utah lake

[FishFearMe2]

So, me and fisherguy are gonna abondon our plans of going to pineview and head to utah lake on monday. Does anyone know whats been workin lately? Minnows, shrimp, worms, off the bottom? let me know, and if any of you are gonna be there tomorrow at lindon boat harbor let me know or come say hi..

[Out4Trout]

[cool]Hey FishFearme2, if you read the Lincoln Beach Floatilla thread up above you might get a good pointer or two. Particularly my first post in it tells what I was using. Oh yeah, TubeBabe (the most successful of our group on Saturday) was using carpmeat. Good luck. We were just dragging our bait on the bottom WITH NO WEIGHT (sinkers). Good luck.
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[FishFearMe2]

yeah i read your thing, that seemed like an awesome trip.. but here's the thing, im fishing off the shore, i dont have a float tube.. so i cant really drag my bait off the bottom with no weight.. thats my problem, i guess i need to invest in a float tube.. thanks for the advice though. what type of float tube do you have? what are the "about" prices of them? how much do you think it would be for the tube and all the gear i would need?

[Out4Trout]

[cool]Hey fishfearme2, it's cool that you want to look into float tube fishing. It's really a fun deal, and you can cover more water and often times get to more fish which increases your chance of catching them too. I am still a rookie at float tubing (especially compared to the likes of Leaky and TubeDude, etc.) but enjoy it very much these days.

To answer your questions about what kind of tubes are great and how much do they cost etc., I'd suggest going over to TubeDude's very own Float Tubing board which can be found by clicking here:
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?forum=81"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?forum=81[/url] It's a great board with a TON of info on float tubing. When you get there, click on the sticky at the top of the board that says "BEST OF THE BEST." It's chuck full of the answers to the questions you asked above, and many others that you probably have or will have on the subject.

The tube I have is about 5 years old and is not the best one on the market (I think the "Fat Cat" is the best). Mine is a Fish Cat II, which I think is made by the same company. I'm gonna upgrade to that one one of these days. I think mine was about $150, but can't remember exactly 'cause it's been a few years, but go to the float tubing board on this site and you'll learn tons.

As far as catfishing from shore, (which I do when the wind is too rough to launch my tube) I usually fish off the bottom, but there's a catch. I set up my rig like many of the walleye experts on this board do for the 'eyes. That is, I rig a 2/0 hook about 12-15 inches below a barrel swivel or split shot. Above the swivel or split shot I put a 1/4 oz egg sinker. NOW, here's the difference, BELOW the swivel and between it and the hook I place a "little corky" float which is a tiny little bobber that slides up and down the line and keeps your bait down low BUT OFF THE BOTTOM. If I'm using a heavy piece of bait I put 2 little corky's on to make sure my bait isn't sitting in the mud. This setup works great for the channel cats AND walleye. The "Little Corky" is made by Warden Lures (which makes the Rooster Tail spinner (among other lures). You can do a google search on them and pull up their website. I think i spelled Warden right, but if it doesn't work try another spelling like Wardon, etc. You can get them at Sportsmans Wharehouse in the WALLEYE fishing section.

Sorry about the novel here, but I hope that this stuff helps you out on your next trip. Also, one last thing when catfishing from shore (and also when drifting from a tube), I use a tip that TubeDude gave me a long time ago that has helped me to hook and land more cats, and that is after casting out and getting the bait where you want it, LEAVE THE BAIL OPEN and let the cat (or walleye) run with the bait for about 7-10 feet or so. Next, flip the bail to close it and wait till the cat tightens the line himself. Once the slack is gone and you feel a touch of tension WHAMMO-SET THE HOOK, AND HAVE FUN!

That's about all I got for today. Hope it helps you out some, and good luck on your next trip out!
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[FishFearMe2]

hey out4trout, thanks for the info.. no problem on the short novel, i dont mind reading things about fishing [laugh] especially when someone is trying to give me advice. i am always up for learning new techniques and new tricks for fishing, i am always willing to share some of my knowledge also.. my bro and i are gonna be getting into float tubing alot this next year, we are sick of fishing from the shore and having it be hit or miss and also catching little mudcats instead of the big channels that we are lookin for. do you use a spinning rod? light or heavy tackle? how do you tell if your bait is on the bottom or not? do you use a fish-finder? sorry about all the questions, but it looks like the "young grasshopper" has alot to learn and is ready to listen. []

[Fishhound]

Hey Fishfearme2,

Did you make it to LBH ? I was there - on the very north end of the south dike by the mouth of the harbor shore fishing - unfortunately, the perfect seat for watching the power parade and not for especially for fishing - I did happen to catch and release fish though - inspite of the power parade participant's best efforts to thwart my attempts.

Float fishing is a better way to get your offering to where the fish tend to be. Rather than sit and wait for the fish to get around to your presentation at thier leisure, floation devices allow you to go to them. Although, as in yesterday, I still enjoy sitting on the bank and catching whatever comes along and accepts my offering as it is presented.

You can use spinning, casting, or fly fishing gear while floating. I use them all depending on the situation and the species I am targeting. For catfish on UL, I use either 8 or 10 pound line spooled on either a casting or spinning reel on a medium action rod. Sometimes I fish on the bottom with weight and sometimes I just let it drag casually. I also use floats(bobbers to some folks) and let my bait hang below it just off the bottom or somewhere within the water column where I think the fish are holding - A fish finder can be very usefull for this.

BTW - I don't want to discourage you, but being on a floation device or watercraft of any kind will not change the "hit or miss" aspect of fishing you've noticed - however, over time, experience would be the thing that could mitigate that.
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[Fisherguy]

FishFearMe2 and I got skunked on Monday. We were fishing on the southside close to shore. I was trying a worm and FishFear was using shrimp. Shrimp usually works for us, but not this time.
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[FishFearMe2]

yeah for real.. but its all good, you cant always catch fish.. plus we have been on many other trips where we were the only ones catchin fish..