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Show Page 4 The Gunnison Valley Gazette Thursday, July 26, 2007 The Outdoor Report Fishing Report BOULDER MTN LAKES: All lakes, including those on top, are now accessible. Some of the best reports are coming from Fish Creek Reservoir, where fishing was good to excellent for splake and tiger trout. Cutthroats are also present. Fishing is good at Donkey Res. for small to medium-sized brook trout. Good success reported for brook trout and a few grayling at the Row Lakes using spinners. Jigging for splake is good at Blind Lake. Some nice rainbows are also being caught here. A standard technique at the brookie lakes is a black marabou jig fished near any cover. Wooly bugger, leech and scud patterns will also work. Special regulations on many of the Boulder Mountain waters include a trout limit of four of which only two may be over 14 inches. FISH LAKE: Splake fishing has slowed down some fish have been caught jigging at 45 to 50 feet. Fishing for perch is fast by jigging just off the weedline. Good success for rainbows trolling pop gear in 15 to 20 feet. Trolling for lake trout is slow to fair some action trolling at 70 to 80 feet. A few tiger muskies have moved up from Johnson Reservoir in the last year. The general statewide limits on tiger muskie apply here: 1 fish, which must be over 40 inches. GOOSEBERRY RESERVOIR: Fishing was poor over the weekend. Heavy moss along the shoreline makes bank fishing very difficult. Float tubers had moderate success, casting damsel fly nymphs into empty pockets. Baitcasters did best by throwing nightcrawlers into holes in the moss. OTTER CREEK RESERVOIR: Fifty-seven percent full with water temperatures in the low to mid70s. Fishing is still very good for nice fish. Trolling is best, but some anglers are still catching some fish from shore, especially along the State Park beach. If trolling is not producing, try anchoring the boat in 20 to 25 feet of water and bait fishing. The bigger fish are on the bottom and best success for these fish is early and late. Recent sampling found that rainbows are abundant and very healthy. Most fish are averaging 16 to 18 inches and two pounds. Please prevent the spread of whirling disease. Do not transport any parts of fish caught here to other waters. YUBA RESERVOIR: The secret is now out! Decent success for walleye and an occasional northern pike are being caught by using bottom bouncers or other minnowimitating lures like a rapala. Boat anglers report fair to good success for trout and most trout average 13 to 18 inches long. The Outdoor Report is Sponsored by: 528-5001 Hwy 89 Northeast of Gunnison Open Monday - Saturday The First Word and Last Name in Log Homes! Think Satterwhite for Log Homes, Rough Lumber, Timbers, Animal Bedding and Firewood Remember When... Hole in the Rock For Pioneer Day I always like to get out some of my family history stories to remember the incredible lives of those who have gone before. One of the stories that always amazes me is the Hole in the Rock venture that the saints undertook to settle the San Juan mission in 1879. Some of the reason for the mission was for the saints to populate as much area as possible. The area was desolate and empty, but for the Native Americans inhabiting the region, and the saints understood it was their duty to keep relations with the natives peaceful. The area, because it was largely uninhabited, was becoming a magnet for unfriendly Indians, outlaws and non-Mormon stockmen. The Mormons across the Colorado River were being raided by these bands who took their living preying off others. The Mormons who undertook this expedition did so in answer to a “mission call,” which meant their names were read off at stake conference. They were skilled blacksmiths, carpenters, stone masons and farmers. The difficult journey and subsequent settlement would take them to the limit of their skills, endurance and fortitude. There were 250 saints in all in the wagon train, 80 wagons, and around 1000 head of cattle. Samuel William Mackleprang and his wife Adelia Terry Mackelprang, who was pregnant with the sixth child, rode behind their horses, Jack and Bolly. Inside the wagon was 18month-old Minerva, who was later to become my great grandmother. The saints chose to take an eastern shortcut after the exploring party returned and reported that the southern route was not advisable. When they hit the Colorado River, they