10-26-2007, 10:58 PM
[cool][font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Went to Willard twice this week and brought home limits of 8 “cookie cutter” kitties both days. My biggest cat from Lindon today would probably outweigh either or both of the cookie limits from Willard.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Had some minnows left over from Willard yesterday, so I decided to make a quick solo shot to Lindon. Figured I would check to see if there were any white bass inside or any walleyes anywhere in the vicinity. The big full moon didn’t scare me none. Best time to go fishin’ is whenever you can get away…and when you got leftover bait.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Just getting light when I launched off the LBH ramp. Air temp 42 and water temp 49 inside the harbor. 50 outside the harber a half hour later. Surprised to see that the water in Utah Lake is cleaner than it was at Willard yesterday.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Tried jigs inside the harbor. Water depth 4 – 5 feet all over the harbor and in the channel. Might be too low for the fishies. Did not see much on sonar and didn’t get any “inquiries” inside at all. [/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Made a few casts around the entrance of the harbor and then started kicking out to deeper water. Depth was just over 4 feet off the rocks. Finally got out to about 5 feet and started seeing a few fish on sonar. Put out a minnow on my bait rod and kept switching plastics, trying for whatever might wanna play.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning. The lake was glass and the mountains were lovely with a bit of snow on the tops. Need a lot more. Too bad so many folks do not get up early enough to enjoy daybreak. It is the nicest time of day.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]The new power plant was going full tilt, and sending up a big plume of steam. It was going straight up in the windless morning air. At one point I looked up to see the column of steam in front of my old sweetheart…Mt. Timpanogos. A quick mind flutter suggested that it kinda appeared to be a volcano. Mt. Saint Timpanogos? Nah. The old girl will never look the same from this spot again.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I had just looked at my watch, about 8:30…reflecting that I had been on the water for an hour without so much as a tweak. Would this be a jinx day…when I finally get skunked after two years of skunkless fishing trips? Nope. The line popped out of the clip on my bait rod and was zinging off the reel pretty fast. I set the hook into something solid and my rod went bendo. Yeee hawww.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Don’t these silly catfish know that it is late October and the water is only 50 degrees? They are acting like it is still mid July. True, they lack a bit of the kick-butt battle tactics they exhibit in warmer water, but they still put up a darn good fight…especially the bigguns. That first one turned out to be a slender 27 incher that weighed just under 7 pounds.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I decided to kick my way over to the bubbleup, fishing as I went. The water was still like glass and there were obviously fish to be had. For the next two hours I had pretty constant action on cats. I had pickups every few minutes and hooked most of the ones that took the bait. After the first larger kitty, I kept three more, figuring that would be enough for the smoker. I probably released another half dozen. The smallest I caught was 22" and 4.5#. I even got one 23 inch cat on a little roadrunner plastic I was throwing on my light rod while dragging bait on the heavy stick.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]When I got to the bubbleup I started casting plastic around the outermost buoy…at 6.3 feet deep. Nary a bump and no fish on the sonar. So, remembering that most of the other fish I had seen were at about 5 feet, I moved down the line of buoys, casting as I went. Sure enough, when I got into the shallower water I started getting bumps. Then, I began hooking white bass with consistency. Most were nice 12 – 14 inchers. Fun fun on light tackle. I kept three for a shrimp scampi pan meal and headed back toward the harbor. [/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I was hardly a hundred yards away from the bubbleup when a light breeze came up from the NW…the direction I had to kick into to get back in. Wouldn’t ya know it. The breeze picked up fast and got worse. I reeled in the small plastic jigs and put that rod up. I let out two bait rods, rigged with minnows hooked solidly through the nose, so they would track well under speed and put the lines out…and started kicking my way back in against the waves. [/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I doubted that I would catch anything on the fast trolled minnows. Eternal optimist that I am, I hoped maybe for an active walleye. As I began getting closer to the rock dike around the harbor, I looked back over my left shoulder to get my bearings. When I looked back, the line was streaming off the bait rod on the right side. I quickly reeled in the line on the other rod and then set the hook. The rod tip just stayed there and then line kept streaming out…against the drag. This weren’t no cookie cutter.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]That big mama whupped my butt for over 20 minutes on a stout rod. I would probably have let her go, but I knew she was over ten pounds, and I needed to verify her weight. My goal at the first of the year was at least one cat over 10 pounds. I have come close a couple of times, but this one would do it. 11.7 pounds to be exact…and 32 inches. Done and done.[/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Finally kicked my way back into the harbor and headed home. Didn’t see anybody else on the water or fishing from the dike all day. But, I wasn’t lonely. I had a full basket to keep me company. Now to fire up the smoker again. [/blue][/size][/font]
