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From Washington to Utah!!!

2K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  Black Plague 
#1 ·
Hi all! Well I have been lurking around on the site trying to convince myself that there will be some good hunting and fishing in my future as I am leaving Washington State to move closer to all of my wife's family and look for a job as a brand new registered nurse.
I believe that for most of my life I have had some misconceptions about Utah...having flown in to SLC a number of times it looked pretty desolate for most of the flight... but as I have been able to explore a little bit more I have learned that there are trees and mountains too which is a relief.
Its hard to go somewhere new... so I am counting on the good folks in the community (and this forum) to help me out as I discover all the new adventures on which I can embark...
sooo...about me...
I have been very blessed in my life to grow up in a sportsman oriented family. We love to hunt and fish. My dad fished bass tournaments all through the 80s and early 90's and thus I developed a love for that type fishing at a young age. My dad was also a rep for various companies and so my selection of lures as a kid seemed limitless as he brought home lots of prototypes to test. … I do humbly recognize what a fortuitous childhood I had. Living in Washington the fishing is fantastic for both largemouth and smallmouth as well as a variety of panfish and the delicious walleye and pike. Every year we would go out to the coast and slay the sea bass which is nothing short of fantastically awesome. We would go after the silvers and kings as well. This year with 4 people fishing for 3 days on a spur of the moment trip we limited every morning and 48 salmon came home. I truly love Washington and know so many nooks and crannies all over the place that it is hard to give it up and walk blindly into a new place…kinda scary really. The other hard part is that I have a lot of permission to hunt on private properties. It has taken years to build up all the miles of land that I have permission to hunt, private lakes, ponds, 6 different farmers with wheat fields and 2 with corn. And a handful of other more wooded areas. I feel like I am just hitting my stride as far as field hunting goes, we almost hit the 100 mark for geese killed this year on hunts with me and my dad.
I also love to turkey and deer hunt… we have Muleys, whitetail, and Blacktail in Washington so I have been lucky to be diversified. I have not killed an Elk yet nor an antelope so I plan on making that change some time in the future too.
I have been doing some research and am getting really stoked about going after some wipers out on Willard bay as well. I am a little sad though because I have been fishing with my dad and brothers my whole life so now I am going it alone...til I can find some buddies...
oh yeah, I am also married and have a 1 year old little princess who is the most adorable little thing. especially in her little camo outfits. :p eventually some car camping with her will be in our future maybe even this summer.
… I suppose I could post up some pics …maybe. assuming I can figure it out...
man...I have a lot of questions...I guess the first thing I need is a map... adventure here I come!

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#3 ·
Hey thanks, Outdoorser... I will probably ask a good number of questions that make it sound like I have not read and memorized the Utah fishing and hunting laws and regulations...or proclamation as I understand it is called (in WA its just referred to as "the Regs"...) I will be moving to the West Jordan-ish area in about 2 weeks and then live with my gracious in-laws...until I can get a job and find an "affordable" house...

one easy question: what is the earliest I can try for wipers? ...I am excited to add a new species to my repertoire. ;)

also... I have not looked into it yet so don't shoot me down but it looks like from the pics I have seen most people only have 1-2 geese mixed in with their duck hunts...is 2 the limit? or are they practicing selective conservancy :grin:? can you hunt them every day? In Washington it was 7 ducks and 4 geese where I was... (not that I always ended the day with that many...) but we had a great year I think we ended with 91-ish Canada's ... zero snow geese though... their flyway is over by the coast and I was on the east side of the State...:?
 
#4 ·
....another newbie question.....is there anywhere to catch pike within an hour of west Jordan .... that has been one of my very favorite species over the last few years...and they taste fantastic... they were in a certain river system here and were supposedly not wanted in there so there was no limit on them and eventually they began netting them... so we did our part in fishing for them before they were all wiped out by WA game department and sent to the fertilizer factory (I am not happy about that at all...)
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#5 ·
As for the wipers: I'm not too sure about when to start, i've never really fished for them. Willard is Ice capped currently.

Geese: the limit on Canadian geese is 3 per day. The reason you usually see only a couple in with the ducks in pics, is because the people probably just got those coming into their duck spread, and were not specifically hunting them.

Pike:I've never really looked into where to catch them, but I know Yuba Reservoir is a hotspot. Looking at google maps, its about an 1.5 hours away from west jordan.

Here is our Division of Wildlife Resources website http://wildlife.utah.gov/

But still, don't be afraid to ask ANY question you have, even if they seem simple or anything.
 
#8 ·
I use either rifle or muzzleloader for deer ... but I was always just borrowing the 50 cal ...so now that I am moving it will be back to the rifle. my rifle is a Remington model 700 in 7mm I have it paired with a Leupold VX III 4.5-14 ...and I like it!!! I saved up money 14 years ago when I was 14 by mowing lawns and bought this treasure... that has lasted as one of my favorite toys...then I bought a shotgun to ...its a 12 gauge Remington 1187 in synthetic black ... at that young age I named it the "Black Plague" thinking that was pretty cool...because nothing escapes the black plague!!!! lol so that is where my internet name comes from... the silly nature of a 14 year old kid ha ha ...
 
#9 ·
welcome to the forum, Willard is the lowest that I have seen in years I was just out last weekend goofing off, just some fyi: Wipers will hit just about anything moving early mornings and evenings are best times like some other warm water species they won't really start boiling till the water warms up, white curly tail jigs 4" troll about 2.5-3 mph on a warm summer evening. Best of luck.
 
#12 ·
Thanks... yeah, still have to find a job...then a house...then work a lot...then a truck...then work some more... then a boat ... ha ha til then I will have to hit the shoreline, borrow a kayak or discover some new friends with a boat... ;-)

Thanks again for the info.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Welcome to the forum! I spend most of my free time hunting so I can't help a whole lot on the fishing side. I do get out and fly fish every so often though. There are some great rivers not far from West Jordan if you're into fly fishing. Good luck on the job hunt! I love hunting but not for jobs. I'll be graduating this summer and am beginning the whole job hunt process. It can be stressful! We'd actually like to relocate to Washington. You don't happen to know any financial planners up that way do you? What part of Washington are you from? My mom grew up in the tricities area. I'd love to end up in Spokane. Welcome to Utah! I'm sure you'll find plenty o outdoor activities to keep you entertained.
 
#15 ·
thanx for the welcome! ...
@ archer... I am from the Spokane area...ha ha sorry I don't know any financial planners up there... Spokane is a great place with very quick access to the outdoors... there were over 30 lakes within an hour and lots of public land for hunting as well as a lot of wheat fields for geese.

Yeah, I have made it a new goal to get into fly fishing... I have never done it (well I did once for a few minutes...) ... I have done a lot of stream fishing however and so I am excited to find some spots to go float a weedless rigged nightcrawler for bows, cuts and browns. .... but alas... I have priorities too :D
 
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