Hot at Willard 7-30-20

[TubeDude]

Made a solo trip to Willard so. marina this morning.  Air temp 65 and water temp 77 at 6:30 launch.  Only a few boats today.  Probably because the overall fishing has slowed down so much.  The weather was hot today, but the fishing...not so much...unless you count catfish.  They were smokin'.  At least the ones I brought home will be in the smoker soon.

Started out dragging a succession of crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinners, etc.  Had a few no-connect bites but nothing actually hanging on until after 8 am.  Saw quite a few fish on "TV" but none of them wanted to play.  I finally switched it up to a couple of spinner fligs...sweetened with small chub minnows.  Game on.  Went through 2 dozen minnows and only missed a few biters.  All catfish.  All fun.  I got hits in depths from 12' to 18' but the magic kitty zone today seemed to be around 16'.  I even got a couple of doubles.

Didn't see or hear of anyone scoring any larger wipers or walleyes today.  Did see one boater bring in a wiper that was only a few inches long...probably this year's planter.  Another guy came to the cleaning station with 3 wipers about 14-15 inches.  Likely last year's crop.

Ran out of bait and it was getting hot by 11, so I boogied.  Can't wait until fall temps cool the water and heat up the action.

[wiperhunter2]

Looks like a nice haul Pat, good to see you out there today. No love from any wipers or eyes today. We picked up two cats trolling, then the last hour and a half we did some fligging and picked up 5 or 6 more cats, nothing above 20" or so. Nice cool chop on the water the first thing in the morning and that kept the bugs down. Saw Kent D out there the first thing after we launched, then later, when we moved, we saw him on his secret crappie spot.

[Jmorfish]

Hey T.D. Sounds like you did just fine on the cats....Looks like it will be HOT fishing all weekend, even if the catching isn't so great...

[TubeDude]

Looks like a nice haul Pat, good to see you out there today. No love from any wipers or eyes today. We picked up two cats trolling, then the last hour and a half we did some fligging and picked up 5 or 6 more cats, nothing above 20" or so. Nice cool chop on the water the first thing in the morning and that kept the bugs down. Saw Kent D out there the first thing after we launched, then later, when we moved, we saw him on his secret crappie spot.

Good to see you guys too.  Looks like a whole lotta fliggin' until the W & W fishies settle back into a feeding groove.  That's kinda how it was last year at this time too.  

Those chatterbaits I showed you really wiggle the end of the rod.  I got several hard whacks on them, but no hookups.  I think they were probably just aggravated cats that didn't know enough about them to bite them right.

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Hey T.D.  Sounds like you did just fine on the cats....Looks like it will be HOT fishing all weekend, even if the catching isn't so great...

HOT?  Yeah, maybe for Utah.  But before I moved back here I lived almost 20 years in Arizona.  THAT was HOT.  
But as they say in Hell..."It's a nice dry heat".  Even before the hottest part of summer my wife and I would get on the water by daybreak...and by 10 o'clock it would be over a hundred and sweat would be running down my bare arms.

Ahhhh, the things we endure in the name of fishing fun.

Always enjoy playing with the kitties.  In these warm conditions they do just fine.  They hit hard, fight hard and are great on the table...or in the smoker.  I ain't no fishing snob.  When I can't catch the ones I want, I want the ones I can catch....or something like that.  I'd much rather stretch my string on a few cats than watch a straight rod all day when the other guys won't cooperate.

[wiperhunter2]

Looks like a nice haul Pat, good to see you out there today. No love from any wipers or eyes today. We picked up two cats trolling, then the last hour and a half we did some fligging and picked up 5 or 6 more cats, nothing above 20" or so. Nice cool chop on the water the first thing in the morning and that kept the bugs down. Saw Kent D out there the first thing after we launched, then later, when we moved, we saw him on his secret crappie spot.

Good to see you guys too.  Looks like a whole lotta fliggin' until the W & W fishies settle back into a feeding groove.  That's kinda how it was last year at this time too.  

Those chatterbaits I showed you really wiggle the end of the rod.  I got several hard whacks on them, but no hookups.  I think they were probably just aggravated cats that didn't know enough about them to bite them right.

Well that's too bad, would have thought they would do better, maybe later this year. How often do you have cats break you off, where you suspect they cut your line with their Pectoral fin, like what happened to Forest on his last trip out there? Got a real good one on before we called it a day, it was pulling out line like a wiper but right when we got it right below the boat, it broke off. My thoughts were that it was a cat and it cut the line with it's fin but we never saw it, so who knows.

