[font "Comic Sans MS"][#500028]I launched at American Fork Boat Harbor Sunday evening by myself and headed straightway to the Knolls to get away from the noisy crowds. Calm water, but slow fishing at first, until dark. The nearly full moon came up as promised. My minnows were still frozen solid so I started out with nightcrawlers. Good sized white bass and bullheads were all that were biting other than one hefty channel cat that self-released at the boat while I fumbled with the net. When will I learn to get the net out FIRST??? Then the waves came up and the bite died completely. I stayed up fishing late anyway, mostly because I was concerned about whether the anchor would hold all night, and if it hadn't my boat would have crashed into the rocky cliff shoreline. The wind never really got bad but the rolling waves were like San Francisco Bay. I finally got some shuteye in the cuddy and woke up to the same sea conditions and a beautiful sunrise. I got my minnows out with slip-bobber setups, fishing in 9 feet of water with the bait right close to the bottom. I snapped a picture of the first big cat, a 7-pounder. Four more followed, all between 6 and 8 pounds. I left at 8 a.m., happy with my adventure and getting to catch some pretty heavy fish, although nothing to write home about. I rarely take many pictures when I'm fishing alone because it's too much trouble trying to get the fish to pose, and I'm busy fishing. I was glad to be in a big boat. A small boat would have swamped or flipped for sure in those huge rolling waves. It was my first time ever to sleep in the cuddy of my boat, and I'll never forget it. I had to stand and hold the coffee pot on the stove until the water got hot or it would have been on the floor. Sure beats working though.[/#500028][/font]
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Way too cool!! Sounds like a fun night on a very sea worthy vessel!
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That sounds like a great adventure. I wouldn't have been able to sleep worring that the anchor would slip.
I often think I should sell my boat ( a 22' center console and a pure fishing machine) and buy a walk-around or a cuddy so I could sleep aboard the boat, cook, etc. Each time I run that idea by my wife, who would be the benefactor in the trade, she advises me to keep my boat that is only fit for fishing. That's all fine, but when I read of outing like yours I get the urge again.
I've said all spring that I was going out to the island and fish all night and after reading you post, I'll make sure that becomes a certainty.
I fished the lake yesterday from 8A until 3P. 10 channels to 8.5 lbs, 4 mud cats, 6 white bass and 1 perch. Used shrimp and liver. Shrimp outfished the liver by a huge margin.
The DWR were doing a net study for their June sucker recovery and two girls pulled one of their nets next to where we were fishing. They had a ton of nice sized blue gill and a few white bass in the net. I had no idea that there were so many blue gill in the lake. You learn something new daily.
Thanks for your tale. I read it with a
on my face and a little bit on envy in my heart.
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Man I would really like to fish with you sometime you seem like you would just be a fun person to fish with!
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[#502800][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Pez, looks like you had a very successful trip too. You did well on the cats etc. Did your wife catch that big mutha? I sometimes wish I had a center console myself, with more room for fishing. More than 3 people fishing from my cockpit is a crowd. You missed the fun with the midges at sundown. I had approximately 6.5 gazillion of them in my windshield making quite a noisy "roar" until they finally settled down later. The huge swarm invaded every opening they could find in ears, eyes, mouth and nose, and I had to keep a thumb over the opening of my "pepsi" can. Boy, was I having FUN! Of course what I had envisioned was a beautiful serene, moonlit night with the lake lapping playfully at the hull while I hauled in monster catfish longer than my leg. Wait, I think that was in my dream.
As for the anchor holding, they say a 7:1 ratio in the rode is enough to hold in almost any conditions, and with a water depth of 7 feet (about 9 feet to the bow eye) and 100 feet of rode, I had a ratio of better than 10:1, with a mud bottom, so I guess it was pretty secure.
I'm glad to hear about the bluegills, especially good sized ones. I was surprised at the nice size of the white bass I caught. I didn't keep them, but they would have made nice fillets.
Yes, I would do it all over again, and in fact I can't wait to do it again. Next time it'll be Strawberry, or Starvation, or Jordanelle, or Yuba, or ?????? THIS weekend, however, I'll be camping at Ferron Reservoir with the float tube and a fly rod. So much fishing to do, I'm trying to catch up -- I think I'm getting behind on my fishing obligations.....
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[#002850] I too have a 21' Center Console completely rigged out for fishing and I sometimes wish I had a "cuddy" to spend the night, but I have to weigh the options and realize that I spend a lot more time fishing than sleeping and would really miss the walk around space that the CC's have.[/#002850]
[#002850]Although, it would sure cut down on motel costs... [crazy][/#002850]
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Holy cow, that's a fine looking fishing machine ya got there. If I had it to do again today, I would go with the center console. It was actually my wife that liked our hardtop and enclosed cabin and cuddy, and from a practical standpoint for me, it does provide a ton of storage room. Storage room is a GOOD thing! As for keeping the motel costs down, we often do the boat camping thing with a tent, and we also often do the motel thing at Powell. We generally stay at Defiance House at Bullfrog a couple of times a year, and the nice thing about this big boat is when the lake gets
, as it often does at Powell, we usually don't have to make a run for cover like the other boats.
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I'd like to have the money I spend on motels. I'm still contemplating something I can sleep aboard.
Although my CC isn't nearly as pretty as Steve's it will have to do. I love the TTop, but it is a $5,000.00 option on a Triton like mine.
The girl holding the channel cat isn't my wife. She's the same age as my granddaughter. Just a friend who loves to fish. Below is a pic of my wife of 43 years and our youngest daughter, my boat and a tight shot of the console. I'm leaving in a short while for Johnson valley chasing tiger muskies. The next time you hear from me, I hope I'll have a pic of a 40" tiger to post.
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