06-09-2018, 09:14 PM
[#0000FF]I doubt that Utah Lake cats bother to analyze the shape or size of the bait so much as the scent of the naturally occurring baits. My experience over several decades of fishing Utah Lake is that you will always catch more and bigger cats on white bass or carp meat than on worms, shrimp, chicken liver or stink baits. There are a lot of things that will catch cats but their natural food items work better most of the time.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]If you want to specifically target the "bait size" white bass, start hitting the harbors right at daybreak. The young whities congregate in shallow water...often right over the ramp...and slurp in the midge larvae and newly hatching midges. Sometimes the swirls look like a rainstorm. Pitch any small jig...with or without a piece of worm...and you will get quick response. If you are a fly flinger, take your 3 weight and rig tandem small nymph patterns...like zebra midges or hares' ears. Make short light casts and start stripping and zipping as soon as the flies touch down. On a good morning you can catch enough to freeze for several trips.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]You should start seeing some 2-3 inchers by the first of July. Then they grow quickly, becoming 5-6 inches by fall. But in this year of an extended spawn you can probably catch them in all sizes through the summer. Ditto for baby carp.
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[#0000FF]If you want to specifically target the "bait size" white bass, start hitting the harbors right at daybreak. The young whities congregate in shallow water...often right over the ramp...and slurp in the midge larvae and newly hatching midges. Sometimes the swirls look like a rainstorm. Pitch any small jig...with or without a piece of worm...and you will get quick response. If you are a fly flinger, take your 3 weight and rig tandem small nymph patterns...like zebra midges or hares' ears. Make short light casts and start stripping and zipping as soon as the flies touch down. On a good morning you can catch enough to freeze for several trips.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]You should start seeing some 2-3 inchers by the first of July. Then they grow quickly, becoming 5-6 inches by fall. But in this year of an extended spawn you can probably catch them in all sizes through the summer. Ditto for baby carp.
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