02-14-2014, 12:44 PM
[#0000FF]Some of the biggest cats of the year are caught well before the water warms even to 60 degrees. And they bite well during the daytime, rather than after dark. In fact, fishing in the afternoon on a warm day is often better than early morning.
Forget fishing in the reeds. With the low water the reeds are either high and dry or at least too shallow to attract any cats. But during high water years the cats ARE in the reeds both during the spawn (Junish) and also through late summer...while they feed on crawdads and small fish using the reeds as shelter.
During low water years you have to look to find the right depths. On any given day, you can start at about 4 or 5 feet and then fish shallower or deeper until you find the zone. When water warms in late afternoon they may move into only 2-3 feet of water. Attached is a pic of a 10# cat TubeBabe caught off Lindon in about 4' of water in early April last year.
Yes, you can catch cats on hotdogs...and just about anything else at one time or another. But the bigger cats in Utah Lake respond a lot better to "natural" food...like minnows, carp meat, white bass (whole or pieces) or other legal fish flesh. And fresher will usually get more action than "stank baits".
You can find catfish almost everywhere around Utah Lake. But my two favorite spots for tubing are Lindon and Lincoln Beach. At Lindon you can do well either around the bubbleup or just drifting or slow trolling bait on the flats either north or south of the harbor. At Lincoln Beach the area between the ends of the boat channel and the mouth of Benjamin Slough usually produce.
If you have a boat, you can fish Bird Island or the areas at the Knolls...which is now off-limits to vehicle access to the public.
Good luck.
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Forget fishing in the reeds. With the low water the reeds are either high and dry or at least too shallow to attract any cats. But during high water years the cats ARE in the reeds both during the spawn (Junish) and also through late summer...while they feed on crawdads and small fish using the reeds as shelter.
During low water years you have to look to find the right depths. On any given day, you can start at about 4 or 5 feet and then fish shallower or deeper until you find the zone. When water warms in late afternoon they may move into only 2-3 feet of water. Attached is a pic of a 10# cat TubeBabe caught off Lindon in about 4' of water in early April last year.
Yes, you can catch cats on hotdogs...and just about anything else at one time or another. But the bigger cats in Utah Lake respond a lot better to "natural" food...like minnows, carp meat, white bass (whole or pieces) or other legal fish flesh. And fresher will usually get more action than "stank baits".
You can find catfish almost everywhere around Utah Lake. But my two favorite spots for tubing are Lindon and Lincoln Beach. At Lindon you can do well either around the bubbleup or just drifting or slow trolling bait on the flats either north or south of the harbor. At Lincoln Beach the area between the ends of the boat channel and the mouth of Benjamin Slough usually produce.
If you have a boat, you can fish Bird Island or the areas at the Knolls...which is now off-limits to vehicle access to the public.
Good luck.
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[signature]