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Show - ., . - .. t '.' i v : ... .,,-"' , " . ? - ' - . , v...- . , . ' V . ' , . I u , ; v. - ' ' . ' ' I r v . . ...... . . . ..- - 8 'y J ' 1 k -jSif . a .... t, r . f i V ,' ' v . - : . - .- . . f ',' ' " ..- ....... 4 ' .." , - - ... ;j , , v ' ; , ,r , " - '" , V ' - - l v " -' ; y' , J Si:- ANGLER AT RIGHT, Douglas Wixom, looks on as his mid-day Flaming Gorge fish is netted. Early summer is a very good time to take large lake trout. "fishing Fleming Gorge for those bog AAeocfcs end Browns By Hartt Wixom Vernal Express Outdoor Writer FLAMING GORGE-With advent of : weather, most of the nation's tradi-aal tradi-aal lake trout waters, places like akson Lake and Lake Michigan, ::er the "dog days" era. Not Flaming irge. Guides like Don Yates at Blackboard Elbe Wyoming side, Bruce Parker at A-erne and the Rohner Brothers at iiar Springs begin to get excited this me oi year. "June is the month," ates stales flatly. "The fish are easy pick up on the sonar charts most -des have in their boats, and you can fro right in on the big Macks by get-ag get-ag over 90-120 feet of water. That's st off the edge of the old channel. Fish re on the bottom, but they never seem i be hungrier than in early summer, id you can get right into them with a M line and trolling model frog flat-ill." flat-ill." a Previous Lucerne guide Rick Rein-j Rein-j specialized in another technique. 6 swould lower a large white doll fly or 1 ad head jig into a school of fish, crank - ;three turns of the reel and dance the ::Ering up and down. One mid-June 'fliing a year ago I watched him do s when his rod tip suddenly plum-sled. plum-sled. He battled an unseen foe for J wthan five minutes around the boat f -Mle and outboard until the fish sur-, sur-, Then, with one deft lunge, he gaf--B "21 lb. plus laker into the boat at I : feet. 1 in the heat of bright June j)5 he guided us into a 14 lb laker. -se, going with a guide is the easy '', and one highly recommended for J first several trips on the Gorge, "ne thing, just the steel line alone -95 per spool, and then there ocean sturdy rods and enough' lohld 400 yards of heavy steel con-j con-j r;n. A rig easily costs $100 and aren't many places around these g you can use gear like that. ever, when you know what you're you might get into a giant fish of your own. At the Gorge "giant" doesn't mean eight or ten pounds as it does elsewhere. It requires a 20 pounder to draw a second look. But, if you know where to ply your flatfish or popular Rapala sinking size 11 you might score. Best places recommended by guides and expert anglers are the deep water from Cedar Springs Marina to Jarvis Canyon, the channel for which the gorge gained its name just south of Lucerne Bay, Horsehoe Canyon, "milk run", the middle of Lucerne Bay, the cove just north of Lucerne (although the Wyoming-Utah line runs right through here and you'll need a Wyoming Wyom-ing license), the Pipeline, what is known as the Glory Hole north near Squaw Hollow, Anvil Draw and up the old channel. Some other spots are likely to produce pro-duce a monster, but more possibly a brown than laker. The latter might move toward the surface in chasing chubs dawn and dusk, but will almost certainly be at deeper depths with sun on the water. Of course, even noon day doesn't bother lakers as it does browns, because Macks are so deep it makes little lit-tle difference most of the time. Many studies by icthyologists have indicated that colors best seen at depths greater than 40 feet, where lakers spend much of their time, is green and blue. Reds and yellows which are great in shallow water (say at ice-out with fish near the surface or shoreline) are not as likely to be seen. However, that is one reason' guides (and fish) may prefer the traditional flatfish and blue Rapalas. Bumping along bottom with steel line also adds another dimension: fish can feel vibrations whether actually actual-ly sighting your offering or not. The shoreline caster has a chance on -rainbows and other "highly localized" " species like structure hugging smallmouth bass known to be in the lake. But, if you are after browns, and especially the roaming lakers, you just about have to cover considerable territory, ter-ritory, much of it in lake center. You hug boat to bank when brown fishing but that is not the case at all for oversized oversiz-ed lakers who may stick to bars and points, but many are submerged and not visible from shore. But, the main thing is to get your line in a water like Flaming Gorge. With many waters the best lake trout fishing is in late fall when they are spawning, but at this water, anything can happen to the angler who keeps trying. Especially in early summer. |