Plan B American Fork 5-11-17

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]As BLK mentioned in his Lincoln Beach report, we was gonna get together today down south. I opted for a short day at American Fork instead, hoping to maybe pick up some white bass and possibly a silly walleye.

Shoulda gone south. Had a pesky south breeze that kept my red ride bouncin'. And the American Fork River was pouring cold mud...53 degrees with lots of sticks and junk in the water. Seemed to shut down the non-catfish species. And I didn't get any other cat action until I moved back out into warmer water.

The main lake was 63 at 6:30 launch. Just right for the kitties. Couldn't keep 'em off my bait line long enough to keep pitching plastic or cranks. Took one bag of small to medium sized chub minnows. I hoped to entice a walleye under a bobber. But nay. Had one walleye on a plastic and he declined my offer to come home with me to dinner. Had 15 or 16 minnows to start and only lost two to bait thieves. All the others brought in cats, from 22 to 25 inches. No bigguns and no smaller ones. Decided to keep a limit for my big smoker.

Shoulda knowed the whitie action had dropped off. Only about 3 or 4 wading warriors...where it is usually shoulder to shoulder when the fish are in. Saw a couple of small whities caught but just a lot of casting otherwise.

I did see a couple of guys fishing off the end of the entrance dike that appeared to be bringing in the occasional cat. And that is where I used up my last minnow on a hungry kitty myself.

Water is coming up. Shallowest spot in the harbor is still over 3'. It is 4-5 feet right outside the harbor.
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[fish_fear_me2]

Pat I ran out to Provo this morning and the whities were hot for a couple hours. I thought about AF but opted for Provo. Was home by 10:30.
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[Boatloadakids]

A good day of fishun... wind or no wind. There was a slight ripple of wind at Lincoln when I launched but as soon as the sun popped over the mountains it died right down to dead calm. Fickle wind, never predictable even if the weatherman says it is.

Water temps are firing up the cats. I expect good cattin' hence forth. Go easy on those chub minnows... I'm holding you to your offer of a few.

The carp are going crazy now. It is like being in a washing machine listening to all the thrashing along the shore. I might have to take the bow out and replenish my supply of bait.

Glad you got your usual fish even if you had a bumpy ride.

Soon.

BLK
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[gripy111]

I hit AF about 4 pm from shore.
Fished 1 rod for cats and 1 for white bass
The cats gave no love, not even a bite.
Whites on the hand where good to me, 25 or 30 in the cooler on ice for tomorrows workout.
Half will go in gallon bags filled with water for cat bait.
All where caught parallel to the shore 10 to 15 feet out.
Small curl tail jigs 1 1/2 inch seem to work best, tried 2 and 2 1/2 with no bites.
Something with pink worked best but any color was catching fish.
All where 10 to 12 inches.
Two guys fishing 20 yards away from me must have caught at least a 100, they had a fish on every time I looked over.
I fished the west side in the lake.
A dude without a tube, maybe you need to leave that tube in the car one day and grab a pair of boots.
I'll try to post a picture later.
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[TubeDude]

"Go easy on those chub minnows... I'm holding you to your offer of a few."

[#0000FF]As I mentioned in the report, I took only a few of the smaller ones. I still have about a dozen packages of the big ones...and plan to download a few to my favorite big fish guide.

I should be down the next time Ma Nature settles down for a day or two. Might be August.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Glad you had a good day. Just goes to show that fish are where you find 'em...and you can't catch 'em where they ain't.

I do like to catch white bass but I don't plan specific trips for them. My trip yesterday was aimed primarily and finding a walleye or two. My bad. Shoulda knowed that is the best way to insure that you won't catch any. Now if I had been targeting the white bass I might have caught a walleye.

Just for the record, I have logged a whole lotta hours fishing from shore. I just prefer the other options offered by fishing from my tube. I can still fish the same near shore areas but a whole lot more besides.
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[Piscophilic]

Thanks for another great report. Glad you got out and thinned the herd a little and got some for the smoker.

If the river there is dumping cold water and sticks, I can't imagine what the mouth of the Provo is like! A few days ago it was running 1100 cfs and I guess that was just a test run. I read on KSL today that they plan to take it up to 1800 cfs soon and keep it there "for the foreseeable future."

The lake is gona rise!

BTW, thanks for posting the note a while back about the Saratoga Springs Urban Fishing Program. I have had some fun working with those kids. My gran kids are all in Washington State and I guess this gives me a "fix" []
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Saw a similar report on Channel 2 news at noon today. They are warning of possible flooding along the lower Provo with increasing releases from Deer Creek. Shouldn't be long before Utah Lake is fulled up again.

I remember the spring of 1983...when City Creek was actually running down the streets of Salt Lake City. I had been fishing walleyes at the outlet of Utah Lake into the Jordan River. When all the heavy runoff hit it was impossible to wade and fish it...unless you wanted to take a fast downstream ride in the Jordan. That was before they put in the roll gates at the park.

Good on ya for helping with the youngsters. My wife and I participated in the DWR youth fishing program for a couple of years. It has always been a big thing for me to see the look on a kid's face when they catch their first fish. Even better when a former "problem child" does a 180 as a result of fishing and becomes an avid angler...as well as a good student, brother, son/daughter, etc.

Here's a pic of a couple of sisters in the program at Bountiful Pond one year...both with their first fish...one a bass and the other a catfish. Priceless.

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[Piscophilic]

That is a great picture! Thanks for sharing.
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