03-29-2021, 04:26 PM
(03-29-2021, 04:16 PM)gripy1111 Wrote: Has anyone used fish traps on Utah Lake to catch non- game fish to use for cat bate, if so can you still fish with 2 rods with 2 traps in the water.I have used both minnow traps and cast nets...primarily for baby carp. There are no chubs or other legal baitfish in the lake. You can catch baby white bass and other species but they are not legal.
It's a narrow window timing wise for baby carp. As soon as they get more than a couple of inches they disperse throughout the lake...hiding in underwater vegetation or rocks..if they can find any. Before that you can sometimes spot small schools inside the harbors or up into the Provo River. After that, you can soak traps all day without anything but a stray crawdad or two.
If you want small fish for catfish bait, start fishing right off the ramps inside the harbors starting around the end of July...for baby white bass. They get to about 3" fairly fast and grow to about 5" by the end of summer. Use small jigs or small bait hooks with a piece of crawler. They will also hit small spinners or bitty cranks.