Clean-up and cats at Lincoln 6 22 2019

[Piscophilic]

Executive Summary: Julie and I went to Lincoln Beach for the Clean-up and Blitz. We arrived about 5:30 A.M. and stayed until 12:30. We cleaned up about 20 pounds of trash and caught over 40 pounds of fish (10 cats, 1 bullhead and 1 white bass). The wind howled from 6 to about 8:30 A.M. and then calmed enough to fish. Water temp was 65 at daylight and 68 when we left. All the fish came in 10+ FOW except the bullhead which was in 3. They liked cut white bass dragged at 0.5 to 1 mph and liked it better fresh. The cats ranged from 20 to 26 inches.

Full Story: We arrived at the Lincoln ramp at about 5:30 and tried for about 30 minutes to catch some whites for bait. In that 30 minutes the NW wind went from 5 to 10 mph down to nothing and then to 15 to 20. We didn’t catch any whites and it didn’t a good day to be on the lake.

Cathinon and Ice_sled showed up around 6. It was great to see them again. We visited for a few minutes and decided that the wise thing to do was clean up trash while the wind blew and hope for a reprieve. I took the north dike and the others took the south one. About an hour later I had a full bag of trash and the wind had not slowed much.

I played around in the harbor with a worm and bobber for 30 or 40 minutes but couldn’t find and interested pan fish. It was looking pretty bleak. Several other boats arrived and about half of them went home. The rest decided to bob around on the lee side of the dikes and hope for a cat or two. With the high winds, muddy water and large drop in temps, I thought it likely that the fish would be deeper. I almost called it and took Julie home, and then I thought: “We should give it a shot.”

We set up in 3 FOW next to the reeds off the south dike. 15 minutes later we got a skinny little bullhead. That took the skunk off, but barely.

I didn’t like the lack of fish and the wind had dropped below 10 mph so we started dragging baits out toward deeper water NE of the dikes. After almost an hour we had made it to 10 FOW. We had only had two hits and they seemed tentative. I was telling Julie that the drop in water temperature and the murky water (I could see a bait down about 2 inches) were likely the main cause of our poor fishing. She looked to the NE and said: “The water doesn’t look so brown out there. Maybe we should try there.” “I think it is an illusion,” I muttered. Just then we hooked a fish. It turned out to be a nice 26+. I said: “This is better, but we might have gotten lucky.”

Another blank 20 minutes passed. Then I looked both directions and thought maybe the water was lighter farther out. I’m glad I listened to her, she saved the trip.

We picked up the gear and zipped out about a mile toward the island and then started fishing again. The water was now more of a chalky white that the chocolate milk in closer to the harbor. I could actually see a bait down 6 or 8 inches! I set the timer for 20 minutes and then went back to thinking of excuses for not catching many fish. Then one of the FLAIT rods went down. It went 24 and just as it hit the bottom of the boat the timer went off. I released the fish and re-set the timer. 5 minutes later and I got a white on a dual rig. Woohoo fresh bait! I hurriedly cut it up and was starting to pull in and re-bait when the same FLAIT rod went bendo again, on the old WB.

That made 3 cats and the day was starting to look better. I got all the baits changed to fresh and the wind went down to less than 5 mph. In the next hour we got 7 more cats. No monsters, but they were all scrappy. Then a thunderstorm moved in and chased us and most of the rest of the boats off the lake.

Back in the parking lot I met Tin Can and Tin Can’s Mate loading up. It was great to finally meet them!

The day had stared out lousy, in fact the first hour of light was just garbage (sorry I couldn't resist), but Julie’s observation that the water looked clearer out to the north had put us on enough fish to have some fun. She is great company and she’s really learning fast.
[signature]

[catchinon]

Thanks for the thorough report and photos. After I get some more info I'll make a post about how joatman and I did and declare the winners of the different categories I decided on. Anyone else who participated please post how you did.
[signature]

[r2u2]

Hears what I know about yesterday. Violet and I arrived at LB at 1030 thinking thats when the bunch of you would be coming back in from your morning of catching. No one in site so we grabbed one of your bags from your pickup and commenced picking up trash. After an hour and a half we called it a good morning and headed home to our chores.

