Kitty Queen at Lindon 6-2-16

[TubeDude]

[#0000ff]My Kitty Queen (TubeBabe) has been busy flitting around the country. Kids, sisters, friends and consulting gigs have kept her going and kept the air miles adding up. But they have kept her off the water all year so far. Yesterday (Thursday) put the brakes on the projects and put TubeBabe in a float tube for the first time this year.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Launched at Lindon (Utah Lake) about 6:30 am. Clear and warm…57 degree air temp and 68 water temp. First waderless trip for me this year too. Yay team![/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Unbelievable. With all the runoff filling reservoirs along the Wasatch Front, Utah Lake at Lindon was about 6” down from where it was on my last trip…about 2 weeks ago. Still filling Salt Lake at the expense of Utah Lake. Dericulous.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Less than 3 feet deep all across Lindon Harbor. Down to 1.5 feet in some spots just before the outlet channel. And the water both inside the harbor and out into the main lake was really pretty murky. Either a lot of recent wind or all those carp doing the scaly Lambada have really stirred things up.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The carp were rolling everywhere away from shore…and splashing and thrashing in the shoreline rocks and weeds. Too bad all species in the lake are not able to spawn even in a low water year under adverse conditions.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe and I worked plastics around the rock points at the harbor entrance. Nada, zip, zilch. Unless you count a couple of carp scales. Moved straight out until we finally found some 3-4’ depth. That was several hundred yards from shore. Semi trolled while casting jigs and spinners all the way to the bubbleup. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]With murky water, low water and no water coming from the outflow pipe, there were no white bass or walleyes snuggling up to the pipe. Lots of uninterrupted retrieves. Tossed out a minnow on one rod while continuing the plastic pitching. Game on. Plenty of hungry channel cats…and bullheads…hanging around the area. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Over the next couple of hours both TubeBabe and I were kept pretty busy with minnow munchers. Channel cats averaged about 22-24 inches, with a few slightly larger. My biggest was a 26 inch black daddy cat…skinny and ugly…that hit one of my jigs worked right next to the pipe. He was no doubt setting up housekeeping under the pipe. Kissed and released that one. I also got a spawned out hungry carp on another jig a while later. Invited him home to donate some flesh for future kitty fodder.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Since the water was under 4’ deep, at one point I rigged with a bobber and 3’ of line…ending with a “bobberhead” jig…for fishing a minnow off the bottom. Hoped for a walleye. Caught a couple of channel cats. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Not remembering the old saying about the definition of insanity, I kept pitching a tandem jig rig along the pipe. I DID find a small school of white bass. Very small. Two whities on two casts. Then nothing for the rest of the morning. But that did complete a 4-species slam. A walleye would have made a 5-species “grand slime”.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Besides TubeBabe and myself there was one guy in a pontoon. Turns out it was fellow BFTer "southernbass". Shoulda asked him if he was "kin". There were also two other guys in a boat…all working along the bubbleup pipeline. Everybody got a few mudders and/or a couple of cats. Didn’t see any other white bass and no walleyes.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We had plenty of tugs and all the fun we could stand by about 11…when a south breeze began building a bit. So we trolled/jigged our way back into the harbor. Got to the ramp just as the power squadron was swarming in and tuning up for the afternoon shift. Water temp had climbed to about 72 as we packed up. No telling how warm it will get over the next few days…or what that will do to (or for) fishing.[/#0000ff]
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[gmwahl]

Looks like it was a great day for you two! I can't believe I haven't been out for cats yet this spring.
I'll be going out for my first night kitty trip this evening with fellow BFTer lavaman so hopefully we will put some nice sized fish on the score board tonight.

Mike
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[albinotrout]

The sounds of UL getting lower is not good.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Good luck on your cat-quest. Hope you find more whisker fish than mosquitoes.

Say hi to my HGS (honorary grandson).

Looking forward to seeing some big cat posts on the contest soon.
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[fish_fear_me2]

Looks like a good trip. Glad the Missus was able to sneak a trip in. Its concerning that the water level is dropping. I can only hope with this weeks forecast some of the extra water hits UL and they decide to keep a little of it in there
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[Piscophilic]

I'm glad you and Tube Babe finally made it out and had a good trip! Looks like it was a perfect day for it, other than the low visibility. The water was silty just like that at lincoln on Monday. I didn't think we had been getting that much wind?

Thanks for the great report and pictures as always[]
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[TubeDude]

[quote fish_fear_me2] I can only hope with this weeks forecast some of the extra water hits UL and they decide to keep a little of it in there[/quote]

[#0000FF]There has to be something political going on. I keep records from year to year...water levels, temps, etc. The last winter we had a similar amount of snow pack (2011-2012) Utah Lake reached high water mark status by mid June. Here's a pic from the Knolls then...and another from earlier this year. The news is that the lake has risen little since March of this year. Dericulous.[/#0000FF]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Thanks. Glad you approve.

