy border.  The Flaming Gorge is a super big, super deep, relatively high elevation reservoir.  It has a reputation for huge trout - rainbows, browns and lakers.  It is also reputed to be the best smallmouth bass fishery in Utah.

We camped in the Red Canyon part of the Flaming Gorge NRA at a campsite called Canyon Rim.  I highly recommend this place.  Even though it is about 10 miles from the gorge itself, it has awesome views of the gorge, a really nice single-track mountain bike trail and 2 different small trout lakes nearby. 

Here is a view of sunrise from the campground:


This lake reminded me a lot of Lake Powell but it's much more kayak friendly since there are several places you can launch from to check out different parts of the lake.  There are also more campgrounds, more places to swim and more things to do, in general, for the human powered or even boatless crowd.

Each morning I went out and tried for the big trout . .either by jigging deep for the lakers or trolling with in-line weight for the rainbows.  I had no success at this but it was still fun to try.  I saw a couple of decent rainbows but everybody was saying that the trout fishing was pretty slow that week.  I saw some huge marks on my fish finder that will probably haunt me forever, though.

On 2 afternoons we went down to the Gorge to swim and fish for smallies.  This was a blast.  The water in the gorge is so clear you can see the bottom to about 20 feet.  The first day we launched at Sheeps Creek Bay, about 20 miles from our campsite towards the WY border.  This spot was recommended to us as better for kayaks since the canyons were a little narrower and there was slightly less waterskiers, etc.  There were tons of powerboats out but we found plenty of space to paddle, fish and swim. 

The bass were small but extremely cooperative.  We tried small, crawfish-immitating crankbaits and brown and green worms and grubs and caught fish on just about everything we tried.  On the first day we caught about 20 fish between the 2 of us but I noticed that the pumpkin green colored yamamoto grubs were getting bit the best.  When we came back for a second afternoon we stuck with the grubs and caught a fish on nearly every cast for 4-5 hours.  We started off having a fun little contest but it was 35 to 25 in less than 2 hours so we stopped counting.

All the bass were around this size but lots of fun:



One day it rained a bit and we took the opportunity to check out the Green River and one of the little lakes at the campground.  We weren't prepared for the Green River and came home empty handed.  The sections we were at were very fast and shallow.  I lost 3 spinners in about 30 minutes and then gave up . .vowing to return someday - after more study.

We did better on the little lake and caught a bunch of stocker trout.






After 3 nights of camping we were feeling pretty grungy so we got a room at The Flaming Gorge Resort near Dutch John, UT.  It was a cool place!  Clean rooms and not too expensive and the restaraunt has decent breakfast.  I would consider staying here the whole time when we eventually return.

Here is another shot of the gorge from the road on the way out:

Just got back from a lovely swim in the Pacific . .just a bit South of Nor Cal.   I was out for the morning - fishing alone but not too far offshore.  I was jigging for bait and, when I got my first one, I realized that my bait bucket was still in my front hatch.  I was on my Hobie Revo which has a pretty accessible hatch so I tried reaching in there with one hand while holding the sabiki with the other.  I felt a lot of water in the hatch and just as I was thinking "what the heck?" . .I went over.

It took me a few tries to right the yak.  It was full of water - both from the apparent leak I have but also from flipping with the hatch open.  I finally got it turned over and climbed back on.  It was about 1/2 to 3/4 full of water, sitting very low and wobly.  Luckily my half-empty Nalgene bottle was floating nearby so I used it to bail out the yak through the center hatch.  It took a few minutes but I got the boat reasonably stable again and starting assessing my losses.

I was totally not expecting to flip my yak.  My Hobie is super stable and I've been fishing on it for about 2 years with no problem.  I had taken to barely clipping in the milk crate and not securing rods or gear.  I reflected for a moment on how stupid this was as nearly all my stuff - my rods, tackle boxes, wallet, car keys, cell phone lay submerged in 40 FOW.  The only items that I managed to salvage were 2 rods, a tackle box full of plastics and my sunscreen.  