The cookies we brought to share with the group, we took back home because you were all out having fun.
We are glad you were able to get on the water and have some fun. We hope every ones efforts in the clean up made a noticeable difference.

rj
[signature]

[r2u2]

Forgot to mention, along with the bag of trash we picked up, we found 37 cents for our efforts. Now I'll bet that make you jealous.
[signature]

[catchinon]

Sorry, Richard. Here's what happened. When we got there a cold wind was blowing out of the northwest, creating white caps and rollers. Pisco hoped that it would die down after a while so he went ahead and launched and tied up at the dock. We figured we would clean up first while we waited for the wind to stop its hissy fit. He and Julie cleaned up on the north dike while ice_sled and I took the south. After a while BLK and Catrat showed up with their kayaks. We discussed the weather and we pretty much decided that the day was a loss; they and ice_sled left. I was about to go when my brother texted that he was on his way down from Riverton. We had fished the channel twice before together and we had caught nothing. We decided that it was calm in there so I stuck around for a third try. About the time he got there the lake had settled quite a bit and Pisco motored on out. A little later Tin-Can and Tincansmate came by and we wished them well.

Joatmon and I proceeded to fish where I had caught one the night before. I caught a bullhead and kept watching my bobber get towed around by the little stinkers. I was using the white bass a had kept from the night before while he was trying baby perch and cut chub and not even getting a nibble. I headed back to the pickup to retrieve the bass I brought with me out of the freezer but had forgotten and left on the seat. When I got back he had a channel cat up to the bank on one of my poles. A 23"er, but the ice was broken. We soon had him switched over to the bass and with both lines set up on bobber rigs. I noticed that he kept moving his bait in a little at a time. I told him to try leaving it in one place and waiting for the fish to smell it and come to it.

About mid-morning he was calling for the net. I fought through the brush and weeds and tried to net it. He was far from ready to quit and it took a while to get the big boy in. I congratulated Brett for catching a nice big one as only his second channel cat ever. It turned out to be a big black 27 incher. When he got ready to cast his line out again he looked to see where his bobber was. Couldn't spot it anywhere. He had another cat on, this one a big fat 25"er full of eggs. Once we finished goofing around with the pictures and returned her to the water, I noticed that my closest bobber had drifted all the way into the shore. That was funny because it usually stopped several feet out when the bait came to a rest on the bottom. "Oh just another bullhead pulled it in then took off," I thought to myself. I hoped I wasn't hung up on the moss and debris there. I start reeling in. I felt a little tug and guessed it was a bullhead. But then I got a real tug and the fight was on. I guess he was sulking in there under the junk. I got nervous about horsing him in so I lightened my drag and played him carefully. After several stabs Brett had him up on the bank. This was another black one which measured 26.5". So ended our "triple". I caught another mud cat but that was it. In a futile attempt I rebaited but to no response. They had turned on for 15 minutes then shut down for the day or maybe they were cruising by as a pack looking for trouble. At noon we packed up and headed in. About that time it started spitting a little rain and it was looking black and threatening to the west. I called Mooseman to see how they were doing. They had caught a few but nothing big and they were getting ready to head in because of the weather. You just can't be too careful on that lake. But I was gone before they arrived.

I saw your note and got it off my windshield before it was soaked. I'm sorry we missed you and wish you had gone out and fished; the water had settled right down.

Before I left, Pisco came in and I guess Tin-Can was right behind him. Well you read his report.

Hopefully Tin-Can and Mooseman will chime in and let us know how they did. But for now it looks like Joatmon had the biggest fish and raised his score by 52 points. Pretty good day, I'd say.

Joatman, if you read this please post your pictures; I didn't get any.
[signature]

[TinCansMate]

We went out the LB channel about 9:15 a.m. saw a said a few words with catchinon on our way out. Messed around to the west of the channel towards the first spring, out in about 6-7 fow. Wind was still a bit stiff, but not real bad. Decided to head for Bird Island. Sure good thing I got the rock pile charted on the GPS. It's further under water than I have ever seen.
Soaked cut carp and drowned worms in a couple places. Charted lots of fish in a 10 ft deep hole just west of the last island shrub, but must have all had lock jaw.

