08-07-2019, 03:49 PM
ES: Julie and I hit the Utah Lake State Park again Aug 6. We fished from 6:15 to 10:30 A.M. and averaged just over 6 cats per hour. The fish ranged from 22 to 28 inches and all came on cut white bass dragged along the bottom with FLATS. The water and the air were 75 degrees when we started and by quitting time they had risen to 79 and 85 respectively. Another great morning on the lake with some good company and learning. Winds were almost calm until around 7:30 and then picked up to 5-10 out of the south.
FS: Julie’s sister is coming into town Wed Aug 7 and that meant our usual Thursday or Friday trip would not work. On Monday afternoon I asked her if she would rather I stayed home and helped with the visitors or found a buddy to go fishing with this week. She surprised me by saying “I can go on Tuesday.” I said: “That’s tomorrow, will that really work?” well it did. My only regret about going Tuesday was that I had ordered some size 0 spin n glo’s (the largest they make) to try and they were supposed to arrive on Tuesday. When I got home from work Monday, the new floats were in the mailbox. Two pleasant surprises and the fishing hadn’t even started yet.
We got to the lake a bit after 6. It was still almost dark and there were no trailers in the parking lot. There was one truck on the north dike and as we were unloading the boat another one drove out on the south one. The plan was to waste little time in the marina since we had been doing well on thawed white bass last time and we had gotten as many whites in the open lake as in the marina the last few trips. We trolled out to the jaws at 1.5 MPH dragging a flicker shad and a crawler harness. I tossed the silver spinner at any surface activity I saw on the way out. We actually got 3 whites on the spinner, but nothing on the other two baits.
Turning left out of the marina we went to where we had ended our last outing. We had finished near the reeds last week so this week we continued south along the reeds for the first 2 hours and then headed farther out for the last two. The results were similar to last week, but the fish came mostly one at a time in shallow water and it little flurries out deeper. It was really good fishing, but not quite as fast as last week.
We picked up out first cat at 6:15. A nice two-footer that was about the biggest cat we got in shallow. About half an hour later we had boated 4 and we saw a boat come out that appeared to be heading to the island. When they got due west of us they stopped and started fishing. After a few minutes it was clear that they had chosen to stay in deeper water and let the light southerly wind drift them northward. I assume they did well, but never got to talk to them.
The cats came mostly one at a time but steadily until about 8:30. Then, as planned, we turned the boat west intending to go out to 10 FOW and then continue south. The was no dead zone between 5 and 9 FOW like last week and when we got to 8’ we got a flurry. A double and then a third fish hit just as the second one was landed. Two of the three were over 26” so we decided to maintain that depth and turn south.
The last two hours were similar to last week. We had two doubles and no triples, but the fish still seemed to come in groups and were clearly larger than the ones in shallow. About half were over 25, with 5 over 27 and one over 28. Yes, the invisible wall at 27.5” now has a crack in it! Next time I hope the wall: “comes a tumble-in down.”
Whenever we ran into several groups of carp on the surface, and had just boated a cat, I would cast the silver spinner. I got 3 or 4 more whites that way. They seemed to prefer the spinner moving quite fast and near the surface. I got several hits almost the instant it hit the water.
A couple of good news observations this week. First, I used the “gorilla glo’s” I had just bought. They are huge compared to the first inline floats I tried and I worried they might be too big and/or bright. Not today, the cats loved them, or at least they caught as many cats as the smaller ones. Second, after seeing Fritzfishin’s post about his 12/0 Team Catfish hook and how he placed it, I re-tried a larger bait/hook combination with a tweak to how I placed the hook. This week the fish that hit that rig just stuck! I think our ratio of hits to hook ups was as the best I’ve seen on a trip with double digit fish boated.
Now for the 30-inch barrier!
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FS: Julie’s sister is coming into town Wed Aug 7 and that meant our usual Thursday or Friday trip would not work. On Monday afternoon I asked her if she would rather I stayed home and helped with the visitors or found a buddy to go fishing with this week. She surprised me by saying “I can go on Tuesday.” I said: “That’s tomorrow, will that really work?” well it did. My only regret about going Tuesday was that I had ordered some size 0 spin n glo’s (the largest they make) to try and they were supposed to arrive on Tuesday. When I got home from work Monday, the new floats were in the mailbox. Two pleasant surprises and the fishing hadn’t even started yet.
We got to the lake a bit after 6. It was still almost dark and there were no trailers in the parking lot. There was one truck on the north dike and as we were unloading the boat another one drove out on the south one. The plan was to waste little time in the marina since we had been doing well on thawed white bass last time and we had gotten as many whites in the open lake as in the marina the last few trips. We trolled out to the jaws at 1.5 MPH dragging a flicker shad and a crawler harness. I tossed the silver spinner at any surface activity I saw on the way out. We actually got 3 whites on the spinner, but nothing on the other two baits.
Turning left out of the marina we went to where we had ended our last outing. We had finished near the reeds last week so this week we continued south along the reeds for the first 2 hours and then headed farther out for the last two. The results were similar to last week, but the fish came mostly one at a time in shallow water and it little flurries out deeper. It was really good fishing, but not quite as fast as last week.
We picked up out first cat at 6:15. A nice two-footer that was about the biggest cat we got in shallow. About half an hour later we had boated 4 and we saw a boat come out that appeared to be heading to the island. When they got due west of us they stopped and started fishing. After a few minutes it was clear that they had chosen to stay in deeper water and let the light southerly wind drift them northward. I assume they did well, but never got to talk to them.
The cats came mostly one at a time but steadily until about 8:30. Then, as planned, we turned the boat west intending to go out to 10 FOW and then continue south. The was no dead zone between 5 and 9 FOW like last week and when we got to 8’ we got a flurry. A double and then a third fish hit just as the second one was landed. Two of the three were over 26” so we decided to maintain that depth and turn south.
The last two hours were similar to last week. We had two doubles and no triples, but the fish still seemed to come in groups and were clearly larger than the ones in shallow. About half were over 25, with 5 over 27 and one over 28. Yes, the invisible wall at 27.5” now has a crack in it! Next time I hope the wall: “comes a tumble-in down.”
Whenever we ran into several groups of carp on the surface, and had just boated a cat, I would cast the silver spinner. I got 3 or 4 more whites that way. They seemed to prefer the spinner moving quite fast and near the surface. I got several hits almost the instant it hit the water.
A couple of good news observations this week. First, I used the “gorilla glo’s” I had just bought. They are huge compared to the first inline floats I tried and I worried they might be too big and/or bright. Not today, the cats loved them, or at least they caught as many cats as the smaller ones. Second, after seeing Fritzfishin’s post about his 12/0 Team Catfish hook and how he placed it, I re-tried a larger bait/hook combination with a tweak to how I placed the hook. This week the fish that hit that rig just stuck! I think our ratio of hits to hook ups was as the best I’ve seen on a trip with double digit fish boated.
Now for the 30-inch barrier!
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