09-19-2018, 10:24 PM
... next to a skunk. I have been to Provo Harbor and environs five time in the past few weeks. On four trips I have caught just one fish each, with one of those being a lowly white bass. So that makes three channel cats, one at a time. One was a 26.5 and the others were both 26.
Today I fished within the harbor itself as opposed to the channel. I got there earlier than the last two times as reports seemed to indicate the best action was early in the morning. I got there at 7:00 and wish I had been earlier. On a tip from a fellow fisherman I spoke with on one of my earlier trips I was planning to fish from the first launch ramp on the north side. But when I got there, four anglers were ranged across it like chess pieces, each with his white bucket. Drats. So I went to the middle ramp and set up on the far side. I baited up with a white bass head and the rear half of a chub that TubeDude gave me on my last foray. I had a couple of pop-and-drops on the white bass head, but I guessed they were from white bass. Then just before the sun came over the mountains my bobber disappeared and stayed down. It was the one with chub on it. Soon I was fast to a good cat. It took a while to land it but it didn't feel like anything bigger than what I have caught before. Sure enough, it was another 26"er. After some photos I gently laid him back in the water but he didn't seem to want to swim away. Maybe the fight and the time out of the water took the starch out of him. After moving him back and forth in the water for a while he swam off. I went about rebaiting; when I turned back around he was a few feet out stuck in some aquatic vegetation. By stepping into the water I was able to scoop him up again in my net. I thought that I might just have to take him home and eat him but decided I would give him one more chance. I left him submerged just under the water and went about my business. When I got back to him after several minutes and nudged him forward he slowly swam away.
So my quest for a 27"er (or bigger) goes on. Surely there's one out there with my name on it. I guess that I can go earlier and later as I should be able to fish under the lights well enough. I leave for elk camp in just two weeks so I gotta git 'er done soon.
The ambient temperature was 51 degrees at 7:00 and 70 when I left at 10:00. At one point I tried a shrimp with no luck. I got another pop on the front half of the chub, but had no real action from 8:00 on.
[signature]
Today I fished within the harbor itself as opposed to the channel. I got there earlier than the last two times as reports seemed to indicate the best action was early in the morning. I got there at 7:00 and wish I had been earlier. On a tip from a fellow fisherman I spoke with on one of my earlier trips I was planning to fish from the first launch ramp on the north side. But when I got there, four anglers were ranged across it like chess pieces, each with his white bucket. Drats. So I went to the middle ramp and set up on the far side. I baited up with a white bass head and the rear half of a chub that TubeDude gave me on my last foray. I had a couple of pop-and-drops on the white bass head, but I guessed they were from white bass. Then just before the sun came over the mountains my bobber disappeared and stayed down. It was the one with chub on it. Soon I was fast to a good cat. It took a while to land it but it didn't feel like anything bigger than what I have caught before. Sure enough, it was another 26"er. After some photos I gently laid him back in the water but he didn't seem to want to swim away. Maybe the fight and the time out of the water took the starch out of him. After moving him back and forth in the water for a while he swam off. I went about rebaiting; when I turned back around he was a few feet out stuck in some aquatic vegetation. By stepping into the water I was able to scoop him up again in my net. I thought that I might just have to take him home and eat him but decided I would give him one more chance. I left him submerged just under the water and went about my business. When I got back to him after several minutes and nudged him forward he slowly swam away.
So my quest for a 27"er (or bigger) goes on. Surely there's one out there with my name on it. I guess that I can go earlier and later as I should be able to fish under the lights well enough. I leave for elk camp in just two weeks so I gotta git 'er done soon.
The ambient temperature was 51 degrees at 7:00 and 70 when I left at 10:00. At one point I tried a shrimp with no luck. I got another pop on the front half of the chub, but had no real action from 8:00 on.
[signature]
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.
