Cutler Cats 4-15

[SkunkedAgain]

Went out again tonight to try and see if the cats were biting after the cold storm... They were, I found a spot where the water was 51, that's down 5 degrees from last trip.. Side scan showed fish in the area when I got there... Chucked out one line with two hooks on it and then worked on rigging up a second rod... While I was trying to tie on a hook, my other pole about got pulled out of the boat, so I gave it some attention and ended up landing a first for me, I got a double on the same line... Two channels one 18, the other 21", talk about a crazy fight, I couldn't figure out why it was such a crazy fight almost going in two directions at once... Once I seen the two fish, things started to make more sense.. I did a fantastic job of netting the pair, and did a double release and I was back to fishing... Don't really remember the order, but I ended up with 8 or 9 cats including a nice 27", which once again I thought was bigger than it ended up measuring... Maybe it's because I didn't catch any big cats last year, but I'm sure mixed up on what's a big fish this year...  Fun trip, the cats liked the carp minnows from last fall... I had a night crawler on the other rod and finally my last fish of the day came in on the crawler, everything else was on the carp chunks...  Once again the cats are roaming in packs and it's pretty slow between packs, but when they show, they seem to be willing to take my offering... Funny how the cats seem to surface and show themselves as the packs roll in... If I could only see better I'd spot out where the fish are surfacing and head there and fish, instead I wait for them to come to me... guess I need to get my trolling thing going again so I can get to them quicker... Later Jeff

[wiperhunter2]

Sounds like a great trip Jeff and a double to boot, can't say I've ever heard of anyone doing that with cats, congrats on the big one too. That side scan is really paying off.

[Snakes7]

Very nice 
I enjoy hittin Cutler few times a year 
Here's a triple my dad, son and myself got last year

[Tin-Can]

Jeff,  is the water deep enough off the Benson Marina launch ?  At least 3 ft ?

[SkunkedAgain]

Sounds like a great trip Jeff and a double to boot, can't say I've ever heard of anyone doing that with cats, congrats on the big one too. That side scan is really paying off.

Hey Curt,
Yes I've got to say it's nice to have side scan in shallow water, regular fish finders won't do anything in 2-3' of water unless your right on top of the fish and most I'm sure move to the sides of the boat as it goes by, so it's the only way to know if anything is around on Cutler... So yup I'm totally sold on side scan for me...  However, I find I have to know where to start for locations to fish and then the side scan just lets you know if there are any fish around when you get there... Sometimes yes, other times no then I move on to another spot without having to waste a half hour waiting to see anything will bite... It's really helped my fishing because I'm good at picking spots without any fish and then staying too long before I move on... This is one technology I'd have a hard time giving up now I've had it... Later Jeff

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Very nice 
I enjoy hittin Cutler few times a year 
Here's a triple my dad, son and myself got last year

I know I'm the home town boy so I have a big bias, but I really like Cutler too, it's not easy to figure out at first, but with a few trips you learn the good areas, and just when you think you know what is going on, I learn something new that I wish I would have known before... But that's probably true for anywhere you spend a lot of time on... Funny how I learn a lot of the good tips from new to the area fishermen...  Anyway congrats on a big net full, bet that was a circus trying to get all 3 in the net at the same time... I was lucky on mine and had my big net in the boat, so it made that job a lot easier than it would have been with my usual small net... Later J

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Jeff,  is the water deep enough off the Benson Marina launch ?  At least 3 ft ?

Hi Forest,
Water level is fluctuating right now, we get warm and the runoff peaks and the levels get really high, then it cools down and they are trying like crazy to avoid flooding so they are pulling the water through as fast as possible, so it drops as the runoff decreases, but in general it's only 3' during the high water, but with my 18 footer I can run in 1.7' of water and it's a deep V so I'm pretty sure your tin-can will operate just fine in the usual 2.3' depth... Just be careful and most of the bottom is gooey soft mud that isn't too rough on your motors, however I did catch a nasty ding in my prop right off the ramp last fall when it was a foot or 18" lower than it is now... So there are hazards, but most of the time at the current level, they are lower than where you'll hit, unless for some reason it's your unlucky day... 

Hey Forest I know you like the Ballard Bridge launch on the river, that area is booming with a ton of flood waters backed up in that section of the river system... I'd be very careful up there, the high flows and debris that come down stream with it, make that area a little treacherous right now.. I'm fishing out of the Benson marina on the reservoir back waters and it's pretty safe down there at least compared to upstream... I haven't been down to Cache Junction launch this year yet, but it's probably similar to Benson except it will have all the flow from the Bear, Logan, Little Bear and Blacksmith all combined down there... So probably a little more current than usual down on that part of the reservoir... Later Jeff

[2knots]

Sounds like a great trip Jeff and a double to boot, can't say I've ever heard of anyone doing that with cats, congrats on the big one too. That side scan is really paying off.

Hey Curt,
Yes I've got to say it's nice to have side scan in shallow water, regular fish finders won't do anything in 2-3' of water unless your right on top of the fish and most I'm sure move to the sides of the boat as it goes by, so it's the only way to know if anything is around on Cutler... So yup I'm totally sold on side scan for me...  However, I find I have to know where to start for locations to fish and then the side scan just lets you know if there are any fish around when you get there... Sometimes yes, other times no then I move on to another spot without having to waste a half hour waiting to see anything will bite... It's really helped my fishing because I'm good at picking spots without any fish and then staying too long before I move on... This is one technology I'd have a hard time giving up now I've had it... Later Jeff

---

Very nice 
I enjoy hittin Cutler few times a year 
Here's a triple my dad, son and myself got last year

I know I'm the home town boy so I have a big bias, but I really like Cutler too, it's not easy to figure out at first, but with a few trips you learn the good areas, and just when you think you know what is going on, I learn something new that I wish I would have known before... But that's probably true for anywhere you spend a lot of time on... Funny how I learn a lot of the good tips from new to the area fishermen...  Anyway congrats on a big net full, bet that was a circus trying to get all 3 in the net at the same time... I was lucky on mine and had my big net in the boat, so it made that job a lot easier than it would have been with my usual small net... Later J

---

Jeff,  is the water deep enough off the Benson Marina launch ?  At least 3 ft ?

