Cat Chat

[Tin-Can]

Dang Fish have got lockjaw. After Sundays two fish I thought the warmer days would have them jumping in my lap. 
Did find a baby 24" to get fish 3 on the board. 

    Nice going again John..........I'm sure you will bump that one before long.  

[2knots]

Anybody catch cats at Hyrum, I see them listed as a "species" in the lake

[Tin-Can]

Anybody catch cats at Hyrum, I see them listed as a "species" in the lake

I have heard of Cats caught at Hyrum, never caught any myself. If they are there, water may still be a bit cold.

[SkunkedAgain]

I got a question, so do I need to have your measuring stick I'm using for the contest certified?? I saw in some other threds people talking about getting their bump boards certified?

Commercially available devices like tape measures and yard sticks are considered approved, but if you use stuff that is self printed we need to see a picture of the device with a commercial tape measure lined up along the side so we can verify that the dimensions are true...  If you build a bump board and have commercial measurement items on that bump board it will be approved...as long as the ends line up with the bump portion of the board...   I really like bump boards, they make my job so much easier to score fish... Hope this helps... Jeff

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Anybody catch cats at Hyrum, I see them listed as a "species" in the lake

Alan, a couple years back someone found a dead cat on the beach up there at Hyrum, was easily over 30"... So yes there are cats in there, but I don't know of anyone really fishing for cats out of Hyrum... Probably not high numbers in there, but if you can figure them out, you may be on to the new trophy pond for them...  I haven't scored any fish from Hyrum in the past contests, but... I haven't out of Mantua yet either, and  they planted the big ones in there last year or the year before... so we could see some new cat location entries this year...  Just takes figuring them out... Good luck.. Jeff

PS... Funny but I don't see many cats from Willard, and folks catch them there all the time... I do see some, but not a lot...

[Ahi1953]

Cloudy wet day on the Bear River today.  Ran into Forest (Tin Can). It's a little slow I think water still on the cool side to get the catfish to move around a lot but if you can get lucky and drop a tasty morsel in front of one he will bite. 
Found a little bumper fish today 26 inch 

[Anglinarcher]

Kinda liked Jeffs idea last year of having this Thread for sharing info and just pain old fish talk. 
I think it helps keep our scoring threads a little cleaner making it easier for Jeff to see our entries. 
Good Luck To you all. Go North we got this AGAIN 

Can you guys give me the link to the 2020 cat challenge?  Maybe I can get out of the house soon.

Not sure I could give you the link and make it correct, but here's the old school long hand directions. Utah Forum / Utah Contests - upper right side of contest forum click on "Post Thread". When that opens, in thread subject box: type - 2020 Cat Fishing Contest - Anglinarcher. Then each time you catch a contest fish, make a reply to that same thread (yours) with date, place (body of water), length in half inch increments, and a photo of that fish with a measuring device and the a copy of the 2020 BFT Cat Contest placard with your user name on it.
Tips you may have missed: Take LOTS of photos, various angles and distances. Fish must be on a flat surface, measuring device flush at nose, tail pinched. Post the photo that best shows fish and measuring device.  SkunkedAgain or another mod will judge the posted photo and usually respond in green font.  Repeat as many times, with as many fish as you can. 3 largest will be scored for your personal score and the team score.
Hope that helps.........

Thanks, I will probably mess up the first time, but lots of fish in them their waters.

[SkunkedAgain]

