I'm going on a 5 day river trip down the green river to the confluence of the Colorado over the 4th of July. I have done this trip a couple times. I highly recommend it, we hired a shuttle to bring us back up the Colorado. Any way onto the fishing, every year I have gone it's been awesome, no matter what time of day we fished, the problem is they are mostly cats about 14 inches long, and there area million of them. So this year I was wanting to bring some larger cut bait that will help me filter out the smaller ones and get into the fish that are in the 5-10 lb range. This weekend I'm planning on shooting some carp with a bow, and getting their meat for some cut bait. I also have some 6/0 circle hooks too. Considering the conditions, How would you prep the carp meat to filter through the smaller fish? (length X width X thickness & scents) Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.
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I try to do the same thing by using a large bait. What seems to work for me is a piece about 2x3 or even bigger if your looking for the big boys. On a river the size of the Colorado there has to be xxx fish. I grew up fishing cats back east in the big rivers and fished baits people here would laugh at but they do catch big fish.You may not catch as many but your going to be in a spot to get the fish of a life time here in Utah. Carp or whole chubs is what I would use. Maybe on a double hook rig. Sure wish I could be there with you. I'm jealous. Have fun and be patient there's a big ole fat girl down there with your name on it.[fishin]
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It really depends on what size verses how many you want to catch. What do you normally use when you fish on that float trip? If I wanted to generally upsize the fish and decrease the catch rate a little, I would use pieces of cutbait that are about 1x2" and an inch thick. This should be big enough to pick up even large fish and keep the smaller ones down. That being said, if you absolutely want to keep all but the 6-10+ pound crowd at bay then I would use 2x3" chunks as has been stated by the previous post. A catfish CAN eat a huge meal in one bite and if you really want to weed out all but the biggest specimens a huge bait may well be the way to go, but you'll have to have a ton if time and just the right holes to find those monsters.
If it were me floating it, and I only had a short amount of time per hole, I would go with the 1x2" chunks. It's not too big to get hit often, but a little too big for 14" cats to inhale as often.
Also, don't oversize your hooks. Match them to the size of the bait, you'll get better takes from the fish and less "spit out".
Hope this helps.
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Water is really high right now so use safe practices while floating. That being said lots of back eddies and areas for the fish to hold now as well. Good luck![cool]
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First off, thanks for your advice everyone.
Now for the update. I went out last weekend to Willard for a couple hours, didn't see a single or married carp. Kinda bummed me out. So this weekend I'm gong out again, but this time I'm taking a canoe to Utah lake, gonna cruz the shallows, hopefully shoot some carp and throw them and make some bait out of them. With the weather being a bit cool, will this affect where the carp may be holding up? I hope they come in to the shallow water to warm up. Has anyone been down there and noticed where they may be holding up? Any suggestions?
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I don't know where you were at, but there were carp by the truckload along the shore at Willard last weekend. From a distance, I thought the wipers were boiling, but as I kayaked closer, I saw jumping carp everywhere. They were in a number of different places, but anywhere there was grass or weeds, they were there. They would be easy pickings from shore, I went out of the North Marina.
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I was on the south side then drove up the west side and onto the north just a little ways past the light.
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Ive caught plenty of fish so now days i go big or go home i mostly go for macs and cats, for cats i use a 2/0 or 3/0 gamakatsu hook their sharp and dont skimp on hooks their about a buck a piece but well worth it, i use a 3"by 4" long chunk of carp with a sliding sinker i usually use egg sinkers but since your river fishing i would use a more "flat" type sinker so it keeps your bait where you want it in the current, this method will keep the small fish off plus if you have a two pole license or as of july 1st all can use two poles then you can try outher methods while waiting for the big one. Good luck and make sure you post some pics of your trip.
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