Willard morning 10-24-08

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]TubeBabe had not been fishing for over a month. Back and forth to California, helping a daughter get set up in her new home. Leaving again tonight, but we had the morning open...so we headed to Willard.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched in the dark, just after 7. Air temp 32 and water temp 51. No breeze. No clouds. But cool enough for the fishing gloves.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Heard the big mosquitoes (airboats) roaring around in the marshes. Heard only a few shots and nothing after about 8:30. Only saw a couple of high flying fast moving ducksters. Not a good day for duck hunting. Better for fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water clarity not too bad, compared to three weeks ago. But...colder by 15 degrees. Started with the usual...dragging a minnow on one rod while throwing plastics on the other. Might as well of just drifted and snoozed. No bites on either rig. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe finally scored the first cookie cutter kitty about an hour after we launched. After the sun came over the mountain, about 8:45, I banged a couple of quick kitties...but still no hits from wipers...or anything else.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]For the next couple of hours we split up and worked a large part of the NE corner. There were a few cold but willing cats in 9-10 feet of water, and we saw a LOT of fish on sonar, but we caught nothing else besides cats. Most were the usual...14" - 16", but TubeBabe got top rod (big fish) honors with a hard fighting 23 incher that made her think it was a wiper. I caught a few more fish than she did, but she was happy. We brought home about 12 between us...releasing the big one and several smaller ones.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did get one catfish on one of the two plastic jigs I was throwing in a tandem rig for wipers. He rolled and tangled it something fierce...as catfish do. Also got one cat that had some black skin markings. Never seen anything like that. Figured it must be a catfish gangbanger showing his colors...or gang tats. Better check the bottom of my tube for cat tagging or graffiti. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The water temp had only warmed to 53 by the time we hit the ramp about noon. A couple of boaters came in as we were leaving and said that the afternoon "boil" program was still playing. They claimed there had been a great boil right outside the north marina yesterday afternoon. Evidently, once the afternoon water temps get up toward 60 the wipers get hungry.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got to chat with Dubob, who was just launching as we were leaving. Hey Bob, hope you found some willing wipers.[/#0000ff]
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[bassrods]

Great pictures, if by chance you want to hit Willard by boat let me know and we'll get-er done...
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[dubob]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]It was a total bust for me. Trolled from the light pole to the SW corner then trolled to the island. Quit there and headed in at about 4 PM.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]I tried bottom bouncers with a leach at 1 & 1.5 mph. I tried several shad raps at 3 mph. Nada![/size][/#800000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000][size 4]Might try a couple more trips before winterizing if this nice weather keeps up. It sure makes duck hunting slow.[/size][/#800000][/font]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks for the sociable offer, but I think Willard is off my radar screen until about next April or so. We wouldn't have gone today except TubeBabe wanted one last shot at getting a wiper. She blanked on them this year. Guess she needs a better guide.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My next targets might include Pineview, Huntington/Scofield, Rockport, Echo, Utah Lake (walleyes) or ???? [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Looks like some calm conditions for a couple of days next week. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Are you having smallie withdrawal symptoms? Jordanelle is getting stingy now. I know, the fish are still there...somewhere...but it ain't as easy or as fun to dredge them up from those deep spots.[/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You could always stay poised with your shotgun and do some "wing shooting" on the leaping carp. Yeah, I know, it's illegal...but therapeutic.[/#0000ff]
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[bassrods]

If Willard is off your radar, how about Yuba for perch and northerns?
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Hey, I'm a masochist.

Let's go for it. Got some new mega-goodies I have been hankerin' to feed those toothy critters.

Email or call me and we will work out the details.
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[lunkerhunter2]

I have caught several tat kats out there. Their hood is the north cost chompers.[sly]
Great report.[cool]
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[catfish-logic]

Hey TubeDude,

So was the "catfish tatoo" just skin-marks from the "we-can't-spawn-because-there-is-no-place-to-do the-wild-thing"....
The female catfish can't spawn so the egg sacks fill with so many eggs they actually "drift" under the catfishes skin, right? And then leave"egg marks" under the skin.

I caught one like that at Willard and thats what it looks like.

I always wonder what humans would if they were in the same situation as the Willard cats.

