Cutler Kitty Fest

[SkunkedAgain]

Been wanting to go fish all week and finally tonight things worked out. Ran down to the marina after chores and work. Sure do like my new boat, it’s going to be great, especially when I get it set up. 



We’ll the cats were a little slow tonight, the water temp had dropped from 60 to 55 in the warm area and 53 elsewhere. 



I got my best cat in the warmer area, but that area was seriously slow tonight. I had one other felt like big fish that broke my 20 lb braid with a freshly tied on set up. Maybe the knot slipped, because I sure didn’t think I was pulling hard enough to break braid, but I usually never have issues with the Palomar’s knot so I don’t know what happened there. 




I moved to a new spot and the fish showed up a little later, I got 4 or 5 others in the 16.5 to 19.5” size range. Some really pulled at first, but they quickly lost their torque. 



Decided to go at sundown but had one last battle that I thought would bump a score, but was about an inch shy. 



Totally beautiful evening on the pond, glad I was able to enjoy that one. Maybe I’ll find better fish next time. All fish wanted nightcrawlers tonight, had a couple pop and drops on the cut bait, but I guess frozen carp minnows must taste too freezer burned. I tried a mouse tonight but didn’t have a bump so I went to cut bait. Lots of carp around but they knew better than to take my crawler. Too bad I need some fresh bait. Later J

[stocktondunkley]

Had about the same luck. I was out on one of the many sloughs on the Bear and only had one cat. A few days ago I could not keep them off. Seems to me that the cold front that came in on Tuesday/Wednesday really shut down the fishing. As for the carp, plenty of activity, yet even with a crawler in front of their nose they were not hungry.

Hopefully it warms up a little more, peak time for me starts about end of April I would say.

[SkunkedAgain]

Had about the same luck. I was out on one of the many sloughs on the Bear and only had one cat. A few days ago I could not keep them off. Seems to me that the cold front that came in on Tuesday/Wednesday really shut down the fishing. As for the carp, plenty of activity, yet even with a crawler in front of their nose they were not hungry.

Hopefully it warms up a little more, peak time for me starts about end of April I would say.

We’re you in Benson today?  With a dog with you?  If so I seen you. Looked like a good spot. Later J

[wiperhunter2]

Nice going Jeff, looks like you had some calm conditions there. It's funny that we hardly ever get more than a bite on nightcrawlers at Willard, even though we always give them a try, we are hoping for a walleye but we get nothing more than a bite.
sorry to hear you lost a bigger fish, do you tie the braid directly to the hook, or do you tie it to a leader?

[Jig-fisher]

At least you're getting a few tugs.  You and I should get together and see who can loose the most big fish.  I had the morning off Wed after my evening at Willard and went out to Bear to see if I could catch a big one.  I didn't check my line after those cats rubbing it on the rough bottom I was fishing out at Willard.  I lost 2 rigs at Willard to snags that afternoon.  Anyhow, first cast in at the bear with a big piece of cut chub got bit hard within 5 minutes and I set the hook.  With 2 big head shakes and a classic big fish pull, pop...broke me off. I should know better and just re-tie after an outing. That is twice now that I've lost a big fish out at the bear to a break off.  Frustrating.

[stocktondunkley]

Had about the same luck. I was out on one of the many sloughs on the Bear and only had one cat. A few days ago I could not keep them off. Seems to me that the cold front that came in on Tuesday/Wednesday really shut down the fishing. As for the carp, plenty of activity, yet even with a crawler in front of their nose they were not hungry.

Hopefully it warms up a little more, peak time for me starts about end of April I would say.

We’re you in Benson today?  With a dog with you?  If so I seen you. Looked like a good spot. Later J

Yes sir that was me.

[SkunkedAgain]

Had about the same luck. I was out on one of the many sloughs on the Bear and only had one cat. A few days ago I could not keep them off. Seems to me that the cold front that came in on Tuesday/Wednesday really shut down the fishing. As for the carp, plenty of activity, yet even with a crawler in front of their nose they were not hungry.

Hopefully it warms up a little more, peak time for me starts about end of April I would say.

We’re you in Benson today?  With a dog with you?  If so I seen you. Looked like a good spot. Later J

Yes sir that was me.

If I would have known I would have grabbed you, I went out alone on the boat so there was plenty of room. Looked like you found a great spot. I hardly ever see anyone fish there and with the current cat pattern I’ll bet that spot will be really good on the right day. If you don’t mind PM me your number and I’ll check if you’re going out when I am.

