[cool][#0000ff]Hadn't hit the Knolls since sometime in May. Water was lower then than last year. Wondered how it would be for kitties with the lower water in late summer. Usually do pretty good there about this time of year. Done good today.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still dark when I stopped at Saratoga Springs Marina to see if there were any baby whities showing up. Dimples on the surface under the light. A few doubles on tiny jigs and I had a dozen or so for fresh (dead) catfish bait.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got to my usual launch spot at the Knolls just after six and got launched a bit after 6:30. Had to walk out over a long mud and rock flat to launch. Last year the water line was 3 feet above where I parked today.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Started shallow. No choice. Worked out from 2' to over 4'. Nuttin' but dink whities on small tube jigs. No love on the minnow until I hit about 5'. Then I started getting busy. Hooked nice 20 to 22 inch kitties with regularity on minnows and carp meat. Also picked up a couple on jigs...on my plastics rod. Probably caught and released 10 kitties by 8:30. Figured this might be a bananner day. It was.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Dragged bait on one rod and pitched plastics on the other as I made big S turns from 3' out past 5'. Actually got hits at just about all depths. When I swung in close to shore at the rocky point area I began to get catfish on my jigs every time I cast into about 2-3 feet of water near shore. There must have been a grundle of kitties in there. Thankfully I didn't have to mess with any on the bait rod while I was busy with the light jig rod and six pound line.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As I reached my reference point along the shoreline I headed out toward my "Kitty Condo". There is a spot that is about a foot deeper than most of the other area around it and seems to have a hard cobble bottom. No snags but definitely not mud. For some reason the kitties love it. Always catch them there. Usually do pretty good on white bass too but not today. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For about two hours I fished two bait rods and put up the plastics. I rotated between chub minnows, carp meat and whole small white bass. Didn't seem to matter much. In fact, there were at least 4 times when I had two cats on at the same time...letting one fight itself in the rod holder while I brought in the other one. Takes some fancy fin work to keep the tube positioned right...and you gotta make sure the drag is set right on the reels. Fun fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I went through a "long dozen" minnows and about a dozen whitie tykes...as well as several strips of carp meat. Only whiffed a couple of hits. Almost all inquiries turned into hookups...and almost all hookups were in the corners of the mouth. Only had to cut off a couple of hooks.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'm guessing I caught somewhere near 30 cats total, including the ones on jigs. Smallest was just over 16 inches. Most were at least 19 or 20. Several 2 footers. Biggest was a phat mama cat that was 28" and weighed 9.2 pounds. All are still swimming. Didn't put a single fish in my basket today. No married ones neither.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lake was glass as I beached at noon. Fun day. But why are my hands and wrists sore? Gettin' old. Can't handle all that work no more. Tough duty.[/#0000ff]
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great stuff. how deep was that "way off shore" kitty? headed to minersville tomorrow. mom in law lives there. taking the tube for it's maiden voyage. hope the storms stay away.
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Thanks for the report. With all the wind 'round my neck of the woods I wouldn't have guess it would have been so calm there. I've wondered what's been going on around that part of the lake, and perhaps conditions are promising enough that I put in some time there again! [
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[cool][#0000ff]As you angle out from the rock point the bottom (right now) is fairly flat...about 5 feet. Then it slopes down quickly to 6 and then 7 to 7.5 feet. That spot was 11 to 12 feet deep two years ago during high water. On one trip Waljustia and I vertical jigged on the bottom and absolutely hammered the big cats (5 to 8 pounds) on light rods and jigs. Also got a bunch of nice white bass and he caught a 23 inch walleye. That was after we had wasted over two hours fishing all the "usual" spots. I kicked out, checked it out and it was game on. Ditto today.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Good luck with the new tube setup.[/#0000ff]
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Nice work on the cats. I'm planning on going there sunday morning. Thinking Provo Bay and Bird Island area. May hop over to the Knolls as I've never tried that area.
Are those regular beads you are using for the cats plus carp meat?
