06-11-2020, 07:00 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-13-2020, 02:25 AM by Piscophilic.)
ES: Julie and I made it out Wednesday for what was supposed to be a morning trip, but lasted longer. Fishing was good, but not as fast as before the weekend cold snap. The day started slow with water temp barely 60, no white bass cooperating at the launch and SW winds twice what they were forecast at 7 A.M. However, the day ended well with the water getting up to 75, almost no wind, 3 white bass and 30 cats including a 2 @ 28” 2 @ 28.5” and Julie’s new personal best @ 31” and 12 pounds. All cats were caught on cut white bass and FLAIT rigs strolled between 0.3 and 0.8 MPH. 0.7 was the most productive speed and 4.5 t0 FOW the best depths.
FS: We launched at Provo about 6:30. While Julie was getting ready I tossed flies and spinners to catch the morning’s fresh bait. When she got back to the boat I had 6 fewer whites than last trip, zippo. We motored out of the harbor and turned left into about 10 MPH southerly winds. The forecast had said 5. By the time we got to the airport tower, they were 10-15 or so and looking like the day would degrade from there. I was feeling glad we had turned left so we could go with the wind coming home if it got nasty.
The third strike was my GPS seemed to be flaky and when I got to where it said we had ended the week before, we were clearly way off. So I guessed. We started in 6.5 FOW and put the frozen baits in. Now the water temp was teetering toward 59 and I was thinking short day. To my delight, 10 minutes later Julie had a fish on. It was a very dark cat at 28.5.” It looked post spawn and acted like it, fighting well below its size and having the hook way deep in its gullet. Because of the huge head/mouth I was able to get the hook out, but I’m still carrying the scratches on the back of hand. Julie ordered me a long hook remover for Father’s day and I hope I can remember to use it. I still forget to put a glove almost every time I stick my hand in there. Better than forgetting to put the plug in, but still annoying.
The fish came much slower than last trip, a little deeper and a little larger, but they came. By 11AM we had 15 or so with Julie having bump fish at 28” and 28.5” and me having one at 28”. With the warming water, or something like that, the bite sped up as the day progressed. We found a break in just under 5 FOW that we called the magic transition. We got about 10 during the next hour.
We had agreed to quit at noon to reduce “sun fried brain syndrome” and so that I could get a half day in at work to save a little vacation time. Then it happened! Julie hooked a tugger and spent 3 or 4 minutes on it. She never said it felt big. I was working on a tackle issue or a fish of my own and didn’t notice. When I went over with the net, the bottom swivel came out of the water, the fish lunged downward and I saw a very large tail swirl. My excitement started rising. “That’s a good looking tail swirl,” I said, “this could be a good one.” It dogged under the boat for another minute or so and then came up head first and I got it in the net. As I lifted it in, I said: “Big head! I hope it has the length to match.” When I lowered the net and it touched the bottom of the boat I was really excited. “That’s a great looking cat!” I laid it on the board and it was just over 31”, the biggest landed in my boat in well over 5 years. “Way to go!” I exclaimed, “you have 2 fish over 30” and it is barely June! I haven’t ever gotten 2 over 30 in the same year!”
Well after the pictures and weight were taken and the excitement started to wane, she said: “I know we agreed on a noon quitting time, but we could stick around a little longer, maybe there’s another one like it.” She didn’t have to twist my arm.
I got the next fish and it was a healthy 28.5” and I was thinking we had found a bunch of larger fish, but not so. That was the last really good one. We ended up staying another couple of hours and we got a few more but no more monsters. Just after 2:30 she stated that her brain function was decreasing and we had 20 minutes and that was it. We got one more, and had several tentative hits indicating they were shutting down so we packed it up and headed for the ramp.
Getting 5 fish large enough to be bumpers in single mid-season trip has only happened to me once before, and with Julie’s new PB it was a really good day! I can’t wait to get out there again.
![[Image: Clown-FLAIT.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/xXxDVch/Clown-FLAIT.jpg)
![[Image: Dark-One.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/DgwrZvj/Dark-One.jpg)
![[Image: Jluie-s-Happy.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/b6tyXGX/Jluie-s-Happy.jpg)
![[Image: Julie-28-5.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/dK2fL69/Julie-28-5.jpg)
![[Image: Julie-31.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/pjypRdW/Julie-31.jpg)
FS: We launched at Provo about 6:30. While Julie was getting ready I tossed flies and spinners to catch the morning’s fresh bait. When she got back to the boat I had 6 fewer whites than last trip, zippo. We motored out of the harbor and turned left into about 10 MPH southerly winds. The forecast had said 5. By the time we got to the airport tower, they were 10-15 or so and looking like the day would degrade from there. I was feeling glad we had turned left so we could go with the wind coming home if it got nasty.
The third strike was my GPS seemed to be flaky and when I got to where it said we had ended the week before, we were clearly way off. So I guessed. We started in 6.5 FOW and put the frozen baits in. Now the water temp was teetering toward 59 and I was thinking short day. To my delight, 10 minutes later Julie had a fish on. It was a very dark cat at 28.5.” It looked post spawn and acted like it, fighting well below its size and having the hook way deep in its gullet. Because of the huge head/mouth I was able to get the hook out, but I’m still carrying the scratches on the back of hand. Julie ordered me a long hook remover for Father’s day and I hope I can remember to use it. I still forget to put a glove almost every time I stick my hand in there. Better than forgetting to put the plug in, but still annoying.
The fish came much slower than last trip, a little deeper and a little larger, but they came. By 11AM we had 15 or so with Julie having bump fish at 28” and 28.5” and me having one at 28”. With the warming water, or something like that, the bite sped up as the day progressed. We found a break in just under 5 FOW that we called the magic transition. We got about 10 during the next hour.
We had agreed to quit at noon to reduce “sun fried brain syndrome” and so that I could get a half day in at work to save a little vacation time. Then it happened! Julie hooked a tugger and spent 3 or 4 minutes on it. She never said it felt big. I was working on a tackle issue or a fish of my own and didn’t notice. When I went over with the net, the bottom swivel came out of the water, the fish lunged downward and I saw a very large tail swirl. My excitement started rising. “That’s a good looking tail swirl,” I said, “this could be a good one.” It dogged under the boat for another minute or so and then came up head first and I got it in the net. As I lifted it in, I said: “Big head! I hope it has the length to match.” When I lowered the net and it touched the bottom of the boat I was really excited. “That’s a great looking cat!” I laid it on the board and it was just over 31”, the biggest landed in my boat in well over 5 years. “Way to go!” I exclaimed, “you have 2 fish over 30” and it is barely June! I haven’t ever gotten 2 over 30 in the same year!”
Well after the pictures and weight were taken and the excitement started to wane, she said: “I know we agreed on a noon quitting time, but we could stick around a little longer, maybe there’s another one like it.” She didn’t have to twist my arm.
I got the next fish and it was a healthy 28.5” and I was thinking we had found a bunch of larger fish, but not so. That was the last really good one. We ended up staying another couple of hours and we got a few more but no more monsters. Just after 2:30 she stated that her brain function was decreasing and we had 20 minutes and that was it. We got one more, and had several tentative hits indicating they were shutting down so we packed it up and headed for the ramp.
Getting 5 fish large enough to be bumpers in single mid-season trip has only happened to me once before, and with Julie’s new PB it was a really good day! I can’t wait to get out there again.