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Nice going Jeff, looks like you had some calm conditions there. It's funny that we hardly ever get more than a bite on nightcrawlers at Willard, even though we always give them a try, we are hoping for a walleye but we get nothing more than a bite.
sorry to hear you lost a bigger fish, do you tie the braid directly to the hook, or do you tie it to a leader?

Hey Curt I do both direct to hook and to leader. This was direct to the hook and I just rerigged that pole and the line didn’t break the knot was still intact. Something must have went wrong with the hook eye. It was a good quality cycle hook so weird to see that failure. 

Other day we had 50/50 worm to cut bait so it was weird to see the switch. Maybe the colder temps make a difference.

---

At least you're getting a few tugs.  You and I should get together and see who can loose the most big fish.  I had the morning off Wed after my evening at Willard and went out to Bear to see if I could catch a big one.  I didn't check my line after those cats rubbing it on the rough bottom I was fishing out at Willard.  I lost 2 rigs at Willard to snags that afternoon.  Anyhow, first cast in at the bear with a big piece of cut chub got bit hard within 5 minutes and I set the hook.  With 2 big head shakes and a classic big fish pull, pop...broke me off. I should know better and just re-tie after an outing. That is twice now that I've lost a big fish out at the bear to a break off.  Frustrating.

Paul we should do that, but let’s catch a few for a change. I’m worried about the Cutler cats this year, some are really skinny and sickly looking. Hope I start finding the big healthy ones soon.

[Piscophilic]

Hey Jeff, thanks for the great report and pictures. I'm glad you’re getting out and having some fun. I'm headed out this afternoon/evening. I plan to have one rod on cats and the other trying hard to prove there are still reasonable numbers of white bass in the lake.

I'm in a similar boat to you this spring. Meaning I have a different boat and I'm refurbishing/rigging it. I got it in November and I've put in over 190 hours. (I should have built a house instead!) It is going to be great when it is done though. I needed something bigger because my son moved back from Az with his wife and 4 kids and they all like to go out.

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Jim what did you get? I’ll bet it’s getting really nice after that much work. Congrats and looking forward to seeing it. Later Jeff

[Piscophilic]

Hey Jim what did you get?  I’ll bet it’s getting really nice after that much work. Congrats and looking forward to seeing it. Later Jeff

In keeping with my budget, it is a project, but I bought it from a longtime fishing buddy who said "It needs a lot of work, but it has good bones." It is a Lund Baron 2100V, from 1986.

[SkunkedAgain]

Sounds like a great ride... congrats and someday I'd like to check it out... I need to get some real plans on what I want to do with mine. I have a lot of things that need to be done, but it's kind of hard to do everything at once, so i need to decide an action plan... So far I've just been making it fishable and not very comfortable... I did find a slight out of level on the transducer makes a huge difference when trying to use side finder in shallow water... I'm going to have to remount or at least adjust my transducer position... I think my boat wasn't perfectly level in the trailer, so when I put the transducer flat to the ground, it wasn't flat to the bottom of the boat... anyway rework already... Later J

[Piscophilic]

I have the side view on my new one and I haven't even tried it yet. Good luck on the plan and the projects!

[wiperhunter2]

I have the side view on my new one and I haven't even tried it yet. Good luck on the plan and the projects!

We have our side finders on whenever we are fishing, a lot of using it, is getting use to how it works and what are fish and what aren't fish. If you don't use it all the time it's hard to get use to how they work. I don't use it much when fishing in deep water, like when I'm fishing for trout and kokes but when fishing shallow lakes or close to shore for cats and walleye, even panfish, the side finder opens up a lot more area than what you can see with a regular finder.

[SkunkedAgain]

I agree with Curt, you will want to be using the sidefinder, they are amazing for even showing you differences in terrain that you may have not known about... For as many years as I've fished Cutler, I'm finding deeper areas that I never knew were there, just by using the side finding capabilities... I've even found rocky areas where I thought was all mud basin, so for the kind of fishing you're doing I'm sure it will become very important to your game plan... I haven't figured out all the differences in which fish is what, but I'm sure time will help me figure that out as well...
Good luck... Jeff

[Piscophilic]

Sounds like I better start practicing with it. Thanks to both of you for your insight and experiences.