(02-11-2021, 04:45 PM)fast_randy Wrote:(02-11-2021, 03:42 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: In general I'm an old fashioned catfisher, I sit on the bank and wait for the cats to come to me... It takes lots of time and relies a lot on luck of picking the right areas to fish...
I have fished some from the boat that allows me to get to areas that I can't fish from the shore alone, and it opens new angles to drift my offering into areas, but typically I am still fishing from an anchored position and limited to the cats in the local area...
I have also fished from my pontoon trolling slowly, I personally love this method of fishing because I'm able to cover a lot more country and find more fish in general per outing, however, this method doesn't work really well for quick trips or night trips and when the weeds grow up later in the summer it gets very difficult to do, since the weeds won't let you troll where you need to.... But with all that said I still love this method because its so fun when a cat grabs ahold and starts thrashing and tearing up the water like you have a big ole alligator on the end of the line...
Now for my thoughts: I believe that catfish move in packs like roving bands of predators hunting for food. When a pod comes through fishing gets good while they are in the area, but then they move on and you have the slow wait for the next group to come through... My thought that I'm trying to develop is a way to find these pods and target them without having the long wait for them to come to me... I'm kicking around ideas like using a ladder or a drone to get a better view of what's happening from above, but with the water clarity of Cutler, you can't see into the water anyway, so that likely won't work... Sort of wishing I had a Mega 360 sonar that would help me see around my location, but you still have the problem of telling cats from carp... What are your thoughts after my comments? Am I up in the night? Have you found a way to solve this mystery? Any ideas of what to try? Thanks Jeff
I do so well fishing Utah Lake that I don't like to catfish anywhere else. I started keeping records last year and measuring and timing every fish. The big ones I weigh. I catch most in 2 foot of water and in the brush. I move if I don't get a bite in 30 minutes or so. It is so shallow that I don't use my sonar. But by noon or so they move out of the shallows. And if I still want to fish I hit Bird Island. I have never used sonar out there. Except to keep an eye on depth. But this year I have a camera. I don't know if the water will be clear enough to see in Utah lake either. But even at Bird I will usually only be in four foot or so of water. I got 64 in three two day trips last year. All under 29 inches.
Hey, Randy, I just have two things to say to you. Sign up for Team South. And let's get together this year and you can show me the fine points of the way you fish and I can show you how we drag for fish.
The older I get the more I would rather be considered a good man than a good fisherman.