05-18-2021, 06:44 PM
ES: Pre-dawn arrival at the Lincoln ramp was at about 4:30. Water temp was 63 in the harbor and channel depth about 3.5 feet. First got some whites for bait and then fished shallow from 1.2 to 3 FOW. Mostly strolled, but added in a little still fishing along the reeds. I averaged 3 cats/hour all ranging from 19 to 27.5 inches. Caught a carp out of a pod, so more than half the fish came on fresh carp and less on WB. At about 6:30 P.M. I pulled the baits and got into a decent NW wind heading back to the harbor. A fun, solid day, but I probably stayed longer than I should have. Next day my arms were sore from all the tugging. They are getting back in shape though.
FS: I got out and had some fun at Utah Lake on Saturday. Julie was out of town so I got up really early and headed out of Lincoln and up into the Goshen Bay Arm. The plan was to stop at a rocky spot that hosts some of the spring fling for whites and get some bait well before daylight and then hit the shallows for cats early enough to maybe find some big ones still cruising from the night of feeding.
I have caught lots of whites in the dark so it seemed like a solid plan. Maybe they don’t show up to spawn in the dark much. I spent more than an hour in the dark tossing jigs with only one tap, and I missed it. Just as it was getting good and light, (and I was about to give up and use the frozen bait I had brought) I caught one and then 6 more in the next 20 minutes. Note to self, get another hour of sleep next time.
With plenty of bait I headed farther south and started dragging WB in the goose point area. The first cat hit about 10 minutes later, roughly 6:30 A.M. A two foot cookie cutter that would seemingly set the tone for the day. The water temp was still about 63 degrees and the cats had plenty of fight. I released 4 in the first hour and they were all 24 to 26 inches. On the day, two thirds of the fish were 5 pounds or more and at least a third were 6 to 9 pounds…lots of tugging and fun.
I had dragged a jig in the shallows a week ago and concluded that the whites had left for the frolic in the harder bottom areas, since several hours had produced not even a bump. Today I was seeing lots of carp pods and I wondered if the lack of whites in the area would make the cats key on carp more. I switched one rig from a cat rod to an ultralight with a bobber and two small worm chunks about a foot under it. On the third pod I cast to (not to be
with a podcast) the bobber went under and the battle was on. I was hoping for a smallish carp, but it was a more typical 5 pounder. They are great fun on light tackle and as luck would have it this one was somehow hooked near the tail. 5 minutes of tugging and it was netted, then dispatched and rendered into chunks of bait.
I have rarely caught more or even as many cats on carp as WB, but today was different. The next 3 fish all hit the carp and I was just about to switch over completely when I got a 27.5 inch cat on a WB head. That was the biggest of the trip and weighed in at just over 9 pounds. I stayed with mixed baits the rest of the trip, but the carp meat was a better producer for total numbers.
It was an interesting wind day. Several times the wind was calm and then it blew whitecaps. First out of the south and then out of the north, then calm again. The last wave came as I was heading for the ramp, it was NW and strong enough to build decent waves. I was glad to get back to the ramp just as they got big enough that I had to slow down to keep from getting battered and drenched.
By mid-afternoon the water had reached nearly 70 degrees in the shallows and some of the cats were going air born when they felt the sting of the hook. I love this time of year in the shallows. Almost reminds me of steelhead back in Oregon.
The fish came in little waves at a rate of 4 or so an hour all through the day until about 4:30 P.M. From then until my 6:30 departure the lake seemed barren. I mostly dragged baits at 0.7 to 1 MPH, but twice when the wind was too high I anchored and tossed baits to the reed edge. The fish there seemed just as cooperative as the ones I found dragging and were more likely to catch some air when first hooked.
There were lots of signs that spring is giving way. Some carp frolicking in the shallows, a few redwing blackbirds singing, a pair of blue herons cruising together and I saw half a dozen waves of Canada geese coming by headed farther north. Prime catfish time is almost here!
![[Image: 6-quick-whites.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/QvnZMNw/6-quick-whites.jpg)
![[Image: 27.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/hMVTFbz/27.jpg)
![[Image: Clown.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/ckJtMYg/Clown.jpg)
![[Image: Darkest.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/tKJtMxy/Darkest.jpg)
![[Image: Going-North.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/jwTFYg5/Going-North.jpg)
![[Image: More-Bait.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/7n5QVy6/More-Bait.jpg)
FS: I got out and had some fun at Utah Lake on Saturday. Julie was out of town so I got up really early and headed out of Lincoln and up into the Goshen Bay Arm. The plan was to stop at a rocky spot that hosts some of the spring fling for whites and get some bait well before daylight and then hit the shallows for cats early enough to maybe find some big ones still cruising from the night of feeding.
I have caught lots of whites in the dark so it seemed like a solid plan. Maybe they don’t show up to spawn in the dark much. I spent more than an hour in the dark tossing jigs with only one tap, and I missed it. Just as it was getting good and light, (and I was about to give up and use the frozen bait I had brought) I caught one and then 6 more in the next 20 minutes. Note to self, get another hour of sleep next time.
With plenty of bait I headed farther south and started dragging WB in the goose point area. The first cat hit about 10 minutes later, roughly 6:30 A.M. A two foot cookie cutter that would seemingly set the tone for the day. The water temp was still about 63 degrees and the cats had plenty of fight. I released 4 in the first hour and they were all 24 to 26 inches. On the day, two thirds of the fish were 5 pounds or more and at least a third were 6 to 9 pounds…lots of tugging and fun.
I had dragged a jig in the shallows a week ago and concluded that the whites had left for the frolic in the harder bottom areas, since several hours had produced not even a bump. Today I was seeing lots of carp pods and I wondered if the lack of whites in the area would make the cats key on carp more. I switched one rig from a cat rod to an ultralight with a bobber and two small worm chunks about a foot under it. On the third pod I cast to (not to be
with a podcast) the bobber went under and the battle was on. I was hoping for a smallish carp, but it was a more typical 5 pounder. They are great fun on light tackle and as luck would have it this one was somehow hooked near the tail. 5 minutes of tugging and it was netted, then dispatched and rendered into chunks of bait. I have rarely caught more or even as many cats on carp as WB, but today was different. The next 3 fish all hit the carp and I was just about to switch over completely when I got a 27.5 inch cat on a WB head. That was the biggest of the trip and weighed in at just over 9 pounds. I stayed with mixed baits the rest of the trip, but the carp meat was a better producer for total numbers.
It was an interesting wind day. Several times the wind was calm and then it blew whitecaps. First out of the south and then out of the north, then calm again. The last wave came as I was heading for the ramp, it was NW and strong enough to build decent waves. I was glad to get back to the ramp just as they got big enough that I had to slow down to keep from getting battered and drenched.
By mid-afternoon the water had reached nearly 70 degrees in the shallows and some of the cats were going air born when they felt the sting of the hook. I love this time of year in the shallows. Almost reminds me of steelhead back in Oregon.
The fish came in little waves at a rate of 4 or so an hour all through the day until about 4:30 P.M. From then until my 6:30 departure the lake seemed barren. I mostly dragged baits at 0.7 to 1 MPH, but twice when the wind was too high I anchored and tossed baits to the reed edge. The fish there seemed just as cooperative as the ones I found dragging and were more likely to catch some air when first hooked.
There were lots of signs that spring is giving way. Some carp frolicking in the shallows, a few redwing blackbirds singing, a pair of blue herons cruising together and I saw half a dozen waves of Canada geese coming by headed farther north. Prime catfish time is almost here!
about them!