Utah lake cats

[Haulin_bass]

Anyone catching any channel cat Or is it too cold for them?
[signature]

[albinotrout]

I haven't heard of any recent reports since the trout frenzy started at strawberry.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Channel cats in Utah Lake feed all year...even under the ice. But they slow down a lot when water temps drop below about 60 degrees. However, some of the bigger cats of the year are caught in Octobor...during "normal" years. This October the water level has been drastically low and there has been a series of storms and fronts going through. That puts the fish in a temporary shut down mode.

If you can time a trip for two or three days of calm weather in advance you have a better shot at getting some cat action. But with conditions being as they have been, almost nobody is catching much of anything. There are a few stray walleyes being caught by the diehard pros around Lincoln Beach but not much anywhere else.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]

[FishMcFisherson]

Hey TD, do you ever ice fish Utah Lake for cats?
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I don't specifically target kitties through the ice, but I have caught a few over the years. There are probably a lot more bullheads (mudcats) caught by ice anglers than channel cats. However, as I stated, the channels do feed and remain active under the ice. They take the same jigs and baits you might fish for white bass or walleyes.

I did make one trip out to the "Abyss"...a deep hole about a mile offshore from the Saratoga Springs area...on which I did mostly target catfish. But that was only because the guy who took me out there had caught some the week before and there was some expectation. Here are a couple of pics from that trip. They weren't big but they WERE channel cats...and they were both fun on the rod and tasty on the table.

[inline "ICE KITTY.jpg"]

[inline "SEVEN UP.jpg"]
[/#0000FF]
[signature]

[Haulin_bass]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to go give it a try
[signature]

[FishMcFisherson]

Nice! Does the water around the bubble up freeze?
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Not all of Utah Lake freezes to "safe ice" every year. But when there is a general cap over the whole lake then the bubbleup usually freezes too. The water coming in is no longer warm...as it was when it was pumping out Geneva Steel pollution. Any water going out the pipe is from cold springs and is no warmer than lake water. Howsomever, since moving water does not freeze as well as still water the ice over the outflow pipe...at the end...can sometimes be thinner and less safe than the main lake ice. Always proceed cautiously and test drill as you go.

There have been some winters during higher water times when the bubbleup has been a good producer through the ice. But there have also been some folks going through the ice there. This year the water is so low that I doubt there will be much good ice fishing inside the harbors or in some of the other traditional ice fishing spots.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]

[Bigben32]

Interesting. Do they taste any different in the winter?
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Depends on how you cook them. Like most fish they tend to be a bit leaner and firmer in the winter. But pretty much the same taste according to size and methods of preparation.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]