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So... Weather report promised a cool but calm day today so I loaded up this a.m. prepared to find those nice cats Phisco found on Saturday. Beautiful day at home when I left, birds chirping and no hint of a wind. Arrived at Lincoln to find 2 foot waves rolling in from the north. I was loaded for bear and prepared to spend the day so I launched anyway thinking I could swing around behind the south dike and find relative calm. Not so. As soon as I anchored up the wind shifted to come from the east. Water was 53 degrees and chocolate colored. With crushed feelings I loaded up and went home to sulk.
Two guys from SLC were at the launch waiting and hoping the wind would go away. They left without launching.
Decided I would catch bait if I couldn't fish for cats. Loaded up my cast net and headed for my favorite spot. Knocked 'em dead. All carplettes between 2 and 5 inches. Ended up with 13 bags of 12 all bagged up in water and air tight bags and in the freezer... should last a few days... if the weather ever lets me on the water.
Eventually, I'll be able to get serious about my pursuit of that 36 inch cat.
BLK
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Way to go BKL! That's what I call punching with the rolls, making lemons out of lemonade, or making the bad out of a best situation. Something like that.
Wow though, there are enough carplets there to last me several years.
Glad you found em!
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[#0000FF]I got smacked by the same wrong weather forecast, only in a different place. And I started out minnowing but the north wind made it impossible to throw a cast net so I didn't get much.
Looks like you got a nice bunch of carp sushi. I'm guessing they are last year's hatch...from that outlet stream we talked about. Carp kids make good bait. Here's hoping one of them appeals to your yardlong.
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Way to go on helping with the carp problem!!!!! Where do you find loads of carplets in the lake I need more bait?
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Glad to see you headed down there with your boat this time, even if that north wind wouldnt let you go out very far, when it comes to the north wind, those weather guys never know when its gone blow, thats the only direction that the lake makes its own wind, maybe friday and saturday it will have calmed down enough so you can get out.
good job on the bait,
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Fished this a.m. from about 9-12:00. Still slow fishun' for me. Caught four cats, two on wb and two on a FT flig... all were cc size, water temp hit 57 about noon and the wind blew from every direction at 3-10 mph or so. Could hear a few carp getting frisky in the shallow water among the reeds but no torrid love yet.
Carplettes are catchable in or around the mouth of most waters that enter the lake. Caught mine around closer to Goshen Bay... better not say exactly where cuz my g-kids want to get a bunch too.
Tomorrow should be the day... Friday for sure.
BLK
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Wednesday evening we fished the same areas I fished Saturday and it was slower for me too. I guess today the P.M. was about like the A.M. was for you. We landed 5 in the first 3 (5-8 P.M.) hours (5-8 P.M.) all cookie cutters.
Then the tables were turned on us. Just at dusk the wind went from almost zero out of almost anywhere to 10 + out of the NW. We stayed at it for a bit then it jumped to 15 and started building some waves so we headed in.
By the time we got the boat on the trailer, it was back down to 5 mph. It must be spring!
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Fished today from 7:30 to 11:00... what a difference a day makes! or maybe what a difference a degree or two makes. Water temp at launch was 55 degrees. I headed for BI, the only boat on the lake, and the temp there was 55 but worked up to 58 by 9:00. It was 61 degrees in the launch channel when I left.
Fishing was non-stop, couldn't keep two poles in the water. The cats were fat and sassy and I caught them on every bait I had. Probably did the best on chunks of Scofield chubs but wb and carp meat worked too. Caught more cats than I care to mention and left when I ran out of bait. Fun, kinda like it should be and will continue to be. Nothing big, best was a few that were right in the 2 ft. range.
Just me and the birds at the island until a couple of walleye guys came out from the north. I had a nasty altercation with a seagull that did not have enough sense to avoid one of my casts. A terrible fight ensued and every bird on the island had to get in on the act. Thankfully the wayward bird came untangled before I got him to the boat.
Beautiful day and lots of fun. There is a big one out there somewhere and I'll keep looking until I find him. Also noticed the frags have a foothold on the island. Bad.
The carp are getting in the mood as well. Not super active yet but a few more warm days and they will be easy pickins for shooters.
It has begun.
BLK
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[#0000FF]Yay team! Glad you finally remembered how to do that catfish thing. Now we gotta retrain you to catch some big ones.
Like your fish ruler.
