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Arrived at Lincoln last night at about 9:30, just in time for the evening midge/skeeter swarms. Lots of boats leaving, both fishing and water skiing types. Loaded up with skeeter repellent and my head net and hit the water. Fished the Benjamin Slough flats dragging 4 inch white bass and had no trouble catching cats. Most of my wb baits were pretty well chewed up and well used but still caught cats with them. Fished until about 4:00 a.m and never caught a cat over 26 inches. Bummer. Beautiful night with full moon and calm water.
Saw some guys fishing off the channel ends and another fool in a boat arrived about 3:00 a.m.... late or early?? I'll give it another shot after the holiday crowd does their thing. The big cats have got to be out there somewhere... just got to find them.
Water level in the channel continues to drop. Looked like mostly 2 - 2.5 feet deep. Still lots of carp activity and they were a nuisance all night snagging my lines.
Still plenty of time to find that BIG one.[crazy]
BLK
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Sounds like a fun night even if the big fellers didn't show. Did the bite stay steady all night? I usually see good action until 1:00 ish then it slows down until 4:30 ish and then I do okay until the sun hits the water and it starts slowing again. Wondering if that is just spot related? The place I fish is a passage way and I think the fish move in to feed at night and head back to deep water in the day. At least that's my guess for the behavior I see. Well good luck Lynn I hope the big ones aren't done for the year although I didn't get much bigger fish last year until fall. Later J
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I am goin to try again Monday to go after the one that got away last time. I am going to hit the water earlier than normal and see what happens.
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[#0000FF]You should go back out again tonight. If nothing else you will get to watch some fireworks across the water. That can be purtiful.
Kind of a transition stage right now. The big male cats are either just leaving the nests or still guarding the eggs. They will not go into post spawn mode for a little while yet. But once they finish their domestic duties they will go on the chew...and will feed mostly after dark.
A better place to look for the big post spawn fish...both male and female...will be in waters close to where they just finished spawning. That could be Bird Island or off the rock shelves at Lincoln. And they often come into very shallow water after dark, so it is wise to use a bobber when fishing around rocks. Really cool to see one of those lighted models go cruising around and then dive underwater.
I still remember a trip from the long ago when several of us cataholics were set up for bank tangling off the rocks at Lincoln...after dark. It was also a moonlit night and you could see a long ways across the calm surface. Our bobbers were easily visible where they floated in only a couple of feet of water. Every once in a while a big denizen of the deep would come swimming along in even shallower water...pushing up a big bow wave. And if we slowly reeled in our offerings to intercept the fish we were usually rewarded with action...a hard take, a mighty splash and wallow and then a screeching reel as the big cats tried to make it back out to deeper water. I can almost hear the theme music from Jaws as I reckymember that night. I also recall that of the four of us we only managed to bring in a couple of the bigguns. We did get several under ten pounds but two were easily half again that big. And some that cut us off on the rocks must have been at least 50 pounds.
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Jeff-- fishin' was pretty steady all night for me. Never was fast and furious but consistent bites all night. Did notice more little fellers hanging on now -- caught several in the mighty 12 to 17 inch range. The only thing that slowed down was me... drowsy I-Pilot drivers are dangerous.
Good info Pat. I'll be back after 'em first of next week. Might have to try a night session from shore. I have a good supply of lighted bobbers in my arsenal. Have wondered if the light from a bobber...say 2 feet under a bobber, would spook a bigger cat? I know when I turn on a head lamp to net a fish from my boat it always provokes a sudden energy boost and the fish will try for another long run. Just wonderin'.
And... I was at the LB launch with one of my gsons and I had to point out that school of baby mudders that hangs out on the north side of the cement. I told him they hung out there cuz they had a daddy right close by to protect them. He gave me a "yeah, right" look as he walked over and dropped a small Panther Martin he had been using to catch baby wb into the school of baby mudders. The spinner never made it to the bottom before he had daddy mudder on his line. Enjoyed my "told you so" look before we released him back to his guard duties.
