utah lake report 08/07/03

[Jedburton]

well last night went a little better for the cats. I hit lindon boat harbor around 10:30pm to 4:00 am. the fish didn't start hitting until around 2:00 in the morning but then it was pretty fast for a while. I need to get sharper hooks, because I lost a lot of really good channels to dull hooks. I did land a nice 18" channel though and 4 mud cats. I just used night crawlers. Hey I was wondering if anyone knows if cats will still take the worms if you thread them on the hook like for trout or do you usually have to just gob two or three on there so they cover the hook? last night was a little funny in that the channels started biting the most when the wind started coming in from the east. and then it died down when the wind stopped. Oh well i guess you can never figure those fish out.[]

Jed Burton
[signature]

[cat_man]

Hey Jed,

When I use nightcrawlers for cats, it doesn't seem to matter how I hook them on the hook. I have tried both putting them on in a ball, and threading them on with the ends hanging free just like you do for trout, and either way the results seem to be the same. I don't think the cats care at all which way it's on there. I would just put one on at a time, you'll save yourself some worms. They'll smell one just as good as 2 or 3, and even the big 12-15 pounders will hit a worm (although I get a lot more bites with carp meat for large channels).
[signature]

[Jedburton]

for me I have tried a few different things this summer and so far worms work the best. You catch a lot more mud cats that way, but I still do pretty well with the channels. I know a lot of guys do real well with shrimp.
[signature]

[fisherman]

Hey Jed, Thats sounds pretty exciting. Glad you got them again. I found myself changing or sharping hooks last time out to due to missed opportunities. Those rocks ruin a hook point very easy. I need to get back out there soon. I had alittle action the other night when the wind gusted for a few at 0300 at pelican marina from the south, usually the best time for me is dead calm glassly water.
When I have used worms I threaded the worm up the hook and line and tipped it with shrimp, just a trout habit. Cats don't care how its on there.
My favorite baits at utah lake are carp meat, white bass,
squid, shrimp, worms tipped with a piece of shrimp, blood bait "b". I never have had much luck with livers, but my buddy got a 34" 17 pounder on one the other day at 3 pm? Some days they like one bait more than others, they seem to keep you guessing from day to day.
I sure love the power of a nice channel cat, even the smaller males are very scrapy, especially all hormoned out in the spawn.. Slabs on!
[signature]

[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Anthony[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Have you ever tried crawdads? I used to hit the Bear River up around Tremonton, I had private access from a co-worker. I used all the stuff listed but found that crawdads were the preferred food of big cats. Plus it was a fun outing making bait.[/size][/font]
[signature]

[FrozenFish]

Best bait I have ever found would be rotten carp meat. Just catch a carp, kill it and hide it in the water along the shore for a couple of days. Throw the guts out to chum the water and throw out some carp meat on your hook. Done this at Willard and Utah lake, caught lots of cats of all sizes.
[signature]

[loanfish]

Thats funny you mention that. I was out there about a month ago and some oriental people asked how I was doing and i told them i wasnt getting crap. So the guy walks over to me and handed me 3 crawdad. 15 minutes later he landed a 15 pound cat. He had 3 on his stringer all over 10 lbs. I never did get one on the dads but I dont think Ivce given it enough time.
[signature]

[cat_man]

I know you wouldn't be suggesting that he do something illegal like chumming, right? [] Anyway, I've always done much better with fresh carp meat than I have with rotten. White bass, carp meat, shrimp, liver, whatever. I think that it doesn't matter so much what you are using as it does where you are fishing. Most of the big channels that I've caught have always been hooked in the first half hour of fishing an area. I think that that have such a powerful sense of smell that they get to your bait rather quicky if they are nearby. Obviously there are exceptions to this, but that's been my experience. If you're in a boat and aren't catching any for an hour, move to a new spot. If you're on the shore and have room, do the same. The exception is worms. When I use worms, often I am catching bullheads so fast that I wouldn't ever expect to hook a channel. The bullheads will hit carp meat and other such baits very seldom, which gives you the chance to have a big channel gulp it up before they do. I don't mind catching mudcats too (as an alternative to getting skunked), so that's why I use a T-swivel and put a worm on one hook and carp meat on the other. Sort of the best of both worlds.

P.S. See my report on Utah Lake fishing last saturday.
[signature]