Decent Day on UL 8/17

[FishMcFisherson]

I met up with UtahLakeCats down at Lindon harbor about 6:00 a.m. so that we could do our best TubeDude impression.

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We got on the water shortly after 6 and started the bait drag down to the bubble up. It wasn't too long until I had the first cat of the day. 20ish incher.

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We landed a few more on our way out to the bubble up.

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Once there, we kind of cruised around all over dragging bait. I was using shrimp on one rod and carp meat on the other. The two baits seemed to be about 50/50 on fish production.

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About 10:00 a.m. it started getting pretty choppy. It was kind of odd, because there was just barely a breeze and the power squadron wasn't getting TOO close to us, but still pretty wavy. I decided to cruise to the actual bubbling to throw a jig and see if I could tangle with some whities. It was kind of hard to stay in the spot I wanted too, but managed a couple.

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About 11:00 p.m. we started heading back to the harbor, dragging bait on the way back. I hooked onto a couple more cats.

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We combined for 20 cats, 2 white bass and 1 stick.
The biggest cat I caught was about 24 inches. I'm not sure if ULC took pictures of his fish, but if so, maybe he'll add them. All in all It was a good day.

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[Flyfishinglover]

Who want to see those kitties or whitties. We truly wanted to see how big the stick fish was >_<. I'm very disappointing with no stick fish pictures. Next time you catch one please post it on here [angelic]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Nice work, guys. Glad you were able to provide some exercise for my kitties. They get lonely when I don't show up for a while.

Just remember...about the stick fish. They gotta be "forkhorn or better" to keep them. But I always let 'em go. Too hard to fillet and you gotta cook them a loooooooong time to make them tender. Lots of good fiber for your diet though.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Wow that looks like a great day nice post, glad you had fun. Later J
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[FishMcFisherson]

I was too excited about catching that stick to take a picture, but believe me it was a beast! At least 30+ inches.
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[FishMcFisherson]

I don't keep the bigger Stickies, so he's back in there waiting to be caught again. But I'll have to get your recipe for next time.
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[UtahLakeCats]

Great morning, I didn't catch as many as FishMcfisherson, but was still a lot of fun. I got to try out "bait trolling" with a tube for the first time and I'm sold on it. With how much ground you can cover and the excitement of getting a hit while on the move - I won't be shore-fishing nearly as much.

I caught 6 kitties myself, mostly cookie-cutter, with the largest being about 24-25in and a thick girth. Was surprised to catch the larger cat in shallow water (2 ft.) and later on in the day.

The highlight for me was making up for one of my rookie mistakes:
One of my spinning reels didn't have a lot of line on it, maybe 30 yds worth (laziness), so I would always cast it short. But i didn't lock the reel, so my line slowly got depleted until it was only connected by the knot around the spool. I didn't realize this until I saw a hit and then saw my line go with it. I wasn't sure if it was a snag or a hit, but as I grabbed the little bit of line still visible I realized there was a fish tugging on the other end (yahoo!). I frantically spooled my line again and reeled in a good-sized kitty. A rookie move to start, but gotta say I'm proud of the recovery.

Here's a few of my pics for the morning:
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Here's one of my better wood catches. But it had a fish skeleton attached so it must be a hybrid. I'll bet it would have been yummy if I had boiled it all up together.

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[FishMcFisherson]

She's a beauty. Looks like you might've scored some free tackle on that one as well...

I landed my stick on that 20 or so yard shallow spot about halfway between the harbor and the bubble up, I'm sure you know the place. That's the only spot I've gotten any snags with the bait drag as well.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Free tackle? The lure at the top of the pic was the spinner jig I was using to catch that beauty. There was some line and a rusty hook in the deceased fish but nothing worth keeping. So I released it to fight another day.

You are right about that one snaggy area. The bottom is pretty clean all over except for where the reed beds used to be thick. The standing reeds often stopped drifting pieces of brush until they got waterlogged and sank to the bottom.

When I fish the "flats" I usually make big S turns and when I start feeling my bait dragging over the reed roots I reel in and move out deeper. But that stuff is "structure" in a lake that doesn't have much and when the water is up a bit it can be good fishing all along that formerly reedy shoreline. Just keep your bait or lures from dragging bottom. Good place for a bobber.
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[SkunkedAgain]

So my cats have thinned way down in the shallows, how deep were you finding most of yours? I tell you what, this method of fishing is addicting I've had so much fun this summer it is so much more fun than regular bait fishing. I took some of my relatives soaking bait Saturday and I had a hard time sticking too it because all we had was little kittens nibbling instead of nice 5 + lbers. Not to mention the fact that I can't hook the little buggers. Glad you guys had a great day. Later J
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