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i havnt been out at all this week so i had to get out of the house!!! i ventured out to my cattin spot, for the first time this season.. to see if they were willin to play.... i get out in the middle of no where.. and first cast i caught a nice prespawn 8lb carp... alll dressed up with orange fins... purdy for a carp... then the wind came, and the rain and the snow, and the MARBLE sized hail... luckily the fish kept comin too!!! i fished for another 45 minutes in that crap!!! me and my buddy were gettin tired of catchin carp from weights up to 20lbs ( arms were tired) when we decided to bag it... i started to reel in my crawler and there was a heavy fish on... i thought ooh goody another bugle mouth... to my suprise it was a nice 2 1/2 pound ........................................... uhhhhhhhhhhh DANG!!!! gizzard shad... dang... oh well...... but man those things fight so hard... wheew... i thought i had a 4lb smallie!!! it was they are fiesty!!! we ended up with 5 carp a peice my biggest was 32' and weighed about twenty pounds... my buddy got a 33' that weighed about 20lbs or so... they were so fat... and full of eggs...
i was bummed it wasnt a cat... but maybe next time...
oh by the way ... i didnt catch those fish at willard...
joe aka utcatman...
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I'm assuming you were at the bird refuge?
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Yes i was at the bird refuge.... water was really warm to... i was really high as well but not to much current... water is about 10 inches from the top of the banks when its usually at least 18 inches ( where i fish) still bummed no cats.... but i doo have one question... if i were able to catch shad there can i use them for bait???? is the regulation just at willard???? or everywhere??
JOE
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[cool][#0000ff]Gizzard shad is on the list of "prohibited species"...no possession at any time, any place. You did release that one didn't you? (hint, hint)[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]You may use shad only at Lake Powell, and only dead threadfin shad taken from the lake. And, you can't take any dead shad away with you.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Hey, we gotta hook up sometime and trade all of our secrets. That will probably take about 2 minutes on my part, and then we can go fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I often wondered how many of those shad were slipping down out of the pipe and into the refuge. Sounds like they have a pretty good population established. Cats definitely love shad and grow fat on them. Down in Arizona shad was the top bait for big kitties. Of course, in more progressive Arizona you could fish with live shad too.[/#0000ff]
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when i fished in arizona for cats wee used goldfish for the channels and flatheads.... have you ever been to a place on the colorado called walters camp??? its one of the side sloughs that comes off of the river somwhere near yuma if i remember correctly.. it was the best fishing for any species i have had anywhere!!!! the bass all range from
2 to 8lbs, and there are huge channel cats and flatheads down there as well. and dont get me started on the monsterous crappie that i was catching on SPINNERBAITS!!! as well as blue gill and warmouth!!! tons of numbers of fish!!!!!
i wanna get out to utah lake from my tube for the kittys next month they turn on pretty strong down there. especially the end of may.. my favorite time of year to fish for cats!!! and early june....
JOE
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[cool][#0000ff]I have fished all along the Colorado River, on both sides, going WA-A-A-A-AY back, before the flatheads were even in the river. There used to be better access in many spots, but between Native American regulations and other closures a lot of the old spots are now inaccessible except by a long run with a boat.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I lived in Phoenix for quite a few years and my parents lived several years in Yuma. I spent a lot of time up and down the river there. It was really cool watching the flathead cat fans fight over the biggest goldfish in the tank when they were buying bait.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got some huge flatheads below Laguna Dam and even in the canals. Lake Mittry was good, as was Martinez. You are right, there is some great fishing for bass, crappies, bluegills, cats, carp...and rattlesnakes. Probably the worst critters were the "snowbirds". Rude and foul-tempered. You'd better not be fishing in their spot when they came to fish. After all, they owned the river.[/#0000ff]
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Hey UTcatman if you dont mind me askin what bird refugee were you fishin
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You done let the cat out of the bag! Lets hear some info on this place, Is it on the other side of the dikes??
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it is 10 miles north of willard... cant say to much.. there are signs on the freeway for the bear river bird refuge... once u get off the freeway you go west untill u come to water... almost every canal and slough out there has cats and carp... as well as walleye and bullheads ... there is so much water out there to fish that u couldnt fish it all in a year!!!! the canals are full of small cats... hundreds... from 0 to 7lbs or so... the main river channels are where the real cats reside.. up to 20lbs... ( my biggest cat was just under 20) so u just have to go out there and look for yourself[sly] good luck and good hunting!!!
Joe
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Thanks buddy that would be the forest St. exit right
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yes sir.... thats the one.... good luck and go big!!! big bait. big rod, big line!!! big fish... most of the fish out there havnt seen a bait before!!
JOE
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] for the monsterous cats that reside in this overlooked fishery.... last year i went out there lookn for baby carp with my cast net. and all i could find were craploads of shad.... oh well im sure that the cats like carp alot more than them scrumptious, soft , oily delectable shad..[unsure]