Okay I have a topic that I could use some help with:  Yesterday when I went out I actually had several hits I missed, well truth be told the day went like this.... First cast out of both poles I had a fish grab my left pole which had a big honking quarter pound of carp on it... It had an 8 ought hook with a 3 ought stinger hook right by it with both hooks in the same piece of bait.  As the bobber took off I was so excited I immediately tried to set the hook and gave a big harry jerk and pulled it right out of its mouth, no contact...   While later right pole bobber takes off.. Note this pole has a flig baited with carp and then two other  4 ought hooks lower with less bait on this rig prospecting for what they wanted.  Anyway it is under a bobber and the bobber takes off, this pole has my bait feeder reel on so I let it take off and swim... note they are moving slow, not the summer grab and run ... The fish gets out maybe 10 yards and I decide to set the hook, so I cranked into it and all heck breaks lose as the fish thrashes like an alligator, the head pops out and it's a big boy, like probably 28 plus fish... I fight for maybe two or three seconds after and it's gone, like opened its mouth and spit it out...  As the afternoon went on, two more takes and total whiffs when I try to set the hook after the bobbers being carried a long ways away...  So I tried to cut my bait into smaller pieces so the hooks stuck out better and casted back out... Then I caught the 22"er, but it was hooked on the outside of the mouth, so probably not the hook it took...   A long time later I got the 26.5 and it had swallowed it so I did get a good hook set there.  My question is, how should I be baiting up or rigging my hooks so I get a better hook up ratio... I don't usually get many bites and if I miss them I have a good chance on not catching anything... Anyone willing to do a basic rigging baiting piece so I can try and do better?  Thanks Jeff

[Tin-Can]

Well, I did venture out to the River yesterday. Rain and wind off and on. Still no bites for me. But I did get a good laugh.  I pulled up to the boat ramp, saw something strange sticking out of a fence post.  When I got close enough I could see that it was a camera tri-pod. Now there may be other guys, but I only know one that takes and uses a camera tri-pod at the river..........Ahi1953   John.  Shortly after seeing it, John pulled up. I had already taken and put it in my truck, figure I would be a good deed angler friend and keep it for him. I see him at the river just about every weekend.  I show it to him, he says, "yeah, that was my old broken one. I got a new one. I put this one in the trash can in the bathroom at the bottom parking area"   Well  I guess there was someone else at the river, saw it in the trash and decided they would also be a good deed angler........and stuck it in the fence post at the ramp.     
(I had a photo of it, but must have cleared it off my phone) 

Anyway, glad John caught another Cat yeasterday. 

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Hey you two, you better leave some big ones for me! Hopefully I can get in a couple of hours of fishing here and there next week. Looking forward to an early charge by the North team.

   ah Paul, thats funny........only one you need to worry about "leaving you some big ones" is John. Weather forecast isn't too good t his weekend, but I am gonna at least go up, drown some more bait, and sit in my truck.  

Paul, guess you don't need to worry about me getting your big cats, or any right now........you and John have hit them all so far. 

[Jig-fisher]

Forest, it is still really early and the water is cold. I looked back at my entries last year and my 1st was March 28th. I didn't start to get any really nice fish until mid to late April. I remember fishing in May was really good. So don't worry about not getting any yet, we have nearly half a year to catch the big ones.

I did catch a 7" cat out of the Malad the other day. Thought of entering for the smallest cat, but just let it go.

[Tin-Can]

Forest, it is still really early and the water is cold. I looked back at my entries last year and my 1st was March 28th. I didn't start to get any really nice fish until mid to late April. I remember fishing in May was really good. So don't worry about not getting any yet, we have nearly half a year to catch the big ones.

I did catch a 7" cat out of the Malad the other day. Thought of entering for the smallest cat, but just let it go.

Yea, I know it's early. I didn't catch my first contest cat until the Spring Flotilla at Lincoln Beach last year.  I am just waiting patiently (sort of) for June 30. After that, I am gonna give you and John a run for your money.  And I'm gonna hit UL more regular, like during the week when there are fewer power squadron folks out. 
You should have posted that 7 incher. It would have held smallest for awhile anyway. At least until some of those young bucks from the south team get active. 

[Cowboypirate]

