Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Chilly Waves on Utah Lake 4 19 2024
#1
Jon and I did another Friday "evening" trip to Utah Lake on the 19th. Water temp varied between 52 and 55 degrees and the air only a little warmer. Launched at Lincoln about 2 P.M. and got back to the ramp about 10:40 P.M. 

We dragged small offerings around the harbor because there were decent numbers of marks down 2-4 feet, but they were not having anything we offered them. Headed over to the mouth of the slough and got a white casting the same offerings. Spot locked for 30 minutes or so and still had only one white plus a bullhead that discovered that a chunk of white bass under a bobber had a hook in it. 


[Image: Bullhead-12.avif]


Headed out by the Island with fresh bait and optimism. The wind was steady at about 10 MPH out of the NW and there were decent sized waves, but no blowing spray. The water was REALLY churned up, like proverbial chocolate milk. Must have been some bigger winds a day or two before.

In honor of the dark water, we changed a couple of rods to bigger than springtime baits and attractors and went to work. An hour of dragging them in 11 FOW at around 0.5 mph had produced nothing and I was just starting to talk about looking elsewhere when one of the bigger bait rods went down. Hooray, a kittie! It fought like a 10 pounder and when I saw it I was surprised. It looked about 27 or 28 in the murky water. It was both, a little shy of 28 with a huge gut and the scale said 9.7 pounds. Most surprisingly in the cold water, it had completely inhaled the bait. 


[Image: 27-5.avif]


I went to work trying to get the hook out since Jon has a medical boot on one foot and wasn't able to get down on the floor. While I was still working on that, Jon's back rod went bendo with another good fish (and on the other big bait). I need to remember to put one of those on each side of the boat  Wink

This cat turned out to be 29" and a solid 10 pounds. We thought we had found them, but an hour later we had not had another twitch other than a couple of white bass like rattles on the small offerings I was still dragging. They all got off.


[Image: Jons-29.jpg]




Next we headed about halfway to the airport hoping that the fish were just relating to anywhere far from shore, an hour later we still had only the 2 nice cats.

Last, just before dark, we headed south to the same transition we got fish on back in March. It was a better choice, I got two smaller cats (26 and 28 ish) and lost 2 others before we got tired and called it a night.


[Image: IMG-2493.jpg]



[Image: Not-So-Peaceful-Surrender-2.jpg]





The wind had continued to build a little through the evening and the larger waves were making the Garmin screen look like a bright yellow sawtooth. I should have taken a picture of that.

No catfish were harmed on this outing. It was great to get a few cats in what I would call "marginal at best" conditions. They are feeding, but we can't seem to get a good weather day on the weekends. The most interesting thing was that 3 of the 4 cats had completely inhaled the baits. Apparently they were aggressively feeding but with all the waves and turbidity they were struggling to find food. It will get better and more stable as we move from April into May.
Reply
#2
Man I wish I could find some fish in that range... Not much size on Cutler this year, they seems to be mostly 18-22" for me... Did have one hit that was probably a good fish, but couldn't land it as usual... Thanks for the report.. J
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
Reply
#3
(04-24-2024, 04:02 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: Man I wish I could find some fish in that range... Not much size on Cutler this year, they seems to be mostly 18-22" for me... Did have one hit that was probably a good fish, but couldn't land it as usual... Thanks for the report.. J

Hi Jeff,

I read about that one you lost the other night. I must have gotten busy, because I usually would have replied. What size and style of hooks are you using? More often than not, it is just a lucky fish (I had 2 come unbuttoned on this trip and I usually have less than 1 in15 or 20 that come off after they are hooked). Sometimes though a tackle adjustment helps.
Reply
#4
Nice report Jim. I share your frustration with finding hungry cats, also with the chocolate water. I keep hoping the water will start to green-up a bit but not so yet. Lots of water backing up into the fields and the serious run off hasn't really started. Another couple of weeks and the carp will be going crazy in the grassy fields -- great bait source.

The white bass are getting the urge but not really orgy ready yet... soon. The cats are showing up on radar but I can't find many that are interested in what I have to offer. I have slowed my dragging speeds down hoping to spark interest in lethargic cats but still slow fishin". The 60+ degree water can't be too far off. 

Glad you and Jon have been finding a few. Will be looking for the BBL on the big pond.
Reply
#5
I posted on premium board but my wifes friend caught a 35" 19.3 lber.... The way they measured maybe 34.5 but still a big fish.

Nice report though Jim. Your getting out and getting after them, I hope to be in a few weeks.
Reply
#6
Always enjoy your adventurous reports.  I envy the triumphs...with the hefty kitties.  But you can have the cold and windy stuff.  I think I have gradiated from that stuff.  And, as far as fishing at night...I still say I would rather feed cats during the day rather than skeeters at night.  Still too early for a lot of the bug life, but not for long.

I think a 10 degree bump in water temps...along with some clearing...will probably get you a lot busier on your cat jaunts.  Hope it happens soon.  I will likely show up a couple of times in late May or June to try for some post spawn walleyes...even if I have to settle for some yard-long kitties.  Tough duty, but somebody gotta do it.
Reply
#7
(04-24-2024, 09:31 PM)Boatloadakids Wrote: Nice report Jim. I share your frustration with finding hungry cats, also with the chocolate water. I keep hoping the water will start to green-up a bit but not so yet. Lots of water backing up into the fields and the serious run off hasn't really started. Another couple of weeks and the carp will be going crazy in the grassy fields -- great bait source.

The white bass are getting the urge but not really orgy ready yet... soon. The cats are showing up on radar but I can't find many that are interested in what I have to offer. I have slowed my dragging speeds down hoping to spark interest in lethargic cats but still slow fishin". The 60+ degree water can't be too far off. 

Glad you and Jon have been finding a few. Will be looking for the BBL on the big pond.
Thanks Lynn! It seems like those grassy field love parties used to happen every year. I hope we are drifting out of the drought cycle for a while! At least we can enjoy decent water levels for another year or so.

(04-24-2024, 09:56 PM)Mooseman75 Wrote: I posted on premium board but my wifes friend caught a 35" 19.3 lber.... The way they measured maybe 34.5 but still a big fish.

Nice report though Jim. Your getting out and getting after them, I hope to be in a few weeks.

Thanks Justin, I hope you're out there soon as well. 35" is a beast. I can't read your post on the premium board, I got kicked off cause I can't remember to post during the off season. Thanks for sharing just the same. It gives me hope that I can find one of those this year Wink

(04-24-2024, 09:57 PM)TubeDude Wrote: Always enjoy your adventurous reports.  I envy the triumphs...with the hefty kitties.  But you can have the cold and windy stuff.  I think I have gradiated from that stuff.  And, as far as fishing at night...I still say I would rather feed cats during the day rather than skeeters at night.  Still too early for a lot of the bug life, but not for long.

I think a 10 degree bump in water temps...along with some clearing...will probably get you a lot busier on your cat jaunts.  Hope it happens soon.  I will likely show up a couple of times in late May or June to try for some post spawn walleyes...even if I have to settle for some yard-long kitties.  Tough duty, but somebody gotta do it.

Thanks Pat! There are long time catters that swear the best cat fishing is at night, especially for the big ones. As I told Jeff in an earlier post, I think the jury is still out. I got one big one at night this year in 3 or 4 trips that ended well after dark. That isn't better than I've done in the past during the daytime...when the water is warmer. 

The evidence is mounting for me, that night fishing may be more productive when the water is cold even though that sounds exactly backwards.

I hope you get down here, catch some post spawn eyes, settle for a few yardlong kitties and that we can get together a time or two when things get more consistent.
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 2 Guest(s)