Cool cats at Lincoln Beach 9-25-06

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Met up with BFTer road at Lincoln Beach about 7 AM yesterday. We wanted to try for some early wallies. Our original plan was to launch off the L and fish the rocky areas but when we saw how dirty and algae covered the water was we weren't too optimistic about the potential.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]There was about a 3" layer of dirty green sludge extending several feet off the bank on the south side of the south dike, so we opted to launch my tube and his toon inside the channel, where it was cleaner. Water temp at launch was only 56 degrees. That is usually good for walleyes but considered too cold for kitties. But, what do the experts know?[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I kicked west to the first spring, hoping to find some fish around the rocks. Nada, zip, zilch, zero. Threw all kinds of plastics from 3' to 10' without so much as a bump. Tipped with a bit of crawler and had a tap or two, and landed one 4" white bass. Only saw fish on sonar in deeper water, and they were mostly suspended. Looked like the fish were still sulking after the storms and dropping temperatures and maybe in a negative mode.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About 9 AM, after two hours of abuse, I rigged my second rod with a minnow and started dragging it around as I kicked back toward the mouth of the harbor. Road had stayed in that area and was getting occasional bites on minnow and on jigs tipped with crawler, fishing in deeper water. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About 9:30, road announce on the walkie talkie that he had just scored about a 5 pound kitty on minnow. I started moving a bit faster to get over to his area and I got an "inquiry" on my minnow. Turned out to be a 2# chunky 16" channel. Smallest of the day as it turned out, but good eating size. I released it unharmed...into my basket.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About a half hour later, road and I both announced that we were each hooked up to "something substantial". Those fish turned out to be our largest fish of the day. Mine was a measured 28" and 9.5#. We didn't get to measure and weigh road's fish, since the fish cleaning station was closed when we went there at the end of the day, but it looked close to mine in size.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Fishing was sporadic, with just the occasional "runner". The fish were not aggressive and many of the takes were very light in the cold water. Still, as the water warmed up a couple of degrees, we got enough action to keep us happy. It was about 63 by the time we got off the water at 3 PM.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Almost all of our fish were taken in water over 8 feet deep. My last fish, a 26" daddy cat that weighed 6.5#, came from 7 feet of water. Road stayed in one area up to 10 feet deep and ultimately scored 7 cats...all over 3 pounds. I moved around a lot, and fished down into water as shallow as 4 feet, looking for fish that might have moved in to take advantage of the warming temps. I finished with 5 fish...2, 3, 4, 6.5 and 9.5 pounds. Not too bad for late September after a cold stormy week.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The weather was great. Only the lightest whisper of a breeze most of the day. The breeze was from the south early, laid down and then came in first from the west and later from the northwest. About noon or so, it laid down completely and it was like glass until we left.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Unfortunately, as the water warmed past 60 the algae bloom increased too. Early in the morning there were strings of the stuff left over from the day before, but when the water warmed there was a huge new covering of bright green stuff. It coated our craft and our lines. It also seemed to shut down the fishing by screening out the sun's rays. Our best fishing was during the brighter times in the morning.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When we hit the shoreline we were greeted by a bright blue-green ring all along the edges of the rocks. Some might think it pretty, but not me. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A great day on the water with a good friend, and cooperating fishies. What more could a guy want? Well, this forum ain't the proper place to go into all that.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got those big fillets in the brine and the smoker is ready for 'em. [/#0000ff]
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[Theekillerbee]

Nice work TD! I too am surprised that you guys made such a nice haul on the kitties. Are you sure that one cat isn't a blue cat[]?
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]Hey TubeDude,[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Great to read that you got into some cat action. I had almost forgotten the delight of cleaning my gear of the fall green goo of Utah lake. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]No walleyes for you guys either eh ? I was actually thinking that they would have become a little more active with the temperature changes recently - but, I got no action from them either(at least that I could tell), I also thought I was fishing kind of late in the day for walleyes to play - given the weather. But I really didn't care too much what kind of fish showed up on my line - I was just glad to get out. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]My fish on Sunday came out from about 5 foot of water - but that is about all that is available up where I was fishing.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]I think my jury is still out as to the effect the green goo slime has on fish. I was thinking that maybe it cuts down on the oxygen in the immediate area as well as curtailing the light penetration. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Have you noticed a water temperature difference between the slimed areas and the clear water ? It would only be slight, but it might be enough to affect the fish.[/size][/black]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Although walleyes have sensitive lateral lines and excellent night vision, I find that I do better on them when the water has some clarity...or at least some (non-algae) green to it. The water this week at Utah lake is nasty brown. As soon as it clears a little, lures will work better for the sight-feeding species.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]An algae bloom initially adds oxygen to the water during the daytime (photosynthesis). But, it takes oxygen out of the water at night and when it dies and decomposes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]An algae cover DOES help raise the surface temp of the water by absorbing more heat from the sun, but that warmth takes a while to get to lower layers of water, even in a "mixing" wind.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In the area you were fishing, five feet is relatively deep, but if you go out far enough you can find 7 feet, and I suspect there will be more fish there.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Lincoln Beach, and the area around Bird Island, seems to have some of the deeper spots in Utah Lake. When there are big storms or temperature drops (or both), these deeper depressions seem to attract fish. When they return to active mode, however, they spread out to forage.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Over the years I have fished Utah Lake I have learned to never say never. You can't make any rash and foolish claims about any species and catfish are especially contrary. They are likely to do almost anything and be almost anywhere on any given day. You just have to start with whatever your best guess is and then change up until you find willing fish. There are some things that you can usually rely on but about the time you start thinking you know it all, you will be humbled.[/#0000ff]
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[ironworker]

