Cutler Advice

[lilfish]

Never fished it from a boat but since my recent purchase I have decided to go try it out.. Any advice or warnings you can give me I would appreciate. I was thinking of launching at the Newton area ramp then heading west is this the best idea for catching fish or would I do better working my way towards the Benson marina mostly looking to catch cat fish??

Thanks guys
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey first off how deep does your boat and drive draft? If you sit deeper than 2' in the water I'd head west from the CJ ramp. This will take you down Cutler Canyon which will be a little shallow in spots as you first start down, but it will get deeper as ya go. I haven't fished the canyon for awhile, but once the cats move back towards the deeps it can be a great spot. To me that area has some great potential. I just haven't figured out how to tap into it yet. If you sit shallow head east from CJ. The channel is very hard to find so you will hit mud. Take a push pole and wading gear. Shallow is not bad, I have caught 25 cats in 5 trips to the shallows lately ranging from 15" to 28" and most are around 20" and weigh around 4 lbs Fish a minnow in the shallows and have fun. Worms work too, but not as well for me. It's a total blast, but hard to fish the shallow water where the fish are right now. Good luck. J
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[chugg]

Use cation in the canyon area down towards the dam. There are what appear to be under water irrigation gates that during high water are submerged but during low or normal flows they just barely poke out. Also along the west wall there are rock formations that we've hit before in a friends boat. If you have a fishfinder you'll notice that the depth goes from something like 7" to 30" where those gate things are. Cats are everywhere in that are. Up and down from the cutler put in.
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[SkunkedAgain]

That hardware you see is the remains of the old Wheelon damn and there are some good underwater flats and such there that the cats seem to like and that was a good warning to be careful down there. There are areas that look like great cliff jumping areas and when you graph next to them they are only 4 or 5' deep. I'm lucky I didn't die when I was young, we used to just go and jump if the oar didn't touch bottom. Fun area down there, have fun. J
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[CoyoteSpinner]

Wow - you are lucky to be alive! Some of those old postpiles are some sharp rusty metal, and second the submerged rock-croppings.

Basically - if you stay mostly to the middle of the canyon, you shouldn't have any problem. But as said the edges, or around the island rock-croppies, use caution.

So - tell us about the boat, post up a pic we can drool over! [cool]

Even with a small boat, and a short shaft - I mud out. I don't really know where the channels are, but ski boats buzz up and down from both launches. Generally - if you go straight west from the Cache Junction (Newton end) launch, then hug the western cliffs, you'll do ok. The east side is VERY shallow. Gets deep around the train bridge - some of the deepest. Think from there still - along the west side.

Coming up from the Benson launch, I believe it's the other way around, and the channel is on the east, but don't go too far east, or it's shallows again. Where it narrows up, and the Bear River connects - there's some wood structure you'll want to watch out for. Plus a silty wall where the first river channel comes in.

You can launch at Benson marina, and go under the bridge, never had too much trouble in most of that area, long as you're not too close to shore, or the reed patches. BUT - speed and motor size are restricted anywhere south of the Wooden Trestle bridge. Pretty sure it's wakeless, and 35hp or under only.

Check out Googlemaps, or mapquest. Might help to have an aerial understanding.