I surrounded myself with a bunch of cats a few weeks ago at bird island and they would not take frozen or fresh white bass meat. Me the dummy, didn't bring anything else thinking wb meat always works. Not this time. I could only think it was because I put sunscreen on my hands. Anywho, I was dumbfounded, not the first!
Just curious, because it seems like you never get skunked!
Thanks!
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How is the walleye fishing in the knolls? I have been fishing for them with little luck. And also great report TubeDude.
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Sure would like to find "that spot but w/o gps or anything but dead reckoning, not much hope. Good on ya bud, glad you got int one of your favorite guys. [
] I miss those guys, need to try the airport or knolls one of these days to have some really good treats!!!!
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Once again a great report and pics. Good thing you are motorized now. With the new no tresspassing signs its a pretty good kick out to where you were. Helps when the water is calm (or ya have a motor). Great Job and thanks for sharing again.
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[cool][#0000ff]As low as the water is I am wondering if you can find enough depth to fish in Provo Bay. Bird Island should be good. Heard a good report from there this week. It's a long kick in my float tube so I don't fish it much.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There are cats all around Utah Lake and they are starting to get the "fall friskies". They should really go on the chew for the next six weeks or so. And some of the biggest fish of the year should show up during daytime fishing...as well as after dark.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The beads I slip on above my bait hooks are 5mm walleye beads from Cabelas. They add to the visibility. But I had one rod rigged with beads and one without...for fishing whole small white bass and larger chunks of carp meat. I seemed to catch just as many on the unbeaded rig yesterday but there are times when the beads make a difference.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I always go out with at least 3 kinds of bait. You never know what they are going to want and it sucks to smell skunk when you know the fish are there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Sunscreen excuse? I always use sunscreen. But I apply it before I hit the water and I wash the "fronts" of my hands with a good soap before I ever handle any tackle. If I suspect my scent is putting the fish off I might anoint my fingers with a few drops of crawdad scent. But that stuff doesn't help the flavor of my sandwiches.[/#0000ff]
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[quote CatfishKid123]How is the walleye fishing in the knolls? I have been fishing for them with little luck. And also great report TubeDude.[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]Walleye fishing at the Knolls is just like everywhere else on UL...good or bad. If the fish are in there and you fish them right...or lucky...you will catch them. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]This is not the best time for walleyes on Utah Lake. Water is too warm and murky. The shallower lake gets muddy faster when the wind blows and washes waves against exposed mud banks and shallow water. The walleyes still feed but mostly at night. They find schools of white bass and hang around until after dark. Then they go chomp, chomp, chomp and they are full for another day or two. No need to get all excited about that silly stuff the fishermen keep dragging by them when they are still full from the night before.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]If you really want to catch a walleye right now fish deep holes on the Jordan or fish the lower Provo River. Walleyes like flow and cooler water when it gets too warm in the lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]That will change starting about the middle of next month. The walleye fishing really "heats up" in October with colder water. The key this year will be to find the fish because depths will all be different and the movements of both bait and predators will not be the same as the past few years.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It's tough enough to score on walleyes even if you are experienced and should know what you are doing. If you are still way back in the learning curve you have to work even harder...and luck plays a big role.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Hey, old friend. You don't need no GPS numbers to find catfish on Utah Lake. That just happens to be a money spot I found a long time ago and always treats me well. But you can catch them all around the lake right now. The key is just to keep moving around until you find the right depth.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Your experience on Utah Lake is limited to only a couple of spots. I have fished just about the whole lake and know it pretty well. When I plan a trip I factor in water depths and temperatures, bait situations, time of year (spawn, etc.), forecast wind speed and direction, and other things. Then I go wherever I think I can launch easily and deal with whatever weather conditions I expect to find.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It's too bad you don't live closer to UL but the trade off is that you are closer to Willard, Mantua and Pineview. There are times I would trade you.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Having an electric motor on my tube is great. But I have made many a "powerless" kick out and back at the Knolls. Unfortunately, a lot of the trips back were against the wind. Mama Nature likes to mess with us tubers. That was the first spot I tried out my newly motorized tube a couple of years ago.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Yesterday I hardly used the motor at all. I drifted and dragged baits slowly while pitching plastics. It seemed like I got out to the point faster than if I had been kicking furiously all the way. Funny how that works out. The light morning breezes died to nothing and all the time I was fishing out off the point I hardly even had to kick. Then when I went back in I cranked the motor up to high speed and I was back in only a few minutes. Hardly took any time at all to top off the battery when I got home.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Thanks fer the kindly comments.[/#0000ff]
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Well played Dude of Tubes. Do you have enough smoked cats to eat right now? Please don't say you are sick of eating them!
