Flaming Gorge Fishing Report- 5/11/09

I hit the lake with the family on Saturday, hoping to find some kokes. No success, but we managed to find some cooperative rainbows, both trolling and casting. The kids landed 7 bows ranging from 14-17inches in about 2 hours of fishing. Trolling bows hit a hyperplaid dodger followed by a pink squid and a pearl bikini Needlefish running about 15ft. Boat speed was 1.8-2.2 mph. Casting bows hit tube jigs in crayfish colors, slowly reeled back to the boat. Water temps were about 48F.

By last night the surface temps near Jarvies reached 52F. The kokes responded and I found some willing fish hovering between 10-25ft. It wasn't "red hot", but I managed 3 and lost 4-5 others in just under a few hours. Fish ranged from about 15-17 inches. My hot rig was a pink/green Signature dodger followed by a double glow Carribean squid. To deal with boat-shy fish, I was using a 2oz. snapweight and planer boards to get the bait down 15-20ft and away from the boat. Boat speed was about 2.0mph.

Good times, Ryno

Good deal Ryno! The weather should remain stabile this week and give the reservoir more time to warm up. Hopefully by the weekend it will be Koke City!

Thanks for the update Ryno,
Are you in the derby this weekend ?

No derby for me. That's to much pressure to put fish in the boat! I'm sure I'll hit the water though, being I already consumed my catch from Monday. Ryno

Ryno, could you help out and old fart. I bought two planner boards last year and have yet to use them. When you said you used a 2 oz drop shot, what was the spacing between lure, weight, and board. Have you ever used a jet diver, or is this to much pull for the board. Sure appreciate the help, thanks for the report..

BROWNBAGGER said:

Ryno, could you help out and old fart. I bought two planner boards last year and have yet to use them. When you said you used a 2 oz drop shot, what was the spacing between lure, weight, and board. Have you ever used a jet diver, or is this to much pull for the board. Sure appreciate the help, thanks for the report..

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I've never used a jet or dipsy diver with a board, but I use snap weights all the time. A jet might pull the planer board down, but I'm not sure.

I have Offshore planers and snap weights. In the "Precision Trolling" book (a trolling bible!) there is a dive chart for snap weights and lures. Basically for snap weights it tells you how deep your lure will travel relative to boat speed and the amount of weight used. When using non-diving lures like spoons, hoochies, spinners, etc. you use a 50/50 method meaning you let out 50ft of line, hook a weight, and then let out another 50ft of line. For example, I was running a flasher/hoochie combo 50ft behind a 2oz. snap weight, which was 50ft behind the planer board. Traveling at about 2mph, that put my lure down about 15ft. If the fish I'm targeting are shallow, I'll run my planers 100-125ft out the side of the boat. The distance from the boat doesn't affect lure depth. It simply gets the lures away from the boat, in case you're dealing with boat shy fish.

It works like a charm. I also used snap weights and planers when trolling crankbaits for other species like walleyes, stripers, wipers, etc. It not only allows you to get the lures down to the depth the fish are at, but also helps you manage multiple lines. You can run 2-3 planers out each side of the boat and cover a lot of water! Hope it helps, Ryno

thanks Ryno.....I'm going to have to give these boards a run for their money thumbsup