Utah Kitty Floatilla

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]TubeBabe and I met up with LloydE, Wildcat94 and Roghet (and son Conner) down at the Knolls this morning for some kitty ketchin'. Actually, the first four of us launched our tubes and toon (WC94) about 6:30, and Roghet brought his boat around from the Pelican Bay Marina a while later.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Warm, calm and clear at launch. Water temp 75, warming to 79 by day's end. Kinda murky water, after the big blow last night. Also a green algae bloom in ribbons on the water. Yugly.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]WC94 scored first, with the first of many cookie cutter kitties for the day. I was right behind him with a couple more. As the day progressed, and we were all catching only cookies I wondered if we made a wrong turn and had ended up at Willard.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Finally, late in the morning, TubeBabe hit high C and announced over the walkie talkie that she had just landed a biggun. Turned out to be a 26 inch daddy cat. We almost always release them since they are in the minority and they also are thinner with less smokeable flesh. TubeBabe posed for her picture, gave the ugly ol' cat a smooch and set it free.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Not long afterward I had an "inquiry" that was not the usual cookie cutter whack. I set the hook in something that didn't want to join me in my tube. Several runs and turnarounds in the tube later I netted my only 2-footer...24.5 inches and 6.5#. Then, within only about 15 minutes more, I boinked a smaller 22 incher. It began to look like I was going to fill my smoker anyhooters. But nooooooo. That was it. A few more cookies and the major bite of the day was pretty much over. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]WC94 took top rod honors with about 14 cookies. I was close behind with about a dozen total, including my two larger fish. TubeBabe caught more than a limit but released the big daddy and several smaller ones. Still ended up with a nice basket of cookies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lloyd caught one. But that is one fish better than smelling skunk. Poor Roger and Conner. They kept their boat right in amongst us but blanked big time. Might be something to this tubing thing. IMHO it is definitely more fun to rassle a kitty from right there in the water with him.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Only had a little breeze off and on. But, wouldn't ya know it. The ideal conditions for where we fish are for easterly breezes in the morning to blow us down to the Knolls...and then westerly breezes later to bring us back. That was the "FORECAST". Yeah, right. Had to kick back against a brisk easterly breeze. Figures.[/#0000ff]
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51424"][#63626b]POWERLESS SQUADRON.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (242 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51425"][#63626b]WILDCAT ON DA WAVES.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (237 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51426"][#63626b]ROGHET & CONNER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (134 KB)
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[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51429"][#63626b]UGLY WATER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (215 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51430"][#63626b]UTAH LAKE COOKIE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (214 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51431"][#63626b]SPOTTED COOKIE.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (222 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51432"][#63626b]TUBEBABE'S DADDY CAT.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (392 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51433"][#63626b]TD'S 2-FOOTER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (320 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51434"][#63626b]SMOKER KITTY.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (195 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51435"][#63626b]PAT'S CATS.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (353 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51436"][#63626b]BRYCE'S BASKET.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (321 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51437"][#63626b]LLOYD'S SKUNK KILLER.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (337 KB)
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=51438"][#63626b]TUBEBABE'S TAKEHOME.jpg[/#63626b][/url] (314 KB)
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[ghost_trout]

Looks like a great day of fishing.

TD, I have a question for you. I've ordered the ODC 420, and the stripping apron in the photos I'm not gonna like. I'm used to a stout stabilizer bar, and a heavy apron with hooks (not velcro) that covered my entire "lap" It ran from the bar all the way back to my body. I saw the pictures of the rubbermaid container lid tray that TB uses. In your photos Lloyd looks like he has something else, and it has a lip.

Do you know what that is? I may end up using the old Talon bar and apron if I can figure how to hook it on. The apron that comes with the 420 looks like suitable pouch material, but not for an apron.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I have made "sushi boards" from several different kinds of container lids and tray tables. Most will work. Depends on what you want them to do for you.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lloyd took the opposite approach. Instead of using the lid he cut out the bottom of a container, leaving a higher lip all around the tray. He found one with just the right dimensions for his tube. With all the ones available in "big box" stores and elsewhere, you should be able to score what you need.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Here is a closeup pic I took in the past, just because I anticipated that you would want to see it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Also attaching a labeled pic of the concept I use of running 3/8" plastic tubing across the top of the apron through which I run the stretch cord. It adds support and rigidity to the front. Not quite a stabilizer bar, but it helps with a sturdier apron.[/#0000ff]
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[ghost_trout]

Thanks for the pics.

I'll have to inflate the tube, once it arrives, and see how much space I have to work with. I'll need something, I just don't know what yet.

I'll end up using things off the old Talon anyway. I pulled on it to move it earlier today, and the side seam on the cover gave way. It has been loved to death. The backpack straps, the stabilizer bar, and who knows what else will get removed. I'm wondering of the 420 has d rings high enough, that if I hook the stabilizer bar to them I can hook a hummingbird fishing buddy, or another fish finder, to it. I've never used a fish finder and I'd like to try that.
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[idahoron]

Nice kittys Pat! You guys fish are a lot fatter than ours here in Idaho. Ron
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[TubeDude]

[quote idahoron]Nice kittys Pat! You guys fish are a lot fatter than ours here in Idaho. Ron[/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]Catfish are kinda like people. Their girth is the reflection of a combination of calorie intake vs energy expended. Fish that live in flowing waters are generally a bit more "streamlined". The fish you see in my pictures all come from lakes, where they have plenty of groceries and do not have to fight currents. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Most of the cats we catch have full bellies and abundant internal fat reserves. They eat crawdads, minnows and all kinds of aquatic invertebrates...like snails, leeches, worms, larvae, etc. The bigger cats usually have the remnants of larger whole fish of several species...perch, bluegills, shad, white bass, carp, suckers, etc. Contrary to popular belief, channel cats are active predators and do not only feed after dark...or only on garbage and muck.[/#0000ff]
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