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[#0000FF]First open water shot at Willard this year. Launched at the south marina just after 6 am...along with a surprising number of boats. They all headed for the island. I worked down the dike to the north of the harbor entrance.
Air temp 50 and water temp just over 62 at launch. TDC. Started to inch toward 65 before the cold north wind dropped it back down to 63.5
Sorry to see how low Willard is. Just a trickle coming in over the baffles at the inlet and the water level is estimated 6-7 feet below high water mark.
Worked in big S turns from 4' to 14'...with plastics, crankbaits and a minnow dragged on one rod. Nary an inquiry for two hours. Finally got a whack on a small white plastic jig and brought in my first kitty of the day. Meow. Next cast to the same spot...another whack. Fought different. Was different. A teen-incher wallie that did the customary open-mouth head shake at the top of the water and gave me back my jig. Nice of him...or her.
Finally started getting into the "KITTY ZONE" and put up the plastics to fish with two bait rods. There were some minnow munchers in residence and I caught several...including one double...one on each rod at the same time. Double trouble. I got the first one off and released. But when I reached for the second one...which had been playing dead...it sprang to life and bounced up off the rigid apron into both of my hands. One pectoral spine got my left hand...at the base of my thumb. The other went deep into the soft flesh between my right pinkie finger and ring finger. I had to literally tear out both of those spines against the barbs on them. Oweee. As I watched the blood pour out of my wounds I muttered something like "Gee, I wish I hadn't done that." Something like that...only different.
I only get stuck by a catfish about once every 5 years or so and WHAM...twice at once...from the same fish. Pure exquisite PAIN. If you've never experienced that, you have my permission to skip over it and go for something less painful...like root canal work without Novocaine.
For the next half hour I tried to stop the bleeding and still keep a bait in the water. Actually caught a few more kitties...debating whether to just let them get off by themselves rather than grip the rod with my throbbing hand.
Then, about the time the pain was subsiding below DEVCON 10, and I could handle my gear again, the wicked W from the NW started to whisper. Then it got worse...turning to popcorn fairly quickly. That did it. No more bites.
Having experienced W on Willard before, I fired up my electric motor and got it up on whine...headed back toward the harbor. Tossed out a diving crankbait to try to tempt something on the way. Just before reaching the buoys my rod went bendo, line screeched off the drag and I forgot my perforated hands...momentarily. Inexperienced wiperette. Never learned how to hang on and didn't get an invite to dinner.
Fished inside the channel for a while without any bites on either bait or plastic. Headed for the ramp about the same time as a bunch of boaters who were also not thrilled with the stingy and bumpy water.
Talked with several returning boaters. Said there were a couple of walleyes caught around the island early but nothing the rest of the morning. Didn't see any fish come in and when I went to clean my kitties the fish cleaning station had not been used by anybody else.
I guess I didn't do too badly. Caught about a dozen kitties and kept six. That's enough for a couple of meals for TubeBabe and myself. Plus...I found a great new weight-loss program. But it puts a whole new spin on the old saying "No pain...no gain." Not quite sure how to reword it to reflect that the more it hurts (and bleeds) the more weight you lose.
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Looks like you double qualified to park where you did after your trip.[frown] Been a long time since I had the pleasure of being stuck by a catfish and hope it remains a long time. Sounds like the catfish fishery at Willard is still thriving.
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Sounds like it was revenge of the cat fish today.
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I remember fishing for Catfish with my dad over 55 years ago. Your post brought back memories (painful ones) of getting stuck by a Catfish when fishing Utah Lake. Maybe that's why I just fish for trout now. BUT I want to try for some Crappie this year.
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"Sounds like the catfish fishery at Willard is still thriving."
[#0000FF]That was the best day I have had for cats in over 3 years. The "zone" where I caught most of them has always been a good kitty spot. But last year I never caught more than one or two fish from it on any given trip.
Might be premature to rejoice about the catfish being abundant again. It has been pretty dismal for most folks hoping to score some of those whiskerfish. I am properly grateful for my catch...and properly painful where they spined me.