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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]At first I thought it might be residue or a stain from some environmental biohazard...like oil. But, when I tried scraping it with a knife blade, it seemed to be a part of the skin rather than just on the surface...and it went clear through the one fin.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Over the years I have caught or seen numerous fish, of different species, with uncharacteristic colors or markings. Just a hiccup in the genes, I guess. Not unusual in humans either. Birthmarks, "port wine stains", vitiligo (Michael Jackson coloring) and other skin anomalies occur in a surprising percentage of human beans. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Of course, with the increase in the number of folks getting "ink" (tattoos), it is hard to tell what's real and what ain't. Same with certain "anatomical" features. But, that is another issue and not suitable for discussion on this board.[/#0000ff]
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"The female catfish can't spawn so the egg sacks fill with so many eggs they actually "drift" under the catfishes skin, right? And then leave"egg marks" under the skin."
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[#0000ff]Have you been snortin' the Smelly Jelly again?[/#0000ff]
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[catfish-logic]

Snorting smelly jelly? Well, not too bright an observer.

OK.... actually I thought the eggs were drifting under the skin cause they could not lay them, thus leaving "freckles" on the skin. I know the smelly jelly,whatever.

Why do I get such dumb ideas? Don't ask!


But I have a better explanation:

The female cats can't spawn cause the dike is not available. No place to spawn. They are upset and go and get tatoos. That explains it. Haven't you ever snagged a tatoo parlor at Willard?

Your right genetic things.

but come to think of it..could it be alien implants?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey, in this day and age of high technology and even higher people (good meds), almost anything is possible...or at least conceivable.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Guess it's about time to repost my old story of THE MONSTER OF WILLARD BAY. I actually wrote this back in the 80's but rewrote it a few years ago to reflect some of the changing biology of the lake. Still a reference to the once abundant crappies, but what the heck. Can't mess with everything.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Just for the record, the cats do spawn, but in unprotected nests (without the rocks) and a high percentage of the eggs become Purina Carp Chow. There are some areas of underwater rockpiles and vegetation that are utilized by a small percentage of the spawning cats...enough to keep a population in the lake until good times return.[/#0000ff]
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[catfish-logic]

I read the Willard Monster story, funny.

But what is a Mati ______ whatever?

You have a childish imagination. Kidding.

I laughed at the end when the catfish monster tried to mate with a artificial fem-cat and then kaboom!

I wish they had some way of getting rid of the carp at Utah Lake. Sure lets try the "Robot Fem-Carp" device.
Or a carp "nasty noise" device that can be placed underwater har har. Then place an underwater grenade of some sort and then. Boom!

They are never gonna get rid of 'dem Carp, never never never never never never never never. Unless they dry the Utah Lake up!

Speaking of childish imagination I have had day dreams of some sort of fish that would eat Carp and even reproduce fast enough to eat them. Nice if there was a fast reproducing fish that could reach lengths of six feet and thrive in Utah Lake, or any other lake for that matter.

Its not hard to go swimming or tubing at Utah Lake and wonder what strange creatures lurk beneath the surface! Ick!

Probably carp with their heads missing. God only knows there could be a half-carp half-chipmunk in that lake.

I've imagined giant sea-moss monsters in the lake. At the fault of Geneva Steel.

Here is a cool Utah Lake monster story:

A giant Carp Monster that was dumped in the lake by biologist from the University of Utah.

Luckily though from intense breeding and genetic manipulation the Carp Monster runs for president of the United States. Achieves head of state and gets rid of income taxes and all the government wacko crap they keep under the shelf.....

Pretty good imagination,eh? Don't get jealous TubeDude.

I drink wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much Diet Shasta!

I don't think that anyone here at BFT drinks as much coffee and pop as I do.

Didn't sleep good last night.



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[ratstar]

I'll hallenge you on that note. I drink more Mountain Dew in a day than most people drink anything in a week. Ask anyone I fish with, they know I cant sit still and stuff.
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[TubeDude]

[cool]Glad you liked the story. Mata Hari was a female spy who was known for her "feminine wiles"...to trick men. [url "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari[/url]

Utah DWR biologists turn green and do rollovers and backflips whenever anybody suggests planting flathead catfish in Utah...but they would definitely help munch a few carpinskis. Of course they would also eat bluegill, crappies, white bass, walleyes, channel cats and...HEAVEN FORBID...JUNE SUCKERS.

