The elevation at the dock is 7369 feet above sea level. If you could travel by way of "the crow's flight" it would be 63.36 miles from Bountiful to Renegade Bay. We made the actual highway trip by way of John Mcknight's house in Woodscross, and then on to Olympus Cove, SLC, (where Richard Bojanowski resides) which adds a few more miles. Then you have to add travel to Heber, where we pick up John's Crestliner 19 foot boat and continue on through Daniels Canyon, (Hwy 40) to Strawberry Reservoir, plus 10 more miles to the Renegade boat ramp because of the fog, which makes it about 98 miles one way.
With the thick fog bank totally blanking out the lake at the main Strawberry Bay Marina, we elected to go the extra 10 miles to Renegade.
The Garmin GPS placed the location at N40 07 441 and W111 08 875, just in case we needed to find our way back to the dock or use that location as a reference point in the fog after the launch.
John had taken out some of the pedestal chairs in the boat, leaving much more room to move about and still providing 3 chairs for us during slack moments. There were very few slack moments once we were rigged for catching cutthroats. I should say snack moments, since "slack" became very important in this fantastic day of fishing.
Although it is not mandatory, one should stand up at the slightest sign of a strike. Well at least that is the rule followed by Doctor S., and Richard Grant Taylor (who taught me the trick on the 'Berry) can vouch for that rule.
Rigging for cutthroats can vary with each fishermen. I would never use a snap swivel when spin casting for cutts. Each guy was pretty independent, Richard swearing that the swivel and "tag" is never a problem, particularly when he was having such good success. Now John, on the other hand, remained very quiet, listening to the arguments about what is the best way to attach a Kamakazee jig to the casting line. After Dr. S. caught 5 fish in a row without the swivel, one would think that's the way to go, but in Bow's mindset, the hell with the "tag", use the swivel and just keep the jig in the water and catch as many as possible. I think there were moments when Bow almost took off the swivel, but he would catch another big cutt and make it known that swivels are the way to go.
John kept hearing us talk about the "slack." He caught a nice Cutt on a Sebago, but noticed the increase in strikes and fish caught on the Kamakazee, which lead to his conversion. I rigged the jig for him not knowing that he had a tiny snap swivel up the line about 4 feet. He got hammered several times and then started catching cutts on the "slack."
"Slack" is a term used when the fish bumps or stikes the jig and then backs off. The fishermen gives into the fish by playing out the line and the cutt comes back and hits while there is slack in the line. You can see the slack line suddenly become taught and you can set the hook before feeling the strike. These big cutts must like to see the white Kamakazee go limp and descend as if killed and they come back for the meal. It is one of the most exciting fishing techniques, which puts a lot of fish in the net.
This particular trip was aimed at providing a day of fishing for Dr. S, where all he had to do was cast and catch. A day of fishing where Dr. S. was the guest. It truly was a day of casting and catching. A day of netting and releasing. A day of stopping and starting. A day of camera clicking, with good food, good drinks and lots of strikes. As a matter of fact we recorded all of the major strikes, which totaled 48 in number. We netted 26 fish and released 24. What a day.
There was no need for Sebago's, although one was used for a few minutes and a nice fish was caught on this attractor.
A white Kamakazee tipped with a worm was the ticket and by 2:30 pm we were headed back to the dock having had one of the best days of fishing for the big cutthroats. John caught the biggest, and who knows who caught the most. Who was counting anyway! I was!
Take a look at the pictures, which will confirm this was an excellent day of fishing, with perfect weather and beautiful fall colors on the hills that surround the lake.
Copyright Loren Brooks, 2005
