Utah Lake 6/27/04

[Coldfooter]

A friend on mine and I spent a bit of Sunday float tubing. These Channels were caught near the L. There are 7 channels in the basket but a total of 9 were caught in about a 3 hour period Sunday afternoon. Largest caught that day, 22". Kept four males and kicked the rest back witch included 3 females and 2 small males. We were only pestered by 2 muddies.
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[Spades]

How do you tell the difference between male and female?
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[Coldfooter]

Well besides the obvious this time of year that the female are packing heavy bellies and eggs. The female also have larger yaps and thicker lips while the males are far more slender and have a smaller head and mouth.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][blue][size 1]I think you got it bass-ackward. The males have larger heads and are usually darker grey to black...sometimes bluish. At this time of year, during spawning, a lot of them show signs of battle, with open wounds and scrapes on their bodies from wrestling both with males and females during nest selection and spawning. As we have seen in some of the previous posts, a big veteran male can be really UGLY. The ladies is purtier.[/size][/blue]

[#0000ff][size 1]Don't go by which fish are wearing lipstick. You might just be dealing with "gender-" males.[/size][/#0000ff]
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[Coldfooter]

Hmmmmmmm, sorry ol'e buddy but I think your wrong on this one.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff][size 1]I ain't always right, but I'm never wrong. Ever hear that from the wife?[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]In the attached picture, the fish I am holding is a male. The others are females. In your pic of the fish in the basket, the only fish I can identify are clearly females. Maybe some have already spawned, but the color and the heads are typical of females.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1][/size][/#0000ff]
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[Coldfooter]

I'm not biting for it Pat, NO way, No how, lol! Thats a female you got ahold of the lip of. Of the 3 fat headed and lipped Channels I kept this year ALL had eggs. The 4 small headed I kept last Sunday (all small headed with small mouths and 18-22 inches long) showed NO sign of packing eggs even after slit from stem to stern. Next I suppose you'll tell me those I kept werent mature enough to spawn, right? lol

So unless they made so sort of miraculous transformation after spawning,, in that basket in my picture, there were 4 males and 3 big mouthed , fat lipped, fat headed female kitties.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][blue][size 1]You can always tell an opinionated person, but you can't tell them much. Especially when they still believe that the dark male cats are "blue cats".[/size][/blue]

[#0000ff][size 1]That "female" I am holding was full of "milt". Talk about sex change operations.[/size][/#0000ff]
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[Coldfooter]

That might be the case but I will admitt to being wrong, once. HA!
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[TubeDude]

[cool][blue][size 1]If you didn't have thick skin, like me, this coulda got outta hand. I still love ya, ya old reprobate.[/size][/blue]

[#0000ff][size 1]I should know better than to dispute the keen eye of a guy who can tell the difference between real and "enhanced" from a hundred yards away.[/size][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][size 1]If we still need to settle this, I propose a duel. Float tubes at fifty paces. But, if you are going to use any foul-smelling stuff, I claim the upwind advantage.[/size][/#0000ff]
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[Coldfooter]

LOL, well of late I've found I have to get within the 100 yards to really tell.

Btw, I need to make an apology to the lady I flip sand on from the prop of my trolling motor as I passed by. Honestly, I swear! I didnt see ya laying there sooner.

And tubes at 50 it will be! [laugh]
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[Out4Trout]

[cool]I'm no expert, but that big fat, ugly, and black colored 8 pounder in my Lincoln Beach report from saturday was a male. He had a HUGE head, and battle wounds from the spawn. There were no eggs in side of him, so I'm gonna have to side with TubeDude here.[unsure]
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[Utcatman]

all of the male cats i have caught at utah lake this year all were black to blue with big ole swollen heads, and the females were an olive color really fat and alll had petite heads... but maybe there are blue cats in utah lake..... hahaha yeah right ..

Joe

AKA utcatman
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[Coldfooter]

"[size 1]maybe there are blue cats in utah lake ,, hahaha yeah right". Shhhhh,, dont tell me that.[/size]

[size 1]OK. Pat and I both know witch ones are the she's and witch are the he's but we cant help but give each[/size]other crap from time to time. I knew he'd be the first to call me on the statement that the fat lipped and large headed channels are the she's. But there are Blue Cats in Utah lake and Willard. Flat heads and Whites also, just dont tell anyone.. []
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[Utcatman]

man, i wish we had flatties in utah... that is one of my favorite fishys to catch. really slow and heavy fighters. none in utah though, although some idaho lakes have got em! i have only caught them in california though.

joe

utcatman
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[TubeDude]

[cool][blue][size 1]Did you mean "fat-heads" or flatheads?[/size][/blue]

[#0000ff][size 1]Here's a pic of one worth going after from a float tube...one of the vanishing species known as the giant Mekong River catfish.[/size][/#0000ff]


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[DonInDenver]

[crazy] Hmmmm. Well, ya learn sumpin' new ever day.
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[Coldfooter]

Now just one of those might keep me in kittie dinners for a year.
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