I decided to hit Utah Lake because I had a couple of hours to kill. I fished from 9:30 to noon. The ice was a good 5 inches where I was fishing. The bluegill fishing was fast. I caught the ocational white bass and perch when the school would come through. Also caught one lucky Crappie with the first line drop down the hole.
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I have lived next to Utah Lake now for 3 years and have never ice fished it.
Where are the good spots? Do you catch Catfish in the winter too? Where do all the 10+ pounders go?
I fish it quite a bit from spring to fall but never in the winter.
I would appreciate any good advice for my "home field".
Sorry for all the questions,
Andy
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We hit Lindon for about one and a half hours this morning. It was really fast first thing. Got 7 white bass, three crappie and two blue gills between the two of us. Ice was only three so we stayed on the docks.
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[
]Hey, Lindon is awesome in winter. Cats are near impossiable to get. Use bait tipped Jigs, or sonar lures.
Winter on UL is pretty easy and can be pretty fast. Enjoy,
Shawn M.
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I usually fish American fork boat harbor and Saratoga springs through the ice. I've never caught a catfish through the ice at UL, but Ive seen a mud cat caught once. I've caught everyhing through the ice from UL except Walleye. I like to use various ice jigs and spoons tipped with wax worms. Having a Ultra lite ice rod or spring bobber is a must to detect the lite bites.
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Where do the cats go? Are they just in hibernation mode and don't eat?
Thanks for the tips on fishing UL.
Andy
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That's about right. Cats usually find the deepest holes to winter in and become really lethargic, not eating much at all. If you've ever caught a cat in late fall, they are all fatty in anticipation for winter. I think it would be crazy to pull a large channel cat out of the ice.
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You can ask Sewfish how that works, she pulled a Channel cat through an ice hole out of Yuba last winter. It took biggest fish of last years BFT Ice fishing contest if memory serves me right..
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thanks for the compliment. I was actually fishing for the Perch at the base of a deep point using a jigging spoon and a minnow. It really was a battle as I had on 4 lb. test line and a lite pole. I am hopefull to do a repeat . I may not be good but I'm lucky. If you haven't seen a picture, here it is. The fish was 29 inches.
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cats go to the deep holes. but they do feed all winter. most people think they dont. i have a ice video that is all about ice cats. al linder james linder infisherman. they catch a bunch of big fish on the video. they use a jig head and peace of cut bait about 2 foot off the bottom. the biggest lesson from the vid is how they all school up together. they had an under water cam shot of the schooling fish. sportmans is where i picked up the video. it was filmed on a lake like utah lake.
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[cool][#0000ff]Lots of cats come through the ice both at Utah Lake and Willard every winter. And they are not always in deep holes. In fact they sometimes cruise into fairly shallow water if they are actively feeding. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The problem is that most ice anglers are too noisy. Cats are almost like walleyes in their dislike of noise. Some guys set a minnow or worm on the bottom on a dead stick rod a ways away from where they are jigging with a second rod. If you leave the bail open and wrap the line around an empty can (no wind) the fish will pull the can over and make noise when they move off with the bait. Kinda like a tipup only with a can. And sometimes the cat turns out to be a walleye...or a wiper at Willard.[/#0000ff]
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a side note on the can trick.... might want to make sure its empty... if its a beer can, and im around, trust me... it will be empty.
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I cant believe you gave out my beer can fish alarm secret, J/K I have been doing that for a long time. It works great too in the night, with a couple pebbles on the rim of the can that make a lot of noise if tipped over. On ice where pebbles are absent I just use ice pebbles or bottle caps, sometimes rig the rod up high on a chair or bucket and set the can on the edge with the line set so that if anything grabs the bait the can falls off the edge. That method has helped me catch fish many,many times while I am too busy talking, drinking beer, or setting up another rod. [
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[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, I heard that when fishing with you it ain't a good idea to even leave a drop in a beer can 'cause you go around checking to make sure nobody is wasting good refreshments. (Kinda like the guy that always goes around checking for change in the coin return slots on vending machines. Latent proctologists.)[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just a side note for the non-beer drinkers...soft drink cans work just as well.[/#0000ff]
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I thought only people in California do that, along with the golf ball, strike indicator for the big kitties. I used to run mine through a snap swivel and attach the open end of the snap to the line. It was cool when a big fish would hit, and send the can flying into the air.
I would like to get out with you on Willard or Utah lake and target some kitties under the ice.
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Thanks for all the info everybody! This is why BFT is the first thing I open when my computer goes on.
Please, let me know when any of you are gonna go drill some holes at UL. I would love to tag along.
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ive never iced at UL but have always wanted to. if you dont mind me asking what were you using and where would be a good spot? thanks
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[cool][#0000ff]Stay in touch by PM. Once the catfish ponds harden up I definitely plan to do some drillin' and chillin' on them.[/#0000ff]
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Send me a PM and I'll point you in the right direction. Its not like its a secret spot or anything, but I just don't want it to get pounded with people.
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[cool]Thanks for your report! I'm going this weekend on one of the afternoons to my favorite spot, and I can't wait! Last year when I hit my spot about a week after ice-up I caught about 150 'gils and a few perch and a couple of whities. I hope to get more crappie and whities this time, but I'm not picky.
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