02-19-2015, 09:45 PM
[#0000ff]I had planned to hit Lindon at Utah Lake but couldn't get anybody else to join me. So I opted for a solo trip to Willard. Might as well get my customary first trip skunk out of the way.
North Marina. 7:30 am to 11 am. Air temp 32 - 49. Calm and clear...only light breeze. Water clean and rising...up about 1 foot since the end of November.
Started with the usual. Pitching small tubes on one rod while dragging a chub minnow on the second rod. No love on the plastics but within a few minutes of putting out the first minnow I had an inquiry. Turned out to be the longest kitty of the day...about 22" but lean and mean. All the other cats I got were healthy...some with abundant visceral fat reserves. They been eatin' okay.
Got three cats before the sun peeked over the mountains. Then it got busy. Those silly kitties were either lonely after a long winter or they just couldn't resist my blue-eyed, left-handed chub minnows. I could not get in much plastic pitching 'cause everytime I got through unhooking one cat and casting out a new minnow it was pow zing all over again. You'd a thunk it was mid summer the way they hit, ran and fought in the cold water.
I took one bag of about 15 minnows. I caught a cat on every one except one. Swing and a miss. No problem. I kept a limit of 8 and kept releasing them until the minnows were gone...trying for something besides cats.
No walleyes or wipers were harmed in the research for this report. However, I did have one plate sized crappie on a small white gulp that arranged his early release for bad behavior. Had to move my bait rod over to another holder to bring the crappie in and gave it JUST THAT MUCH slack. Bye bye. I was happy to confirm that the marks I was seeing at middepth were of the slab persuasion. Next time I go up there I will be better prepared and more focused.
Saw two boats go out of the harbor after I launched. But watched them moving around all over the lake without seeming to spend any time in any given area. The lake was glass and I could see clear to the other side.
After running out of minnows I fished some Gulp and some crawlers. Had one good hit on crawlers. Probably another cat. The only hit on Gulp was the aforementioned crappie.
Bailed out early...11 o'clock. Met Wiperhunter2 just getting ready to launch, with his crew member Gene. Hope they did well.
Got home in time to zip the fillets off my kitties and get the remnants in the garbage barrel before it was picked up. A good ending to a good day.
[/#0000ff]
[signature]
North Marina. 7:30 am to 11 am. Air temp 32 - 49. Calm and clear...only light breeze. Water clean and rising...up about 1 foot since the end of November.
Started with the usual. Pitching small tubes on one rod while dragging a chub minnow on the second rod. No love on the plastics but within a few minutes of putting out the first minnow I had an inquiry. Turned out to be the longest kitty of the day...about 22" but lean and mean. All the other cats I got were healthy...some with abundant visceral fat reserves. They been eatin' okay.
Got three cats before the sun peeked over the mountains. Then it got busy. Those silly kitties were either lonely after a long winter or they just couldn't resist my blue-eyed, left-handed chub minnows. I could not get in much plastic pitching 'cause everytime I got through unhooking one cat and casting out a new minnow it was pow zing all over again. You'd a thunk it was mid summer the way they hit, ran and fought in the cold water.
I took one bag of about 15 minnows. I caught a cat on every one except one. Swing and a miss. No problem. I kept a limit of 8 and kept releasing them until the minnows were gone...trying for something besides cats.
No walleyes or wipers were harmed in the research for this report. However, I did have one plate sized crappie on a small white gulp that arranged his early release for bad behavior. Had to move my bait rod over to another holder to bring the crappie in and gave it JUST THAT MUCH slack. Bye bye. I was happy to confirm that the marks I was seeing at middepth were of the slab persuasion. Next time I go up there I will be better prepared and more focused.
Saw two boats go out of the harbor after I launched. But watched them moving around all over the lake without seeming to spend any time in any given area. The lake was glass and I could see clear to the other side.
After running out of minnows I fished some Gulp and some crawlers. Had one good hit on crawlers. Probably another cat. The only hit on Gulp was the aforementioned crappie.
Bailed out early...11 o'clock. Met Wiperhunter2 just getting ready to launch, with his crew member Gene. Hope they did well.
Got home in time to zip the fillets off my kitties and get the remnants in the garbage barrel before it was picked up. A good ending to a good day.
[/#0000ff]
[signature]