[TubeDude]

Looks like a nice haul Pat, good to see you out there today. No love from any wipers or eyes today. We picked up two cats trolling, then the last hour and a half we did some fligging and picked up 5 or 6 more cats, nothing above 20" or so. Nice cool chop on the water the first thing in the morning and that kept the bugs down. Saw Kent D out there the first thing after we launched, then later, when we moved, we saw him on his secret crappie spot.

Good to see you guys too.  Looks like a whole lotta fliggin' until the W & W fishies settle back into a feeding groove.  That's kinda how it was last year at this time too.  

Those chatterbaits I showed you really wiggle the end of the rod.  I got several hard whacks on them, but no hookups.  I think they were probably just aggravated cats that didn't know enough about them to bite them right.

Well that's too bad, would have thought they would do better, maybe later this year. How often do you have cats break you off, where you suspect they cut your line with their Pectoral fin, like what happened to Forest on his last trip out there? Got a real good one on before we called it a day, it was pulling out line like a wiper but right when we got it right below the boat, it broke off. My thoughts were that it was a cat and it cut the line with it's fin but we never saw it, so who knows.

No doubt about it.  Those serrated edges on the pectoral fins ain't line friendly...or fisherman tissue friendly neither.  I read TinCan's post...and just shook my head...again.  Fish don't break lines...fishermen do.  With poor quality line, undersized line, poor knots, improper fighting techniques, etc.

I have lost a lot of fish to "factors" over the years.  But since I started using Silver Thread Excalibur for leaders I can honestly say I have never had a fish break off or bite off.  It is super abrasion resistant.  I have even landed northerns, walleyes and tiger muskies with the hooks well inside their mouths on 6 and 8# Excalibur. 

In Willard, I use 14# Excalibur for leaders.  And today I probably brought in at least 10 cats on one of the rigs I had tied up with that stuff...with the fish rolling up in the line often.  I always check for abrasion or nicks after each fish, but just don't find those problems with this line.

Silver Thread no longer makes the Excalibur but they do make "Super Silver Thread" which seems to have the same abrasion resistant properties.  But if you (or Forest) would like to try some of my Excalibur, I have a large spool of it left that I use almost exclusively for leaders.  I would be happy to provide a few coils for you to try.  And by the way, I use 25# in Utah Lake.  There are bigger fish and more rocks there.  I have never broken off a fish on either one...or on the 8 or 10 pound I occasionally use on reels that I don't have spooled with Nanofil.

By the way, about that fish you lost.  It can be whatever you want it to be...as long as nobody else actually saw it and can challenge your claim.  (TD's rule #3)

[Freakyfisherman]

Nice work Pat. I too was out on Willard bay on my tube as well. I drove around the back and hiked my gear over the dike near the lightpole. The water was really murky back there. I worked depths from 3 to 23 ft. Saw some activity on the sonar. Not one fished harmed by my offerings today. I did get one bump on a shiver minnow while I was sharpshooting in about 16 ft of water. Sharpshooting is when you drop your presentation as soon as you see a mark on the sonar. I was using an ice fishing rod to keep my jig in the transducer cone. 
Gabe

[TubeDude]

Nice work Pat. I too was out on Willard bay on my tube as well. I drove around the back and hiked my gear over the dike near the lightpole. The water was really murky back there. I worked depths from 3 to 23 ft. Saw some activity on the sonar. Not one fished harmed by my offerings today. I did get one bump on a shiver minnow while I was sharpshooting in about 16 ft of water. Sharpshooting is when you drop your presentation as soon as you see a mark on the sonar. I was using an ice fishing rod to keep my jig in the transducer cone. 
Gabe

Bummer.  That is usually a good place to fish...even this time of year.  And after braving that road around the back and launching off the rocks you deserved better treatment.

Sharpshooting.  I have always called it "sniping"...shooting one high value target at a time.  That has worked well on Starvation at times, when the fish are scattered but still active.  But I have found that solitary fish are usually not as aggressive as those in a school...where feeding is more competitive.  Howsomever, it is a fun video game to play.  Look hard for a fish on sonar, send down your jig, wiggle and jiggle it seductively and get smacked.  Don't get no better than that.  And it becomes painful after 100 tries for different fish and no results.  That's fishing for ya.

[FatBiker]

Made a solo trip to Willard so. marina this morning.  Air temp 65 and water temp 77 at 6:30 launch.  Only a few boats today.  Probably because the overall fishing has slowed down so much.  The weather was hot today, but the fishing...not so much...unless you count catfish.  They were smokin'.  At least the ones I brought home will be in the smoker soon.

