Fishing Forum

Saturday morning we got a late start and didnt get launched from LB harbor until about 10.am. By 10.20am we'd dropped anchor east of the harbor and had a 5lb kittie in the basket. By noon there were 3 more eatin' sized channels in the basket and 3M had been broken off once. But the bite dropped off so we pulled anchor and headed east again. Again we ran into the common stuff after dropping anchor south/west of sandy beach but we'd turned nothing of size. About 2pm we headed back to the west and was able to tossed a couple more eaters in the basket (we like to keep them under 5lbs) before pulling up for the day and loading the dinker. I was mildly surprise and pleased at the lacking of Muds bites Saturday tho'. I think we only got pestered a dozen.
Sunday we set out from LBH at 7.30am. and our first stop was Conlink witch we arrived at about 8am. 2 small 18" kitties right off the bat but the kittie bite dropped off the map buy 10am. but the Muddy bite was hot and strong and they drove us nuts so we pulled up and moved farther west. After boating one more keeper channel and tossing back another dozen muds we noted the Carp had started to get real active. They were having a big party in the mud flats so we slipped in and used the boat nets to rounded up a few to replentish our somewhat dwindling supply of kittie chow. By 11.30am we were once again prowling the edge of the reed lines for signs of K's and by early afternoon the bite picked up on the eatin' size.
So after tossing a couple back Saturday and with the 5 we kept for the basket Sunday we ended up with 11 eaters for our efforts Saturday and Sunday. By 4pm Sunday the W was kickin' up and waves were messing with us and we'd put quite a few hours in our K hunt over two days, so we headed in and load the old Kittie Huntress. Our baits of choice over the two days was crawlers, shrimp, Perch meat and/or Carp meat. Saturday our bite came best on Perch or Crawler. Sunday the kittie bite started out good on shrimp then fell of the map but slightly aged Carp or a combo of Carp and Perch meats turn the trick in the afternoon.. Oh yeah, some guy who shall remain nameless, got a wee bit horsy about 3pm Sunday and pulled out of a Toad. Man I know better than to pull that stunt but I thought I had it hooked up better than that!

I've been asked what I perfer to use as far as equipment and tackle while chasing K's (large Cats). After prowling the Shorelines of Utah Lake for well over 40 years I'm not the type to plays far with K's. They will spoon the common 8lb test off a reel in a shot. And if they reach the reeds it can be a pure war to pull them up and you'll loose the battle 9 times out of 10 while using the common equipment (or what I concider light gear while Cat fishing). Truth is I use an Ugly stick Cat loaded with 30lb Spider Wire on a large coffee grinder. I run 17lb P-Line leader attached to 4/0 Eagle Crawler Cat hooks.. Why do I use a large open face reel rather than a bait caster? It simply, I cant cast a bait caster worth crap, LOL!
Some might claim its over kill to use such heavy equipment while chasing kitties in Utah lake but I promise you that more folks have been broken off by real toad K's in Utah lake than they, or you, might believe.. Oh and btw, I also got broke off once Sunday about 1pm while using my everyday rig as my second pole. [crazy]
The K hunt will contnue, we're a little over due for that picture takers!
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Thats right Pat, darn those old Kitties that have forgotten to take the bait slightly deeper when a toad hunter is tryin' to take em for a ride. But you can count on me to do my part to tune em up a little. Whats more, if they cant hang on for the ride to the boat there'll be no free meals from me. Nope, Nope, it aint happenin' so that'll teach em..[laugh]
"Frustercatin' ". Yeah at times but we just need to keep on the tails a little more so they stop back slidin' into their bad habits.[]
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[cool]Hey Don, you sound like one serious K hunter. I was just curious, since you've been huntin' them for 40 years at Utah Lake, I was just wondering what your biggest (landed) is so far? They say the state record is like 31 pounds, I believe. Have you come close to that? I've heard that there are still fish that size (and maybe bigger) in there. I'm still a rookie at the K huntin, but last year I got an 8 pounder, but I know compared to some of the ones you guys have caught that's probably just a pup. I look forward to beating that personal K record of mine this year!
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Hi Geoff
I'm certainly not what I would consider and expert 'Big Cat hunter' but over the years I have learned a few things and caught my share of dandies I suppose. And I suppose I do take my K hunting a little more serious than the average person. But thats due to the fact that, as its been stated by others, pound for pound I too have yet to find a fish species in the state of Ut that will out pull or fight a Channel Cat. And in all honesty I have to admit its been an off and on, love/hate, relationship between K's and me but for the best part of 40 years I've been chasin' K's at utah Lake.
As kids a bunch of us boys would talk one of our parents into hauling us down and dropping us off at the lake with a tent, sleeping bags, a little grub, a sack of shrimp, etc.... My first (boys only) camping trips took place at UL in the spring 1964 as I was about to turn 10. Once the camping/fishing bug had really gotten under our skins our constant hounding, getting under their feet, whining we were bored, and alround pestering usually made it an easy choice for the folks to suttle us out to LB and dump us out, lol.
Land locked however we caught little in those days other than muds and the occational kitty. But we sure admired the hauls of kitties the boats brought back from the island and so on..
