My supply of white bass is running very low. I have guests coming to fish with me at Utah Lake and I would like to give them the best chance to catch some catfish. Is there anyone in Utah County who can loan me a few for bait? I'll pay you back when they start running and I can catch some.
(04-16-2020, 05:06 PM)catchinon Wrote: [ -> ]My supply of white bass is running very low. I have guests coming to fish with me at Utah Lake and I would like to give them the best chance to catch some catfish. Is there anyone in Utah County who can loan me a few for bait? I'll pay you back when they start running and I can catch some.
Rumor has it some are being caught this week... Talk to Jim (Pisco) about it... maybe he can tell you where to find a few... Jeff
I'm sure I can come up with some out of the frezer for ya. OH and I wont borrow but you can have em,
Jeff, I just got a text from him and I'm sure he'll fill me in on the details.
Mike, PM me with details for pickup. Thanks.
(04-16-2020, 05:06 PM)catchinon Wrote: [ -> ]My supply of white bass is running very low. I have guests coming to fish with me at Utah Lake and I would like to give them the best chance to catch some catfish. Is there anyone in Utah County who can loan me a few for bait? I'll pay you back when they start running and I can catch some.
I'm also on the look out for White Bass. I'm happy to catch my own just can't seem to find them yet this year. If someone knows of a general area on the Lincoln Beach side and want to let me know I would greatly appreciate it. I tried the first spring and Benjamin Slough last week and couldn't find any. Caught one nice cat on a worm by the Slough though.
(04-17-2020, 04:03 PM)mjlevie Wrote: [ -> ] (04-16-2020, 05:06 PM)catchinon Wrote: [ -> ]My supply of white bass is running very low. I have guests coming to fish with me at Utah Lake and I would like to give them the best chance to catch some catfish. Is there anyone in Utah County who can loan me a few for bait? I'll pay you back when they start running and I can catch some.
I'm also on the look out for White Bass. I'm happy to catch my own just can't seem to find them yet this year. If someone knows of a general area on the Lincoln Beach side and want to let me know I would greatly appreciate it. I tried the first spring and Benjamin Slough last week and couldn't find any. Caught one nice cat on a worm by the Slough though.
I got a few the other day, but farther north. The key seemed to be to target them right at dawn or even a bit before.
Just out here in the yak drowning some perch chunks lookin for that 32"er watching catchinon reeking in cats
![[Image: 20200417-100844.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/Kq2bZnP/20200417-100844.jpg)
(04-17-2020, 04:47 PM)Fritzfishin Wrote: [ -> ]Just out here in the yak drowning some perch chunks lookin for that 32"er watching catchinon reeking in cats
He wasnt suposed to get caught using that top shelf bait I give him,
(04-17-2020, 04:22 PM)Piscophilic Wrote: [ -> ] (04-17-2020, 04:03 PM)mjlevie Wrote: [ -> ] (04-16-2020, 05:06 PM)catchinon Wrote: [ -> ]My supply of white bass is running very low. I have guests coming to fish with me at Utah Lake and I would like to give them the best chance to catch some catfish. Is there anyone in Utah County who can loan me a few for bait? I'll pay you back when they start running and I can catch some.
I'm also on the look out for White Bass. I'm happy to catch my own just can't seem to find them yet this year. If someone knows of a general area on the Lincoln Beach side and want to let me know I would greatly appreciate it. I tried the first spring and Benjamin Slough last week and couldn't find any. Caught one nice cat on a worm by the Slough though.
I got a few the other day, but farther north. The key seemed to be to target them right at dawn or even a bit before.
Thanks for the tip. I'll let you know how it goes.
I got a tip that some are congregating and biting down in the general area of Mulberry Beach. I'm sworn to secrecy about the exact spot and probably couldn't find it anyway.
Thanks MSM1970 and Pisco for sharing your bounty.
Last year at the flotilla I killed them with fresh carp. I got to LB and left my shrimp in my motel room. So I put on a piece of night crawler and caught a 10 lb carp. With fresh carp meat I couldn't keep them off. I put half a night crawler then a 2" chunk of carp.
In all the years and hundreds of cats I have caught, I have never used white bass.
(04-21-2020, 01:45 PM)fast_randy Wrote: [ -> ]In all the years and hundreds of cats I have caught, I have never used white bass.
I keep trying white bass but it seems everything else works better.
Randy and Kent, do you mind sharing what baits you have used and what worked best? I've only been doing this catfishing for a couple of years, and haven't found anything better than wb. Shrimp and worm works okay in my experience and early on I caught some on chicken liver. They turned up their noses at perch, Little Smokies and hotdogs (as I say, in my experience). Kool-Aid/Jello/garlic chicken worked fine.