Started out dragging a succession of crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinners, etc.  Had a few no-connect bites but nothing actually hanging on until after 8 am.  Saw quite a few fish on "TV" but none of them wanted to play.  I finally switched it up to a couple of spinner fligs...sweetened with small chub minnows.  Game on.  Went through 2 dozen minnows and only missed a few biters.  All catfish.  All fun.  I got hits in depths from 12' to 18' but the magic kitty zone today seemed to be around 16'.  I even got a couple of doubles.

Didn't see or hear of anyone scoring any larger wipers or walleyes today.  Did see one boater bring in a wiper that was only a few inches long...probably this year's planter.  Another guy came to the cleaning station with 3 wipers about 14-15 inches.  Likely last year's crop.

Ran out of bait and it was getting hot by 11, so I boogied.  Can't wait until fall temps cool the water and heat up the action.

Good job Pat. I had a similar experience Wendsday morning. Kept six or seven for the smoker. For every one kept a couple cookie cutters where sent back to grow up a little. All fish were caught drifting and dragging marinated chicken thighs on a Santee rig. It was plenty warm. Heat didn't drive me off the lake. No bait left sent me home.

[TubeDude]

Made a solo trip to Willard so. marina this morning.  Air temp 65 and water temp 77 at 6:30 launch.  Only a few boats today.  Probably because the overall fishing has slowed down so much.  The weather was hot today, but the fishing...not so much...unless you count catfish.  They were smokin'.  At least the ones I brought home will be in the smoker soon.

Started out dragging a succession of crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinners, etc.  Had a few no-connect bites but nothing actually hanging on until after 8 am.  Saw quite a few fish on "TV" but none of them wanted to play.  I finally switched it up to a couple of spinner fligs...sweetened with small chub minnows.  Game on.  Went through 2 dozen minnows and only missed a few biters.  All catfish.  All fun.  I got hits in depths from 12' to 18' but the magic kitty zone today seemed to be around 16'.  I even got a couple of doubles.

Didn't see or hear of anyone scoring any larger wipers or walleyes today.  Did see one boater bring in a wiper that was only a few inches long...probably this year's planter.  Another guy came to the cleaning station with 3 wipers about 14-15 inches.  Likely last year's crop.

Ran out of bait and it was getting hot by 11, so I boogied.  Can't wait until fall temps cool the water and heat up the action.

Good job Pat. I had a similar experience Wendsday morning. Kept six or seven for the smoker. For every one kept a couple cookie cutters where sent back to grow up a little. All fish were caught drifting and dragging marinated chicken thighs on a Santee rig. It was plenty warm. Heat didn't drive me off the lake. No bait left sent me home.

Ifn I recall keereckly you also like to fish "kitty city" down near the feedlot.  Seems like no matter how poor the fishing has been for other species...or elsewhere...we can always find a few "whiskery wipers" in that area.

I also released more than a few runts for next year.  But all the cats were healthy.  The ones I filleted all had gobs of visceral fat inside.  They haven't been starving.


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[FatBiker]

Well, I've found three of four places north of the marina and a couple places south that usually hold kitties. This trip was in Kitty City.

[wiperhunter2]

Thanks for the kind offer Pat, might just take you up on it but I've been thinking about using a braid line for the leader when I use on those fligs. Do you think the cats would pay any attention to a braid leader?

[TubeDude]

Thanks for the kind offer Pat, might just take you up on it but I've been thinking about using a braid line for the leader when I use on those fligs. Do you think the cats would pay any attention to a braid leader?

Past experience tells me that you could probably use 1/4" nylon rope and they would still climb on.  I have always prided myself on making good stealth presentations...that don't risk spooking the fish.  But over the years I  have seen other anglers catch lots of cats on some truly unholy rigs.  Howsomever, if there is any hope for a silly wiper or walleye to chomp your offerings they might not be so easy to fool if you used a highly visible braid.  And I have caught plenty of both Ws on the fligs so there is that possibility.

I have your mailing address.  It ain't gonna cost much for me to send you a few yards of the Excalibur to try.  Will send some soon.  You will like it.  It is a copolymer...with good clarity, low stretch, high abrasion resistance and super knot strength.  No need for any special handling or knot tying.

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds good Pat and thanks so much.

[PACKFAN]

Made a solo trip to Willard so. marina this morning.  Air temp 65 and water temp 77 at 6:30 launch.  Only a few boats today.  Probably because the overall fishing has slowed down so much.  The weather was hot today, but the fishing...not so much...unless you count catfish.  They were smokin'.  At least the ones I brought home will be in the smoker soon.

