Wacky, Accidental White Bass Whackdown (with Video)

[Piscophilic]

Jon and I did an afternoon trip to Utah Lake State Park. Air temp in the 80’s and the water almost 80. The trip started out routine, but ended with a bunch of white bass, a couple great channel cats and several accidental twists and turns.

 
We started off at the dock at about 2 P.M. Boats everywhere, but the bait didn’t seem to mind.

https://youtu.be/LmSrbgqt55U
 
We got to the area we wanted to fish and tried to catch an adult white bass and the first accident happened.
 
https://youtu.be/LFefTNPkueA
 
We rigged rods with weights and treble hooks trying to retrieve what was lost and ended up with several surprising catches.
 
https://youtu.be/erHKwQtcNAM
 
Since we were catching fish on bare hooks, I suggested we add a small chunk of WB to one of the hooks. The result was an accidental white bass whackdown.
 
https://youtu.be/tQ_NLWLlCLE
 
More than 2 hours and 80 plus white bass later I told Jon I was going to fan cast around the boat 1 more time and if I didn’t catch the rod, we would call it a loss and go catfishing. Guess what happened!
 
https://youtu.be/SKy-2AnY0gM
 
We had been putting all the white bass into the landing net so we didn’t have to walk back and forth to the live well. We headed out catfishing and the first one we hooked was the best of the year so far. We needed the net so the WB got dumped in a pile on the floor.
 
https://youtu.be/sKhxRyTb60c
 
It was a crazy day full of ups and downs, surprises and lots of fish. We caught 15 YOY white bass, lost a rod, caught a carp and white a white bass on a bare hook. Then we added bait and ended up with over 90 adult WB. We caught the lost rod and then 8 channel cats including 3 from 10-13 lbs.
 
What a ride!

[wiperhunter2]

Great report and videos. What kind of camera did you use to film it? Do you load it from your camera, directly onto YouTube or do you edit it first? Are these you first videos?

[Piscophilic]

Great report and videos. What kind of camera did you use to film it? Do you load it from your camera, directly onto YouTube or do you edit it first? Are these you first videos?

Thanks Curt! It is a GoPro and I do edit it before I upload it. Otherwise this would have been 5 hours of video. I have done a few other videos, but just learning.

[Therapist]

Soi!! What happened to the mess of fish you caught?? After a full day on the water, did you stand at the sink and fillet all those fish after you got home ?? I used to see the same thing at Yuba when there were jumbo perch. Folks would take several hundred of them in a day, standing on the ice for 8-10 hours, drive home, and stand at the sink for another 3-4 hours filleting fish, I doubted it then and I doubt it now. These resources are NOT unlimited, nothing wrong with taking a mess of fish, but a 100 !! Get real folks, no one is going to spend 2,3,4 hours processing fish after spending 6-8 hours on the water !! I can't see taking more than 2 dozen of any species, any where. I have filleted 2 dzn strippers at Powell and that is no fun !! 2 dzn jumbo perch after 8 hours on the ice was not fun, I guarantee 100 white bass after 6-8 hours on the water is not going to get done !! Use some judgment folks, take what is reasonable and release the rest !!

[Igottabigone]

Soi!! What happened to the mess of fish you caught?? After a full day on the water, did you stand at the sink and fillet all those fish after you got home ??  I used to see the same thing at Yuba when there were jumbo perch.  Folks would take several hundred of them in a day,  standing on the ice for 8-10 hours, drive home, and stand at the sink for another 3-4 hours filleting fish,  I doubted it then and I doubt it now.  These resources are NOT unlimited,  nothing wrong with taking a mess of fish,  but a 100 !!  Get real folks,  no one is going to spend 2,3,4 hours processing fish after spending 6-8 hours on the water !!  I can't see taking more than 2 dozen of any species, any where.  I have filleted 2 dzn strippers at Powell and that is no fun !!  2 dzn jumbo perch after 8 hours on the ice was not fun,  I guarantee 100 white bass after  6-8 hours on the water is not going to get done !!  Use some judgment folks,  take what is reasonable and release the rest !!

Booo!

[wiperhunter2]

Great report and videos. What kind of camera did you use to film it? Do you load it from your camera, directly onto YouTube or do you edit it first? Are these you first videos?

