I've been fishing the Jordan A lot for cats without much success. See, Last year I actually caught tons of big channel cats with worms and not the traditional fish bait meats. Anyway now I've tried using a worm pole+ a fish meat pole at almost every time of day except really early and I only am catching Carp or Suckers on the worm one.. I can't say I haven't had bites with the meat but they generally speaking are hitting it like 1 time and then leaving it alone. Last night was a little bit better and had I been ready, I might have been able to manage to hook 2 of them but still, the results haven't been like I've wanted :/.
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warm weather and warm water temps will help!!! as far as bait, buy some egg sack material and magic thread and make spam balls! spam is so great and easy and scenty, we always fish next to guys with worms and cut bait and our spam poles always catch more catfish, white bass love them also, and even walleye have taken them. mix it up but that's my go to bait for kitties.
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also I've had better hook up ratios with circle hooks but I think the fish are just barely getting in to active mode so I'm not surprised the bites are light and they aren't committing to the bait, I'm sure some other catfish guys know a lot more and can offer some more advice.
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[#0000FF]There are still plenty of cats in the river, but the water flows are low. No water coming out of Utah Lake right now. When the flow increases and the depth comes up you will see more cats moving into the spots you found them last year. They are hiding in the deepest holes...waiting for more warmth and more water.
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I know they're in there though cause We're getting hits. I've been walking in the water in the day and most of the spots I've walked in are actually only knee deep, if not waist deep at the highest. I'm guessing the holes I was fishing were probably 5-6 foot deep(Maybe deeper, not sure how deep exactly the Jordan's holes are but it's obvious these are the deepest spots in the area). The water is really clear and I actually could see like 4 feet deep down in most of these spots.
Last night I was with a friend and we fished from like 8:30 P.m. till like 1 A.M. lol. from 8:30-Midnight we were getting consistent hits and they were pretty good(much better than last week) but still not quite good enough to hook. Fish were jumping all over, some small but some sounded HUGE. I guess I'll have to wait a few weeks and just fish for some big suckers and carps and stock up on some cat fish bait. Some spots I've found, I can can see seriously 50+ Carp/maybe some suckers in a tiny area(It's really deep and sometimes they swim into the shallower area where I can see). It's really weird cause last year in this area I was actually able to avoid carp and only caught like 2 but almost exclusively caught Cats and suckers. But I'll be in for a fun day soon
. Pretty sure hardly any 1 fishes where I've been going.
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[#0000FF][cool]You may well be getting bites from the cats, but when they are colder they are not as active. They don't "gulp and go" like they do in warmer water. You might try fishing without any weight on your line...if the current is slow enough...and fish with the bail open on your spinning reel. Let the fish take a bit of line and then tighten up to feel solid weight before setting the hook. Otherwise, they might be just whacking it without really getting the hook inside their mouths.
It is also possible that there are some pesky small bullheads in there. They hit a lot bigger than they are and they can drive you bonkers.
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The Jordan river has been random so far for me this year. I've been fishing one spot a little this past week just throwing a spinner, and surprisingly caught a huge cat.
This morning I went back down to my spot with some bait, hoping to catch a few more. I had one pole out with bait, and I was throwing a gold Blue Fox on my other pole. The bait pole only got 1 hit in about 2 hours[frown] I don't know what the deal is... But magically I hooked onto another nice sized cat with the spinner.
I've never once in my life caught a cat on a spinner (and I've thrown spinners at Utah Lake for years), but I've caught 2 this week on the Jordan with a gold Blue Fox. I don't know what to think.
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The majority of what channel cats eat is alive. Not dead.
(in almost all cases).
That is why you are getting love on your spinner. Channel cats are very efficient predators and they have a very sensitive lateral line... they can pick up vibrations very well. Those kitties probably feel your spinner and attack.
They can find minnows and chubs to eat in very murky water... using feel alone... so that spinner of yours really grabs their attention.
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[quote FishMcFisherson]The Jordan river has been random so far for me this year. I've been fishing one spot a little this past week just throwing a spinner, and surprisingly caught a huge cat.
This morning I went back down to my spot with some bait, hoping to catch a few more. I had one pole out with bait, and I was throwing a gold Blue Fox on my other pole. The bait pole only got 1 hit in about 2 hours[frown] I don't know what the deal is... But magically I hooked onto another nice sized cat with the spinner.
