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Last year at about this time, I took my grandkids fishing for catfish out by Bird Island in Utah Lake. We had a great time, and they caught the biggest fish of their lives. This year (just two days ago, on Thursday), I took them again, and they were excited to repeat last year's experience. Sadly, this year's was very different. Except for a lonely white bass, we caught nothing! The finder showed lots of fish cruising around, and we tried various spots, different depths, different hook sizes, and a couple of different baits (night crawlers and minnows), but we just couldn't get any bites. After three hours (10 am to 1 pm), we finally gave up and headed in. The other surprise was that there were no other boats around Bird Island. Did the other fishermen know something that we didn't know (that the fish had lockjaw), or were we just cursed that day? I'm open to suggestions from anyone who has had success catching kitties around Bird Island (or elsewhere on Utah Lake) recently. With your assistance, maybe I can go back out and reclaim my fisherman's pride.
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I'm going out in my new tube tomorrow and I'll be sure and post how I do when I get back. The dude was nice enough to throw me some tips and let me have some carp meat and minnows to try so hopefully I'll be able to tempt some fish into biting.... Pat, I forgot to pay you for the jigs so I'll swing some dough by to cover your making costs... at least for mine anyway. I'll be on the east shoreline so fishing tomorrow so hopefully the fishies decide to cooperate. I actually water tested the new tube in the La Quinta hotel pool this afternoon while my daughter was going swimming so its not a "maiden voyage" tomorrow but it will be the first trip in the interest of fishing. [cool] I hope the W stays away long enough for me to wet a line anyway....
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[cool][#0000ff]This has been a different year for kitties. The water levels have really been high so that has made all the "normal" spots different fishing. There is more water, and more structure to attract the cats. Bird Island is no longer the only structure in town. That was always it's big attraction.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Many of the cats that were recently in the tight cover and reeds are through spawning and are coming out and foraging in more open water. But, they are also coming in very shallow at times to slurp up crawdads and the abundant minnows. Baby white bass and carp are in many areas now and are feeding the fish well. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]As the water warms, look for the biggest cats to start biting after dark. And, when they do they often come into very shallow water along many shorelines. Sometimes just lobbing a bait out a few feet from the bank after dark can score big fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The current monsoon thing is not helping either. It is calm in the morning and then blows up a storm at night. The waves and turbidity move the cats out of the shallows and stress them. It often takes a couple of days after a big blow to settle the fish down. If it blows every night...well....[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is supposed to settle down after Sunday. Hope to get in a trip or two this week myself, to "prefish" for our gorilla floatilla next Saturday. I'll try to get a better read on what the fish are doing.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Traditionally, July and August have been the hot months (literally) around Bird Island. Don't jump off your tackle box yet. You just need a couple of decent days before your next trip and then give them another chance.[/#0000ff]
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