Maybe lowering the PCB intake?[
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[cool][#0000ff]Still got some of my last batch of smokitty left from last week. Never get tired of it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]PCBs? I don' worry about no steenking PCBs.[/#0000ff]
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Looks like I made the wrong choice -- Yuba kicked my arse. Great post and nice fish.
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[cool][#0000ff]Hey, I read your report on Yuba. I wouldn't count that as a busted trip at all. I know you like to play with carpkind so it wasn't all bad...especially the big ol' biggun. The only bad thing was that the mouth was all wrong. Shoulda been bigger...with more teeth. Maybe next time.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For what it's worth, Yuba is not all that friendly to most newbies. Some folks with boats can go down there and cover enough water...with enough lures...to find a few foolish pike. But when you have the limitations of a tube or toon you gotta be good...and lucky...to score anything besides carp.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]So...you didn't catch a pike on that trip. But you got better acquainted with Yuba. Not all bad. And you learned a few things that DON'T work. Kinda like Thomas Edison when someone asked him how it felt to fail over a thousand times when trying to invent the light bulb. His reply has a lot of merit with fishermen too. "I don't see it as failing 1000 times...but as finding 1000 ways it wouldn't work before finding one that would."[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Let's communicate about joining forces down there. And next time don't send me a PM invitation late on the night before you are heading out. I don't roll that way. At least I think I don't. I don't remember.[/#0000ff]
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Bah, I had an awesome trip, don't get me wrong -- I do love smashing carp. As far as short notice, well crap, that's what I do. I never know what's going on until it happens, unless my wife tells me otherwise.
I did get a good chortle out of the big sign at the ramp that said there were Rainbow Trout in there though.
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[cool][#0000ff]I can't chastise ya for making last minute plans. When I got your invite...at 4 am the next morning...I was just throwing my stuff in the car for my trip to Utah Lake. And I had just decided to go the night before...and I still wasn't sure where I was going to go on the lake. It was a toss-up between Lincoln Beach and the Knolls and the Knolls won. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Most of my trips are only semi planned until the night before I go. Then I check most up to date weather forecasts (ha ha) and arrange my gear for the intended venue. And it is not ususual for me to do a recheck early the next morning and to change my plans and my gear before heading out. Heck, at my age I might even forget where I planned to go.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I can't count the number of times I have planned trips several days in advance...only to cancel them at the last minute because of a storm front blowing through. I love to fish but I ain't masochistic about it. I fish for enjoyment...not endurance.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Of course, if I relied solely on weather forecasts I would have missed some great trips that were supposed to be bad weather. And I have had some trips that were supposed to be calm weather that turned into Utah Katrinas. Only weather forecasters can be wrong so often and still keep their jobs.[/#0000ff]
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[quote TubeDude][cool][#0000ff]Still got some of my last batch of smokitty left from last week. Never get tired of it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]PCBs? I don' worry about no steenking PCBs.[/#0000ff]
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I inhaled the morsel of that last batch you gave me. Almost made me go back to UL for some whisker fish. And what a garfield of a whisker fish that was.....well it was not really orange though. Excellent work Dude of Tubes.
So do you want your ashes spread over UL when you die?
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"So do you want your ashes spread over UL when you die?"
[cool][#0000ff]Got a better plan than that. I wanna be plunked into my tube...wearing a Viking helmet. Then I wanna be doused with a fine flammable consumable liquid of some kind, set ablaze and be pushed out into a strong south wind from the point of the south dike at Lincoln Beach. I'll leave it up to my mourning party of two to make bets on how far I will get before I "flame out".[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Wow. Talk about polluting Utah Lake.[/#0000ff]
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