Willard Bay trip # 23

[Tin-Can]

Friday, oldest son and I got on  the water from the south marina at about 730 a.m.
Very lite breeze, very few bugs, a few high clouds that cleared off by about 900 a.m.  Air temp 48 and water temp 63.4 at launch warming up to 79 air and 66.0 water on 3 p.m. departure. 



Motored out into the middle of my 3 gps marks where I've caught most of my Cats this year. Really hoping to put my son on some fish. Our last trip in August for his birthday to UL / LB  was not productive.  But Friday just about all the elements of a successful fishing trip were available and ready to be taken advantage of. 

So out went our lines, baited up with raw shrimp. Boat angled broadside to the breeze, coffee poured, feet up and kicked back catching up on events since August, and doing a slow, steady drift back towards the feed lot wall.
Started having nibbles, tugs, rod rattles, hit and run bait stripping pop and drops almost immediately. But all they resulted in was a loss of bait, reel in, re-bait, and repeat. Must have been all the young kitties that haven't learned how to take the whole bait (and hook)...   .

We were on the water, having time together that we don't get as often since my son moved south to Carbon County, and about 855 a.m. one of the bigger more experienced cats teaching the youngsters, got her mouth around the bait (and hook) just right to break my son's skunk.  Was a good corner of the mouth hook, so did the CPR and sent her home. 



We drifted and moved, changed directions as the breeze shifted, moved along the 8-13 fow contour off  the south wall, continued having the regular line bump off the bottom as we drifted and the fairly regular bait tap mixed in with some hard hit and runs.  Just about an hour after my son boated his skunk killer, old dad got a bad attitude post spawn male that took the bait, hook and about 6 inches of the hook leader. Terminally gill hooked, so into the live well as a take home for dinner guest. 

      

Took almost 2 hours for the next and last hook up. Son got a youngster with another good corner of the mouth hook. Another CPR. 



Decided to call it a day, go clean the one keeper cat.  Got to the south ramps and off the water about 230 p.m. Met up with a problem similar to TD and CBP with the cleaning station. Was a large carcass jammed in the grinder area. I cleaned our one cat, disposed of the carcass in the nearby dumpster. Had tried to poke the fish that was jammed in the opening with the blade of my fillet knife, but blade wasn't quite long enough. Wanted to leave the station jam free if I could, so got one of my river bank rod holder rebars out of my truck box, reached it in thru the top of the grinder feed. Once, twice, poke poke, fish carcass dislodged into the running grinder. Problem solved........until the next angler that can't read uses the station. 

A successful day, put my son on a couple fish, had a pleasant day on the water, and kept up my no skunk streak .