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2014 catfish contest. Gmwahl
#1
So here are my top three to start me off. 32", 26", and 25". All caught on cutler at night on sucker strips. I'm just getting warmed up. Watch out southern boys!

[#005000]
Some solid fish there Mister! Well played, hard to get good night shots I know. You hold the top toad with that 32.

32 pnts
26 pnts
25 pnts (bump)
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#2
Adding another fish to my score. Caught on cutler. It's 28". I looked at the pic and it shows a hair over 27 but the tape is about an inch shy of the nose. If someone needs it to be 27 then so be it, but it IS 28".

[#005000]Don't not believe ya, but gotta go with the evidence presented. Played my "measure" on your other post - so we'll see ya half way. You'll put another 30+ on top of this no doubt!

27.5 pnts

Followup:
I met ya half way, will reply with my "extrapolation edit". Please consider when I edit a post that post is then locked. If you want to followup - use a reply. Don't want someone complaining about pix being swapped, or changed out. Part of why I insist they reside HERE on the site (not some photobucket in the cloud)
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#3
Got this 29" skinny cat today on the bear above cutler. Weird how slender this bugger was. Anyway, chalk up a 29" for me!


[#005000]That works. Solid fish. Post now locked at 29.

29 pnts
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#4
27.5 entry with edits. Here's how I look at it...
not to be a hard-ass, just being judgmental is all.
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#5
Yote-- You are a hard-ass.... but you are a fair hard-ass and that's all that matters. You do a good job... for a northerner.

The south is starting to move. Get ready to do a lot of bumping.

BLK
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#6
It's not a problem. Only reason I edited it was to tell what body of waÿer it was caught on. I didn't know that I wasn't suppose to edit the post after you did your thing. The 27 1/2" thing is fine and totally fair as far as the pic shows. I'll just try to make sure I put all the info in the post so I don't have to update it.

Mike
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#7
Managed to get out on cutler early this morning before sunup. Fishing was pretty fast and I also managed to pull out this fat 30" mama.
Sucker meat got the biggun and shrimp got the numbers.

[#005000]
Solid fish, solid entry. Maybe next year (assuming I run it again) I'll change to the point system TDT uses. Then maybe BLK will realize the difference between 27 and 30 is fairly significant considering how close the final fin-ishes have been in past years.

30 pnts my man!
And by that I mean YOU da man!
You're filling in well for our absentee UTCatman (he was from the North as well, of course)
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#8
Hey, nice fish.... again. That's a top three fish average of over 30 inches. Very well done. You are on track to a solid second place finish in the contest.[Wink]

I'm stuck on 27 inchers.... have taken three at 27 over the past week or so and my crew has managed two at 27. I'm starting to worry about running out of water before we run out of time.[:/]

Still plenty of time but gotta admit you are setting a pretty high standard. I say before it is over we will see a 34 incher... from the south.

Keep 'em comin'

BLK
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#9
Haha! i LOVE the smack talk, its why i entered![laugh] If I come in second then I'll start making pilgrimages to utah lake!

I have lost one this year so far that was bigger than my 32" , but I couldn't begin to guess its length, I just know he was definitely bigger in all dimensions. I lost him at the net and had like 4 chances to net him before he broke off, I felt like an idiot, but hey, we don't always win right? I know he's still there and where I lost him so he keeps me coming back. It was a tough lesson in watching your knots and tying them properly. I have no one to blame but myself, but I usually keep that fish story to myself also because without the fish in hand, that's all it is, a fish story.

I usually get at least one 32-33" every year and a few at 30" or bigger so I still have hope to push the mark a smidge higher.
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#10
I just got looking on the board and correct me if I'm wrong, but did I score the biggest fish again for a second month? (May and July?). This contest is really fun, thanks for sponsoring it yote!
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#11
Me thinks that would be an "eye-firmative" there.

I really oughta be doing some interim prizes, and I've been slacking. PM me your snail mail, and I'll get something sent your way.
You do own the biggest fish of all - so far. At least until Boatload remembers how to bait a hook, or cross the eyes on a hookset. I really think he'd do better if he trolled with his thumb sometimes. [:p]
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#12
Hey, I'm doin' the best I can. I'm out after 'em almost every day... commencing around 3 or 4 a.m. and going 'til sun up. Purty on UL in the early a.m. after the storms roll through. I ketch a lot of cats-- 10 to 20 every day, but cannot break out of the 22 - 26 inch range. I expect the big ones to put in an appearance come about Sept. when the water temps start to drop. I'll be there.

The cats are sure lookin' healthy now. During the rut they were all beat up and in pretty rough shape... now they are fat and sleek with purty green backs and white bellies.

My crew should be available next week after a short absence for early morning "football conditioning" -- we plan on putting some serious pressure on Gmwahl's top cat.

