one more thing..

[Utcatman]

one more thing.... has any one ever caught a channel bigger than 15lbs in utah.. if so where and when did u catch it. i have only caught 3 bigger than that. two that were 16 and one that was almost 18. all in june.

JOe
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[cat_man]

Never caught one that big although I'd like to. My biggest was 10+ lbs. but under 15.
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[Utcatman]

still a nice cat though, where did u get that brute???

JOe
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[cat_man]

Utah Lake I caught a 10 lber from the Provo airport dike late one morning off a worm below a bobber (that spot is dry as a bone now and more than 100 yards from the shoreline since the water has gotten so low the last couple of years).

I caught another one slightly bigger but I don't know exactly how big at the bubble-up at night that same summer. Most of the time though they come in 4 lb. to 7 lb. size or smaller.
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[Utcatman]

that is what i useually catch at utah lake as well, that is the average size that i catch at least... but i have caught some in the provo river close to 14lbs one night 3 like that... about i quarter mile from the state park..
JOe
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[cat_man]

That's cool. I've never caught them in the Provo. Then again I haven't fished it much for them.
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[Shrimpboy]

The last couple of years I've caught 16 cats between 9lbs and 11.5lbs. All were caught at Utah Lake in late May and early June. I just can't seem to break the 12# mark, but I've seen a few come out that were a lot bigger. One was 24.5 lbs (measured by a bathroom scale) and another was 18 lbs. Both of those were caught between May 30 and June 4.
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[fishboy2]

i might be wrong but i think doug miller did a show one the big cats out there. it looked to me like they were out i th middle of the water, and they were fishing when the cats were jumping(spawn??). the biggest personal cat in utah lake for me would be 2 pounds tops.
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[Shrimpboy]

Doug Miller likes to do shows on cats out around Bird Island. I'd love to fish out there, but I don't have a boat.

When the lake is high enough to put three feet of water in Mud Bay, then that whole area usually holds a lot of kitties.
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[TheJensenKid15]

19 pounds, off of lincoln beach. On the south-west side(I hope that's the right side!) in under 2' of water. I was just messing around casting with a whole worm on, and low and behold I nailed that big gal. My dad also caught one that day that was about the same weight. I found the photo of them, jsut can't put it on!
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[Coldfooter]

When it comes to fishing i certainly dont claim to know everything.. But,,Big cats are something I know a bit about.. Although I must admit I didnt tip one over last summer more than 15 lb's.. I usually start fishing for them mid/late April and will continue throughout the warm months (skipping the archery hunt of course) and ending in later Oct... Whats more,, I only fish for big cats at night starting just as its getting dust..

Big Cat's cruise close to the shoreline more often while its dark and a lil stormy far more than during day light hours. And let me remind everyone that a cat fish is a preditor and no less than a Walleye.. They will chase down lure's and I've caught many good cats on both jigs and spinners over the years. However like most folks, my main choice for Cats is minnow's and/or cut bait, and the fresher the better.. Btw,, I fish for cats in the same manner I would for Northern pike at Redmond while using minnow's,, under a bobber or slip bobber rig..

Let me assure you there are some really big Cats in Utah Lake although I dont believe we can top the Tx. record this year,, lol.. Back during the days of jug-lining for them I caught many well over 20 lb's. but cut them loose, (they simply taste nasty once that large.. I think 18" to 20" are the best eater's but hey its an aquired taste. Although' I will add, my daughter's would rather eat Cat than Wallie's or Elk Steak,, go figure??).

So if some night you happen upon a brown pickup (or Blue Bronco) backed in up to, or passed its axles,, just yell! I'll yell back if I'm not sleeping, it usually turns into a all night ordeal.

Ps,, seal thy axles well if you choose to fish for Cats from your 4X4 with the tailgate down and make sure you on firm bottom ahead of time.. Btw,,I've caught Wallies in the same fashion..
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[Curtisfish]

I had to have run into you down there at some point. I fished Utah Lake at night for years for those big kitties. Group (4 or 5) of jacked up Chevy's on the Dike. You remember us, loud, obnoxious, drunks. We usually ended up with as many or more mud (bullhead) cats as Channels, but it sure made for a great time on Lincoln Beach.

By the way, yes cats will hit lures. My X caught a 17lb. Channel in the lower Green River in Ouray on a Rainbow pattern Crocodile Spoon. I wasn't there, she caught it with her first X (I was the second and the third), so I dont' know what month it was, but even in the picture you can see the spoon haning right from the corner of it's mouth. I'll see if she will borrow the pic to me to scan in.
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[Bigfishrule]

My biggest cat was 10+ #s out of the Jordan river downstream from the bridge in Lehi. Caugh a lot of them in the 5 to 8 # range. Fished for them in Utah Lake , Jordan River, Bear River, Williard Bay, and the Green River.

John
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[fishnpro40]

I caught a 15lber on the jordan just as it comes out of the pump house.
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[Coldfooter]

Sorry Cf I dont recall seeing or hearing you's guys,, but then again,, I dont fish the dike's for Cats. Years ago I was usually much farther south and more often than not (now a day's) across the lake from Lincon Beach while fishing Cats.

Sounds like there's a few kitty chaser's in the forum,, Great! Pound fer pound I think the big kittie's have one he!! of a lot fighting heart,, but hey thats merely my oppinion.. Whats more,, if ya want a battle on yer hands,, tackle a large carp thats butt/foul hooked through an ice hole! Fun stuff!

As I think back (late 70's) I remember standing on the docks a Bullfrog watch the kids toss bread to the carp. I'd been talking to the old gentleman behind the counter earlier and he told me several large Cats that would wander up and feed around the docks in the evening. Well while standing there watching the kid's something caught my attention moving along the bottom close to shore in about 3 feet of water,, it was a big cat and very dark in color. Now I cant tell you what it might have weighed but it looked to be a good 4' long. I watched it work the area for probably 10 minutes before it wandered off.. Btw,, nope,, I didnt run fer me pole,, merely watched it... About three years later again we launched out of Bullfrog and rode up Moki (you know,, Big Striper fishing along the cliff's).. We'd manage to find a lil sand spot at the end of a cove to camp.. Well on the way back to the mouth of Moki we passed over a dark spot on the bottom in about 6 foot of water laying on the sandy.. Again it turned out to be a huge Cat and like the other atleast 4' long. I'd just started scuba diving and had taken my suba gear along that trip and jokingly said I was going to go down and spear the big boy.. Well that brought about a few screams from my girl's.. lol
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[fishluvr]

I'm excited as well to see there are some people here that like to cat fish. I have only done it twice at Utah Lake and would love to hitch a ride with somebody or pick some brains on where to go and how to fish. If anybody is ever heading down to Utah Lake, for cats or bass or whatever, give me a pm and see if I can tag along. Thx!!!
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