04-19-2019, 08:45 PM
I took my 8 yr old son fishing at Utah Lake this morning. We launched from Lindon around 7:30am. We have a small row boat. After leaving the harbor we headed south toward the pipe. We were slow trolling cut tilapia fillets, on the bottom, in about 3 feet of water.
At one point I hung up on the bottom and my line broke off. Shortly after, my son hung up too. I told him to keep reeling in hopes of getting close enough to break it free. All of a sudden a big channel cat rolled on the surface next to the boat and I scrambled for the net. We got it in the boat, and my son and I exchanged high fives and cheers. It was a VERY nice, heavy cat, by my standards, rivaling my biggest. I would guess 28 inches. It was a pretty specimen. Often when they are that big they are all scarred up. Not this one. A real beauty. But that stinker wouldn't open its mouth so I could get it on the stringer or get the hook out. I ended up breaking the line off just so my son could fish again, and I finally got it on the stringer.
By then we had drifted closer to the reeds than we wanted to be so I started to row back out. All of a sudden that cat made a couple loud splashes next to the boat, and then it was gone. It had straightened out the metal hook of the chain stringer and escaped. My son was heart broken. That by far was his biggest fish ever, and we never even got a picture. I feel bad about that.
We ended up with a skunk for the rest of the day. We fished near the pipe, near the reeds, out from the reeds, the mouth of Battle Creek, out from Battle Creek. Not even a white bass or bullhead. We left about 12:30.
There were a few other boats out, and some folks on the bank. I saw no other fish caught. I suspect the full moon and clear skies had them feeding all night.
It was fun and disappointing. I had expected a good day of catching given the last few days of good weather. There was only enough W to ripple the water. In that regard it was a perfect day at Utah, and the company was awesome.
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At one point I hung up on the bottom and my line broke off. Shortly after, my son hung up too. I told him to keep reeling in hopes of getting close enough to break it free. All of a sudden a big channel cat rolled on the surface next to the boat and I scrambled for the net. We got it in the boat, and my son and I exchanged high fives and cheers. It was a VERY nice, heavy cat, by my standards, rivaling my biggest. I would guess 28 inches. It was a pretty specimen. Often when they are that big they are all scarred up. Not this one. A real beauty. But that stinker wouldn't open its mouth so I could get it on the stringer or get the hook out. I ended up breaking the line off just so my son could fish again, and I finally got it on the stringer.
By then we had drifted closer to the reeds than we wanted to be so I started to row back out. All of a sudden that cat made a couple loud splashes next to the boat, and then it was gone. It had straightened out the metal hook of the chain stringer and escaped. My son was heart broken. That by far was his biggest fish ever, and we never even got a picture. I feel bad about that.
We ended up with a skunk for the rest of the day. We fished near the pipe, near the reeds, out from the reeds, the mouth of Battle Creek, out from Battle Creek. Not even a white bass or bullhead. We left about 12:30.
There were a few other boats out, and some folks on the bank. I saw no other fish caught. I suspect the full moon and clear skies had them feeding all night.
It was fun and disappointing. I had expected a good day of catching given the last few days of good weather. There was only enough W to ripple the water. In that regard it was a perfect day at Utah, and the company was awesome.
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