The rocky areas near the springs have been hit hard by many during the past month... both from shore and by boat. The fish have been hungry and aggressive and there have been times when we had four fish on at a time while fishing six poles. Most of the fish we caught around mid-June were beat up males. Last trip out we caught about 50-50 males and females. Early in June we, the boys, picked up a couple 28 inchers but nothing that big since then. We did lose two, one came unbuttoned, the other snapped frayed line, both were in the 30-50 pound range.
Gonna try a night session from shore over by Whore House Rock (where did that name come from?? -- maybe I don't really want to know?) and then a night session at the Island.
Still plenty of time to find that big 'un.
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[#0000FF]Don't know who originally gave that rock pile its r-rated name, but more than a few UL regulars are familiar with it. Must have somethin' to do with all the "frivolity" that goes on around there at spawning time.
For most cats the spawn is about over...but not all. A few of them delay spawning to avoid catastrophes, like having the lake level suddenly drop and leaving all the eggs high and dry. Just a natural instinct. Same as the way the females never drop all their eggs in the first nest...but visit several nests before they finish downloading. A good way to spread out the gene pool and hope at least one of the nests produces a good crop.
I like to use bobbers when it is important to keep the baited hook out of rocks or weeds...or just to suspend it a bit above the bottom. And I have used the lighted bobbers a couple of times. Caught some good fish while using them so they apparently don't spook fish. And I know other guys who use them all the time. But they never bring in any of those 30 - 50 pounders so maybe the lights do have a negative effect on the bigguns.
Funny story about your gson and the daddy mudder. Ya just cain't tell kids nuttin'.
My personal opinion is that anybody looking to score big in the cat contest during the heat of the summer is very optimistic...or they have been snorting the smelly jelly. While big cats do come in at night...and some big ones can be taken...it gets a lot better around Labor Day after the first cool nights start dropping the water temps again. That gets the fish stirring again and as water temps drop toward the 60 degree mark you can catch big fish all day long. Mama Nature tells them that it's gonna get colder and the grocery shelves are not going to be as full during the winter. And they hang out in deeper water too so in a low water year they are more concentrated in only a few areas.
If you are not familiar with the late fall patterns at Lincoln Beach we need to spend some time together...starting about late September. A good time for both cats and walleyes. By that time you will probably need to be fishing from your inflated craft...and we shouldn't have a fight off the power squadron much.
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I am thinking of givin the night life a try here soon. Then I will head to the hills to cool off. I am looking forward to the fall time feeding frenzy.
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Good job putting the hurt on those whiskery buggers!
I too spent the night fishing on Friday at cutler. From 1 am to 8 am. We must have caught close to 30 channel cats, but nothing over 24". It was in my best spots too, but no love from the big cats
It was my first serious night out for the contest and it was really fun. I'll keep plugging away at them until I catch a few big enough to post for a score.
Mike
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TD-- I believe I can adjust my busy schedule to allow for a Sept. session. Will look forward to it. I'll work on my baby wb supply so I'll be well stocked for the Fall session.
I'm with Albino and others for now... just can't take the brutal heat. It's either early and out or fish at night until the temps cool down.
I'm takin' my crew up to Alaska for a few days later this month... always a good escape from the heat.
My Pollyanna attitude associated with my cataholicism will keep me chasing them all summer. It's a tough addiction and I really enjoy... er.... struggle with it.
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Well I need to increase my supply of white bass. I think I will need to Chase those baby WB Monday. Any tips since they are so small?
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A TD sparkle head with a bit of crawler on the end works great. Also any small silver blade spinner will ketch 'em. A small hook with a piece of crawler under a bobber will work too. Timing is important cuz the midge hatch comes on just after daylight and lasts about a half hour or so or until the boats start launching. Very good cat bait... just be sure they are dead before you fish with them.
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Thanks I will see how I do.
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Yup that night shift is hard to do. Especially since I don't get a chance to makeup the lost sleep. Well thanks for giving me some breathing room not catching more 30.+ inch fish. Later J
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] Sounds like everybody is having a hard time finding the big ones in this hot weather. Always fun to catch 'em even if they are not 30 inchers.