07-05-2016, 09:07 PM
My family left me alone over the 4th to go see relatives in Southern Utah. While they were gone, I got made good use of the solitude and went cat fishing at Utah Lake. I had to work Saturday so I made one trip Saturday evening and another early Monday.
Both trips were good solid catching trips. The water in the Lincoln channel was 1.4 feet most of the way out with only one spot that showed 1.1. It may actually have come up a bit this week.
Saturday I launched at the Lincoln Ramp and figured I would drag a bait and cast until I found something promising and then anchor and fish. I headed west at about 6:30 PM with light winds and water around 76 degrees. I didn’t even make it to the first spring before I caught a couple of whites and let the anchor down. I never moved until quitting time.
Fishing the first hour or so was steady with about half a dozen whites and the same number of stubby, big headed catfish. As dark approached, the whites slowed down and the first wave of channels showed up. I got about 4 of the smallest I’d seen this year, 14 to 16”.
It got quiet for most of another hour and then about 10:30 PM the larger cats started showing up. By 11:30 I had released 9 or 10 good cats, anywhere from 22” to 24 plus. They were still biting when I remembered I’m not 20 anymore and called it a night.
Monday I got to the same ramp a little before 5 AM. The place was completely deserted. The forecast was for southerly winds and that was accurate all day. By afternoon they were steady at about 15 mph. Water temp was 74 when I left and about 77 when I returned late in the afternoon.
I decided to work around the island because I hadn’t been there since water got above 60 degrees. When I got to the long point on the southeast side I was amazed, for two hundred yards the thing was just covered with frolicking carp. I caught one for bait and went to work looking for cats. Actually the first cat came while I was fighting the carp. It was under a bobber in about 3 feet of water. He must have been alone though.
Since there weren’t hordes of cats around the carp convention I started dragging baits northward in a zig zag pattern. I watched most of the quiet morning go by without another tug until I got a white bass on a jig. Fresh bait, but even that didn’t seem to impress. Two plus hours of prime time and I had only one cat, one white and one carp to show.
I decided that I would go as far north as the end of the island and, barring a sudden flurry of fish, I would return to the relative security of the point. I was almost there when both rods got hit at almost the same time! I hooked the first fish and it felt pretty good, so I hooked the second one and stuck the rod in a holder. The first one was decent, at about 24” and as soon as it hit the deck I cast in my backup kitty rod, stuck it in a holder and started working on the second fish. I barely got started when the backup rod pulled free of the line holder, so I set the hook and stuck that one is a holder.
I managed to land all 3 fish, get them unhooked and 2 rods back in the water. I took a couple of pics of the 3 on the bottom of the boat and started releasing them when another one hit. Altogether I got 6 channels and a couple of bullheads in about 30 minutes, and then it quit.
While I was having fun 5 boats showed up and anchored at various places along the north and west sides of the island. Since all that was left to me was the east side, I just worked my way back and forth along it all day. The fishing was about the same all day. I would go 45 minutes to an hour with no inquiries and just before I decided to move on, bam or bam, bam or sometimes bam, bam, bam!
I finally got worn out by mid-afternoon. By that time I had released 26 cats and kept one that was bleeding badly. Along with them were 1 carp, 1 white and 3 or 4 bullheads. The largest fish of the morning was 26+ and full of eggs.
So for the weekend I ended up with just over 40 kitties and a good mix of other species. Most of the cats were 22 to 24 inches but I ran into 2 groups of teen inchers and the one larger fish at 26+. I used carp, shrimp, crawlers and WB meat. They preferred the WB about 10 to one over anything else. My arms were tired and sore from battling kitties and my brain was sore from too much sun. I wish I could do it again next weekend!
This is the first year I have chased kitties in late June and early July. I just can’t get over how strong and fast those fish get in the warmer water, so much fun!
I’m including some pictures, but certainly not all.
[signature]
Both trips were good solid catching trips. The water in the Lincoln channel was 1.4 feet most of the way out with only one spot that showed 1.1. It may actually have come up a bit this week.
Saturday I launched at the Lincoln Ramp and figured I would drag a bait and cast until I found something promising and then anchor and fish. I headed west at about 6:30 PM with light winds and water around 76 degrees. I didn’t even make it to the first spring before I caught a couple of whites and let the anchor down. I never moved until quitting time.
Fishing the first hour or so was steady with about half a dozen whites and the same number of stubby, big headed catfish. As dark approached, the whites slowed down and the first wave of channels showed up. I got about 4 of the smallest I’d seen this year, 14 to 16”.
It got quiet for most of another hour and then about 10:30 PM the larger cats started showing up. By 11:30 I had released 9 or 10 good cats, anywhere from 22” to 24 plus. They were still biting when I remembered I’m not 20 anymore and called it a night.
Monday I got to the same ramp a little before 5 AM. The place was completely deserted. The forecast was for southerly winds and that was accurate all day. By afternoon they were steady at about 15 mph. Water temp was 74 when I left and about 77 when I returned late in the afternoon.
I decided to work around the island because I hadn’t been there since water got above 60 degrees. When I got to the long point on the southeast side I was amazed, for two hundred yards the thing was just covered with frolicking carp. I caught one for bait and went to work looking for cats. Actually the first cat came while I was fighting the carp. It was under a bobber in about 3 feet of water. He must have been alone though.
Since there weren’t hordes of cats around the carp convention I started dragging baits northward in a zig zag pattern. I watched most of the quiet morning go by without another tug until I got a white bass on a jig. Fresh bait, but even that didn’t seem to impress. Two plus hours of prime time and I had only one cat, one white and one carp to show.
I decided that I would go as far north as the end of the island and, barring a sudden flurry of fish, I would return to the relative security of the point. I was almost there when both rods got hit at almost the same time! I hooked the first fish and it felt pretty good, so I hooked the second one and stuck the rod in a holder. The first one was decent, at about 24” and as soon as it hit the deck I cast in my backup kitty rod, stuck it in a holder and started working on the second fish. I barely got started when the backup rod pulled free of the line holder, so I set the hook and stuck that one is a holder.
I managed to land all 3 fish, get them unhooked and 2 rods back in the water. I took a couple of pics of the 3 on the bottom of the boat and started releasing them when another one hit. Altogether I got 6 channels and a couple of bullheads in about 30 minutes, and then it quit.
While I was having fun 5 boats showed up and anchored at various places along the north and west sides of the island. Since all that was left to me was the east side, I just worked my way back and forth along it all day. The fishing was about the same all day. I would go 45 minutes to an hour with no inquiries and just before I decided to move on, bam or bam, bam or sometimes bam, bam, bam!
I finally got worn out by mid-afternoon. By that time I had released 26 cats and kept one that was bleeding badly. Along with them were 1 carp, 1 white and 3 or 4 bullheads. The largest fish of the morning was 26+ and full of eggs.
So for the weekend I ended up with just over 40 kitties and a good mix of other species. Most of the cats were 22 to 24 inches but I ran into 2 groups of teen inchers and the one larger fish at 26+. I used carp, shrimp, crawlers and WB meat. They preferred the WB about 10 to one over anything else. My arms were tired and sore from battling kitties and my brain was sore from too much sun. I wish I could do it again next weekend!
This is the first year I have chased kitties in late June and early July. I just can’t get over how strong and fast those fish get in the warmer water, so much fun!
I’m including some pictures, but certainly not all.
[signature]