Hi Forest,
Water level is fluctuating right now, we get warm and the runoff peaks and the levels get really high, then it cools down and they are trying like crazy to avoid flooding so they are pulling the water through as fast as possible, so it drops as the runoff decreases, but in general it's only 3' during the high water, but with my 18 footer I can run in 1.7' of water and it's a deep V so I'm pretty sure your tin-can will operate just fine in the usual 2.3' depth... Just be careful and most of the bottom is gooey soft mud that isn't too rough on your motors, however I did catch a nasty ding in my prop right off the ramp last fall when it was a foot or 18" lower than it is now... So there are hazards, but most of the time at the current level, they are lower than where you'll hit, unless for some reason it's your unlucky day... 

Hey Forest I know you like the Ballard Bridge launch on the river, that area is booming with a ton of flood waters backed up in that section of the river system... I'd be very careful up there, the high flows and debris that come down stream with it, make that area a little treacherous right now.. I'm fishing out of the Benson marina on the reservoir back waters and it's pretty safe down there at least compared to upstream... I haven't been down to Cache Junction launch this year yet, but it's probably similar to Benson except it will have all the flow from the Bear, Logan, Little Bear and Blacksmith all combined down there... So probably a little more current than usual down on that part of the reservoir... Later Jeff

I’m really surprised that people waterski and wakeboard up there where you’ve taken me with how shallow it is

[SkunkedAgain]

Alan, it is some of the smoothest water around, so I guess they dare temp fate for the glass to ski without other boats ruining the day for them.. I used to love to ski it, but you have to know where you can go and where you can't... It's the drag boats that are getting to be a problem up here, they are so freaking loud you can't hear yourself think a mile from the reservoir... Hope they start regulating the noise out of those dang things... Guess they pushed them out of all the other respectable waters and they settled on Cutler... Don't mind the boats, but the noise needs to be limited, they are way too loud... and being jet boats they don't need much water to run, so they really like it out here... Understand some of them have over 850 hp.... talk about Pat's rooster tail, they sure shoot a big one... later Jeff

[Tin-Can]

Sounds like a great trip Jeff and a double to boot, can't say I've ever heard of anyone doing that with cats, congrats on the big one too. That side scan is really paying off.

Hey Curt,
Yes I've got to say it's nice to have side scan in shallow water, regular fish finders won't do anything in 2-3' of water unless your right on top of the fish and most I'm sure move to the sides of the boat as it goes by, so it's the only way to know if anything is around on Cutler... So yup I'm totally sold on side scan for me...  However, I find I have to know where to start for locations to fish and then the side scan just lets you know if there are any fish around when you get there... Sometimes yes, other times no then I move on to another spot without having to waste a half hour waiting to see anything will bite... It's really helped my fishing because I'm good at picking spots without any fish and then staying too long before I move on... This is one technology I'd have a hard time giving up now I've had it... Later Jeff

---

Very nice 
I enjoy hittin Cutler few times a year 
Here's a triple my dad, son and myself got last year

I know I'm the home town boy so I have a big bias, but I really like Cutler too, it's not easy to figure out at first, but with a few trips you learn the good areas, and just when you think you know what is going on, I learn something new that I wish I would have known before... But that's probably true for anywhere you spend a lot of time on... Funny how I learn a lot of the good tips from new to the area fishermen...  Anyway congrats on a big net full, bet that was a circus trying to get all 3 in the net at the same time... I was lucky on mine and had my big net in the boat, so it made that job a lot easier than it would have been with my usual small net... Later J

---

Jeff,  is the water deep enough off the Benson Marina launch ?  At least 3 ft ?

Hi Forest,
Water level is fluctuating right now, we get warm and the runoff peaks and the levels get really high, then it cools down and they are trying like crazy to avoid flooding so they are pulling the water through as fast as possible, so it drops as the runoff decreases, but in general it's only 3' during the high water, but with my 18 footer I can run in 1.7' of water and it's a deep V so I'm pretty sure your tin-can will operate just fine in the usual 2.3' depth... Just be careful and most of the bottom is gooey soft mud that isn't too rough on your motors, however I did catch a nasty ding in my prop right off the ramp last fall when it was a foot or 18" lower than it is now... So there are hazards, but most of the time at the current level, they are lower than where you'll hit, unless for some reason it's your unlucky day... 

Hey Forest I know you like the Ballard Bridge launch on the river, that area is booming with a ton of flood waters backed up in that section of the river system... I'd be very careful up there, the high flows and debris that come down stream with it, make that area a little treacherous right now.. I'm fishing out of the Benson marina on the reservoir back waters and it's pretty safe down there at least compared to upstream... I haven't been down to Cache Junction launch this year yet, but it's probably similar to Benson except it will have all the flow from the Bear, Logan, Little Bear and Blacksmith all combined down there... So probably a little more current than usual down on that part of the reservoir... Later Jeff

 Jeff, thanks for  the info.  I may try Benson Marina area when the air temp warms up a  bit more. 

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Forest the water level is bouncing up and down a lot lately, yesterday the high water up river had dropped a bunch to where it wasn't flooding the islands anymore... I imagine with the high temps coming it will probably go back up, but now things have settled down somewhat... Good luck Jeff