And yes, I was both a senior and disabled as I returned to my vehicle. I hate it when that happens.[/#0000FF]
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Thanks for renewing my faith that there are some kitties left in there. When i was a kid we went swimming off the south dike and I manage to step on a catfish inbetween two rocks, hurt like hell. I still think of that every time i swim in a lake.....[fishin]
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Dang, that's a lot of blood! Been "spiked" by those darn things more than I care for! Out of curiosity, do those cats taste better or the same as UL cats?
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[quote 78Caddis]Dang, that's a lot of blood! Been "spiked" by those darn things more than I care for! Out of curiosity, do those cats taste better or the same as UL cats?[/quote]
[#0000FF]Just for you, the second gory pic of the "weight loss program"...taken after I had already washed off my "sushi board" apron once already.
Taste is a subjective thing. But I would like to think I have a semi-edumacated palate when it comes to fishy fare. I have caught and cooked fish from all over the country...including plenty of kitties. My biased opinion is that the cats from Willard Bay are among the best I have eaten from ANYWHERE.
Catfish are always good fried. But the ones from Willard are so mild and white that you can use them in many other fish recipes...without any characteristic "catfish taste". One of my favorite ways to cook them is on the grill, with a wire basket to help hold the fillets together. Baste with some garlic/lemon butter and season with a gentle touch of salt and pepper...and it don't get no better than that.
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" Thanks for renewing my faith that there are some kitties left in there."
[#0000FF]How could I not respond...after your expressed concern in your last post?
By the way, I fished a lot of different depths but just about all my hits...all species...were from the 7-8 foot depths. I saw fish out in 13 feet but they had lockjaw.
Water temps were down a bit but should be back up in the better range by later in the week.
Headed for Starvy on Thursday.
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Excellent report as always.
The Kitties scored a little revenge today. That was quite a bid of blood you donated to the cause. Real good thing your "tube / tubes" didn't get perforated as well. That has been my biggest concern up until now.
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Nice work! I caught two nice channels today on Freedom Dream in the harbor between meetings today. Fish Tacos for dinner tonight with Icy Corona. Oh Lprd life is good!
Incidentally, I put a nice stainless grill on the boat today and tomorrow when I have Wounded Warriors aboard we'll have fish on the lake.....That's assuming the bite stays good. The two I caught were on stinklbait .
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Good thing you caught lots like always. Yours is worse, but it reminds me of my Jordan River trip this year where I caught a carp and it swam into some bushes right by shore. So I walk out to get my line unstuck. So I grab the carp and try to fix the mess of my line with it being tied everywhere around branches and even some stupid barbed wire! So I pick up the carp and somehow the hook falls out of the fishes lip and goes all the way through my thumb. I was still tangled so I was literally stuck to where I was snagged. I was hunched over and had to bite off the line before the hook so I wouldn't be stuck in that position and could get to shore. Once as shored some1 pushed in out of my thumb. Luckily it wasn't worse but it still sucked!
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[#0000FF]Fishing ain't fer sissies. It's a blood sport. And sometimes the blood is ours...not just the fishies.
How cute. It kinda rhymes. Not a haiku. More like a hook you.
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indeed its not. Lol my brother doesn't really know what he's doing when it comes to holding/handling fish. Yesterday we went to strawberry and he tried getting a hook out and somehow got cut pretty bad. Note pouring blood like your picture but still, he didn't like it one bit. Told him if he fishes to toughen up soldier. That's one of my fears of cat fishing actually. Luckily for me what happened to you hasn't ever happened but yes I am much more cautious when holding catfish. Can onlt imagine how that felt! Today I'm going to try to get me the big catfish that ot away fro me yesterday.
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Sort of a semi-hijack here,
TD, be glad we didn't meet up at Starvy. When I got there, the water was a pelucid blue with a gentle zephyr from the east. I had just pedaled out a good long ways from your camp spot #4 and began a drift back when WHAM. The wind abruptly (and I mean ABRUPTLY) swapped to dead west and screaming.
Before I could even reel in, there was popcorn and I had a heckuva time beating my way into/across what were quickly two-foot waves and genuine whitecaps.
Had lunch waiting for it to calm down, but no luck. Loaded up and started home (had intended to camp there the night) but thought I'd see if Soldier Creek had some protected spots. Sorta did, but I still had to fight the tempests. Gave up after two more fishless hours.