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[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Had some minnows left over from Willard yesterday, so I decided to make a quick solo shot to Lindon. Figured I would check to see if there were any white bass inside or any walleyes anywhere in the vicinity. The big full moon didn’t scare me none. Best time to go fishin’ is whenever you can get away…and when you got leftover bait.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Just getting light when I launched off the LBH ramp. Air temp 42 and water temp 49 inside the harbor. 50 outside the harber a half hour later. Surprised to see that the water in Utah Lake is cleaner than it was at Willard yesterday.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Tried jigs inside the harbor. Water depth 4 – 5 feet all over the harbor and in the channel. Might be too low for the fishies. Did not see much on sonar and didn’t get any “inquiries” inside at all. [/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Made a few casts around the entrance of the harbor and then started kicking out to deeper water. Depth was just over 4 feet off the rocks. Finally got out to about 5 feet and started seeing a few fish on sonar. Put out a minnow on my bait rod and kept switching plastics, trying for whatever might wanna play.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning. The lake was glass and the mountains were lovely with a bit of snow on the tops. Need a lot more. Too bad so many folks do not get up early enough to enjoy daybreak. It is the nicest time of day.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]The new power plant was going full tilt, and sending up a big plume of steam. It was going straight up in the windless morning air. At one point I looked up to see the column of steam in front of my old sweetheart…Mt. Timpanogos. A quick mind flutter suggested that it kinda appeared to be a volcano. Mt. Saint Timpanogos? Nah. The old girl will never look the same from this spot again.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I had just looked at my watch, about 8:30…reflecting that I had been on the water for an hour without so much as a tweak. Would this be a jinx day…when I finally get skunked after two years of skunkless fishing trips? Nope. The line popped out of the clip on my bait rod and was zinging off the reel pretty fast. I set the hook into something solid and my rod went bendo. Yeee hawww.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Don’t these silly catfish know that it is late October and the water is only 50 degrees? They are acting like it is still mid July. True, they lack a bit of the kick-butt battle tactics they exhibit in warmer water, but they still put up a darn good fight…especially the bigguns. That first one turned out to be a slender 27 incher that weighed just under 7 pounds.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I decided to kick my way over to the bubbleup, fishing as I went. The water was still like glass and there were obviously fish to be had. For the next two hours I had pretty constant action on cats. I had pickups every few minutes and hooked most of the ones that took the bait. After the first larger kitty, I kept three more, figuring that would be enough for the smoker. I probably released another half dozen. The smallest I caught was 22" and 4.5#. I even got one 23 inch cat on a little roadrunner plastic I was throwing on my light rod while dragging bait on the heavy stick.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]When I got to the bubbleup I started casting plastic around the outermost buoy…at 6.3 feet deep. Nary a bump and no fish on the sonar. So, remembering that most of the other fish I had seen were at about 5 feet, I moved down the line of buoys, casting as I went. Sure enough, when I got into the shallower water I started getting bumps. Then, I began hooking white bass with consistency. Most were nice 12 – 14 inchers. Fun fun on light tackle. I kept three for a shrimp scampi pan meal and headed back toward the harbor. [/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I was hardly a hundred yards away from the bubbleup when a light breeze came up from the NW…the direction I had to kick into to get back in. Wouldn’t ya know it. The breeze picked up fast and got worse. I reeled in the small plastic jigs and put that rod up. I let out two bait rods, rigged with minnows hooked solidly through the nose, so they would track well under speed and put the lines out…and started kicking my way back in against the waves. [/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]I doubted that I would catch anything on the fast trolled minnows. Eternal optimist that I am, I hoped maybe for an active walleye. As I began getting closer to the rock dike around the harbor, I looked back over my left shoulder to get my bearings. When I looked back, the line was streaming off the bait rod on the right side. I quickly reeled in the line on the other rod and then set the hook. The rod tip just stayed there and then line kept streaming out…against the drag. This weren’t no cookie cutter.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]That big mama whupped my butt for over 20 minutes on a stout rod. I would probably have let her go, but I knew she was over ten pounds, and I needed to verify her weight. My goal at the first of the year was at least one cat over 10 pounds. I have come close a couple of times, but this one would do it. 11.7 pounds to be exact…and 32 inches. Done and done.[/blue][/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][blue][size 3][/size][/blue][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3][blue]Finally kicked my way back into the harbor and headed home. Didn’t see anybody else on the water or fishing from the dike all day. But, I wasn’t lonely. I had a full basket to keep me company. Now to fire up the smoker again. [/blue][/size][/font]
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