I hope you two can get down here and join one of our mini-flotillas soon. May's a coming. I saw 61° water yesterday.
Fresh peeled shrimp is all the Mortensen brothers would use and all I used for years. I think it might have been Doug Miller that told me about adding half a night crawler. But me and my friend Kelly came up with it. Number 2 bait hook, thread half a worm up onto the line, then the shrimp. And then we spray shad or shrimp scent on it.
(04-22-2020, 12:17 PM)catchinon Wrote: [ -> ]Randy and Kent, do you mind sharing what baits you have used and what worked best? I've only been doing this catfishing for a couple of years, and haven't find anything better than wb. Shrimp and worm works okay in my experience and early on I caught some on chicken liver. They turned up their noses at perch, Little Smokies and hotdogs (as I say, in my experience). Kool-Aid/Jello/garlic chicken worked fine.
I hope you two can get down here and join one of our mini-flotillas soon. May's a coming. I saw 61° water yesterday.
I'm not Randy or Kent but I will chip in on this question. Over the years I have either fished or observed almost any kind of bait imaginable being fished for catfish. Almost ANYTHING will work...sometime. And I don't remember ANYTHING that has not caught catfish at one time or another.
Most cat chasers tend to lean towards using only two or three kinds of bait...mostly based on individual trips on which those baits produced well. But anyone who arbitrarily excludes any particular bait...or who uses only one bait all year round under all conditions...is probably limiting themselves to only occasional banner days. On Utah lake their are cycles of water temperature, food availability, individual fish food preferences, etc. And I have proven to myself that some baits...on some days...will demonstrably outfish all other baits. That's why it is usually wise to carry at least a couple of different baits and give them a good chance for the fish to tell you what they prefer.
My "holy trinity" on Utah Lake are chub minnows, white bass (small whole ones or larger chunked or stripped ones) and carp meat...either cut in small strips or big chunks. But I also do well on baby carp and on yellow perch...whole small ones or cut up larger ones. However, I catch a lot of cats...and some pretty good sized ones...on small jigs tipped with worm. And I used to use shrimp a lot...along with anchovies, mackerel or other odiferous salt water fish. It's all good. But I have gradually evolved (devolved) into preferring the baits most natural to Utah Lake cats.
Here is a section carved out of my larger writeup on UL catfish...on CATFISH BAITS. Might help give you some ideas. As if any cat chaser needed new ideas.
Thanks TD. Love your posts. I would never claim to be anyway close to your class of fisherman. You do have me ready to try some bigger hooks. The bad thing about a # 2 bait hook is I end up breaking a lot of them trying to get them out of cats mouth.
(04-22-2020, 01:57 PM)fast_randy Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks TD. Love your posts. I would never claim to be anyway close to your class of fisherman. You do have me ready to try some bigger hooks. The bad thing about a # 2 bait hook is I end up breaking a lot of them trying to get them out of cats mouth.
I have been using #2 bait hooks for years. And I HAVE successfully hooked and landed some bodacious kitties on them. But as you pointed out, they are not strong enough for that kind of fishing. The other downside is that they are easily swallowed so you end up cutting a lot of them off and retying.
Since I started making and using more fligs I have also graduated to using bigger hooks along with bigger baits...and leaving the point exposed for better hookups on the strike. I can truthfully claim that I miss very few fish that chomp the baited fligs. And the larger hooks almost always end up in the corners of the fishes' mouths...just like circle hooks. I think you will love the way they work. Here are some pics of the big 5/0 super strong and super sharp Matzuos I am using now for Gorilla fligs. So far this year I am almost 100% on hookups to hits...and even though the fish wear off the red anodized finish they do not destroy the hooks. Let me know when you definitely decide to come down and we can get together for a fab course. If you will be down next Saturday, I can meet you at LB.
![[Image: BIG-RED-HOOKS.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/LrKJTFC/BIG-RED-HOOKS.jpg)
![[Image: BIG-RED-GORILLAS.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/WPm2f0m/BIG-RED-GORILLAS.jpg)
![[Image: EYES-FRONT.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/RYkL42J/EYES-FRONT.jpg)
I've been waiting for 4 days of good weather for tent camping. And my best friend Kelly needs a Sunday because he works so much and wants to meet me. However, I have a 15' camper that I think I will bring down. I can leave it in storage in Springville when I come back. My problem is I can't bring my boat and camper. So I'm thinking about bringing camper Friday. Craig, do you have room for me and my dog on your boat Friday or Saturday?
I would put a hitch on my camp trailer for my boat but I only have a little Toyota.