08-28-2014, 10:12 PM
[#0000FF]It has been a wierd (wet) month. Almost out of August now and looking fall in the face. Usually about this time of year the "food chain" shows up in full force at several spots around Utah Lake.
Right at daybreak the young-of-the-year white bass come in to the harbors and at other places in the shallows...to feed on midges on the surface. Their surface dimples look like a gentle rain...until they are messed up by a larger predator fish munching the midge munchers. In a classic food chain there will be larger white bass boiling on the babies. And there will often be walleyes cruising around and picking off whities of all sizes.
Heard tell the babies were showing up so I headed down to Lincoln Beach to try to catch a few for predator chow. They were there and I got a few. Just getting ready to launch my tube when BLK (Boatloadakids) backed down in his truck...without his boat attached. He was also there to try to harvest some whitettes for a weekend fishing trip with the grandkids. No boat and no fishing for him today. Too bad.
Air temp was a cool 52 and water temp 66 at launch. It warmed up to 71 by departure time about 1 pm. Water was surprisingly clean after all the storms. A bit stained but still good enough visibility for lure fishing.
Water in the boat channel is down to about 2 feet in most places...a bit deeper at the end of the ramp and out past the end of the dikes. But marginal for larger boats.
I stopped briefly at the mouth of the channel and pitched some jigs. Rattle rattle. The bitty bites were thick there too. Also hooked a couple of larger 9-10 inch whities. No walleyes.
Motored over to the deeper areas out off the springs. Kept watching the sonar while pitching plastics on one rod and dragging a drop shot tube jig on the other. Started in about 4 feet of water and worked out to beyond 6 feet. As soon as I got in water deeper than 6 feet I began to see more fish on sonar and got some bites. Most were unhookable whities but once in a while a cantankerous catfish hauled the rod tip down and it was game on. On one cast I was reeling in a small white bass when suddenly something latched on and about took my rod. I thought it might have been some big predator chowing down on my hooked whitie. But when I finally got it in it was a small white bass on the bottom jig and a 24 inch cat on the top jig...an odd couple double.
I got into one area about 7 feet deep that was full of kitties...playful kitties. Much action. Caught them on drop shot tubes and on the small tandem jig rig I was pitching for "other fish".
I had not planned to keep any cats but since they were so insistent I decided to invite a few home to the smoker. Finished off my supply and my "regulars" are getting snarky about it. But after putting a couple in the basket they slowed down on the plastics.
Sooooo...I brung out the kitty bling...baby whities. Game on again. Couldn't even fish with a second rig. As soon as I cast out a new white bass some silly catfish would slurp it up, put the line over his shoulder and head for the Knolls across the lake.
I had only brought out a half dozen of the small white bass. I went through those pretty durn fast. Missed a couple of hits but still caught fish on the tattered remains of the chewed up whities.
Went back to a tandem jig rig and a drop shot tube and worms. Bitty whities stripped off the bait before anything else could get to it. But I put a hole in a few of their lips to show them the error of their ways. Got instant bites whenever I put a new volunteer back on the bait rig.
Not sure how many cats I caught. Probably 12 to 14 total. Kept 5 to smoke and gently released the rest. DID NOT gently release a silly carp that pretended to be a walleye. Complimentary gillectomy. I had just lost a nice 20 inch range walleye a couple of casts before. So when the carp hit and fought hard I thought I had scored a bigger walleye. Nay, not so. Still good tugs. I almost felt guilty for taking his life after he performed so well. Almost. Gotta save the Junies...one carp at a time.
Stopped briefly between the marker buoys and the channel entrance on the way back in. White bass were still there in numbers. Bites on every cast. Mostly bitty bites but a few larger fish in the mix.
Lovely day. Calm and sunny...with just a few puffy clouds forming over the mountains. I can deal with that.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Right at daybreak the young-of-the-year white bass come in to the harbors and at other places in the shallows...to feed on midges on the surface. Their surface dimples look like a gentle rain...until they are messed up by a larger predator fish munching the midge munchers. In a classic food chain there will be larger white bass boiling on the babies. And there will often be walleyes cruising around and picking off whities of all sizes.
Heard tell the babies were showing up so I headed down to Lincoln Beach to try to catch a few for predator chow. They were there and I got a few. Just getting ready to launch my tube when BLK (Boatloadakids) backed down in his truck...without his boat attached. He was also there to try to harvest some whitettes for a weekend fishing trip with the grandkids. No boat and no fishing for him today. Too bad.
Air temp was a cool 52 and water temp 66 at launch. It warmed up to 71 by departure time about 1 pm. Water was surprisingly clean after all the storms. A bit stained but still good enough visibility for lure fishing.
Water in the boat channel is down to about 2 feet in most places...a bit deeper at the end of the ramp and out past the end of the dikes. But marginal for larger boats.
I stopped briefly at the mouth of the channel and pitched some jigs. Rattle rattle. The bitty bites were thick there too. Also hooked a couple of larger 9-10 inch whities. No walleyes.
Motored over to the deeper areas out off the springs. Kept watching the sonar while pitching plastics on one rod and dragging a drop shot tube jig on the other. Started in about 4 feet of water and worked out to beyond 6 feet. As soon as I got in water deeper than 6 feet I began to see more fish on sonar and got some bites. Most were unhookable whities but once in a while a cantankerous catfish hauled the rod tip down and it was game on. On one cast I was reeling in a small white bass when suddenly something latched on and about took my rod. I thought it might have been some big predator chowing down on my hooked whitie. But when I finally got it in it was a small white bass on the bottom jig and a 24 inch cat on the top jig...an odd couple double.
I got into one area about 7 feet deep that was full of kitties...playful kitties. Much action. Caught them on drop shot tubes and on the small tandem jig rig I was pitching for "other fish".
I had not planned to keep any cats but since they were so insistent I decided to invite a few home to the smoker. Finished off my supply and my "regulars" are getting snarky about it. But after putting a couple in the basket they slowed down on the plastics.
Sooooo...I brung out the kitty bling...baby whities. Game on again. Couldn't even fish with a second rig. As soon as I cast out a new white bass some silly catfish would slurp it up, put the line over his shoulder and head for the Knolls across the lake.
I had only brought out a half dozen of the small white bass. I went through those pretty durn fast. Missed a couple of hits but still caught fish on the tattered remains of the chewed up whities.
Went back to a tandem jig rig and a drop shot tube and worms. Bitty whities stripped off the bait before anything else could get to it. But I put a hole in a few of their lips to show them the error of their ways. Got instant bites whenever I put a new volunteer back on the bait rig.
Not sure how many cats I caught. Probably 12 to 14 total. Kept 5 to smoke and gently released the rest. DID NOT gently release a silly carp that pretended to be a walleye. Complimentary gillectomy. I had just lost a nice 20 inch range walleye a couple of casts before. So when the carp hit and fought hard I thought I had scored a bigger walleye. Nay, not so. Still good tugs. I almost felt guilty for taking his life after he performed so well. Almost. Gotta save the Junies...one carp at a time.
Stopped briefly between the marker buoys and the channel entrance on the way back in. White bass were still there in numbers. Bites on every cast. Mostly bitty bites but a few larger fish in the mix.
Lovely day. Calm and sunny...with just a few puffy clouds forming over the mountains. I can deal with that.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]