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[#0000FF]Small catfish are more dangerous than larger ones. As cats grow larger their sharp spines become worn down and rounded off by foraging in rocky areas and by nesting in holes in the rocks. It has been a while since I have caught anything small enough to have the super sharp spines...but one of the first things I USUALLY do if I plan to keep a catfish is to break off the spines. I would have probably released the one that got me...if I had been able to get my usual grip around the belly while removing the hook.
That fish may have caused me some weight loss, but I caused it even more. It ended up in my keeper basket and lost two whole fillets of weight at the end of the trip. I shall especially enjoy dining on the culprit.
Some of the things to keep in mind for handling and controlling cats...to help prevent what happened to me: 1. Use a net to scoop the fish and then lay it on a flat surface that will not be subject to puncturing. 2. Immediately get a controlling grip on the fish...around the belly, with your fingers straddling around the pectoral spines. 3. Remove the hook. 4. Break off the spines if you plan to keep the fish. 5. If you are going to release it, be careful. Best to place it back in the net and then place it in the water. Dropping or tossing the fish can result in a sudden twist or flop and you can still get stuck.
I have only had one catfish put a hole in my float tube. However, I have had a lot of spiny rayed fishes like bluegills, perch, crappies and white bass fall off the hook and bounce off the tube...leaving pinhole leaks behind from their spines. I have been stuck a lot more with the other species than I have with catfish. Usually not as painful or bloody but bad enough.
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[#0000FF]Bummer. Sorry that Mama Nature treated you so badly. But that is one of the reasons I always like to hit Starvation early. Not uncommon for those sudden blows to pop up on that lake. I have had more than a few trips shortened by "zephyrs". And most of the time they are not even part of the "forecast".
There was one tubing trip when TubeBabe and I were fishing the aforementioned calm waters and one of those raging norwesters came out of nowhere. And, within minutes our tubes were being violently blow away from where we had parked our vehicle and launched. We had to kick like crazy to fight our way into shore downwind. Then I had to hike back to the vehicle and drive to our unplanned beach site.
Thankfully, there have been plenty of other trips when we fished in calm conditions until we were ready to get off the water in early afternoon.
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[#502800]Hey, I'm not alone ........ I got dorsaled by a smallmouth at Pineview this morning ....... It's not as bad as some of those ocean rockfish that make the whole hand swell up though ....... Us old guys need to stop playing catch with finny creatures.[/#502800]
[#502800]Let me know how you do at Starvy....... I think I might hit it up next week for a couple of days.[/#502800]
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[#0000FF]Yeah, there are a whole lot of salt water fish that can do some serious harm with their spines. Members of the scorpionfish family...like the sculpins...are the worst. But virtually all members of the sebastoidies family...rockfish...can do some damage. I worked on party boats and commercial boats and saw lots of extreme pain and agony when folks got spined. Managed to avoid serious punctures myself but always had plenty of "fish rash" from handling fish with sharp edges, teeth and stickers.
Lemme know when you plan to go over next week and I might "hook up" witcha. Once the good times begin it is good all summer and into late fall. I have been knowed to go at least once a week...and sometimes twice. Good stuff.
I'll[/#0000FF][#0000FF][#0000FF][b] probably [/#0000FF] post a suitably vague report Friday...if I'm not too wore out from fish...or wind...or both.
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Dude - you sure made a bloody mess out of that cat, or- er - maybe that's the other way around. Like your handling tips. I find the cats usually adopt a "prone" stance once netted, and hold their spikes firm out, but I've dabbled with a bunch of smaller ones that seemed to have a tendency to clamp down those spikes - especially on a toss-release.
And I'd concur, those young cats do have sandpapery sharp spines. A simple graze of the thumb can leave you with a cat-scratch like infection persisting much longer than the would might suggest. Noticed on fiddling with some minner-sized catlings - swarms of mudders - that even when barely an inch - they sting like a bee.
Might be analogous to young rattlesnakes, sharing more toxins than the adults.
One thing that can enhance them grilled kitties - BACON! I mean what doesn't go better with bacon!
Hope you give those wounds a good soak in some peroxide.
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