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How deep is the water for launching, was wondering if there will be any crappies this year in the harbor area.
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Nice job Lynn, been waiting for you to crank up the competition. Sounds like it's game on now. Glad you got a good day. Hope you post those and fill your ranks. Later J
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I to have lassooed a gull a couple times, when he sound the save me alarm it get a little scary with all the gulls attacking you while your trying to get him undone, Im just glad they dont have big teeth.
good you finally found some, did you sneak up into that hole.
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It was a good day. I was fishing in about 3 fow on the south side of the island and throwing toward the shore. Seems like most of the fish were 10-15 feet from the shore. I caught them in all directions... usually I would cast both poles toward the shore and hope to avoid a major tangle up when I had a fish on each pole... not always. I had some major cut-your-line time tangle ups but usually managed to keep two lines out.
Did not make it to "the hole". The birds didn't like me close to their nests so I tried to stay far enough away to let them make babies in peace. The gulls are bad for bombing runs but the terns are the ones that will draw blood... always from behind. I've had a bloody head a few times from their attacks.
Water remains about 4 ft. deep in the channel. I had a bobber going out the channel in front of me as i went out. Tried to grab it to see what was on the other end but no luck. I see guys fishing in the channel from the south dike and I have seen them catch wb and mudders but no crappie.
Tomorrow the big one.
BLK
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[#0000FF]In my younger years I spent a lot of time on fishing boats in California. Probably caught about every species of sea bird you could name. But the worst birds I ever had to deal with are the western grebes. Fishing off the old mouth of the Jordan River, casting jigs for walleyes, it was not uncommon to catch those nasty %$#@&...either by them hitting the jigs or by snagging them. Once you brought them to the top of the water...and they figured out you were the cause of their grief...they would come for you with their little red eyes flashing. Eyes? Those sunny beaches would actually try to peck out your eyes if they could get close enough.
The seagulls were the worst when trying to flyline a fresh anchovy for yellowtail or other surface feeding fish. As soon as your weightless 'chovy hit the surface a gull would swoop down and chomp it. Often the gull would get away with your bait. No harm and no foul. But you would be out of action until you could rebait and recast...sometimes in a hot but brief bite. Since it was against the law to harm those lovely feathery bait eaters we had to improvise. One way was to bring in one that was wrapped or hooked...dodging the beak. Then we would tie a partially inflated pink balloon around one leg and let it go. As it flew off trailing something that looked good to eat all the other gulls would follow...for a while. Long enough to get in some casts anyway.
And people wonder why they call that "Bird Island."
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That sounds like a great trip! I'm glad you found them in good numbers this time. It sounds like the big ones were all in a meeting somewhere, but you might have had worse tangles with a big one. Keep up the great work and thanks for the report!
Now that your arms are back in shape, your ready for the big one. I'll watch for another great report today[ ]
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Thanks for posting the photos. Didn't you catch a bunch of chubs at Scofield last fall too? Do you know if anyone has gone up there recently to catch some chubs?
I recently started learning to throw a cast net. Wanted to make my own, so I got some bonded #4 twine, made a couple of netting needles and started in on one with 3/4 inch mesh. Found lots of helpful videos on youtube. So far I have woven 4 feet (radius) of stretched net. I figure I need to get 2 more feet to finish so I have a 5 foot radius net (flat). Altogether I will have tied more than 21,000 net knots.
When I am done it will be a very nice cast net that will last for years. I am working on another one that has 1 inch mesh. Anyhow a fun project!
Matthew
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Wow, like that is a ton of work... You're a lot better at finishing projects than I would ever be... I would have given up on that long ago.... but then I've been known to have a fishing addiction that puts me on the pond whenever I have any spare time, so pretty sure I'd never get a net finished... Hope that works well for you, and be careful you don't get it snagged when you toss it in... That will hurt too much to damage something you put so much work into... I bought a $50 net off the internet and it still hurts when I get it snagged, but not as much as I'm sure yours will... Anyway when you get done, post up a picture of your net, I'd like to see a work of art like that... Thanks for the post... J
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[#0000FF]Let me know if you need some net weights. I have some from "expired" nets. They are not pure lead so I can't use them for melting down and pouring jigs.
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I have not heard of anyone netting chubs at Scofield this year but I am sure you would have no trouble netting more than you could use in the creek below the dam. Catfish really go for them.
If you want to net a grundel of carplettes a little closer to home shoot me a pm.
BLK
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