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[#0000BF]Met up with HighNDry and Waljustia at Lincoln Beach this morning. Also had Boatloadakids come driving out to join our vehicles as we were launching. With the low water in the channel he chose not to launch his boat. No boat...no kids. He was a bank tangler. Not sure how he did since he left before we got back in.
Plan was to go chase some walleyes. But opportunists that we are...with no scruples...we opted for cats, white bass and even a silly carp. Woulda been nice to score some toothy critters but we ain't proud.
Launched about 7 from the exposed rocks at first spring. Air temp 40 and water temp 57...10 degrees cooler in the last couple of weeks. But the walleyes are still being slow and fickle.
No matter. The kitties were a bit slow but they were willing to play. Dave (Mr. W.) scored the first cat at about 8:30. Then we all started getting more bites, but the fish were taking slowly and were hard to hook. Cutting our baby white bass in half and using smaller baits helped us hook more.
The cool early morning breeze laid down by 9 and it was a glassy calm morning until we bailed out about noonish. Only a couple of small boats were able to make it out the shallow boat channel but there was a strong showing of the wading contingent down off the orchards. Couldn't tell whether they were catching much from our distant location.
The cats were definitely not as active...or feisty on the line...with the cooler water. But they at least cooperated and provided some tugs. For both Dave and I they will also provide some smoky morsels. Not sure what Glenn had in mind for his.
Great day with good company...and some fish too.
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I should went there instead of Starvation, manged three small walleyes and a lot of small pech. Water temp was 60 - 62 through the day, was also cloudy water from rain run off.
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[#0000FF]Sorry about Starvy. I figured that the recent heavy storms in the area would have murked the water a bit. That lake usually fishes better with clarity.
The water at Utah Lake was clearing on top but there was a layer of murky water near the bottom. We fished into about 5 feet of water and muddy swirls came up when we were fighting fish or kicked down too deep.
With the coming week supposed to be nice weatherwise we should see some better fishing. I'm looking at Deer Creek soon.
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[#0000FF]Thanks. The weather could not have been nicer.
PVC? That stuff is like the Ebola virus of float tubes and pontoons. If you get around other craft with a lot of it you are likely to get "infected" too. It's probably a good thing that you didn't get any closer to me when we fished Starvy together. How could you explain an outbreak of PVC on your fly fishing tube?
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I hit Lincoln from the shore last week. 2 small ones only.
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Hey Pat looks like some nice fish and a fun trip. That PVC virus is bad stuff seems like once you get it you never want to get over it. It's almost found its way onto my boat just can't decide where I want it yet.
I'm seeing 56 degrees on Cutler water temp this weekend and the cats seem slower to bite but strong fighters once hooked. Can't find a Walleye here either, but giving them a chance to bite. Caught some cats on plastics while exploring for eyes and that was fun. They usually don't take plastics real well up here so I always like that surprise. Thanks for another fun report, I always enjoy reading them. Later J
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[#0000FF]Bummer. I think with the low water and colder water we might not see much more (if any) close in cattin'.
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[#0000FF]Thanks for the kindly comments. Glad you approve.
Always a surprise and much fun to catch a hefty kitty on a light rod and small lure meant for other species. I had one good cat on a jig Friday but it was inexperienced and didn't know how to hang on. But I catch quite a few cats over the year with artificials...jigs, spinners, cranks and even flies.
I bet that anybody who claims to dislike cats would change their tune after hanging a couple of bigguns on panfish gear and small lures. I think they outfight most of our more "glamorous" species.
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Yup those cats are a ton of fun, only stronger fighter is the Rocky Mountain tarpon (carp). I do enjoy rainbows as well when they get some size and Big Macs are fun too, can't argue with smallies, largies and wiper either so I pretty much like fighting most fish, even crappie are a blast. I think I like everything in their proper time and place. It is kind of neat how each fish fights so different. Lately I've been playing with cats, SMB, LMB, crappie and carp and I think within the first hit and run I can identify the species 95% of the time now. Had a fun trip Friday with SMB's showing off their aerial acrobatics took me 3 fish before I landed one, ive been too used to fighting cats and I had to change my approach needed to give them a little more line, but got them figured out after that and ended up with a few. Fun time of year to catch fish and the weather has been really nice. Catch ya next time. J
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[#0000FF]One of the reasons I don't hit "trout only" waters as much is that I like the options of multi species. I still dearly love all trout...except maybe some cutts. But I really do prefer the variety when other species are available. Utah Lake is one water where you can easily catch 4 species on a good day. Starvation is another. I once caught 5 different species on 5 successive casts at Starvy...all in the same spot and on the same jig.
Once you have had the experience of catching and battling different species you DO tend to notice their different "styles". But I readily admit to being fooled a lot. Silly fish sometimes forget how to act. They can be like people with bad manners...or a wife who gets moody. Guess I better quit before I get in more trouble.
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It might be that I know what should bite in a certain spot so its easier to tell what I have on. I have had a couple that really made me wonder what they were due to heavy strong pulls and then I've lost them and so I still wonder if that was cats or LMB or carp. Pretty sure they weren't walleye, but maybe they were big eyes. Well hope you get a great trip this week. With water temps falling ill bet you do well. Hope I get out but it will have to be Friday between garden harvest chores. Later J
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[#0000FF]Your comment about carp being battlers reminded me of the one I caught on Friday. It hit with a thump like a walleye. But then it took off on a screaming run. I quickly deduced it was not a walleye and probably not a cat. Suspected a carp and got it verified only after a long slugfest in which that silly fish just wouldn't come up enough to show it's ugly kisser.
Attaching a picture of the new "Pistol Pat" spinner jig I caught it on. It has also caught me a few walleyes this year...and quite a few kitties. They like those little propeller blades.
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Nice rig on that jig, guess I need to try a little more creativity. I think I'm becoming lazy, I have found some colors and lures that work nearly every trip so that's all I fish lately and some days are hot and I catch quite a few and other days are slow and I might only get one or two. Those are the days I need to learn to switch it up a bit more. I can't decide which approach is best. I used to change up every half hour if I wasn't getting bites but I didn't ever fish any lure with much confidence and I think the fish knew it and so they didn't bite then either. Always something new to learn for me. Thanks for the tip. J
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