~ ~
Float Tubing for Lake Trout
By Mike Radice

January/February 1999

It's a warm, calm morning and we are headed toward our designated lake trout hot spot. Our nerves are tight but spirits are high. We had caught lake trout before, from a boat. Today it will be from a float-tube.

With the help of our fishfinder, we spot a couple of groups of fish hovering around 80 feet. Markers are thrown and after working a search pattern around our marker, we decide to beach our boat and take our tubes back out to our buoys.

In hand we have our tackle, kevlar drag washered baitcasters, one-ounce lead jigs and secret plastic bait (you figure it out). Our tactic is to flipper our way around the marker, jigging our bait a few inches off of the bottom.

We're in the water only minutes before the fish begin their game of hide and seek. Setting a hook on a fish at 80 feet is tough. A good, hard pull up and reel it in. Sounds simple, but in a float-tube there's no platform to give you the leverage you need to hook big fish. We lose a half dozen fish as we try to figure out how to hook them. Finally, a fish is hooked, but just barely.

Earlier, my brother-in-law and I talked over safety tips for surviving this ultimate challenge. We decided that regardless of who hooks up first, the other will reel in but stay close by. Our concern was, if we hooked a lunker, we might run the risk of being tipped over. Now that I had one hooked I was glad we planned ahead.

For the first 10 minutes it is a stalemate. If I gain a turn or two on the Abu Garcia reel, Mr. Mac takes that back five-fold. The fish pulls and dances, and then simply refuses to move upward. Spinning around time and again in a tube, I try desperately to keep a 45-degree angle between my tube and the line in the water. I'm spinning and spinning as the fish takes me where he wants to go.

When fishing from a boat, lake trout have to work against the resistance of a keel. In a tube, there is no resistance except the fins strapped to your feet. I try to take the fish back to where we started, but nothing doing. My kicking only aggravates him to go deeper. It's important to remember the old phrase, paybacks are (or can be) a @#$%!&!. I don't want to lose this fish but neither do I want him to take revenge on me and my tube when he finally reaches the surface. So, instead of being the hooker, I feel I'm the hookee.

After fifteen minutes the fish decides to try a new tactic. My line goes slack and I'm caught wiping sweat, not concentrating. Reeling at the speed of light, the slack is not changing to a tight line. This guy's coming after me.

Typically, when you catch a lake trout, there comes a time when the fish decides he is not going to win and begins blowing his ballast tanks (swim bladder) in preparation for an assent. From a boat, you see tiny bubbles emerge and pop. Thoughts of a nuclear submarine surfacing at your side, stuff like that. As a float-tuber, my perspective is from the water's surface. I'm not seeing any bubbles. I can detect no indication that this fish is getting tired. My hands and wrists are aching. The line is finally beginning to tighten. As I continue to reel in loose line, suddenly there he is, beginning to circle me. I continue kicking in an effort to keep my angle on him.

Mesmerized by the size of the fish, sheer terror begins to fill my mind as the laker decides to come at me. I kick backwards the best I can, reeling all the while. At the sight of this beast, we all let out a yell that can be heard all across the reservoir. Earlier, we'd decide that the only way to verify that someone had caught a lake trout in a float-tube is to land the fish into my float-tube, but after seeing this monster, the bet is off.

After working for 25 minutes, we decide to net the fish, then worry about what to do next. One minute later, nerves are composed again and I'm trying to coax the fish closer. After turning me around twice, he comes at me, Bruce reaches out with the net, and we have our dream come true.

Cheers, serious hoopla and aching arms usher in our next challenge: getting the monster unhooked without puncturing the float-tube. Hook released, the net is discarded for the final ritual. At 18 pounds, 8 ounces, I am perplexed as to how handle this fish. The weight on the front of the tube forces me to lean back as far as I can to keep myself level. I reach in under the gillplate and lift my trophy high into the air. Bellowing praise to the heavens, cameras snap and videotape rolls. The fish is longer than my tube. Measuring is out of the question. I hold it as high as I can and the fish's tail still folds over on itself in my lap.

A beast, yes. A record, maybe. Has anyone ever caught a lake trout jigging from a float-tube? I would say, "I dare you," but no way. It's scary, but I'm ready to try it again!

The Flaming Gorge Dam was completed in 1964. The lake is 91 miles long and offers 375 miles of prime smallmouth shoreline. The Gorge also offers anglers several other sport fish including rainbow trout, brown trout, lake trout, and kokanee salmon.

There are several access points to Flaming Gorge. Because it lies on the northeastern boarder between Wyoming and Utah there are ramps at both ends of the reservoir. In Wyoming, you can launch boats from the Lucerne Marina near Manila. There is plenty of camping along the shoreline in Wyoming and along Swim Beach on the Utah side of the border. Swim Beach offers lakeside camping so you can launch once, park at your camping site, and moor your boat right next to your picnic table.

On the Utah side, there are four launch ramps. Cedar Springs is the first one, near the town of Dutch John. This is a full service marina with rentals and repairs available. Once across the dam, Mustang Ramp and Antelope Flat will situate you strategically for both upper and lower lake access. Mustang Ramp places you on the south end near the dam to fish some of the best structure for smallmouth bass. Trout species and kokanee salmon are found lake-wide. Antelope Flat puts you up on the north end of the reservoir where reportedly the largest lake trout have been caught. Sheep Creek Ramp is the best place to launch if you plan to cover the entire lake. Positioned at the southwest point, this ramp puts you midway between the long north arm and the dam to the east. The reservoir sits at about 6,800 feet in elevation and a lower pitched prop may help you get around easier.

Reciprocal licenses are needed on Flaming Gorge. For $10, Utah residents can fish the Wyoming side and vice versa. Both Wyoming and Utah offer nonresident, short-term licenses as well.

With map in hand, to get to Flaming Gorge from Interstate 80 in Wyoming, turn off on SR 191 South to follow the Aspen Mountains to Antelope Flat Marina and Dutch John. Stay on I-80 and exit on SR 530 in Green River to access the lake through Manila. From Utah take Highway 40 through Vernal. There take SR 191 North to the Dutch John turnoff.

Hotel accommodations surround the lake near Dutch John and in Manila. Rates vary by season, but you should expect to pay around $65 during peak season. Specifically, the Flaming Gorge Lodge near Dutch John operates a restaurant, tackle shop, and convenience store. The towns of Manila and nearby Fort Bridger have a variety of convenience stores, motels, and gas stations. This reservoir is well equipped for gas. If you forget to fill the tank before hitting the lake, there are fuel docks at both Lucerne and Cedar Springs.

~ ~