Today was just one more adventure that makes one appreciate the variety that life can give you.
It all started with a very good breakfast at Beez Café in Roy. Big Earl and I met there at 7:00 AM and loaded my gear into his truck after dining on the special of the day. We headed north on I-15 and made a rest stop just before the Brigham City exit. After heading north again, we arrived at our destination - Newton Lake – about 8:45 AM. When we arrived at the southeast corner boat launch, we noticed that the lake had risen over 6 feet – that’s right boys and girls – over SIX FEET since our last visit a week ago. As we got out of the truck to walk down and check the edge ice, I discovered that my down vest was not in the truck. Then it dawned on me that I had left it in the rest stop stall neatly draped over the partition to the left of the door. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I also remembered that my truck keys were also in the vest pocket. Oh pooh.
Obviously, the edge ice check was no longer a priority. But to give you an educated guess, I’d have to say that the wet ice edge extended out from the shore over 20 feet in most areas and trying to cross it would be an exercise in futility. Even a plank wouldn’t work in most places from what we could see from the road and hill top parking area.
We headed back south hoping and praying that the vest would still be there. As we drove through Newton and turned south towards Cutler, Earl increased our forward motion to a point that we were traveling in excess of the posted velocity limit. And as luck would have it, a velocity monitoring person in the form of a Sherriff’s Deputy was in attendance to inform Big Earl of his infraction. When we both explained the reason (hoping to make it to the rest stop to retrieve the vest and keys) for the lack of attention in this situation, he very politely warned us to be more observant of the posted limits and to proceed safely on our way. He also gave us the phone number of the Box Elder Sheriff’s dispatcher who we promptly called and explained my situation. She was very responsive and found another deputy near the rest stop who was able to retrieve the vest and keys and leave them at the weigh station near Willard Bay North Marina. Ahh, the senior moment gods were looking kindly on me today.
After picking up the vest and keys, we decided to go to Hyrum and check out the trout fishing and ice conditions. We launched at the State Park boat launch and found good edge ice just off the right side walking down the ramp. We also met a gentleman (Jack Monson) who is not an Internet poster and was going out to fish and we invited him to join us if he wanted some company. He accepted and the three of us went out and punched some holes over 20 feet of depth.
The very first thing we noticed was the turbidity of the water. You could see your lure/bait for about 10 to 12 inches as it dropped and then it was no longer visible with the naked eye. But not to worry, Mr. Vexilar saw it at all depths. Unfortunately, the fish couldn’t seem to locate it as we didn’t get but one fish in 2 hours between the 3 of us. Big Earl and I decided to try another location and Jack decided he had enough fun for one day. Actually, he said he didn’t want to wear out his kitchen pass for the day and needed to complete a couple of honey do’s before the day was done.
Our next spot was over 45 feet of water and we marked a couple of fish in the 10 to 15 foot range. One of those actually bumped into my lure and snagged himself in the upper lip. I brought him to the light and found he was one of the 12 inch planters Hyrum is known for this year. After another hour of fruitless efforts by the two of us, we made our final move in closer to shore and found 10 feet of water. I immediately caught an 8 inch bow on my Jaw Jacker and promptly returned him. Then I had a hit on my jigging rod and fought him for about 5 seconds before he let go and swam off.
And that, as they say, was that. No more hits and the wind was making itself known with determination. Big Earl decided his fun meter had been pegged and we headed off the ice at about 3:30 PM. And to cap off the report, the ice was a good solid 7 inches plus, the edges are good to go, the sun came and went all day, the temps were warm enough that we didn’t need to scoop our holes at all after the initial drill, and two snowmobiles had launched before we got there and came off before we did using different points of entry/exit. The catching could have been a lot better. Life is good.