With one of my rods I started fishing for the milk crate and eventually got it.  Thankfully it had the Penguin box that had my wallet, keys and cell phone still in it.  The box had not floated up because the seal failed and it was full of water!     I was stoked to get it back, though . . .some major hassles averted there.  As a bonus my Calstar rod was still in one of the rod holders attached to the milkcrate!  

I fished around some more for my other rods but came up empty.  The peddle back was majorly wobbly.  I had gotten out a lot of the water but not nearly all - plus more had leaked in as well.  When I dumped the boat at the landing it was over half full again.

The main point where I screwed up was in not making sure at least my essential gear was secured.  Arguably a waterproof VHF should have been on board (and secured), as well.  If I had been unable to stabilize my yak, I would not have had any way to call for help.  Because of where I was fishing - 63 degree water about 3/4 mile from shore - this would not have been a life threatening situation but I realized that I would rather have a way to call even if I don't need to.    

Financially - this was a disaster.  My 3 favorite rod and reels, lots of misc tools and gear,  my camera, my cellphone (dead from saltwater)....probably more that I haven't even realized yet.  Not to mention the reels I did recover are done for (one can be rebuilt, though).

I did catch a under-sized calico on a plastic before I started trying for bait with the sabiki so the day wasn't a total loss.  Not to mention I can't really be upset after managing to get my milk crate (and car keys and wallet!) back.  I have learned my lesson, though, and will be taking quite a bit more care going forward.

Made a trip out to Lake Powell last week.  I tried my best to do research in advance but couldn't find a lot of kayak specific information so I just decided to "wing it".

If you're thinking about kayaking at Lake Powell, the first thing you need to know is this lake is HUGE.  The second thing you need to know is that there are very few access points.  Very Very few.  This is a motor boat paradise - but we still had tons of fun on our yak. 

Coming from California, the closest access to Lake Powell is about 20 miles north of Page, AZ.  As far as we could tell, there are 2 drive-in campgrounds and they both suck.  Wahweap Marina has RV full-hook-up campgrounds for $23 per night and Lone Rock Campground has primitive sites for $10.  Lone Rock is basically a big sandy beach with a sandy area behind it.  RV's were lined up along the beach - we found a semi-cozy spot to pitch our tent about .5 mile from the shore. 

We drove down to the beach and launched our yak and fished a little around "Lone Rock" - an island consisting of a single, monolithic rock.  There was a variety of water - deep, shallow, steep droppoffs, boulder piles, etc to fish within easy paddle of either campground - but the real appeal of Lake Powell, to me, is that you can camp anywhere along the shore . .so we loaded up our boat and headed out for an overnight at Warm Creek Bay.

Warm Creek Bay is accessible via Castle Rock Cut - only open at higher water levels.  If it's not open - then you might be able to portage . . otherwise it's a 12 mile paddle to go the long way around.

The paddle from Wahweap Marina to the cut is, quite frankly, terrifying.  There are a lot of rental powerboats.  A lot of those rental powerboats are captained by drunken fools who do not obey bouys or other markers.  The worst part is getting through the cut itself. . .being passed at 40 mph in a 20 foot wide channel by a 18-22 foot long power boat is quite the experience.  A lot like the log flume ride at Disneyland!  Even though there are lots of "no wake" bouys - I noticed that only about 50% of the boats obeyed.

Once through the cut you have the option of hanging a left into Warm Creek Bay or going straight to Padre Bay.   This was a trip with the GF so death-march style paddles were out of the question . .we headed up about 1 mile into Warm Creek Bay and made camp.  I estimate the paddling distance from the launch to our campsite was about 5 miles or so . . .

Lake Powell is not an easy spot for kayak fishing but I think it's worth a visit if you can avoid off-peak times.  During peak times, I can see how house-boats on every point can make finding a good camping spot a very arm tiring experience!  Since we were coming in the early fall - after water-skiing season - we had the lake mostly to ourselves.

