Fishing Forum

Dave and I joined the floatilla at Lincoln Beach on Friday Morning. We got there about 6 and launched the boat. The party wasn’t supposed to start until 7ish so we tied up to the dock and fished a little while we waited. We tossed a grub a little and put out a couple of rods baited with WB meat and one with corn. I’m out of carp for bait and we could see a few rolling in the pre-dawn light. It looked to be a beautiful morning, but there was a strong smell of skunk around the dock, literally.

Another boat arrived about 6:30 and I thought it might be Mooseman75, but it wasn’t. Those guys headed over off the point to chase walleye. Next to arrive was ice_sled and while he was rigging, TubeDude got there. We went over to say hi and TubeDude gave me a sample of his famous lures. What a guy!

When we got done visiting and back to the boat one of my bait rods had a mud cat on it. We could still smell the skunk, but at least it wasn’t me or my boat!

The water temp in the channel was 52 degrees but even in the dim light the water looked really murky. We decided to head to the island and troll around the rocky areas for the first hour or so to make the mandatory attempt at a walleye. We each had one rod rigged walleye-ish and one for cats. I had two rods already rigged with large flaits from my last trip so I loaned Dave the large Fire Tiger Flig (FTF) that TD had given me earlier. He sure makes some purty lures!

The water temp had dropped to 46 out in the main lake and like last time visibility was almost zero. After an hour of nothing we moved off the rocky bottom and out into 9 FOW. Still nothing until we got to the area where I had gotten 2 cats last trip. I told Dave “we should get a hit any minute,” and 30 seconds later Dave’s Flig rod went bendo. He grabbed the rod out of the holder and said something about “you really called it!” We all get lucky once in a while. The first kitty was a nice 26 incher. I reminded Dave that I tried to get him to sign up for the contest yeserday, but he hadn’t.

I marked the spot with the i-Pilot (I finally figured out how to save a spot on it) and we kept heading North. We went about half a mlie and then turned around and trolled back to the spot. Just after the u turn, Dave had a fish take a bare chunk of WB and when he set the hook the line broke. The rod never bent very far during the set so he figured either there must have been a problem with the knot, or it was something really toothy on the other end. He prefers the toothy version.

We were just starting to make another pass when TD and BLK arrived. I got TD on the radio and told him Dave really liked his FTF and he told me had more, but the price had just gone up!

100’ from “the spot” Dave went bendo again, and again it was the TD’s FTF that got the fish. Those lures are eye catching to the cats too! This cat was a fat one about 23 inches. Another couple of passes and Dave got another cat, about 21 inches, and again it was the FTF that got hit.

I got TD on the radio and told him Dave now had 3 cats on the FTF and he said the price was going up even faster now! At the same time Dave told me I needed to step up my game a notch or two if I was going to get a contest fish today. Then Dave hooked another fish on the bare WB. This one was a cannibal and now we had fresh bait for the next trip.

I had to work in the afternoon so Dave and I planned to stop fishing at 11:30. Dave said it was: “time I got a fish!” I looked at my phone and said: “well, I’ve got 10 minutes.” While I was filleting the WB for future cut bait, I remembered Dave’s “step up your game” comment and while he wasn’t looking I cut a piece of fresh WB and freshened the bait on my flait rod.

9 minutes later it happened. Dave’s bare WB rod got hit again! He said it felt like a heavy fish, so we pulled the other rod on that side of the boat. He commented that it wasn’t running much and it started rolling on the surface. I saw the big open mouth as it rolled and the then the tail a ways away and said: “that fish could be close to 30.” “No way,” he said, “It isn’t fighting much at all.” I told him it was one of those skinny big headed males and almost every time I caught one of them I thought they were foul hooked: lots of eight, but not much fight. We got the fish in the net, it wasn’t foul hooked and it was right at 28”

I think Dave is going to take my advice now, and sign up for the contest. A 26 and a 28 on your first outing would have looked nice. I hope he does sign up, because that would mean next time I can catch the longest of the trip!
When we got to the ramp, ice-sled was there loading his “little” boat. We both got to visit with him and he had done better that we had.

It was a decent morning for us, especially since the water had cooled and muddied in the last day or so. (I’m averaging good for Dave and almost a skunk for me to come up with “decent”). BTW, the last time I got out-fished 5 to 1 in my own boat, it was TubeDude doing the damage. So, if you want to have a good trip, at my expense, think about going out on my boat with me[]

Mostly it was good to be on the water and great to get to visit with some fellow BFT guys.
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Nice report Pisco. I went back out today for a couple of hours. Doubled my catch from yesterday -- two. Caught them on the east side of the island where you and Dave were fishing. Water was right at 50 degrees all day.

Bad part was that i managed to hit the rock arm that shoots out from the island. I knew where it was and thought i was out far enough to clear it but crunch, crunch. Probably one of the worst sounds you will ever hear. Fortunately i was going very slow and only roughed up my prop a bit. Could have been worse.

