catfish story's

[CATFIST]

i want to know if any one has caught a huge catfish out of utah lake or any where in utah. or knows any one who has seen one that big . i have heard of people netting 30lbs and bigger but that is what a story is huh real or fake ?
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[fish_fear_me2]

The Utah State record came out of U.L in 1978.It was 32 lbs and change so it has been done. TD tangles with some big kitties and probably a few other dedicated U.L fishers have caught some big ones. There was a recent post where the subject of 30+ lb cats was brought up. I am sure they are there, not sure how often they get caught.
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[Flycasting]

I have never personally seen a 30lb'r. I would day if they are out there then they are in UL or the Bear River. (Cutler has produced some nice ones recently too)
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Back when I was a younger feller...and before West Nile virus...I used to fish a lot more at night. Biggest cat I ever caught was 24#. Biggest I ever actually laid eyes on was about 2# heavier. But I heerd tell...from a friend of a friend whose third cousin useta know somebody that there is cats in Utah Lake that go over 50 pounds.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Thought I had the state record myself when I caught that 24 pounder. My fishin' buddy Bubba (who else) had a fishing scale that weighed up to 50 pounds. My big kitty took that needle right down near the bottom. But then Bubba admitted it "might" be just a tad off. His newborn little girl had weighed over 20 pounds on those scales...hung up by her little diaper on the ugly hook. T[/#0000ff][#0000ff]he day before that the hospital had weighed her at only 7 pounds. A set of certified scales the next morning confirmed that Bubbas scales were "suspect". I was so disappointed that I never again tried for the record.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]How's that for a catfish story? [/#0000ff]
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[CATFIST]

who is td ? and thanks for the story biggest one i have had was 13 lbs me and my brother have been trying since last year to get a huge one we want a to beat the state record we went out last year every weekend and it will be the same this year is it true bigger bait bigger fish cause i have mud cats eating my 3 to 4 inch cubs
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[pa]

Who is TD? Just read back through some of "Tubedudes"
and you will see that he is one of the most knowledgeable
guys on this forum, about a whole wealth of subjects, and is willing to share all of it, and help any way that he can.
pa
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[CoyoteSpinner]

[quote CATFIST]who is td ?. . . true bigger bait bigger fish . . .[/quote]

WHO IS TD?!?!?!
I thinks you've already got yer answer, but yeah - catmaster, tubemaster, lure/jig-master. What can ya say. He's big, he's bad, and he's full of it (IT being incredibly valuable helpful information and genuine generosity!
And if ya EVER want to pimp out a tube or toon - he's IS da man!)

Check out[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=658157"] this post[/url] on Pocket Gophers. Cats of past and such. Some frickin' beasts! The southerners got a bit full of themselves, so thought I'd share some of our Northerner's successes. And you guys rock! Some of our night-timers do pretty frickin' good out there! Don't know how you stand the bugs, but hey.

What is it they say in Bwaston? Make way for ducklings?

My PB-for Utah cats is this spring - at 7lbs. A colleague just posted a nice 13lber (spank you very much Karl!). So - my next mark is the 10lb point. Then it'll be 15, then 20.... and so on.

Today is a good day to catfish!

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]There is an old fisherman's saying..."Big fish - Big Bait." Or maybe it's the other way around.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Either way, when it comes to catching big cats from most waters you will do better by serving them up something that appeals to their size and normal feeding habits.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I usually don't keep, kill and cut open the larger cats. Of the very few I have been privileged to look in their innards I have been amazed (and nauseated) at what you might find in them. The cats from Utah Lake almost always have whole white bass, bluegill, crappies...and even small walleyes, bullheads and even carp in them. Fairly large WHOLE fish. I have even seen them with small whole chickens and other birds...including the head and neck of a merganzer (fish-eating duck). There had to be a story behind that one.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]When I fished for the bigguns I used several different baits. One was a foot-long strip of FRESH carp fillet...rigged at least two hooks. Sometimes I used whole yearling carp...about a foot long. Most of the time I used fresh whole white bass. I scaled them, sheared off their stickery spines and cut slashes in their sides to release more scent. I have caught many cats over ten pounds from Utah Lake...several over 15. My biggest have almost all been on whole white bass.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When using large baits you will still get smaller cats working the bait over. I have caught them as small as about 4#...even on a good sized white bass. But you will get few problems with other white bass or bullheads packing it off.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As a general rule, you will know when Mr. Big comes calling. No "nibbles". Just a sudden hard sustained pull. If your rod is not anchored and the drag set loose you will lose your rod...or break it. I prefer to leave the bail open and let them move off. Then I flip the bail, let the fish pull the line tight and then set the hook. If you are using circle hooks you just tighten up and start pulling. [/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Got a PM asking if I would post up my old short story on The Monster of Willard Bay. Almost forgot about that. Gotta dust it off and put it up fer the newbies once in awhile.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Now this is a BIG cat.[/#0000ff]
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[Sotally_Tober]

I will post this again, I bet this fish would have broke 30 alive, easy....
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]No doubt about it, that is a biggun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Kinda strange to see one that big without a big pot gut. If it had more internal fat and had just eaten a couple of big white bass it would be a contender. Most record catfish around the country almost look deformed with big huge guts.[/#0000ff]
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[beggin4bass]

I am one of those guys that use bigger baits for bigger fish. The largest I have taken at UL is 15#'s. Most of the time I catch the usual cookie cutter, but I try for & only keep the 3 to 5 lb cats. I do use 5/0 circle hooks & only white bass for bait. This does keep most of the bullheads away or at least they don't try to run away with my bait.
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[Utcatman]

Well i dont know about Utah lake, but I do know when I fish the brbr all of the big ones I have caught ( 14 to 19 lbs) were all caught on whole FRESH bait like carp suckers and chub in the 5-8 inch range... I use two rods and on the other rod I will use carp strips and tangle with the 6 to 10 lbers while waiting for that biggie to bite! I Will stick one over 20 this yr.. looking for my c&r record.


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[CATFIST]

thank you every one for the storys it means alot and sorry tube dude i didnt put td together everyone is a big help on this web site thanks for all the post if you have any more big fish storys i would love to hear them thanks
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[CoyoteSpinner]

You got some great response - and from some of the right folks alrighty!

Just for the wow factor - here's a BIGGERER cat, but you won't find these in Utah. But as TD sez - they do look deformed don't they!

You might also get a kick out of this - Fishing Cat.

The last one IS one I caught, and a very interested onlooker!

[toadly]

Funny story. Must have been raining that day.?
Fun to read.
So that is what your thinks while dragging a chub along the south bank....."we gonna need a bigger boat"[cool]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Glad you liked it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I actually began hatching out the idea for that story back in the '70s...after Jaws came out. I was drifting around out of the south marina one night. It was one of those nice calm moonlit summer nights when the mosquitoes had not found me...yet. I was slowly dragging a bait and was about half asleep as I reached over the side of my old round tube to trail my fingers in the water. BAD MOVE. I touched the top of a huge snoozing carp and the water erupted. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]After getting my heart restarted and turning my fright into seeing the humor of the situation I began to think...what if there really were monster fish in some lakes that would rise up and snarf down something the size of a float tuber.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The end result was a product of reading and watching too much science fiction and my own vivid imagination.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I still float tube but not as much at night. Not 'cause I'm afeered. Us old fudds just can't stay awake much past dark. As I tell folks..."I go to bed early and get up at 5...and wake up at noon."[/#0000ff]
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