Started out dragging a succession of crankbaits, chatterbaits, spinners, etc.  Had a few no-connect bites but nothing actually hanging on until after 8 am.  Saw quite a few fish on "TV" but none of them wanted to play.  I finally switched it up to a couple of spinner fligs...sweetened with small chub minnows.  Game on.  Went through 2 dozen minnows and only missed a few biters.  All catfish.  All fun.  I got hits in depths from 12' to 18' but the magic kitty zone today seemed to be around 16'.  I even got a couple of doubles.

Didn't see or hear of anyone scoring any larger wipers or walleyes today.  Did see one boater bring in a wiper that was only a few inches long...probably this year's planter.  Another guy came to the cleaning station with 3 wipers about 14-15 inches.  Likely last year's crop.

Ran out of bait and it was getting hot by 11, so I boogied.  Can't wait until fall temps cool the water and heat up the action.

My son and I went out Tuesday morning fishing by 6:30 and quit at 11:00 both ended up with our limit of Cats no walleye or wipers, trolled scaled down versions of my worm harnesses in pink and chartruese with half a crawler at 0.8 MPH in the 16 to 18 foot depths. Lengths went from 18 to 23 inches. Had alot of fun, no bugs but did get bit by a pesky deer fly. Off to Deer Creek next week for a few days.

[TubeDude]

My son and I went out Tuesday morning fishing by 6:30 and quit at 11:00 both ended up with our limit of Cats no walleye or wipers, trolled scaled down versions of my worm harnesses in pink and chartruese with half a crawler at 0.8 MPH in the 16 to 18 foot depths. Lengths went from 18 to 23 inches. Had alot of fun, no bugs but did get bit by a pesky deer fly. Off to Deer Creek next week for a few days.

Well, if you can't pick up any walleyes on Willard, then they are either all gone or at least in a summer slump.  I'm betting you do better at Deer Creek.

No doubt about it.  The kitties in Willard do like spinner dinners.  I have been fishing them a lot this year...targeting wipers and walleyes and getting a few...but usually getting more tugs from catkind.  Attaching some pictures of a new line of bottom bouncer spinner rigs I have been using.  They have foam "flig" bodies...for floatation and more wiggle on the drag...in all the favorite flavors.  The blades are laminated with prism tape on thin plastic bodies...and then painted on the front.  I patterned them after the "Smile" blades, but make one side up and the other side down...resulting in a "snarl" blade.  They really spin at the slightest pull so they are great for "paint drying" speed crawler presentations.  Some I make with the double hook crawler harness setup.  Others I make with a single larger hook...for smaller crawler pieces, small whole minnows or Gulp minnows.

[Tin-Can]

Pat, You have done way more fishing than me, almost anywhere on the planet.  That's a fact I'm happy to agree with.  But I have heard this comment from you, aimed in my direction, and in others, enough times that on this occasion I must take exception and make a reply to it. 

"No doubt about it.  Those serrated edges on the pectoral fins ain't line friendly...or fisherman tissue friendly neither.  I read TinCan's post...and just shook my head...again.  Fish don't break lines...fishermen do.  With poor quality line, undersized line, poor knots, improper fighting techniques, etc."

As I stated in my report of  that specific incident, I WATCHED that Cat roll over and weather by shear dumb luck, or learned response, I saw the line go around her body at least twice, and on her very next lunge her fin compressed back into her body, and the line snapped.  That was an obvious Catfish caused line break. It was well above where the swivel clip was tied on. That clip had just been retied that morning to line I had checked for abrasions, finding none.  There were no other knots in that line, and I SAW the broken (cut) line still attached to the clip, attached to the lure, securely stuck in the fishes lip just as it disappeared back into the water. 

The line I was using (12 lb. mono) is what I have spooled on the poles that I dedicate to trolling at Willard Bay for many years.  I re-spool ALL of my reels every year with new line. My 2 WB trolling poles have #12 Clear Blue Florescent  (to allow me to see them better), my 5 River and Utah Lake Cat poles have #50 braid, and I have 4 or 5 general use poles for local community ponds that are spooled with #6 also [b]Clear Blue Florescent.  [/b]
I don't believe my WB poles with #12 are "undersized line"  or poor quality line.  The size and type and brand of line you use is that of your personal choice, as is mine. But just because YOU choose something different than what I choose, does not make yours the perfectly correct choice, or make mine all wrong. And what could you possibly know about my fish fighting techniques ? You have never fished with me. 
I was fishing Willard Bay in an effort to boat a couple Wiper or Walleye. The #12  long line trolls better from my boat than others I have tried. So it is my choice weather you or anyone thinks it is right or wrong. 

