Cats at the Knolls

[Boatloadakids]

I completed most of my must-dos this week so decided to make another trip over to the Knolls with my kayak. Nice day, air temp 39 degrees, water temp around 60, with calm seas. No other fools out there with the singular exception of a few duck hunters off to the north. 

Launching was a challenge. The water is so low and the "solid looking" shoreline bore witness to many who spent a good deal of time extracting their vehicles from the exposed "solid" shoreline. Only a real dummy would try to drive on that stuff. (I could still see the deep ruts where I had to be rescued a couple of weeks ago.) I parked on solid ground and dragged my yak thru the shallow water about 75 yards to find 3 inch deep water. Launched and never did find water deeper that 4 feet, and that about a quarter mile out.

The fishun' was good. I caught about a dozen cats, one each at 27, 28, and 29. The others were toofooters. I caught one with a well worn bobber hanging from his mouth, relieved him of the old bobber and my hook. I forgot to put my net in the yak so it was difficult to get the cats from the water into the yak. I had one of the bigger ones flopping around betweem my legs when he got me with one of his spikes. Went through my Levis and got me very close to where my leg hooks on to my body, (I think he was going for my femoral artery) There are other important parts in that area, and I didn't want him to hang around too long. He was the 29 incher and I wanted to take him in for a photo op and a proper measure to see if I could stretch him past 30 but not so. I put him on a stringer to tow him in and that is when I made a tragic mistake. I reached in his mouth to retrieve the needle end of the stringer and he responded with a viscous chomp on my fingers. Major pain. I swear those cats have a bite-force that would rival a great white shark. He chomped and then did a few acrobatics with full twists. I thought the bones in my hand were broken, but only injury was a ripped off thumb nail. I released him but did consider eating him just because he was such a poor sport.










Ennyhow, it was a good day and I hope to make it over that way again before the contest closes. Still no luck finding that 36 incher but he could move into that area at any time. Will keep lookin' and hopin' he (they?) doesn't expire before I do.

Please.... lots of snow this year!

BLK/Lynn

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Oops, don
Oops, don't know how that last giant pic got in and I can't remove it. Help from mods??

[MSM1970]

good to see your still gettin the best of them or them you?, you should know better than to give them a chance to get you back, probly can even launch at provo now, yes we need the snow.

[fast_randy]

Great report Lynn. That made me laugh. Not your injury though. One time I took a bunch home to Roy from LB. And I reached in the mouth of one to lift out of cooler in the back of my truck. It had been out of the water for hours. And I lost my thumbnail after he chomped down on my thumb. I have never tried to lift one up like that again. Lol.

[TubeDude]

Glad there was still enough water to launch.  I have had to abort a couple of low water float tube trips because I couldn't find water deep enough to sit down in my tube within a hundred yards of the shoreline.  And that was after slogging through sticky mud all the way out.  Not fun. 

At least you got some good tugs.  I'll betcha don't forget your net the next time.  I've had a couple of netless trips and it is challenging to control those big kitties without a good net.  Thought you knew better than to try to lip a catfish.  You only do that with fingers (or thumbs) you can do without.  They are powerful and nasty.

[SkunkedAgain]

Good warning and reminder about those cat chompers, I get dumb every once in a while and try to go in their mouth to get a hook loose without plyers and they remind me, but I've been lucky and haven't lost nails or fingers yet... but it does hurt for sure... Usually reminds me to remember my plyers next trip too... Later J

[Boatloadakids]

Mike, Randy, Pat, Jeff-- I am happy to report that I am recovering from the injuries sustained from my cat-in-the-yak experience last Friday. The torn thumb is responding nicely with a Band-Aid and Neosporin; the small puncture to my upper thigh, not so much. The cat's pec spike just barely broke the skin, but it felt like a bee sting and bothered me the rest of the day. I've had cat-stings before and was not all that concerned about this one until I woke up Sat. morning with a golf-ball sized red circle around the wound. (Sorry, no picture) By Sat. evening the redness had subsided, and I realized I most likely would survive. Questions remain: Are catfish poisonous?... Do catfish carry rabies?... Could a catfish bite break a finger bone in a careless fisher??

