Put the boat in at Cutler at 7:30 tonight heading out after big catfish. Used worms and cut bait (carp meat) had my first fish in the boat at 8:00pm on the cut bait. After that all heck broke loose I had a fish biting on both poles all night. I landed three all around 24-26 inches but had two fish on that I lost that would have been in the 30s, both broke my line. Only ended because I have work tomorrow. All in all a great night with lots of action. The fish seemed to like the frozen carp more than the worms as well. Can’t wait to get back out again!
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I was there as well and the cats were in last night for sure... I got one and lost a few hits including one that broke my braid on a wild hook set... Had tickets to EndGame last night so had to quit at 7:00 it was really hard to leave... Did help that I ran out of cutbait about the same time... Congrats... PS.. you ought to go to the Utah contest board and enter our cat contest and get a chance at some prizes... Later J
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Many years ago I had some great cat fishing at the canals right under the dam. I would guess with security changing that you can get to those spots any more?
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It looks like the upper canal is not accessible anymore. The spot down the canal is not as good. :-(
Any other recommended spots?
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Welcome to BFT, and it sounds like you must be from around my neck of the woods or swamp anyway... As far as cat spots go this time of year is a transition time as the cats move from the shallows of spring into the post spawn areas... I'm still working on where exactly that is, but seems to me that the cats hang out in deeper, cooler water areas during the days and move into the shallows to feed at night... I haven't been out lately, but hope to start chasing the cats again soon... hopefully with a little time on the water I'll find them again... Good luck and thanks for joining BFT... Later J
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When you say that you are fishing Cutler, are you launching by Newton or somewhere else? If you are at Newton, do you usually go toward the dam or do you head South? My Tracker has a 28 inch draft to bottom of skeg. Is the area too shallow for my boat to get around?
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Hey Burley, I fish out of the Benson Marina most of the time, but I have fished out of the Newton or Cache Junction marina as well. Cutler in general is shallow and a 28" draft will limit you. I'm assuming that is from water line to tip of prop at bottom of stroke... If that is the case then you can probably fish it okay, but will need to be careful in getting launched and out into the deeper areas. If you fish Cache Jnct.. I'd head west towards the dam, it's deeper that direction. If you go east with the current low levels you will likely end up on the mud. One good thing about Cutler is its mud not rocks so most of the time you only shine your prop, not destroy it.. However, I have put a few nasty gouges over the years of finding hard stuff.. Since I don't fish the CJ very often, I can't give much for tips down there. Out of the Benson Marina, I'd head north along the west side of the reservoir. You can follow it north to where the Bear River joins in and that's where I tend to fish more this time of year... Spring the main reservoir is pretty good, but now I have to go deeper to find the cats... If you're out here when I'm around I'd be glad to show you some navigation tips and point out a few spots that have been known to hold cats in the past.. Let me know... and Good luck.. Jeff
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Thanks Jeff for the great information and the kind offer. I just may drag my boat over the hill and tip toe around the area. Good opportunity to use my contour mapping feature on my new Garmin. Will be interesting to see how it does in extra shallow waters. I will keep a high trim and go slow.
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Sounds like you know what to do in shallow water. I was hoping to get out this weekend but looks like I need to cut my hay so I may not make it. Good luck. Jeff
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I've seen just how shallow you guys run. [
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I'd be interested in hearing how your mapping goes if you make it out.
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I made a post of the mapping of Willard's island on Gear & Gadgets. It was mapping about a 3:1 ratio or 75 ft in 25 ft water. So in 3-5 feet of water it may only reach out 15 feet. It would take a lot of passes to make a complete map of any sort, but I will see. Who knows, it may reach out farther. hope, hope, hope
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