Cutler Shake Down Cruise 4-10-23

[SkunkedAgain]

[b]So wasn't my first time on the water in 2023, since I fished Willard in January, but was my first trip since the real winter of 2023 kicked in... Took Calvin and headed down to the marina about 6:00 ish, I was a little slow getting everything ready to float, but still wanted to give it a try and make sure the engine would run and batteries were sufficiently charged and all that fun stuff... And they were and engine kicked right over and everything worked as hoped... So we fired up the side finder and checked out a spot I like north of the marina a little ways.  There were scattered fish all through the area, so we got our rods ready and went to work with fligs, jigs and bottom bait... Since I couldn't get the drift right for fligging, we anchored up and set some carp chunks to work looking for catfish...  Well I did, Calvin kept trying jigs and etc on his one rod and bait on the other... Well I didn't have a lot of hope for early cold water and all, but wasn't long and we started getting hit on all the bait rods, but we couldn't get a hook set, every time we picked up the rod, the fish was gone... Including one hit that nearly pulled Calvin's rod out of the boat... Well then it went quiet all at once and I figured we were skunked and done for the night... Calvin said give it 5 more minutes and just as we were getting ready to go, he tied into a skunk breaking 18-20" cookie cutter channel, that he was able to land... So glad the first trip wasn't a complete bust, however, the beautiful weather and calm night was anything but a bust, it was great to be out on the pond again, hope that will be the first of many fun trips this year... Later Jeff[/b]

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Oh yeah a lot of the ice in the back slough's is just verily coming off, I can't believe how long it held this year... The river channels and areas of current have been open for two or three weeks, but most of Cutler is just opening up so we're a ways behind you guys on Utah Lake, but we'll catch up as soon as we can... Later J

[MSM1970]

good to hear you got out, dont forget to hit those gravel bars looking for eyes, they should be getting ready to spawn, be patient, it take a lot of fishing but its worth it.

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Mike, Appreciate the reminder, I'm hoping to get there, but I was afraid I might be too late already... Do you think they may still be spawning? Not sure if the ramp is open, but would be worth checking for sure.... Water clarity is really muddy this year, I guess the melt is really showing, probably last till July this year... I was surprised how much snow melted out of the fields yesterday, with another warm day today and tomorrow, we just might get rid of that white stuff... I had water running off my field past my house yesterday like the good ole days when I used to flood irrigate and would leave the water running too long... Probably have even more today, but then I think it will subside for this year... hope so anyway... Later Jeff

[MSM1970]

Hey Mike, Appreciate the reminder, I'm hoping to get there, but I was afraid I might be too late already... Do you think they may still be spawning?  Not sure if the ramp is open, but would be worth checking for sure.... Water clarity is really muddy this year, I guess the melt is really showing, probably last till July this year... I was surprised how much snow melted out of the fields yesterday, with another warm day today and tomorrow, we just might get rid of that white stuff... I had water running off my field past my house yesterday like the good ole days when I used to flood irrigate and would leave the water running too long... Probably have even more today, but then I think it will subside for this year... hope so anyway... Later Jeff

I think there just starting, its always worth trying,  murky water, use dark contrasting colors,

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks Mike I'll try it... Thanks for the tips... Jeff

[wiperhunter2]

It's hard to believe now but we were getting out in Jan in our boats, then Winter hit in full force. Glad you were able to get out and didn't get the skunk on your boat. The last three weeks we have also been getting bites that we couldn't get that good hook set. What was the water temp there at Cutler?

[SkunkedAgain]

Curt, that is a really good question I had it on my finder, but I didn't notice what it was even though I kept thinking I needed to check and see what temperature it was, but I kept forgetting to look... So I'll have to check next time... Jeff

[SkunkedAgain]

It's hard to believe now but we were getting out in Jan in our boats, then Winter hit in full force. Glad you were able to get out and didn't get the skunk on your boat. The last three weeks we have also been getting bites that we couldn't get that good hook set. What was the water temp there at Cutler?

Curt, I went out again last night and I wasn't believing my ff on temp, but it said 60 degrees in the main body of the pond and 56 degrees where we were fishing... I couldn't believe it was that warm already...  But it is really shallow water, like maybe 2' deep for most of the lake, so I guess it is possible to warm that fast... Crazy with all the water coming into it now, but the level is still holding low, so they must be pulling a lot of water through so we don't flood when the flows increase... Anyway we had a much better night last night with 8 fish between the 3 of us and two were almost 27"ers... My calibration is off though, I thought that first big fat 27"er was a 30"er, man it looked big, but when we put it on the board I think it shrunk three inches... Anyway it was a really fun night and the fish quality looks much better this year than they did last year... So I was happy to see that... Their color is so pretty and almost a fluorescent yellow-green... gorgeous cats this year... Later