05-04-2015, 09:22 PM
[#0000FF]Met up with Albinotrout at Lindon this morning. On the water a little after 6. Air temps almost 60. Water temps 65 at launch and 68 just before noon.
I got launched first. Made a few casts going out of the harbor. No interruptions on my retrieves. Ditto for out around the dike and points going into the lake. Did see a few carp cruising the surface of the calm water.
Headed for the bubbleup. Had to get a long way from shore to find 4' depths. Stopped to make some casts a couple of times on the way. Dinged a couple of white bass and put 'em in the basket for future reference (bait). Glad I did.
Less than 4 feet of water at the buoy at the end of of the bubbleup pipe. No outflow. Only a few bubbles in a couple of places to verify there was a pipe there. No willing fishies to bite my bitty jigs.
Started dragging a whole small white bass on a bait rod. Didn't take long to get my first inquiry. A Lindon cookie cutter...about 22 inches. Then a small skinny mudder that ate another baby white bass...almost as big as he was.
AT arrived and I suggested he work the area I had been finding some love. It worked well enough to bring in at least one nice kitty. See the pics.
After that I moved up and down the buoy line, trying to find some white bass or walleyes...any thing besides cats. No way. But did get my smallest cat of the day in about 2 feet of water. Only about 15 inches. Now if I could put two of those end to end I would have a good contest entry.
Moved over to the other side of the buoy line and continued dragging bait on one rod and pitching small tubes on the other. Picked up another basket cat...for the smoker...and whiffed another. Then had something bite my heavy leader off after a "funny" chomp and run. Pike? Could be. Cain't prove it.
With no encouragement from other species around the bubbleup I began working slowly back toward the harbor. Picked up a couple more "cookies" and was running out of the frozen baby white bass I had brought. So I filleted one of the whities I caught earlier.
The first piece had barely settled to the bottom when the line popped from the clip and went peeling off the open bail reel spool. Set the hook and the beast on the other end put the line over its shoulder and ripped some serious yardage off the drag. Yeeee hawww. I figgered it would be my first 30 incher for the contest. Nay. After almost fifteen minutes of hand to fin combat I put the net under a feisty two footer. Must have beat up on some other angler too. There was a nice circle hook protruding from one corner of its mouth. No escape this time. She was going home to meet my smoker.
The rest of the story? That first strip of white bass meat stayed on the hook for three more decent catfish. One finally swallowed it and I cut it off before releasing that fish.
Don't really count fish much anymore. But I kept five for the smoker and released at least that many more. Bent my stick and stretched my string just fine, thank y'all. With the water temps warming up the cats have got some serious kick butt fight in 'em now. Almost all the ones cookie cutter or larger made at least short runs against the drag.
Not sure how AT finished up. My knee started to complaining about 10ish...and the SW breezes began to kick up a little...along with some big huffy puffy clouds around the horizon. So I left the rest of the fish for AT and made an early departure.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
I got launched first. Made a few casts going out of the harbor. No interruptions on my retrieves. Ditto for out around the dike and points going into the lake. Did see a few carp cruising the surface of the calm water.
Headed for the bubbleup. Had to get a long way from shore to find 4' depths. Stopped to make some casts a couple of times on the way. Dinged a couple of white bass and put 'em in the basket for future reference (bait). Glad I did.
Less than 4 feet of water at the buoy at the end of of the bubbleup pipe. No outflow. Only a few bubbles in a couple of places to verify there was a pipe there. No willing fishies to bite my bitty jigs.
Started dragging a whole small white bass on a bait rod. Didn't take long to get my first inquiry. A Lindon cookie cutter...about 22 inches. Then a small skinny mudder that ate another baby white bass...almost as big as he was.
AT arrived and I suggested he work the area I had been finding some love. It worked well enough to bring in at least one nice kitty. See the pics.
After that I moved up and down the buoy line, trying to find some white bass or walleyes...any thing besides cats. No way. But did get my smallest cat of the day in about 2 feet of water. Only about 15 inches. Now if I could put two of those end to end I would have a good contest entry.
Moved over to the other side of the buoy line and continued dragging bait on one rod and pitching small tubes on the other. Picked up another basket cat...for the smoker...and whiffed another. Then had something bite my heavy leader off after a "funny" chomp and run. Pike? Could be. Cain't prove it.
With no encouragement from other species around the bubbleup I began working slowly back toward the harbor. Picked up a couple more "cookies" and was running out of the frozen baby white bass I had brought. So I filleted one of the whities I caught earlier.
The first piece had barely settled to the bottom when the line popped from the clip and went peeling off the open bail reel spool. Set the hook and the beast on the other end put the line over its shoulder and ripped some serious yardage off the drag. Yeeee hawww. I figgered it would be my first 30 incher for the contest. Nay. After almost fifteen minutes of hand to fin combat I put the net under a feisty two footer. Must have beat up on some other angler too. There was a nice circle hook protruding from one corner of its mouth. No escape this time. She was going home to meet my smoker.
The rest of the story? That first strip of white bass meat stayed on the hook for three more decent catfish. One finally swallowed it and I cut it off before releasing that fish.
Don't really count fish much anymore. But I kept five for the smoker and released at least that many more. Bent my stick and stretched my string just fine, thank y'all. With the water temps warming up the cats have got some serious kick butt fight in 'em now. Almost all the ones cookie cutter or larger made at least short runs against the drag.
Not sure how AT finished up. My knee started to complaining about 10ish...and the SW breezes began to kick up a little...along with some big huffy puffy clouds around the horizon. So I left the rest of the fish for AT and made an early departure.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
