Early morning Bear River 7/18

[Jig-fisher]

I woke up at 3:30 am, but didn't get out the door until around 4. Finally got out to the parking spot, started unloading my gear and realized that I had moved the bug spray to my truck the last time I hit Willard and didn't put it back in the car.  BIG MISTAKE!  At least I had worn a long sleeve shirt and had a head net and some gloves in the car or I would not have survived.  I was assaulted, swarmed, molested, bitten, nearly carried off...well you get the picture.  The long sleeve didn't help much, just a minor deterrent to a free meal.  Did I mention the mosquitos were bad?

I hiked out to the spot I wanted to try and baited up with some fresh sucker caught the day before.  Nearly no current flowing at all. No fish bites in the dark but plenty of other bites of those little bloodsuckers.  When it started to get light I got a good pull on one of my rods.  Big, heavy cat that took drag several times.  Turned out to be 30".  I tried th stretch it out to try and get a bump in the cat contest, but to no avail.  Still a great fish.  Took some pictures and turned it loose.  A little later a 25" came calling, followed by a 26".  The sun was just starting to peek over the mountains and then a 18" finished up the morning on the cats.  I stopped on my way out to drown a worm or two to see if I could catch a carp.  Got one of those too.

A word of caution if you venture out in the dark, bring the bug spray!  Did I mention the mosquitos were bad?

[JArner]

Those are some respectable cats, nice write up and reminder about bug spray.

[Jig-fisher]

Thanks Jim, great advice about bug spray.

[Cowboypirate]

Its good to see a few more good kitties out of the Bear. You are a stud to take on that insect swarm this time of year

[thatchergreg]

Very nice catfish!
With a 3:30 am wake up and countless mosquito bites you certainly earned those fish.