08-25-2006, 09:31 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Took some "visiting dignitaries" to Lincoln Beach today. AdictedBassTard and "wifey" Nicole, BFT members from New York, wanted to get in some kitty chasin while here on vacation. Originally from South Africa, ABT hangs out on the float tubing board a lot and specifically wanted to get his wife into a cat larger than the 8 incher that has been her best to date. Piece of cake (bait).[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We caravaned down from Salt Lake and hit Lincoln Beach about 7. I was first in the water because they had to put everything together after packing for the airplane. Very few bugs. A few midges, but not as bad as it has been. Water temp 73 to 75. Still prime cattin' water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I launched right at 7:30 and started throwing plastics for white bass and/or walleyes. The water was kinda murky from the wind the night before, so I quickly went to dragging bait when I could not get bit on plastic. Instant pickup and run. Set the hook into a scrappy kitty. Turned out to be my biggest fish of the day...a nice healthy 24" mama cat that weighed 5.5 pounds. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I had my second fish in the basket before Trevor and Nicole had launched. Looked like it was gonna be a bananner day. Not quite. I did not net another fish for almost two hours. I caught a bunch of whities (mostly small), but waited until after Trevor had scored his first cat and Nicole had "selectively released" two before injuring them too badly with the hook.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]ABT was pleasantly surprised to find out how hard those kitties pull. At least I think that grin was the result of the first long drawn out tussle. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It took awhile for Nicole to put her first (and only) kitty in the net. It was a nice 4 pounder though. Trevor followed with his second (and biggest)...a 5 pound 24 incher. He said that one fought harder than the first.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I brought five channels to the tube...from 21" to 2 at 24". All good healthy fish. All hit hard and fought hard. The fish are in and active. But...we could not get bit in less than 5 feet of water. Every fish we caught was between 5 and 7 feet deep. Not sure if they are holding in the same areas around the lake, but where we fished you needed to keep it in the deeper spots.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]On the way back in, after the traditional noon wind came up and there were ominous clouds around the lake, I was power kicking to get back to the car. I had my tube moving and my fish basket was laying over a bit. One of my cats spied the opening where I had left the lid unfastened and did a Houdini...or Mrs Houdini. Anyway, she earned her freedom by being observant and taking advantage of an opening.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It was fun introducing our international members to some good old fashioned kitty smackin'. They are already accomplished tubers and good anglers. It didn't take too much coaching or micromanagement to get them into a few fish. I'm especially glad that Nicole set a new high for herself on catfish. Maybe she will come back for some bigger ones sometime.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We caravaned down from Salt Lake and hit Lincoln Beach about 7. I was first in the water because they had to put everything together after packing for the airplane. Very few bugs. A few midges, but not as bad as it has been. Water temp 73 to 75. Still prime cattin' water.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I launched right at 7:30 and started throwing plastics for white bass and/or walleyes. The water was kinda murky from the wind the night before, so I quickly went to dragging bait when I could not get bit on plastic. Instant pickup and run. Set the hook into a scrappy kitty. Turned out to be my biggest fish of the day...a nice healthy 24" mama cat that weighed 5.5 pounds. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I had my second fish in the basket before Trevor and Nicole had launched. Looked like it was gonna be a bananner day. Not quite. I did not net another fish for almost two hours. I caught a bunch of whities (mostly small), but waited until after Trevor had scored his first cat and Nicole had "selectively released" two before injuring them too badly with the hook.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]ABT was pleasantly surprised to find out how hard those kitties pull. At least I think that grin was the result of the first long drawn out tussle. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It took awhile for Nicole to put her first (and only) kitty in the net. It was a nice 4 pounder though. Trevor followed with his second (and biggest)...a 5 pound 24 incher. He said that one fought harder than the first.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I brought five channels to the tube...from 21" to 2 at 24". All good healthy fish. All hit hard and fought hard. The fish are in and active. But...we could not get bit in less than 5 feet of water. Every fish we caught was between 5 and 7 feet deep. Not sure if they are holding in the same areas around the lake, but where we fished you needed to keep it in the deeper spots.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]On the way back in, after the traditional noon wind came up and there were ominous clouds around the lake, I was power kicking to get back to the car. I had my tube moving and my fish basket was laying over a bit. One of my cats spied the opening where I had left the lid unfastened and did a Houdini...or Mrs Houdini. Anyway, she earned her freedom by being observant and taking advantage of an opening.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]It was fun introducing our international members to some good old fashioned kitty smackin'. They are already accomplished tubers and good anglers. It didn't take too much coaching or micromanagement to get them into a few fish. I'm especially glad that Nicole set a new high for herself on catfish. Maybe she will come back for some bigger ones sometime.[/#0000ff]
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