Provo Harbor Cats

[Eball_111]

Decided to make a quick trip to Provo harbor this morning to chase some cats. I pulled in a little before 7:30 and put one rod out with shrimp and one out with chicken liver. Caught 2 fairly small channels in the first hour. Then just before 8:30 I got a better bite on the shrimp, 15 minutes and several runs later I brought in my personal best catfish. I didn't have a scale or measuring tape on me but a fellow angler next to me had a scale and brought it over. Ended up going 11.7 lbs! Took a few pics and put him back to be caught another day. Fished for another hour and caught 2 more decent cats. Ended up being a great way to spend a Saturday morning!
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[1sthound]

Looks like a blast! Glad you had a good trip
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[ice_sled]

Very nice cat. Congrats!
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[fshnfwl]

Nice cat. I've got to give it a try.. I'm glad to hear they can be caught early in the mornings
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[cdbrc]

Yeah BYU wins two today. How long was it?
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[catchinon]

Nice!

I was there also Saturday morning and got skunked except for a white bass on shrimp, which I kept for bait. I fished the channel near the jaws using shrimp/worm, baby perch, and white bass cut bait. There was about 7 fow there. I kept the bait on or near the bottom. I got skunked last week, too, but had caught a 26"er the week before. I talked to another guy who caught a nice fish near the north-side launch ramps. Do you mind saying what part you were fishing and how deep the water was?

BTW, welcome to the forum; I look forward to many good reports like this one.

At that weight he must have been ~30-31". That's the Holy Grail of many of us around here. You have joined a pretty elite group.
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[Eball_111]

I didn't have a tape measure with me but I put the fish next to my rod and marked how long it was so I could measure when I got home. It ended up going just a hair over 31". I've caught a pretty good number of cats in my life but this one was by far the biggest I've ever caught or seen in person.

I was fishing about 50 yards down from the harbor exit on the paved dike inside the harbor most of the time. Near the end, I moved to the outside close the end of the dike but only got a small white bass there. As for the water depth, I'm not positive. I was just fishing with a 3/4 ounce sliding egg sinker rig on the bottom. I would cast out as far as I could and every 5 minutes or so bring it in a few cranks. The majority of my bites would come pretty quickly after bringing it in a few winds. I typically get more fish on the chicken liver, but this time all but one came on the shrimp.
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[gripy111]

Great fish, all us cat guys dream about that fish. Welcome to the forum.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey great report and nice fish for sure.... welcome to BFT we're glad you joined us and posted up a fun story and great pictures... congrats... J
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[catchinon]

Thanks for the specifics. I went out there this morning and tried a couple of different places along there, but had no luck. When I met up with TubeDude he pointed out that the fish move in and of the harbor and could be anywhere through there. I was hoping that you had found the magic spot and I might hit on it, too. I don't think it was the spot, but the fisherman, plus that angling intangible called "luck." This is my first year fishing for cats and I'm still trying to figure it all out--that's why I ask so many questions. Appreciate you.
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[Piscophilic]

That looks like a great cat. Thanks for sharing your report and the pictures!

Keep up the good work!
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