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Cat-tubing Utah Lake
#1
[cool][#0000ff]Didn't get on the water at all last week. Overdue. Hoped to find some wallies at Lincoln Beach on a spur of the moment trip this morning. No wallies but the kitties came out to play...for serious.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched inside the channel at the end of the south dike. Good gravel. Good launch. Air temp a cool 42 and water temp down to 57. Fall is fallin'. Water a nice green color. Lookin' good for some lure munching toothy critters. NOT. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I did have a "suspicious" rod bender on a plastic pitched to the end of the south dike right at daybreak. Good thump, heavy head shakes and then nuttin'. It can be a walleye if I want it to be.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]No more hits around the points so I started dragging bait on my way to the rocks off the springs. Once I reached about 7.5 feet of water my bait rod bounced, line zinged out and I set the hook...into a white bass. Sheesh. Bait stealers.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Rebaited, recast and in only seconds the line popped loose and started out again. %^&$ white bass. Tried to jerk his head off with the hookset. Whoa. Some weight there. First kitty of the day. But not the last.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I started fishing about 7:30. By 8 I already had 4 cookie cutters in the basket for the smoker. I only wanted 6 so I got into C & R mode. Caught and released a grundle of cats...maybe a grundle and a half...over the next few hours. All the way from the smallest 17 incher to a couple of daddy cats in the 25 to 27 inch category. Several 2 footers and multiple 20 inchers. All hit hard and fought well.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]The cats are definitely moving into deeper water. I did catch a couple in just under 7 feet today...and two or three out in 9 feet. But most came at the 7.5 to 8 foot depth...the same as my best catches at the Knolls two weeks ago.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I was fishing both chub minnows and some perch meat from Starvation dinksters I had kept for "walleye chow". Kitties loved them both today and I almost ran out of bait.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]At one point I put up the bait rod and moved in and out over the rocky structure out off the springs. Low water made it tough to fish the spots I wanted to target. Tried to find other good habitat but did not get any hits on plastics or hardware. I had heard that there were some walleyes showing up but most were off the shelves down by the orchard. Too far for a tube...even with an electric motor.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I was hoping that the front moving in would get the walleyes active. Maybe it did but I just didn't find any. It definitely got the kitties all hot and bothered. Also got the white bass and bullheads moving. They cost me a lot of bait today but I spanked a few of them and sent them back to tell their buddies to leave me alone. Didn't seem to work much.[/#0000ff]
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#2
Now that looks like fun ... You smoke them ? Any secrets to smokin' them?
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#3
Those are some nice catfish. Seems like they are averaging a bit bigger for you this fall.

Looked like you had fun and sounds like a might tasty ending!
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#4
Nice!
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#5
[cool][#0000ff]They are fun. A lot of my trips begin with other species in mind...walleyes, wipers, crappies or whatever. But the kitties are always there as a backup and they are plenty of fun. Good eating too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am attaching a PDF file I put together that shows the system I have developed for smoking catfish. I do not use a "traditional" brine, but just sprinkle the fillets with sea salt, white sugar and brown suger...and then let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. I then rinse them, spice them, let them sit in the air for a while and smoke them. They come out much smaller and close to jerky in consistency. Great stuff with some cheese, crackers and an appropriate liquid to wash it all down.[/#0000ff]
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#6
[quote cpierce]Those are some nice catfish. Seems like they are averaging a bit bigger for you this fall.

Looked like you had fun and sounds like a might tasty ending![/quote]

[cool][#0000ff]I always catch my largest cats of the year after about September 15th...once the water starts cooling down. That gets them feeding more. During the summer the bigger fish feed more at night but during the fall they forage all day. Almost all of the cats over 30" that I have caught the last few years have been in late October or in November.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Still plenty of the "cookie cutter" teen-inchers but more of the over-twenties now. I can deal with that.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Had the fillets soaking overnight in the salt-sugar mixture. Got em rinsed and spiced. They will hit the smoker soon. Want me to PM a piece to ya?[/#0000ff]
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#7
Ah yes nothing like a spur of the moment fishin trip. Got a new toy today that I got to get rigged up. My winter project. Maybe first voyage will be UL in the spring eh?
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#8
[cool][#0000ff]Utah Lake is usually my first tubing venture. If the lake ices over it is usually about the first week of March when the ice leaves Lincoln Beach.[/#0000ff]
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#9
[quote TubeDude][cool][#0000ff]They are fun. A lot of my trips begin with other species in mind...walleyes, wipers, crappies or whatever. But the kitties are always there as a backup and they are plenty of fun. Good eating too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I am attaching a PDF file I put together that shows the system I have developed for smoking catfish. I do not use a "traditional" brine, but just sprinkle the fillets with sea salt, white sugar and brown suger...and then let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. I then rinse them, spice them, let them sit in the air for a while and smoke them. They come out much smaller and close to jerky in consistency. Great stuff with some cheese, crackers and an appropriate liquid to wash it all down.[/#0000ff] [/quote]

Thanks TD .... I'll surely give it a try. Oh ... the sugar, regulr or turbinato ?
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#10
[quote TubeDude][
[#0000ff]Had the fillets soaking overnight in the salt-sugar mixture. Got em rinsed and spiced. They will hit the smoker soon. Want me to PM a piece to ya?[/#0000ff][/quote]

Cool!! I wish you could! I miss making smoked fish, jerky, sausages and other meats. I used to use a dry rub too. I have never done catfish though..... Mostly salmon and trout.

Your recipe looks good.
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#11
"Oh ... the sugar, regulr or turbinato ?"

[cool][#0000ff]Plain white sugar and plain brown sugar.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]Nothin' turbo at my age.[/#0000ff]
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#12
Thanks ...
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