I took off on a half-day excursion to do some East Canyon bass fishing. My friend Ryan came with me for his first time chasing bass. Our hope was to catch him his first smallmouth. Both of us had never fished East Canyon before, but we ended up getting the job done on a few nice bronze backs. Here is the full report of the conditions, where we went, and what we used to land us some East Canyon Smallmouth Bass.
Here is what things were like for us from 7 am – 12:30 pm on Friday June 20, 2014.
Air Temperature 72 – 80 degrees, partly cloudy.
0 – 4 mph, Flat calm all morning.
Lightly Stained, you could see down into the water about 8 feet.
69 degrees.
We fished from a one man pontoon, and a kayak. We weren’t able to cover as much water as you probably could in a boat, so we mainly just picked apart one shoreline area. Here is a map of the area we fished:
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We only tried three different baits. Two of the three produced bites and fish. Here are those top two set ups and how we used them:
Jackall Crosstail Shad bait in the Ayu color caught all our fish. It also caught us a nice rainbow trout! We fished the crosstail shad on a drop shot rig. We would cast it to where the bass were holding, and just dance the bait in their faces. It was the perfect set up for those fry guarding smallmouth. If you’ve never fished a drop shot before, check out my write up on how to do it: Drop Shot Rig
I used a lure you can’t find on shelves any more. It’s the River 2 sea rover in the stock rainbow trout color. I had one really good blow up on it. I threw it out and walked it back to the boat. The key to the bait is to pop the rod tip on a slack line to get it to move side to side. I used this bait on my baitcasting rod and reel set up.
We had a great time on the water. The fishing wasn’t fast and furious, but we managed to figure out how to put a few in the boat. It was really fun for me to watch my friend Ryan catch his first smallmouth bass. He was pretty stoked.
We arrived at our launching spot at about 7am. We got the kayak, and pontoon down to the water, and started fishing away. Ryan had on a smallie beaver, and I had on my River 2 sea rover at first light. We rowed over to where the chunk rock shoreline met with the river inlet. On my 2nd cast a big bronzeback came out of the water for my topwater bait. He missed it though. The strike got me stoked out of my mind pretty fast.
After a few other casts, the sun started to creep up in the sky. I decided to take a cruise over to where my strike was. While looking in the shallow water, I could see balls of baby bass sitting on little clumps of grass. Next to the baby bass I also spotted a nice smallmouth cruising around. I immediately threw out the River 2 sea rover. The bass just looked at it. I quickly changed to a drop shot rig, and backed away from the fish. First cast with the drop shot, and whoom he swam over and ate it!
After my first bass, I called ryan over to me. We tied on a drop shot for him with the same Jackall Crosstail shad I was using. It didn’t take Ryan long to connect on our next fish. He was pretty stoked. It wasn’t a monster, but a first is a first, so here’s a picture of the little tank smallmouth.
The other cool thing was this nice rainbow trout I caught on the drop shot. The thing really gave me a run for my money. It got aerial and stoked. I think it hit my bait at least 3 times in the same spot before he ate it. Here is the picture of the nice fish.
I wound up getting a couple more bites, and landed a real tank of a smallmouth before the day was done. It was a great morning on the water. I’m looking forward to finding some more areas to fish on East Canyon. There are a few good smallmouth bass lurking these waters. The key to finding them is putting in time on the water, and locating the places they like to hang out. It was fun to go to a new place not knowing what to expect and “Kraken” a few bass.
Please, feel free to leave any comments or questions about East Canyon bass fishing. I’m stoked on your reading and sharing the blog with your friends. Hope this post will help you in your next trip on the water “Kraken” Bass!
As Always,
Stay Stoked!
Spinning Rod & Reel Set up:
Abu Garcia Spinning Reel
Shimano Convergence 7’2″ Medium Heavy Spinning Worm Rod 
6-Pound Test Fluorocarbon Fishing Line
Spiderwire Stealth Braid 300-Yard Spool Moss Green 15lbs. 
Baitcasting Rod & Reel Set up:
Spiderwire Stealth Braid 300-Yard Spool Moss Gree 30lbs. 
Sufix Invisiline Casting Flourocarbon 100-Yards Spool Size Fishing Line (Clear, 10-Pound)
Shimano Sellus Medium Heavy Worm and Jig Cast Rod 7’2″ 
Quantum Fishing Smoke 9 Bearing Baitcast Reel 7:3:1 ratio 
Baits:
Jackall Crosstail Shad
Topwater Spook
Terminal Tackle:
Drop Shot Weight 1/4 oz. 
Gamakatsu Drop Shot Hook-Pack Of 25 (Black, 2)
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6 Responses
I have never fished East canyon before. Was were you parked a good place to launch a keep kickboat?
It was a little bit of a hike, and there was a step cliff we had to walk our kayak’s down. I think if you had another person you would be fine, but plan on doing a little work to get it down where we did. Looking at the lake, I think there would be easier spots to launch from.
Where would you recommend to fish as of right now and what would you recommend fishing there?
I would head to the heads of the canyons, where any current comes through. Good luck!
Dixie hollow is another good area to fish.