Unfortunately there is not presently any carp-specific process, agent or species that would provide the universal solution to Utah Lake's carp problem. Our only real solution is to invent a time machine that would allow us to go back and derail the train that brought the carp to Utah...before they got here.
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[catfish-logic]

Flatheads in Utah? Wow! I love Flatheads they rock!

What surprised me was in Arizona I thought that Flaheads could not live in Utah; for the obvious reason its too darn cold.

But when I watched an In-Fisherman DVD little did I know—they thrive in the Mighty Mississippi River clear the devil up in Minnesota! And by the way only 3% fo the fishermen in Minnesota target cats—they mostly go for Walleye. And in Minnesota the Faltheads readily reach 20 pounds and even bigger are common.

We need the Flathead in Utah, no doubt. But they need places to hide during the day. Utah Lake doesn't seem to have that required habitat. Or does it?

Tell me what you think.

Good news for the Flatheaders of Arizona, the Flathead population has gone up in the Colorado River below I-10 on down to Laguna Lake. They have even taken over territory from the Channel Cats in some places. Theres gazillions of small Channels though along the bank, but the Flatheads do a good job of eating them and keep them from overpopulation. And there is an abundance of Bluegills. The Channel population is pretty abundant.

If you don't mind mucho snags the Colorado has tons of catfish, but like other fisheries some fisherman just don't fish the river the right way. The Channel Cats are notorious for stationing in the deeper sections of the river, and that current will wash a 3 ounce sinker with ease down the current. What you really want is a boat.

OK back to Utah.

Do you think Flatheads would thrive in Utah Lake?
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[LOAH]

Congrats to your lady. It's good that you can share the love of fishing together.
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[TubeDude]

"Do you think Flatheads would thrive in Utah Lake?"

[cool] [#0000ff]YES. As you have also "seen on TV", flatheads live in some waters of the upper midwest that get colder...longer...than our Utah ponds. And, while they do appreciate underwater jungles to use for cover and ambush, they do not absolutely have to have it. They do just fine in many shallow ponds and lakes that have nothing but a lot of food for them...like Utah Lake.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also lived in Arizona and fished flatheads in Patagonia, Roosevelt, Saguaro, Apache, Canyon, Horseshoe, Bartlett...and, of course, along the Colorado River. I LOVE THEM. They feed almost exclusively on live food...anything smaller than themselves...and are very aggressive. Lots of bass chasers get them on big bass lures and think they have the next world record bass on their lines. And, in my opinion, they are some of the best eating of all fish species...even when they get BIG. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Who knows how big they would get in Utah Lake? Flatheads do prefer warmer waters and are active only when the temps are above about 60 degrees. Once the water gets cold they seek out a deep hole and just go dormant on the bottom...unlike channel cats that feed all year, even under the ice. Flatheads feed voraciously in warmer water but would probably have only about 5 or 6 months of that in Utah Lake. But, that ain't much different than Minnesota...where they have 9 months of winter and 3 months of poor ice fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here are a couple of old Arizona flathead tubing pics.[/#0000ff]
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[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=10090;"][/url]
24# flathead cat, taken on a small crappie jig and 6# line.

[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=10091;"][/url]
An even larger 30# flathead taken on light gear. The battle began at dusk and lasted after the sun went down.
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[TubeDude]

[quote LOAH]Congrats to your lady. It's good that you can share the love of fishing together.[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Thanks. In reading your own fine posts it would seem that your spouse also enjoys the fine outdoors. But, her current "distended" midsection would probably restrict her tubing excursions. That is something with which TubeBabe and I no longer have to contend. (We found out what causes that).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We have been married almost 30 years and were tubing together before marriage (premarital tubing). I had to make sure to get a keeper after having to release the first two.[/#0000ff]
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[LOAH]

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LOL At least you didn't eat them.

I need to work on my wife's aquatic skills before getting her out on a tube. You post, however, was instrumental in planting the idea seed in her head to do so.
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