spread out, looking for a possible way to cross. It was not an easy matter. The cliffs that flanked the river were 1800 feet of vertical red rock. They saints found a narrow crevice at one point, and some thought that by blasting and chiseling the sheer rock sides, they could construct a road that would allow their wagons passage. Some people on the expedition took one look at the slit in the canyon wall and claimed it was impossible. The problem was that there was no turning back. The saints had already sold their homes and farms to buy their supplies, wagons and teams. Also, by the time they came to the Colorado River and realized the near impossible task that lay ahead, winter was setting in, and snow blocked their way back over the Escalante Mountain. The crack they must pass through was not a steady decline, but a series of jagged drop-offs like sharp stair steps. By use of dynamite, they removed roughly 450 tons of sandstone just to level out the first 50- foot-drop. This only brought them 100 feet closer to the bottom. They filled in areas, picked and chiseled others, and slowly the steep, narrow road began to take shape. At one point they built a “dugway” by tacking wooden pegs into the side of the cliff. They let men down in barrels to work along the steep face to work on the dugway. Near the bottom they conquered another steep grade by drilling oak stakes every two feet to make a tacked-on-road. Once the road was finished, (a grueling six weeks of labor), it was so steep that the pioneers had to use five methods of braking in order to make the hazardous descent. First, they tied a rope to the wagon axle and wrapped the other end around a grounded peg at the top with men holding the rope. (I wouldn’t want this job.) Secondly, they tied another rope around the axle and all the men and boys that could be spared played a dangerous tug-of-war game with the wagon and riders’ lives. Thirdly they used the traditional log brake, and then they rough-locked the wheels, sometimes all four of them by wrapping them with chains the felloe, or wood and metal part of the rim. The final braking method was to tie a team of horses behind the wagon, pulling backwards. As you can imagine, it was a pretty scary ride. While many of the men labored day after day to build the road, others cut logs on Escalante Mountain and hauled them down to be constructed into a makeshift ferry for the wagons to cross the river once they made it to the bottom. The good part was that their blasting and road-making efforts had created something of a dam along the river, which slowed the flow and made ferrying less hazardous. They had planned on a six- week trip. In actuality it took almost six months, and all of it during one of the coldest winters on record for the area. Today parts of the passage they traveled are hardly passable even in the toughest of four-wheel drives, and the lower 300 feet of the road is now beneath the water of Lake Powell. My Grandpa Nielson who died in 1998, wrote this when he compiled the history, “These missionaries taught us a great lesson. We must go on whether we can get through or not.” This is the kind of pioneer spirit we honor this holiday. is sponsored by: GUNNISON IMPLEMENT COMPANY Your Farm Home Auto Paint Store 51 W 200 N, Gunnison • 435-528-7544 or 7271 Gunnison Parade - July 1958 Courtesy Photo/Bill Butler Sponsored by HERMANSEN’S MILL 204 South 1st East • Gunnison 528-3136 Feeds • Grain Storage • Fertilizer Seeds • Farm Supplies • Chemicals Introducing as the Newest Member of the Gunnison Valley Hospital Medical Staff Dr. Willden graduated from the University of Utah School of Medicine and recently completed the McKay Dee Hospital Family Practice Residency program. Dr. Willden is trained in the broad spectrum of family practice medicine, including obstetrics and pediatrics. Husqvarna 5521 BBC Walk-behind Mower Dr. Willden will start seeing patients on July 16th at the new Medical Office Building located at 65 E. 100 N. in Gunnison. Appointments can be made by calling (435) 528-2130. d Limite Time Only! • Powered by a 5.5 Honda engine • Mulch, bag or discharge mowing • BBC Blade Brake Clutch (blade stops spinning, but mower keeps running while you empty the bag) Reg. $579 $459 Gunnison Implement Co. Your Hardware, Auto Parts & Farm Supplies Store 51 W 200 N Gunnison, UT 84634 Store Hours: Mon. - Fri. 8-6 Sat. 8-5 Shop online: gunnisonimplement.doitbest.com |