great report and pictures dude. looks like you two had a wonderful day. thanks for sharing. [cool]
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[AFDan52]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][red][size 4] I know it's only Algae, but man that stuff looks nasty. Looks like Road was a busy boy , quite the haul you got there. I would say that you guys all had a good day.[/size][/red][/font]
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[MisterCompletely]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Did you guys end up catching most of them on a jig tipped with nightcrawler then? And is the dock still in the water at the boat ramp? I'm thinking I might take my little boat down there and try for the kitties.[/size][/font]
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[Out4Trout]

[cool]Man, what a difference a couple of weeks makes. When Spyder and I fished that place on the 12th, there wasn't really any of that goo around at that time. We got tons of small pickups and tiny runs, but we suspected most of those to be whities at that time. Congrats on some nice kitties for you efforts. Hopefully next trip the 'eyes will start to cooperate for ya. I may be fishing it the morning of Oct 7th (Sat.)...
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Sorry, I didn't clarify the bait thing. Just about all of our cats were taken on chub minnows. I did not bring any carp meat, but road tried it for awhile and did not get any takers. We both dragged whole nightcrawlers too, hoping for maybe a walleye, but only road got anything on worms. He did catch one decent cat on them.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The worm tipped jigs got a few more taps, and a few more small whites, but nothing else.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The ramp is still in the water. Several boats launched and trailered while we were there with no problems. The water level is down but there is probably still at least 4 or 5 feet of water in the channel.[/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Yeah, Marty had a good time. We always have a good time. He's good company.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The reason he hasn't popped in with his "official" version here is because he is offline temporarily. He attempted some computer upgrades and...well, he is offline temporarily.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]PEBKAC problem...Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair.[/#0000ff]
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[road]

[#0000ff][size 1]PEBKAC: Problem fixed! Back online now ccomes the fun part reconfiguring the computer again! BFT sucks on a wide screen itty bitty tiny print even when its set as JUMBO fonts LOL. Will correct that later.[/size][/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][size 1]Thanks for the good time pat. I knew the fishing wouldn't be fast and furious but suspected it was going to be worth the outing. Best way to describe the day was slow and steady. Those were some of the healthiest fish I have taken from UL this year. Tasty too!! I'll let ya when I can get free for some big bow action, fishing GODS willing an all.[/size][/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][size 1]Back to servicing my reels and computer.[/size][/#0000ff]
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[cat_man]

Road, you can fix that tiny print problem too. While viewing the forum, simply press and hold CTRL, then press the + key.

You can do this several times if necessary until it is as big as you need it to be. If you accidentally go too big, just do CTRL and then the - key and it will go back smaller again.

No longer will you need your binoculars to read the posts!!!

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[road]

Thanks for the tip Cat_Man. I have already gone into windows and set the fonts to the largest size they have. Tried the ctrl/+ key thing and nada. Maybe I'm using the wrong + key I don"t know. But at least I have the puter back, it will take a few times on it to get everything restored to where I had it before. But hey other than fishing what have i got to do?
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[road]

Hey Cat_Man got the problem solved and have put away my magnifing glass. Can now see all the fine print in a readable text size for my old eyes. Thanks again for the tip.
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[leaky]

Jealous, jealous, jealous, jealous.[unimpressed][unimpressed] Oh well. -----------, life goes on.[] I've had some good fishing at the Pine, but I miss those kitties Gas prices are coming down, I need to do some more traveling!!!

Leaky.

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I sent you a PM. If you are open next Friday, and the weather is okay, let's go get some more.[/#0000ff]
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