Thanks Curt! It is a GoPro and I do edit it before I upload it. Otherwise this would have been 5 hours of video. I have done a few other videos, but just learning.

Years ago I recorded my fishing trips too, with a GoPro but never learned the edit and upload part. How much is the software for editing the video?

[wiperhunter2]

Soi!! What happened to the mess of fish you caught?? After a full day on the water, did you stand at the sink and fillet all those fish after you got home ??  I used to see the same thing at Yuba when there were jumbo perch.  Folks would take several hundred of them in a day,  standing on the ice for 8-10 hours, drive home, and stand at the sink for another 3-4 hours filleting fish,  I doubted it then and I doubt it now.  These resources are NOT unlimited,  nothing wrong with taking a mess of fish,  but a 100 !!  Get real folks,  no one is going to spend 2,3,4 hours processing fish after spending 6-8 hours on the water !!  I can't see taking more than 2 dozen of any species, any where.  I have filleted 2 dzn strippers at Powell and that is no fun !!  2 dzn jumbo perch after 8 hours on the ice was not fun,  I guarantee 100 white bass after  6-8 hours on the water is not going to get done !!  Use some judgment folks,  take what is reasonable and release the rest !!

I think that is a decision each angler needs to make on their own. Years ago I put a limit on how many fish I kept, not because I would not eat them, if I got more but because of the time it took to process fish like perch. What one person can easily process another might struggle to process. I don't think it's our job to try and decided how many fish another angler can process or use as long as they are legal, even if we don't like it.

[Piscophilic]

Soi!! What happened to the mess of fish you caught?? After a full day on the water, did you stand at the sink and fillet all those fish after you got home ??  I used to see the same thing at Yuba when there were jumbo perch.  Folks would take several hundred of them in a day,  standing on the ice for 8-10 hours, drive home, and stand at the sink for another 3-4 hours filleting fish,  I doubted it then and I doubt it now.  These resources are NOT unlimited,  nothing wrong with taking a mess of fish,  but a 100 !!  Get real folks,  no one is going to spend 2,3,4 hours processing fish after spending 6-8 hours on the water !!  I can't see taking more than 2 dozen of any species, any where.  I have filleted 2 dzn strippers at Powell and that is no fun !!  2 dzn jumbo perch after 8 hours on the ice was not fun,  I guarantee 100 white bass after  6-8 hours on the water is not going to get done !!  Use some judgment folks,  take what is reasonable and release the rest !!

Booo!

Therapist, I appreciate your point. Since I use this forum quite a bit I want to set the record straight. You are almost right, few people would clean that many after a long day on the water. There is at least one though.
 
I have built a cleaning station that I mount on my boat. You are again close to right, I started filleting about 10  P.M. and finished the initial part at 2 A.M. They still had the skin on them. I put the bags in a refrigerator until the next day. It took another hour and a half to skin and trim them. I ended up putting just over 14 pounds of fillets in the freezer. 
 
When I have a fish fry, I get grandkids and nieces and nephews and it often adds up to 15 or more people. The fish will get used.


Here's a short video, I made just for you, of my cleaning station in use that night. Would have been a lot shorter ordeal but my electric knife went missing.

https://youtu.be/qdPs1T_1B-E

[Kent]

Crazy that you caught two different species (although the carp may have been snagged) casting a bare hook. If rods could just jump out of my rod holder (as it did in your video) I would be investing in different rod holders.

[MrShane]

GPS that spot!
The Cats will be fed real good for next week!!

[FishfulThinkin]

Soi!! What happened to the mess of fish you caught?? After a full day on the water, did you stand at the sink and fillet all those fish after you got home ??  I used to see the same thing at Yuba when there were jumbo perch.  Folks would take several hundred of them in a day,  standing on the ice for 8-10 hours, drive home, and stand at the sink for another 3-4 hours filleting fish,  I doubted it then and I doubt it now.  These resources are NOT unlimited,  nothing wrong with taking a mess of fish,  but a 100 !!  Get real folks,  no one is going to spend 2,3,4 hours processing fish after spending 6-8 hours on the water !!  I can't see taking more than 2 dozen of any species, any where.  I have filleted 2 dzn strippers at Powell and that is no fun !!  2 dzn jumbo perch after 8 hours on the ice was not fun,  I guarantee 100 white bass after  6-8 hours on the water is not going to get done !!  Use some judgment folks,  take what is reasonable and release the rest !!