I will say one semi-positive outcome of that incident.......when I lost that first Cat, and KNEW I HAD SEEN THE REASON, I tied on a new swivel clip, then clipped on a 2 foot #50 braided leader, then a new lure. Did that to both lines. No more problems. 

[TubeDude]

Pat, You have done way more fishing than me, almost anywhere on the planet.  That's a fact I'm happy to agree with.  But I have heard this comment from you, aimed in my direction, and in others, enough times that on this occasion I must take exception and make a reply to it. 

"No doubt about it.  Those serrated edges on the pectoral fins ain't line friendly...or fisherman tissue friendly neither.  I read TinCan's post...and just shook my head...again.  Fish don't break lines...fishermen do.  With poor quality line, undersized line, poor knots, improper fighting techniques, etc."

As I stated in my report of  that specific incident, I WATCHED that Cat roll over and weather by shear dumb luck, or learned response, I saw the line go around her body at least twice, and on her very next lunge her fin compressed back into her body, and the line snapped.  That was an obvious Catfish caused line break. It was well above where the swivel clip was tied on. That clip had just been retied that morning to line I had checked for abrasions, finding none.  There were no other knots in that line, and I SAW the broken (cut) line still attached to the clip, attached to the lure, securely stuck in the fishes lip just as it disappeared back into the water. 

The line I was using (12 lb. mono) is what I have spooled on the poles that I dedicate to trolling at Willard Bay for many years.  I re-spool ALL of my reels every year with new line. My 2 WB trolling poles have #12 Clear Blue Florescent  (to allow me to see them better), my 5 River and Utah Lake Cat poles have #50 braid, and I have 4 or 5 general use poles for local community ponds that are spooled with #6 also [b]Clear Blue Florescent.  [/b]
I don't believe my WB poles with #12 are "undersized line"  or poor quality line.  The size and type and brand of line you use is that of your personal choice, as is mine. But just because YOU choose something different than what I choose, does not make yours the perfectly correct choice, or make mine all wrong. And what could you possibly know about my fish fighting techniques ? You have never fished with me. 
I was fishing Willard Bay in an effort to boat a couple Wiper or Walleye. The #12  long line trolls better from my boat than others I have tried. So it is my choice weather you or anyone thinks it is right or wrong. 

I will say one semi-positive outcome of that incident.......when I lost that first Cat, and KNEW I HAD SEEN THE REASON, I tied on a new swivel clip, then clipped on a 2 foot #50 braided leader, then a new lure. Did that to both lines. No more problems. 

Sorry if you perceived my "jabs" as a personal attack.  Not meant to be.  And I was not insinuating that you were guilty of all the things I listed.  Just re-enumerating a lot of the reasons why fish can be lost.

Yeah, I have fished a bunch...over a lot of years, for a bunch of fish and in a bunch of places.  I don't claim to know it all and still learn new things on every trip.  But one thing I DID learn a long time ago is that not all lines are created equal...and pound test ratings mean nothing if the lines get nicked, cut or are poorly tied.  Over time we all develop our own personal preferences for rods, reels, lines, hooks, lures, baits, etc.  But when it comes to lines it can help a lot if we choose the ones that will perform the best under anticipated conditions...like size of fish, type of fish, potential snags and line abrasion, etc.  And if there are multiple species and/or multiple hazard conditions to us or our tackle it pays to upgrade to handle the harshest possible challenges to our tackle.

I crow a lot about the Excalibur line.  I discovered it while living in Arizona.  I had been using Berkley Trimax for several years and really liked how it performed.  Thin diameter, ultra clear and casted like a dream.  And it handled the bass, crappies, yellow bass, bluegill and even channel cats just fine.  But some of the waters I fished had flathead cats in them.  They have nasty serrated teeth, compared to channel cats.  And when a flathead slurped in a lure meant for other species the battle didn't last long.  I would reel in to find the end of my line heavily abraded and the lure gone.

One of the guys in a local bass club...who had grown tired of donating spendy bass lures to flatheads...told me about the Excalibur.  I got a spool of 6# and 8#...and never lost another fish to line problems since.  I even landed several flatheads up to about 30# on the 6#...even with the little crappie jigs clear down in their mouths, with the line rubbing over their teeth during a long battle.  Since then I have subdued a pretty fair number of big fish with big teeth...fresh water and salt...without EVER losing one to line failure.  And when I snag up while fishing from my tube it requires a whole lotta effort to break off...even in lighter sizes.

If you will PM me your mailing address, I will send you a few yards of this stuff to try for yourself.  And I am really sorry if you took my comments as a personal attack.  I'll leave that up to your wife.