First let me tell you that some things in yesterdays fish report were correct. There are some good fish in Rock Creek, however trolling is not necessarily over for the year. Sorry this first picture is fuzzy but it shows a thunderstick with NO split ring or hook on the back and only a well stretched split ring on the front. This story was one coil of split ring wire away from not being told.
Dan Porter from Salt Lake City and his brother Mike drove to Bullfrog yesterday and launched the boat. They knew they had to go south and they wanted to troll. That was as detailed a plan as was developed. So they started looking for campsites at Escalante but when it was dark they stopped at Dry Rock and spent the night.
When dawn cracked at 7 AM they got in the boat to troll. One pass in the middle of Dry Rock Creek resulted in a 6-pound striper for Dan. That was fun so they turned around for another run. Dan had 5 colors of leaded line out with a thunderstick as the terminal bait.
The next pass took about 5 minutes before the big one hit. It seemed to be a snag but the water was 113 feet deep. The big trolling rod never did snap back and the fight was on. Dan will send us the details when he gets home to SLC. He has pictures taken by his wife during the whole 30-minute event. The big one finally came up and took a run toward the bow of the boat. They used the motor to get back in control, pull out the slack line, and put some tension on the fish. At that point the big striper rolled over. The net was placed under the fish and when pressure was applied the aluminum handle broke. Despite this adversity the fish was hoisted in and Dan collapsed with a permanent smile affixed to his face. Then he noticed one hook gone and the other hanging by one strand of wire.
The fish was taken to Dangling Rope and measured at 42 inches long and 27 around. The decision was made to get it weighed officially. So Dan, Mike and wives took the food out of the cooler, put in the fish, and headed for Wahweap. That is the only place to get an official weight for a big fish on Lake Powell.
Wayne met the group at Wahweap and weighed the fish at Bashas' Grocery store. It was 38.5 pounds. It must have spawned the week before since the rule is that stripers weigh about one pound for each inch of length. It was probably 42 pounds before the spawn and after dinner. Lake record is 48 pounds so this one was a bit short - but a darn nice fish.
Mike indicated later that he had done some homework before the trip as he held up the printed version of everything that appears on WW website. Mike and Dan expressed their good fortune in catching the big fish. But it looks to me like they had a good plan. They were wise enough to head downstream from Bullfrog where the fishing was better.
So far their total fishing time this trip is 20 minutes.