Don't assume that most people who harvest a lot of fish end up wasting them. I know there are a few bad apples but most of us use all the fish we harvest. I can process 1 fish per minute with my electric filet knife including skin off and trimmed. Last fall we ended up with 75+ nice perch in my cooler and I processed them all myself. After almost an hour and a half at the filet table I made a note to myself to not harvest that many next time. My shoulder and neck were aching after an hour but I kept at it until every last fish was done. I personally don't plan on putting that many perch in the cooler again unless I have help at the filet table but I still need 40+ to feed my crew. Instead of putting some extra filets in the freezer, I guess I'll just have to go fishing more often. Oh well.

[Piscophilic]

Crazy that you caught two different species (although the carp may have been snagged) casting a bare hook.  If rods could just jump out of my rod holder (as it did in your video) I would be investing in different rod holders.

No, the carp had that treble well into its mouth. The rod holders are good, if I job. I was distracted when I placed it and it was barely in the holder at all.

---

Great report and videos. What kind of camera did you use to film it? Do you load it from your camera, directly onto YouTube or do you edit it first? Are these you first videos?

Thanks Curt! It is a GoPro and I do edit it before I upload it. Otherwise this would have been 5 hours of video. I have done a few other videos, but just learning.

Years ago I recorded my fishing trips too, with a GoPro but never learned the edit and upload part. How much is the software for editing the video?

I got lucky on the software. It is part of an Adobe package that my employer provides so it is free for me

[wiperhunter2]

---

Years ago I recorded my fishing trips too, with a GoPro but never learned the edit and upload part. How much is the software for editing the video?

I got lucky on the software. It is part of an Adobe package that my employer provides so it is free for me

Sweet, you can't beat a deal like that.

[Fowl-Hook]

[quote pid="1148326" dateline="1692282972"]

 

 
https://youtu.be/sKhxRyTb60c
 
It was a crazy day full of ups and downs, surprises and lots of fish. We caught 15 YOY white bass, lost a rod, caught a carp and white a white bass on a bare hook. Then we added bait and ended up with over 90 adult WB. We caught the lost rod and then 8 channel cats including 3 from 10-13 lbs.
 
What a ride!
[/quote]

Fished American Fork Wed and Sunday with my 7 yr old granddaughter. Brought home 30 11" ers. wed so we returned Sunday. After several hours we had caught 6 3 inchers and 1ten incher, took home a big zero which was much easier to clean up.

[Piscophilic]

[quote pid="1148326" dateline="1692282972"]

 

 
https://youtu.be/sKhxRyTb60c
 
It was a crazy day full of ups and downs, surprises and lots of fish. We caught 15 YOY white bass, lost a rod, caught a carp and white a white bass on a bare hook. Then we added bait and ended up with over 90 adult WB. We caught the lost rod and then 8 channel cats including 3 from 10-13 lbs.
 
What a ride!

Fished American Fork Wed and Sunday with my 7 yr old granddaughter. Brought home 30 11" ers. wed so we returned Sunday. After several hours we had caught 6 3 inchers and 1ten incher, took home a big zero which was much easier to clean up.
[/quote]
I'm glad you found some on Wed. They do move around quite a bit. Next time we visited the spot we got so many, we got 2 for bait.

[MWScott72]

I think Therapist is trying to tell everyone what HE is unwilling to do…and there is nothing wrong with that. I on the other hand will clean 75-100 perch, crappie or WB. I don’t really like it. It does take hours to do, BUT the end result of 10 lbs of fillets from 100 WB is more than worth it.

There are surely some anglers that get their fish home, then get lazy and waste them, and that is super , but the broad brush painting isn’t accurate.

[RockyRaab2]

I have never had that problem. What often happens to me is that I'll put one fish in the live well, and never catch another that day. Then find that it is now a dead well, and I have one that is hardly worth the effort to clean.