FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
- TaBASSco
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FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
Today was the day that I decided to try out a spot that I had scouted out back in February at Flaming Gorge. It's always trout season up here, but spring brings the smallies around the rock piles, and I have always wanted to catch a small mouth bass, especially seeing as how I miss the green bassies of home so much.
So....this morning, I pulled the 8 lb rig off the rack and headed down the highway to my intended spot. Overcast, windy and temps in the high 50s out at the mouth of the cove that I had picked. There, I tied on a Ned rig and gave it several retrieves, slowly hopping and pausing it along either side prominent rock point jutting out into deep water that I thought looked like a perfect bass hangout. Unfortunately, I was wrong about this....probably because it was such a recognizable feature on the lake, and boaters probably pulled up to it often. Off to the right of the point was a much smaller secondary point of rocks though, so I meandered over there and tossed the bait in. This time, I switched up my retrieve, not letting the lure rest at all....kind of a hop-glide motion. Sure enough, I got slammed by an eager chonky li'l bronzeback! I was so excited to catch my first smallie, and took a couple of pictures of it. He must have been close to two pounds....so that ain't half bad. Another cast and retrieve brought one that was close to double the size of the first one. This fish pulled hard, and came to the shoreline spitting out bits of crawdad parts.
After that, the Ned Rig caught a rainbow trout, and then the bite for anything seemed to shut off, no matter where I moved to around the shoreline. Still, it was great morning for me, and I took a couple pictures of each bass to share here.
I sure hope I find more of these fine fishies up here. They are beautiful, and fun to catch! Now, I just need to catch some bigger ones.
So....this morning, I pulled the 8 lb rig off the rack and headed down the highway to my intended spot. Overcast, windy and temps in the high 50s out at the mouth of the cove that I had picked. There, I tied on a Ned rig and gave it several retrieves, slowly hopping and pausing it along either side prominent rock point jutting out into deep water that I thought looked like a perfect bass hangout. Unfortunately, I was wrong about this....probably because it was such a recognizable feature on the lake, and boaters probably pulled up to it often. Off to the right of the point was a much smaller secondary point of rocks though, so I meandered over there and tossed the bait in. This time, I switched up my retrieve, not letting the lure rest at all....kind of a hop-glide motion. Sure enough, I got slammed by an eager chonky li'l bronzeback! I was so excited to catch my first smallie, and took a couple of pictures of it. He must have been close to two pounds....so that ain't half bad. Another cast and retrieve brought one that was close to double the size of the first one. This fish pulled hard, and came to the shoreline spitting out bits of crawdad parts.
After that, the Ned Rig caught a rainbow trout, and then the bite for anything seemed to shut off, no matter where I moved to around the shoreline. Still, it was great morning for me, and I took a couple pictures of each bass to share here.
I sure hope I find more of these fine fishies up here. They are beautiful, and fun to catch! Now, I just need to catch some bigger ones.
Last edited by TaBASSco on Tue Apr 30, 2024 12:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- camobass
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
DAAAAAMN! Way to go! I bet those things eat juvenile trout
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- TaBASSco
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
It's funny, because the Flaming Gorge spans two states and the fish and game rules about small mouth bass are completely opposed to each other, from one state to the other. In Wyoming, you must immediately release all smallies that you catch, but in Utah you must not throw any of them back (at least in the Green river below the dam).
Last edited by TaBASSco on Wed May 01, 2024 6:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
Pretty smallies... I really like your post... Not the usual stuff we see here... Thanks...
Butch
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- VinnyBass
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
Beautiful fish! Sweet!!!
The pics from Flaming Gorge are absolutely beautiful.
Glad to see your posts and so happy that you are sharing them with us.
Tight lines and Best Wishes always to you.
The pics from Flaming Gorge are absolutely beautiful.
Glad to see your posts and so happy that you are sharing them with us.
Tight lines and Best Wishes always to you.
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
Badass
Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.
- DarkShadow
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
Those are some beautiful smallies.
Would you say that they aren't targetted as much as the trout at Flaming Gorge? It seems like that in those states.
For example, I'm spending a week in Montana at Flathead Lake in September and it seems that everybody targets Lake Trout or Whitefish there, and not much is said about the bass fishery.
Would you say that they aren't targetted as much as the trout at Flaming Gorge? It seems like that in those states.
For example, I'm spending a week in Montana at Flathead Lake in September and it seems that everybody targets Lake Trout or Whitefish there, and not much is said about the bass fishery.
- TaBASSco
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
I don't think many people target them. When I show some locals the pictures of those bass, they were shocked that smallies even get that large. I think that most of the catches up in Wyoming are bycatches from people soaking worms or small lures for trout. So they catch a lot of foot long fish that state regs say they have to throw back immediately, and they want something to keep and cook.DarkShadow wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2024 8:52 am Those are some beautiful smallies.
Would you say that they aren't targetted as much as the trout at Flaming Gorge? It seems like that in those states.
For example, I'm spending a week in Montana at Flathead Lake in September and it seems that everybody targets Lake Trout or Whitefish there, and not much is said about the bass fishery.
Utah has a bag limit of three bass (lmb and smb combined)in some places. Some areas like the Green river below the dam, has zero release, I'm guessing to protect the trout population. There are some bass enthusiasts, but they seem to be in Utah.
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- camobass
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
Time to start throwing a 6” hudd. You’ll probably get some big trout on it too.
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- TaBASSco
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
I don't need a Hudd. I got a 33 inch 13 pound laker on a half ounce Krocodile, just a few weeks ago.
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- Fisheromen
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
Mimi! Nice! I've heard that Smallies eat the jerk bait really well! Congratulations!!!
BTW, them are BASS! You can put them in the Bass section!
BTW, them are BASS! You can put them in the Bass section!
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Re: FINALLY! A couple of chonkies from the Gorge
Excellent!
Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman.
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