09-03-2019, 03:29 PM
ES: Julie and I fished out of Provo from 6:15 to 11:45 A.M. It was a good, but unusual trip with over 25 cats and over 20 white bass. The water was 73 and the air 61 at sunup and 75 and 83 when we decided we had baked ourselves enough. We caught all the cats and most of the whites slow dragging FLAITs and cut WB in 5 to 9 FOW. The rest of the whites hit a crawler rig meant for toothier critters. The cats ranged from 20 to 29.5 inches and were still full of fight in the warm water. All the cats were released. We saw half a dozen or more fishing boats headed toward the island or Provo Bay, but we didn’t talk to any other fishermen.
FS: I had been down to the harbor on Saturday morning and got some YOY whites and one adult. I kept them cold but not frozen, so we did not spend any time in the harbor, but were out on the water just as the sky started to lighten in the east. It was a beautiful sunrise but the cats didn’t get up as early as we did. It took almost 45 minutes to get the first one. We had several tentative slaps at the cut WB, but the first two solid hits/hookups came on the YOY whites. They may have been just a bit negative and preferred the smaller baits.
Just after the second fish we hit some rocky or gravelly bottom in 6 to 7 FOW. Within minutes we were fighting whites off of all the baits and hooking them on the smaller ones. When we got to half a dozen I said “Let’s keep all the good ones, If we can get a dozen or so more than we need for bait, we’’’ make a meal out of them.” I had only brought half a dozen basslets and their relatives were shredding them quickly so I switches that rod to a ½ by 2” piece of cut bait and let them rip that apart.
Cat number 4 was the best of the day. I was very optimistic about it being another 30, but it was only 29.5. Still a great fish! We had been at it almost 2 hours when that one came in the boat. It was looking like a slower day. 10 minutes later another one hit. It was nice but closer to 29. Just as it hit the bottom of the boat another hit, Julie grabbed that rod and then the 3rd rod went down hard. I had just leaned on that one when the 4th one went down. A fish on all 4 rods at the same time! I held rod #3 in my right hand and picked up #4 with my left and leaned hard. It felt well hooked but smaller, so I put it back in the holder and went back to #3. During the time I was fighting the second one Julie had landed 2 cookie cutters. We managed to land all the fish. 2 were 29 or so and the other 2 cookie cutters. Then it went dead.
The rest of the morning was similar, dead spells and spurts, but we never had more than 2 fish on at once after the first crazy spurt.
The whites died down at about 9:30. We would still get one now and then, but they weren’t pecking at at least one rod all the time like before. All of them we managed to hook were 10 inches or more and healthy. We missed about 3 or 4 hits for every one we hooked on the FLAITs, but the worm harness got most of the fish that hit it.
At about 10:45 everything shut down. We got another cat or 2 and had a few non comital inquiries, but we knew it was time to go home by 11:45. Good thing, it was getting hot and our brains were starting to bake!
The power squadron was already out in force when we got back near the harbor. They say Labor Day is the official end of Summer. It has been a good one for cats, today included, but the quieter cooler times of Fall are more to my liking.
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FS: I had been down to the harbor on Saturday morning and got some YOY whites and one adult. I kept them cold but not frozen, so we did not spend any time in the harbor, but were out on the water just as the sky started to lighten in the east. It was a beautiful sunrise but the cats didn’t get up as early as we did. It took almost 45 minutes to get the first one. We had several tentative slaps at the cut WB, but the first two solid hits/hookups came on the YOY whites. They may have been just a bit negative and preferred the smaller baits.
Just after the second fish we hit some rocky or gravelly bottom in 6 to 7 FOW. Within minutes we were fighting whites off of all the baits and hooking them on the smaller ones. When we got to half a dozen I said “Let’s keep all the good ones, If we can get a dozen or so more than we need for bait, we’’’ make a meal out of them.” I had only brought half a dozen basslets and their relatives were shredding them quickly so I switches that rod to a ½ by 2” piece of cut bait and let them rip that apart.
Cat number 4 was the best of the day. I was very optimistic about it being another 30, but it was only 29.5. Still a great fish! We had been at it almost 2 hours when that one came in the boat. It was looking like a slower day. 10 minutes later another one hit. It was nice but closer to 29. Just as it hit the bottom of the boat another hit, Julie grabbed that rod and then the 3rd rod went down hard. I had just leaned on that one when the 4th one went down. A fish on all 4 rods at the same time! I held rod #3 in my right hand and picked up #4 with my left and leaned hard. It felt well hooked but smaller, so I put it back in the holder and went back to #3. During the time I was fighting the second one Julie had landed 2 cookie cutters. We managed to land all the fish. 2 were 29 or so and the other 2 cookie cutters. Then it went dead.
The rest of the morning was similar, dead spells and spurts, but we never had more than 2 fish on at once after the first crazy spurt.
The whites died down at about 9:30. We would still get one now and then, but they weren’t pecking at at least one rod all the time like before. All of them we managed to hook were 10 inches or more and healthy. We missed about 3 or 4 hits for every one we hooked on the FLAITs, but the worm harness got most of the fish that hit it.
At about 10:45 everything shut down. We got another cat or 2 and had a few non comital inquiries, but we knew it was time to go home by 11:45. Good thing, it was getting hot and our brains were starting to bake!
The power squadron was already out in force when we got back near the harbor. They say Labor Day is the official end of Summer. It has been a good one for cats, today included, but the quieter cooler times of Fall are more to my liking.
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