Fun... and the best is yet to come.
BLK
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#13
Wish I could find a couple of your 26"ers... I'm stuck in the 20 - 23" best of trip range most of the time and I'm starting to catch a lot more smaller fish than I had most of the summer... Getting 11- 17" fish that I didn't see until the last little while... I'm impressed you're out after them that much, but I know that's what you have to do to be competitive like you guys are... Cutler will probably drop off as a cat power spot soon, they are keeping so many big fish this year that there won't be near as many big ones in the future... so if the north prevails it probably won't be for too much longer... Fun to catch the big ones though, hope I'm ready if a real fish grabs mine... Noticed last night that my leaders are starting to get pretty worn and tattered, guess I better rerig soon... Good luck... J
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#14
YOU SIR - are hardcore! I wish I had your time, energy, and retirement status. Closest I get is being tired, and then tired again! One day, hope I have some health left (and a boat that floats!)

Can't honestly admit I've really been kitty chasing for - oh a while - my best is usually spring, and well, that's long gone. But all this talk about the fall feedbags, might need to grab the glow sticks and lighted bobbers and just do a night outing. Probably get run over by Gmwahl when I fall asleep in my boat!

We've had a lot of 'quiet entrants'. Guess time will tell what they've got up their sleeves.
Stay safe out there bud - some of those summer storms are bringing some pretty enlightening excitement with them! I'd like to be sure you're still with us when the North steps up to the podium for the national anthem! [cool]
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#15
Hey Jeff, I'm not so sure that very many big cats are being taken in cutler by fisherman. I know I've kept about a dozen over the 22" mark this season, but I've also let go at least a couple dozen over the 24" mark. I usually catch about a half dozen between the 22-27" range on most of my night outings. I'm seeing no lack of the bigger ones in my spots, but some spots are always good for numbers of smaller cats and some seem to be the spots for the big boys. I really don't think they are "big" until they hit the 27-28" mark, then they start really bulking up.

Another thing I have seen a complete lack of is boat fisherman. There are a few to be sure, but I haven't seen but one or two at the launch areas at a time and some of those may just be recreational boaters. I have noticed, however that where ever the bank access is easy that there is a major lack of decent kitties with the exception of early spring (at least for me anyways). I'm sure that that bigger channel cats get pretty hammered by the bank crowds, but there aren't too many good public access shore fishing spots so it probably isn't much of an issue.

Cutler is actually a huge area to fish and access isn't very easy unless you have a boat so I think we will see big cats fairly common for years to come. Utah lake gets absolutely hammered by catfisherman, but even they don't make a dent in the numbers there. Utah lake is obviously much larger, but I bet the ratio of fisherman to surface acres is much lower on cutler, and cutler has better habitat in my opinion.

Rest easy my friend about our big fishies in there, they are underfished and will be there for years to come (unless they drain it) and the bear river is just chock full of large cats, I've just been too lazy to hit the river very much this year to prove it to everyone[Wink]
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#16
Yote/Skunk--
Okay, okay, I admit it: I AM cataholic... but I resist all efforts to cure, treat, or rehab my addiction. Retirement has been a major contributor to my condition as it offers freedom from wo..., a jo... emplo... sorry, I just can't say those terrible words. Retirement is great and I highly recommend it. My only regret about retiring is that I didn't do it 20 or maybe 30 years earlier.

Took a day off today to get re-acquainted with my wife. Checked the tv news and see some jet skiers missing over night on UL. Took a little drive out that way (15 min.) and sure nuf, about a half mile or so north of Bird Island there were 8 or 10 boats concentrated in a small area and they weren't fishin'. Found out later that the guys were rescued... no life jackets... lucky but dumb.

I agree we have not heard from many of the contest entrants...?? Maybe they are holding off to post their big ones going down the stretch. I suspect Sethook is lurking in the reeds somewhere up there just waiting to post up a big one. He was tough last year.

Sept. and Oct. are still my most productive times. The cats seem to go on a feeding frenzy when the water temps start to drop. Full moon coming up 8-10 and 9-9... great time for a night shift. Can't wait.

BLK
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#17
Hey Mike I hope you're right but I do know of a lot of big fish being kept lately and I don't know how big they need to be to be good spawners so I hope they continue to do well. It is so fun to get some ones. Guess I'll have to move to a new spot and see if the fish are bigger. Later J
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#18
BLK I can see you won't give up, that's what makes this fun. I think you may be right about some guys holding off to enter their big boys in hopes that others will rest on their high marks. Don't think either you or Mike are resting very much. Yote is Koke crazy but I'm sure he'll be back next week. Unfortunately I haven't caught up much, need to find where the big boys play. Later J
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#19
Hey Jeff, I don't know how much pressure your spot gets, I'm pretty sure that I know where it is, but I know I've only fished it twice and kept half a dozen or so and only one was a big one. It very we'll could be the spot is not kicking out bigger ones right now. I have about 8-10 go to spots on cutler and they seem to all produce different size fish at different times for some reason. It seems almost predictably cyclic and the waves of big ones come and go at different times of the season. One spot goes cold for decent fish and another gets good suddenly. Try a few spots a bit further down lake in the deeper, slower sections and you may be pleasantly surprised (Wink, Wink). Once the weather starts to cool in September the spring spots seem to wake up again for me.
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#20
Thanks Mike for the tips, I need to plan further ahead so I fish longer than an hour or two so I can go deeper into the marsh, but I usually only get a couple hours at a time so I take what I can get. Thanks. Jeff
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