Okay I have a topic that I could use some help with:  Yesterday when I went out I actually had several hits I missed, well truth be told the day went like this.... First cast out of both poles I had a fish grab my left pole which had a big honking quarter pound of carp on it... It had an 8 ought hook with a 3 ought stinger hook right by it with both hooks in the same piece of bait.  As the bobber took off I was so excited I immediately tried to set the hook and gave a big harry jerk and pulled it right out of its mouth, no contact...   While later right pole bobber takes off.. Note this pole has a flig baited with carp and then two other  4 ought hooks lower with less bait on this rig prospecting for what they wanted.  Anyway it is under a bobber and the bobber takes off, this pole has my bait feeder reel on so I let it take off and swim... note they are moving slow, not the summer grab and run ... The fish gets out maybe 10 yards and I decide to set the hook, so I cranked into it and all heck breaks lose as the fish thrashes like an alligator, the head pops out and it's a big boy, like probably 28 plus fish... I fight for maybe two or three seconds after and it's gone, like opened its mouth and spit it out...  As the afternoon went on, two more takes and total whiffs when I try to set the hook after the bobbers being carried a long ways away...  So I tried to cut my bait into smaller pieces so the hooks stuck out better and casted back out... Then I caught the 22"er, but it was hooked on the outside of the mouth, so probably not the hook it took...   A long time later I got the 26.5 and it had swallowed it so I did get a good hook set there.  My question is, how should I be baiting up or rigging my hooks so I get a better hook up ratio... I don't usually get many bites and if I miss them I have a good chance on not catching anything... Anyone willing to do a basic rigging baiting piece so I can try and do better?  Thanks Jeff

I am not going to offer advice as I dont consider myself an expert on your questions, but I will say that this year I bough the "Triple Threat" circle hooks from Whisker Seeker. Been wanting to try them for a while. If you believe the hype (sales pitch) they can be fished dead stick circle hook style with no hook set, or with a sweeping hookset if you like a more traditional method (as long as you sweep, so you get the point angle right) and I forget what the third option is. Anyway I will report out on how they work. I picked up size 8 and size 6 and rigged my santee setups with the sixes and my deadsticks with the 8. I know I am a believer in the circle hooks if I dont get impatent on the tug.

[catchinon]

Jeff, I like the circle hooks too. The only other thing I have learned about where to put the hook is to put it through a side edge or a corner of the piece of bait. At first I was jamming the bend full of bait and the hook had only the least bit of point with which to snag the fish. Now I can hold the hook up and the piece of bait will just dangle down below. It's easier if you cut bait fairly thin. With white bass the skin is so tough you don't have to worry that the hook will tear out. I've caught several fish with the same piece of bait. Oh, and the bigger the circle hook is the better it works. Took me a while to get my head around the idea that you should use 6/0 to 8/0 hooks.

[SkunkedAgain]

I'm using circle hooks and the sweep doesn't seem to hookem  good enough. Lost my best cat ever tonight after a ten minute battle because the hook wasn't set good enough. Not that I'm still smarting from that or anything. I missed the first four takes again tonight, but then things got go'en. See my post on the premium board for the rest of that story. Later Jeff

[Tin-Can]

Hey all you northern cat chasers, and southern too if you decide to make a trip to the Bear River Bird Refuge on "Forest" street.  There are 2 vault toilets. One just past the Welcome Center, on the north side of the road, and one all the way to the bottom in the duck boat ramp parking area. They are BOTH CLOSED until further notice. There is a PortaPotty at the edge of the duck ramp parking area, but unless you bring one of your own porta-buckets, you will only have 2 choices for restroom use. At the Loves Truck stop at the freeway exit on Forest Street before entering the BRBR, or about 11 miles kind of west-ish at the duck ramp parking lot. 

[Ahi1953]

Not sure whats happening Jeff.  I have had fish that pick up the bait and run without getting the hook and fish that get hooked in the wiskers. When using circle hooks the main thing to remmber snell them with the leader comming out of the front of the eye

[cdbrc1]

We three kings of sanpete hit LB sat.  Weather was great and alot of people were out.   In 5 hrs. I landed one mud cat think small,  and Clay got a 28 inch 8#1 oz channel.   Beautiful fish and a great day fishing,   catching.???.  Tried 4 spots including TD favorites with chub and minnow.   Was really good to be on the water and not have to wash my hands 

[catchinon]

Maybe you should wash your hands in the lake water. It's possible that the algae will kill coronavirus.  

Watch for a PM from me.

[Tin-Can]

Not sure whats happening Jeff.  I have had fish that pick up the bait and run without getting the hook and fish that get hooked in the wiskers. When using circle hooks the main thing to remmber snell them with the leader comming out of the front of the eye

John,  sent you a PM

[Ahi1953]

sorry Forest I sent reply

[Tin-Can]

sorry Forest I sent reply

I got it, thanks