Along about 1200, we heard a very loud and LONG rumble of thunder. At BI which is 2.2 miles from LB, and my Mate's little Tin Can (boat) can do about 7 mph on calm water. He heard that thunder and said "Oh that's it ! Lines in and anchor up!"
We got to the LB dock about the same time Pisco beached his boat. Got a little wet, but then the rain stopped.
Well we had both been skunked, and had the boat about 75% stowed and road ready when Pisco came and introduced himself. Was nice to put another face with a name, and a boat with the face [].

Forest may tell a longer fish report since we fished Utah Lake Friday, Saturday and Sunday............then again he may not since he had a 3 day strike out.

Didn't know about the clean up.
[signature]

[joatmon]

Thanks for inviting me Craig. By the time I got there, the bulk of the trash had been picked up, but I did find some of the usual barley pop cans, water bottles, and fishing line.

And the fishing was pretty exciting there for a few minutes. I think those are the two biggest fish I’ve ever landed and appreciate you running the net for me. A few pictures attached. Thanks again for helping me get into a new kind of fishing. After all, I am jack of all tackle, master of none!
[signature]

[catchinon]

Thanks for your report and sorry the lake didn't treat you any better. Dang weather[mad]! Don't worry about the cleanup, we gotter done and it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be.
[signature]

[EyLayo]

Sorry I didn't make this one Craig. I had a planned family function I was stuck at. I'll be watching for the next one.
[signature]

[catchinon]

Sorry you couldn't make it, Shawn. I was hoping to have a little more time to check out your boat than I did at the Flotilla. Maybe I can make it up your way sometime. Our next cleanup day won't be until September but those of us who fish here regularly will try to keep up on it till then.
[signature]

[Mooseman75]

So our day as you know didn’t start til late as we had church cleaning to do. But it was nice seeing you again if only briefly and over a channel. Wish we could have hooked up and taken you out with us on the pontoon boat. My invitation still stands that I will take you out on my boat or my buddies pontoon.
Anyhow we headed for mud lake to see what if anything was biting there. We started just on the edge of sandy beach near the rock wall in the weeds. Nothing happening as there was some rolling waves muddying up the water pretty good. So we went deep into mud lake. Our first spot and I had I a mud cat and a 23.5” channel on in within 15 minutes then nothing so we moved. Jim caught a 23”er there. In the big pontoon boat we couldn’t keep it anchored, the wind kept pushing us so we had to keep readjusting the boat. Good thing for Devon as he was able to pull in a 23.5”. We moved one last time as the sky was turning ugly. Jim was able to get a 24”er before we called it quits. That pontoon boat is smooth even in rough waters but the lake you could tell was wanting to rear her ugly head, white caps were forming again as we were making our trek back in. It wasn’t a great day but got some good eaters to take home for my son who loves to eat catfish.
[signature]

[catchinon]

Thanks for filling us in on how your day went. Now you just need to convince those two to enter their fish even if they aren't huge. Every inch counts and later it feels good to get a bigger one and bump your score up.
[signature]

[Mooseman75]

Jim didn’t have have his placard and I could have sworn Devon had 3 fish 23” long so that is his caretaker bad. I guess that just means another fishing trip is coming up to fill in the gap. This time dad will be better prepared as I went in and looked at what’s been entered.
[signature]

[catchinon]

Oh, crap! You have to go fishing again? I feel very sorry for you. But you're tough,you can do it. But if you need any moral support, I'm always there for you.
[signature]

[Piscophilic]

Lets see 37 cents/1.5 hours is, well lets not go there. Thanks for your help. All I got was 2 cast a bubbles and a lost arrow. Not a fishing arrow or it never would have floated in.

Sorry we changed the timetable and didn't get to say hi.
[signature]

[Piscophilic]

It was fun to meet you guys too! Darn it, I thought your last day would be the best. Now I wish he had taken the WB I offered, it might have helped. We got 80% of our fish on the fresh stuff.
[signature]

[Piscophilic]

Joatmon, It was good to see you again at least from a distance. I'm glad you got some nice fish and helped Craig improve his catfishing skills[]

Keep up the good work!
[signature]