The Knolls is not what I would call accessible for yak or tube. The fishing was good, and the cats were on the hunt for grub. I plan to go back one more time before the contest ends to search for the fish, I have been chasing for the past 20 years. My 34 incher from a couple of years ago is the closest I have come to catching him, however, I have hooked and lost him many times. 

I was using wb for bait, one with a green whirly fig, the other dragging on the bottom. All fish were caught in 3-4 feet of water cuz I don't think there is deeper water between the Knolls and Lincoln. I fished with Pat last week at Lincoln and there were a few areas with 5-6 ft depths. Looks like stormy/windy weather coming later this week so I will try either Lincoln or the Knolls this week. No deer tag this year so I plan to take out my frustrations on the coyotes in Nevada.

Note: attaching pic of a three-horned buck my brother shot in Wyoming. Interesting.



10-19 update:  I fished at Lincoln today. Beautiful day, glassy calm water. no other fishers except for the walleye crowd out in front of the orchards. Fishing was kinda slow and I only caught about 7 cats, all were 26 to 29 inches long, no toofooters.The 29 incher looked like he had been fighting or scrounging for grub in the rocks -- big red scrape mark on his side. Lots of tentative, pop-and-drop hits. Nothing over 30 inches for me this year. I think all of the bigger fish have been caught by Richard and Vi, leaving them sore mouthed and bite shy. Gotta hand it to those two they have really put up some biggun's this year.


  


Not sure if I will get out again this year... depends on the weather. Even with the low water it has been a great year for me. Hope I can hang around for a few more years at least. Pretty sure that 36 incher is just a cast away...

BLK/Lynn

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Lynn sounds like you're still finding great fish, wish I could get some in that size range... I can't find anything decent this year... Guess not many of them in my field so it's hard to find them... I did get my farming finished and parked the baler... sold my last hay in the field, so assuming he shows up to haul it today, I'm probably done with the field stuff... Now if I could get the green house taken care of... Guess I better just be thinking about next year... However, I'd sure like to try it this afternoon if I can do it... One last try... The winter weather on the way looks like I'll be done if I don't get out today or tomorrow... They are predicting 22 degree nights, so that will pretty much shut things down... Boy I sure need to find at least one fish over 27 this year... Got to try it one more time... Later J

[TubeDude]

Glad you were able to get on the water again.  Sorry about the "war wound".  It's usually the smaller cats that have the sharpest spines and present the greatest potential danger to anglers.  Bigger cats usually have duller spines that get rubbed down after a few years of rolling in the rocks for food or spawning activities.  Most angler injuries are to the hands.  You must be special to get one elsewhere.

Are they poisonous?  Yes.  There are poisonous secretions into the mucous membrane covering the spines.  But an equally hazardous situation is the potential for nasty bacterial infections from the water pollution or bottom sludge picked up on the fishes' skin.  Here is a  LINK to an interesting web article.

[Boatloadakids]

Thanks, Pat, for the above link. A good short read.

I know those bigger cats usually have worn down spikes and the one that got me probably wasn't all that sharp. Between me clamping down on him with my legs while trying to save a finger is probably what led to the "war wound". Ennyway, I survived, but probably not any smarter.

Jeff -- Sure hope you make it out again and find some of those big ones. I have the solution to your not-enough-fishing time: Retire. I highly recommend it. It is nice to be able to go fishin' any time you want to and more time on the water will usually translate to more and bigger fish. Try it, you'll like it. Too many bills and obligations you say?? Yeah, that can be an anchor... but when the time comes when you can grab a couple of g-kids and fish any time you want, all the years of labor make it worth it and then some. 

Good luck,
Lynn

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Lynn that sure sounds good, but still have a few more years to get my service years in place so I can retire... Hope to get the bills under control before that happens, not sure if I'll ever retire from the farm, so I'll probably always have that problem, but if I get my day job time back in my life I'm pretty sure that should help make for more fishing time... Anyway I am looking forward to the time when I can play more... Thinking fall/winter will be great as always when I drop down to less time demands so my fishing priority can come back into focus... Thanks Lynn and congrats on another great season... Later Jeff