A lovely day with BLK 5-24-18

[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]Threw a quick trip together with BLK to gang up on the kitties at Lincoln Beach. The morning started off great...all green lights between my house and the freeway. Then I found a $5 bill right next to my car as I pulled up to Maverick for my breakfast sammich, and another quarter laying on the floor inside.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Then, I followed BLKs truck and boat into the Lincoln Beach ramp area so we were both on time. Good and gettin' better.
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Weather was perfect. Absolute calm, air temp 50, water temp about 64 at launch and a lovely sunrise.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Fishing started slow. We had thought the fish would be shallow...as others reported after I had been down on Monday. Nada, zip, zilch. Started moving slowly out to deeper water and I caught the first kitty...about 20 inches...in a little less than 3' of water. But we kept moving out deeper and finally started finding more fish where I had done well on Monday...4-5 FOW.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]BLK soaked his carplets whilst I held out with my left handed blue eyed chubs...but bigger chubs, hoping for bigger fish. We both got bites fairly often and we both brought fish to the boat. Most were in the 20 to 24 inch category but the Captain got one feisty mid twenties and I got a lovely golden one (dorado) that measured 26 on the board.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We didn't keep a formal score but it went back and forth pretty much even, with both of us probably netting somewhere around 7 or 8 each. Enough to make for a nice morning on a nice morning.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff] [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]A light northerly breeze (not forecast) came up about 11 and action dropped off. We had both used up a lot of bait and were in need of our midday naps. Water temp was up to about 68 as we loaded up the boat before noon.
[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Always great to share the water with BLK...even if I do have to ride in his boat with him.
[/#0000ff]
[signature]

[RockyRaab]

Fair is fair. Next time, you have to take BLK out on your tube.
[signature]

[SkunkedAgain]

Nice job you two, that sounded like a great day for the two of you... I even seen one for the contest... I'll have to get ya on the chart with that one... Thanks for the report... J
[signature]

[SkunkedAgain]

Ya know as talented as TD is with PVC I'm sure he can build a biker chick seat for BLK on the back of that tube. Later J
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Fair? Don't go there.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]Anyway, he already tried the inflatable fishing thing, with a pontoon. Had a Titanic episode. Don't think I could ever convince him to try something even smaller.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]

[Piscophilic]

Sounds like a fine mornings effort. You just need to zero in on those big ones. It seems a lot of trips lately are producing lots of fish, but the larger ones are absent. Probably went to a pre-spawn retreat in FL, team building or something.

Thanks for another great report!
[signature]

[Boatloadakids]

It is not often that the big pond is as calm as it was today. I think that is what made in tolerable for two old curmudgeons to share a limited space. It was a fun day and we kinda committed to do it again in the near future.

I liked the fligs and managed to talk Pat out of another batch. The Fire Tiger was working today.

Still in the search for the bigger cats... they are there somewhere, just gotta keep searching. Plenty of time.

Bird island tomorrow so maybe I'll find one there.

Thanks Pat for a good day on the water... and the fligs.

Tomorrow is the day.

Lynn aka BLK
[signature]

[Tin-Can]

Lynn, if you get out to BI tomorrow, you just leave my 36 incher wherever you find it. I need something to get me out of this northern basement.......[laugh]
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]It is frustrating when you know there ARE much bigger cats in the lake. But it's kinda like playin' the lottery. The percentages just ain't workin' for ya.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]Cats live much longer than most other species in Utah Lake...besides carp. And, like most species, they are subject to good years and bad years of spawning and recruitment. Then natural attrition kicks in...predation by larger fish when young, angling harvest, diseases, starvation, etc. Over time, even a large year class gets whittled down so that the biggest survivors become fewer and fewer. Any channel cat over 30 inches in Utah Lake probably represents thousands of its own year class that have left the ecosystem. The bigger they get the fewer there are.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]There were enough over mid twenty inchers last year that I was confident there would be more approaching the 30 inch mark this year. And lots of those caught were released to fight again. But it would seem that either there are just not many big ones at all...or there are too many smaller ones that beat the bigger ones to the baited hooks.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]I can recall years in the past...prior to catfish becoming more widely pursued...when it was not uncommon to catch at least one cat over 10 pounds on any serious cattin' trip. Now...for me...it has been over two years since I caught one that size.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]Whimper, whimper.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]

[TubeDude]

"Thanks Pat for a good day on the water... and the fligs"

[#0000FF]You are most welcome. And thank you for the boat ride and the "mature companionship". Us oldsters gotta stick together...even though it is a joy to take the younguns when you can.[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]
[/#0000FF]
[#0000FF]As per our conniving conversation today, we gotta plan some night assaults during the warm months. Although I may fall asleep after the sun goes down.[/#0000FF]
[signature]