Here are a few facts I wish I could have found more easily during my research:
-Campfires are legal but firewood is impossible to find.  Buy some in Page, AZ  (You can pack a surpising amount in a Cobra Tandem!)

-Portable toilets are required.  You can use Wag Bags but you need a "hard sided container" to keep the bags in.  I used a 1 foot length of 4inch pvc pipe.  I put a glued end cap on one end and a threaded end cap on the other. 

-Fishing Licenses:  If you are a non-resident you can't get a Lake Powell Stamp . .. you have to get a non-resident licence for AZ or UT or both.  We got both since we were in UT and AZ . . it was over $100 for licenses for 2 people

To be honest - we decided if we ever came back we would bring or rent a motor boat - but we still had loads of fun and I would say it is worth it to kayak fish Lake Powell.  If you can paddle at least a few miles and kayak camp it's worth it . . if you can paddle 10+ miles and stay out a few days -  so much the better.

As for the fishing - we didn't really hit it big.  We caught lots of smallies and had a good time, though.  We tried lots of stuff - but trolling Rappala ShapRap was the best for us.

Have Fun!

So - after a brief (less than 2yrs) love affair with my Hobie revolution, the honeymoon is over.  The rudder control line snapped on me, resulting in an uberlame paddle home (revolution paddles remarkably like a bathtub) 

Have any of you tried replacing your rudder control lines?  I managed to find a faq on the hobie site but it looks like a major PITA. 

About a year ago, the up/down rudder deployment stopped working . .but I've been limping along doing it by hand because the replacement looks like such a pain.  Now I suppose it's unavoidable . .although some of the new cobras are lookin sweet!

My Dad and I went out to Trinity lake for 3 days of Kayak fishing for smallies.  We got there on Tues afternoon and set up camp at the Minersville campground.  Since it was mid-week, there were lots of open spots at all the campgrounds.  We got a spot right on the lake . .but launching from the campsite was not an option due to the low water level which makes for really steep, muddy banks. 

In addition to it being my first time out to Trinity it was also my first time out with my brand new Hobie Revolution.  I mostly fished from my Prowler and let my Dad use the new boat but I did, of course, take it out for a few hours and it was totally awesome.  The peddle deal totally works for me ..  I can fish with both hands free and it seems like I can peddle longer and faster than I can paddle.  I can't wait to take on a more extended trip soon.

The fishing was great - we caught lots of smallies each day on crankbaits and finesse worms.  Most of the fish were small but I got a few that were decent.  I lost a major hawg but I prefer not to think about that (yeah, right!)

The best deal for me was to find rocky areas of shore that had stumps, steep drop-offs and/or points and drift the plastic worm carolina rigged.  That and trolling a rapala SR5 in silver/black seemed to work best for me.  Mud was a serious problem and I found myself paddling quite a ways looking for good, unmuddied shoreline to fish but we managed to catch fish all day long with the morning being awesome, the afternoon slow and the evening decent. 

By evening, the waves from the water-skiers had churned up the mud on the shoreline creating a thick mud ring around the lake . . it was still possible to catch fish, though .. but paddling a ways for find as clear water as possible was necessary.

Looks like there might be a window.  I'll be watching NOAA of course. . but planning on hitting it Weds am as early as possible from Mill Creek - probably 6:30-7am is realistic.

.TUE NIGHT...S WINDS 5 TO 15 KT...BECOMING SW AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. NW SWELL 3 TO 6 FT AT 9 SECONDS AND SW 2 FT AT 15 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT. .WED...NW WINDS 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 1 TO 3 FT. NW SWELL 3 TO 5 FT AND SW 2 FT. PATCHY FOG. .WED NIGHT...NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. NW SWELL 5 TO 7 FT AND SW 2 FT. PATCHY FOG.

Channel 69 - company welcome.  If nobody replies to this then I might go to another launch . .so let me know if you want to meet up down there.

It appears a window of opportunity is upon us . . I plan on launching Mill Creek at first grey tomorrow . .Thursday 5/24.  Company welcome, ch 69, blue prowler 13.