I've never once in my life caught a cat on a spinner (and I've thrown spinners at Utah Lake for years), but I've caught 2 this week on the Jordan with a gold Blue Fox. I don't know what to think.[/quote]
I have caught a large bullhead out of the Colorado with a red and white spoon. Didn't think that would have happened. But it did.
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Wow 2 on a spinner? That's pretty cool cause i've never heard of that either. I'm not sure where you're fishing but honestly unless its pretty far north, where i've heard there's some trout, honestly I didn't think Spinners would do good for anything except for bass or rare trout.
One of these days I want to hall a raft up and find out how deep all of my spots are. I was thinking I could anchor down with one anchor and use another to drop straight down in all angles to find out how deep the spots are and also to get a feel for whats on the bottom(rocks, boulders, plain mud, trees/branches/etc).
Have you gotten any white bass yet? How about any one else? Let's just say I can see where white bass are lol. I haven't been able to get any yet though so I'm guessing they're not active yet.
Yeah pretty soon I'm going to buy a few containers of worms and just spend a day and try to catch as many fish as I can, regardless of what they are for fun. Expect a post within a week BFT [
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Where would you get any of that
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Yeah most of the spots I've been that's not an option because I have to throw it to far and it has to be a accurate aim, other wise it's getting snagged on various branches, logs, trees,etc. Yeah I hope it's not bull heads cause those and white bass can get so annoying to catch tweepster after tweepster time and time again. By the way, people keep on saying they use "minnows" this is the only bait I haven't tryed using for them. Are the minnows people are talking about the ones at places like Sportsman in the freezer where I believe there is red shiner minnows, chubs, and more? Or what type of minnows do people mean?
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I have been fishing pretty far north, up in West Valley. I have not caught a single white bass yet, and that was what I was expecting to catch in the first place.
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Interesting, that's what I would have thought to which I was I asked. Yeah I've only ventured as far north as around 5400 South. I've heard it's kind of sketchy with homeless people and stuff pretty far north. Is that right?
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I hope one of my jordan river spots will have some cat fish in there when it warms up and the water level rise. It's
that my big 9'+ ft hole is getting smaller and smaller now. Let's hope the water will rise soon with the warm weather. I want to catch some nasty big kitties out of there. [angelic]
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Haha, I've heard the same thing. Not only bums, but murderers and drug dealers as well. I personally haven't seen anything sketchy besides a little graffiti. It does worry me a little bit being out there by myelf tho. But hey, if the fishing's good, the fishing's good. If I decide to do a night trip out there I would bring a couple people with me just in case.
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Yeah lol I'm probably just a chicken but I wouldn't either. I was even creeped out last night with my friend being there with me. I'm like 99% sure no one besides us was there but it just had a creepy vibe and there was some mystery noise for a period of time near a specific spot. My friend heard the weird noise too but didn't agree with me. Some reason I have like super sensitive hearing and to me it sounded like an ipod. It sounded like someone who was listening to their ipod but so loudly that people besides them could hear it. Either way we both heard the weird noise and I had a knife in my pocket at all times lol. The fog from the water made it super creepy as well. Oh and it scared the crap out of us, we were walking by some trees and a deer jumped out right in front of us. Overall It was really cool because of the mist/seeing occasional big bites, hearing huge fish jump but it was definitely something i'd never do by myself(unless I get a pistol or hand gun lol).
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[cool][#0000FF]Good old crawlers are about as good a bait as you can use on the Jordan...usually. But sometimes you will do better with "fishy" fare...like minnows or cut bait.
Minnows can legally be redside shiners, chubs, fathead minnows or even small yellow perch or white bass. Fish them whole or cut into pieces.
Cut bait is often more appealing because it puts more scent in the water. On the Jordan it is legal to use sucker meat, carp, perch or white bass. On some days they will show a definite preference for one or the other.
Not good to fish too light or with no weight when you have to fish around snags and hold the bait in one spot. But if you fish a deep hole with clean bottom, that is a good way to go.
The water will start flowing by April 15th, if not sooner. That is the water users' agreed time for them to open the gates at the pumphouse.
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Don't mean to jump in, but you can buy it at cabelas. It's the same thing they use to make salmon egg balls or roe sacks, you could probably just use an old pair of nylons. Cut the material into 3"x3" pieces and put your ball of bait in the center of the material then wrap it up and twist the loose material until you have a ball, then tie it with a piece if thread or fishing line. That leaves you with a bait ball to put on the hook.
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I would be pack'in the pistolla!!
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