Glad you and Dave did well... maybe should say glad Dave did well. I've known Mr. Skunk a few times myself but i have never known TD to be skunked in my boat. He probably won't fish with me again.

It can only get better now so looking forward to next trip... in a week or so.

BLK
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Thanks BLK, I did the same thing you did yesterday. I had an issue with my power trim/tilt and couldn't get the motor back down to start home. I spent 5 or 10 minutes working on it. I finally "hot wired" it and got the motor back down. During the time I was working on it, the boat drifted over the point. I started it up and put it in gear and it made that awful noise you described. Same result, just some dings in the prop.

Since I had been working on things I was wondering what I had messed up and Dave says. "Could you have hit a rock?"

I looked back toward the island and yep, I was over the point. I've often thought there should be a marker at the end of that, but somebody would just steal it trying to keep "their" secret spot a secret[]

Warmer is coming!
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[#0000FF]Good for Dave. Glad the trinkets worked for him.

By the way, that 28 incher is a female. But anytime the water is much below about 60 degrees some cats just don't have a lot of kick in them. The fish BLK caught on Friday made one feeble roll in the line and came in backwards. Hardly gave a flop.

Not sure if you have ever seen a pic of what Bird Island looks like at low water. Here's a good one to show how that long narrow finger reaches out to the southeast. It has given a lot of props more than the "finger".
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Pat,
I have heard that finger is an old haul road to Bird Island.
Do you know if there is any truth to that?
Happy Easter, Shane
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Thanks for the pictures. I have measured that point using the ruler function in google earth on those historic images and still when the water is high it is just hard for me to judge the distance[]

So are the old males always dark, meaning year around? I have seen them like that around the spawn, but this early I thought they would not necessarily be grey. The pictures didn't show it but it had the wide flat head that I took as a male.
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[quote SBennett]Pat,
I have heard that finger is an old haul road to Bird Island.
Do you know if there is any truth to that?
Happy Easter, Shane[/quote]

[#0000FF]Doubtful. The island is is composed of the same thermal water deposit rock found in several areas around the lake. And that long finger is just an extension of the natural deposit...dropping off and disappearing at the end into deeper water.

Nowhere in any of the old historical writings and photos I have seen is there any mention of any commercial uses of Bird Island. However, it was popular as a destination for travelers on the lake excursion boats that used to go out of Provo Harbor.

Happy Easter back atcha.
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I had wondered he same thing about that point. Not because I had heard it, but because I have parked there during low water years and the rock was very small and very uniform in size, like road bed material. It just didn't seem like a natural formation.

However, if Pat has never run across any historical information supporting that idea, I suspect there is none.
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[quote Piscophilic] So are the old males always dark, meaning year around? I have seen them like that around the spawn, but this early I thought they would not necessarily be grey. The pictures didn't show it but it had the wide flat head that I took as a male.[/quote]

[#0000ff]The ones in my pics are from spawn time. Their dark colors are more pronounced then...as are the big lips. But they are almost always a darker grey than the females...and the heads are noticeably wider than the bodies. Most females have heads not noticeably wider than their bodies. But...to confuse the matter...some females darken up a bit during the spawn too...and may be with males by color alone...even if their heads are narrower.

Here is a pic I took showing both female and male together...during the same time period. The female is on the left...an olive color. The male a grey color on the right. There is not as much difference in head size and shape as there will be when the fish get larger. Older males get much skinnier in body and wider of head...and really ugly.

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Pat, thanks for posting the photo of the Island finger. 2004 was the year I bought my first boat. Made several trips that summer to UL, and on one trip was anchored off of that finger at about the middle and saw and heard a power squadron representative coming full bore. My fishing partner at the time knew where that finger was (thats how I was able to avoid it) and he made the comment at the time " that idiot is about to lose his prop and maybe the bottom of his boat" seconds later his statement bore proof....the ski boat hit that finger and we could hear it scrape the bottom of his hull, and then the nasty crunching noise of his prop trying to turn the rock into gravel. That boat stalled, then motor started smoking, and he limped back towards Provo marina. I started to pull anchor and go to his aide, but my partner said, "no, he isn't sinking, and he is still moving under his own power, sort of. This will be a lesson he wont forget to soon" And we were boating nice cats with almost every cast, so we stayed put.
Last year I bought a new GPS and tried several times to mark that finger (one of those times was when we saw you and BLK) I have a "safe depth zone" marked on my new GPS around the north, west, and south side of the island. But not that south-east section. So you photo really helps. [][fishon]
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[#0000FF]You are welcome. Hope you are able to get in more trips to our murky water...and that you get your rods bent badly.

If you have Google earth, there is a historical button on the top you can go to any time in the past. Find Bird Island and then keep changing the dates until you find a year that shows the finger exposed. Now you can get GPS numbers right off the screen. But it is a good idea to check them out in your boat later...with the main motor up and using the electric.
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