Then by total accident we discoverd the use of carp meat after running out of shrimp one weekend. And as they say, the rest is history..
As far as the "state record", well, theres a few of us old K hunters that know 31 or 32lb is somewhat shy of whats been actually taken from UL.. I took my largest K (by way of a fishing rod) from UL in May 1975. It turned out to be a big black fat ugly headed male that would visit the area I was fishing on what seem to be a daily bases. The water depth of that honey hole was only knee deep at the time and every afternoon we'd watch its wake as it came in, sucked up our offerings, then snapped lines as it left.
After being convinced a second time that the standard rig wouldnt hold it I ran out and got seriously set up for what I hoped would be its return visit. The following day about 5 in the afternoon I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up and got goose bumps pop up on my arms as I watched its wake slow circle out near our baits. After setting the hook it peeled line like crazy but the 20lb test held it from braking loose. The battle went on for about 12-15 minutes until it managed to wrap itself around dead fall. In those days there was a lot of large spiny bushes that grew lake side and the south end between LB and Sandy beach was loaded with the dead fall of those spiny bushes/trees and the K's loved to haunt those areas. Anyways, It ended up wrapped around a large dead stump with a few branches so I waded out to get it. Mind you the water we were fish was only knee deep but it was waist deep were the stump and K was. After feeling around for the K, and touching it, it came to the surface fast head first, mouth open. Not wanting to loose it I made a fast choice, and really stupid mistake, of reaching down and grabbing it by the lower jaw with my hand in its mouth and my thumb under its jaw. As it closed down I managed to get my index and bird finger free but it clamped down like a vice on my right ring and little fingers! Screaming like a little girl I cut the line and hurried back with the K in tow, it was holding fast to me, not me to it and man that hurt!! Once back to shore I laid it flat on the ground and held it as still as I could while my sister used a piece of old wooden fence post to kill it by busting it across the skull a few times. In the end the K was mine but it cost me all of the flesh of upper knuckle on my right ring finger as well as busting the lowest joint of my right ring finger. Needless to say I quickly found a huge respect for the power K's have in those jaws and it was at that point that my kittie fishing became a love/hate relationship, but my true K hunting was born. I dont know its "true weight" but at the old IGA market in SP Fork it tipped the scale at what I recall to be 31 altho' some claim it was 32. And as close as I can recall it was 44 or 45 inches long. What I recall most about it however was it was very greasy and since that time I've never kept one over 5lbs.
A few years later however, and while I was "Jug lining", I hooked as large and larger but never kept them. I'd hold em up while in the yak for the brothers to snap pictures then dump em back in the lake. But in April (I believe) of 1983 while checking my "jug Lines" and setting in a yak I had one snap 50lb leader running to a 7/0 hook. But I never got a look at, infact, I never got its head off the bottom. It pulled me and the yak and my lab pup (standing on the bow), and the top line of the jug line out to the point the pea-line stretched out like a bow string. When the leader finally broke the Yak, lab pup, and me and all went for fast ride in full reverse then spun over. My brothers then laughed their butts off as I drug the yak back to shore. But man, what a ride, lol!
But as far as the K I caught on a rod, the one in 75 was the largest I've personally picker up. And I know of one other K hunter on the board thats tusled with a 30 in the UL area. Infact he battle one just below the Pump.
Last year my largest K was 18lbs and caught while slow trolling one of TD's little wonders (mildly sweetend) while I was fishing from my float tube..
As some of you are aware I'm not a real picture taker. Infact, if it hadnt been for others with camera's its extremely likely I wouldnt have had my fish pictures for the Ice fishing contest. But I know there are some real toad K's in UL, toads that will dwarf 30 lb's. And while "state records" and such dont mean anything to me I do want to tack a picture of a true monster K (I've taken from UL) on my wall someday. And so the hunt will continue..
As a BFT member that enjoys reading the stories of others that like to tangle with Kitties I'm going to pass along a little secret I was taught years ago. And that is,, "dont fish to deep this time of year and watch for, and fish near, spawning carp when ever possible. And always work the outer edges of reed beds and brush in water of a couple feet deep or so, as well as exposed roots of trees if you can find em".
What I have found is Big Cats/K's are a "lay in wait" type preds as long a their food source remains close by and easy to catch. While carp are spawning they draw in smaller species like white bass and so on to feast on the spawn. In turn the K's, as well as Walleye, take advantage of the situtation, and in turn we can play that situation out for all its worth.. Later on in the season I've always felt its best to hunt K's during low light conditions and I prefer starting after 9pm on sunny days.
Good luck in your request to top the 8lb'er..
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Great story Don . Now you got me all stirred up to go . I usually hold my kittys by the jaw but over 15# might have to be my limit . I can only handle so much pain . Good luck on your hunt for some K's .
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Ok I know I'm going to get bombarded with responses from this.....at leat I hop I do. In a tube from Lindon where is the closest and best place to hunt the K's.
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[cool]Wow! Those are two AWESOME stories, Don. Makes me wanna head out to Utah Lake right now at 10:15 p.m. Thanks for the cool stories, and for the tips as well. Good fishin' to ya. I'm sure TubeDude probably has a story or two about some MONSTERS that got away too. Hope ya get back into one like that one that tipped you and your kayak over!
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