After a bit of reflection...off the murky water...I have come to the conclusion that the frolicking carp are largely responsible for the increased murkiness...at least near shore. It has been a long time since I have seen that much degradation of water clarity on UL,

Also, it gets worse as you get closer to a "busy" shoreline. It was absolute chocolate inside Lindon Harbor...where there were hordes of carp and only a little over 2' of depth. The harbors are largely protected from wind and should not muddy up from that influence alone.

To add a bit of credence to that theory, as the south wind began blowing water towards shore from mid lake, there was an actual tint of green in the newly arrived wavelets. And you could see it even greener further out in the lake.


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[Boatloadakids]

Pretty much the same story at Lincoln today... plenty of hungry cats but diminishing water. The low spot in the launch channel was at 1.4 today -- down from 1.6 just yesterday. Have we seen the high water mark for this year at UL?? Sad.

Saw one guy try to launch a ski-type boat... never made it. Pulled back out with a mangled prop after he hit the end of the cement ramp. Ugly.

Had a good talk with Ice Sled as I was leaving at 11:00, He, like me, has no trouble catching cats but cannot break out of the 24 inch range. I fished deeper today... in 4-5 ft. water. Lots of cats but no braggers. Where have all the big ones gone, long time passing.... wait a minute... starting to sound like Pisco. Maybe I need to take a break from fishing for a few days. I'm not going to fish tomorrow... plan to take out my frustrations on the carp with bow. They're gonna pay big time...

Maybe the big boys come out to play after dark. Looking forward to a night shift when the full moon comes on. Can't believe MSM caught the only two 30 inch cats in the lake. Somewhere... sometime....

BLK
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[FishMids]

TD...I ride the Jordan River Parkway in Riverton/Bluffdale almost nightly. There isnt much water in the river right now. Is it getting diverted elsewhere? The canals around the area are full but it is crazy to see the river so low (in that area anyway) Any theories?
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[lavaman]

Hey TD! Glad you and the Mrs. got out to UL. Looks like you slayed 'em like usual. Love the pic of Timp, she sure is pretty this time of year.
I was just down there in P.G. a couple days ago for a funeral. UL beckoned me but alas, I couldn't get away on such a quick trip.
Heading out with Mike (gmwahl) tonight for some nighttime catfishing- I'll try to catch you one that is pic worthy and hopefully contest worthy.

D
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Confusing. I cross the Jordan at 54th south all the time. For a while the water was pouring down the river. Yesterday it wasn't.

And yes, the canals are full, but a lot of them pour back into the river further down, if the water is not diverted onto fields (of houses). So, a lot of that water really does make it all the way to Salt Lake.

However, there is hope that they will put a cork in the outflow while there is still some inflow coming in. In reality, the lake will rise fast if they slow the outflow. In years past I have seen the lake rise as much as a foot a day during June...with good runoff. But that was then, and this is now.

I get emails and PMs daily from folks who hope I have good news about Utah Lake. Sadly, I have nothing to offer. A whole lot of boaters staying away from that lake...justifiably. Lots of recent stories of boats getting stuck on shallow bottom...or of props being destroyed by unseen hazards. Businesses who count on recreational boaters and fishermen enjoying Utah Lake...and spending money...are due for a poor summer.

Confused and frustrated.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]You know I always have to include at least one Timp pic in my UL reports...for me, if not for my HGS.

Good luck when you guys gang up on the cats. Hope you whack a biggun.

Your () tale of your recent visit down there...without being able to fish...reminds me of an experience I had while living in Sacramento, CA. One evening I was fishing the Truckee River below where it came out of Lake Tahoe. I was waving a flyrod and hooking a nice trout almost every cast. There was a super hatch coming off and that stretch of river was alive with jumping trout.

As I moved down to fish one lovely run I noticed a guy in a tux leaning over the wooden rail around a deck on the back of a wedding reception center on the river. After watching me release several nice trout in a row he hollered across the water..."Hey, can I rent your fishing rod for a few minutes...say for a hundred bucks?"

Turns out he had been Shanghaied into attending a wedding in his wife's family...and he had sneaked out to watch the river. I told him about the little bridge a short ways upstream...that I had used to get across earlier. He fairly ran up to the bridge and back to join me. Recognizing that he was a pretty good sized guy...like me...I was already out of my waders and helped him get into them...still wearing his tux. He was a fairly accomplished fly flinger already so about all I had to do was make sure the gear was ready and show him where to get into the water.

He was having a great time until his whoops of enjoyment brought his wife out onto the deck across the river. Her words to him made me wonder if that wedding might be a cause for his soon-to-be divorce. But as he put his shiny shoes back on and headed back for the bridge he laughed and said..."That was great...and worth whatever she's gonna dump on me on the way home."

Oh yeah...I wouldn't accept his money. I got plenty of enjoys just watching him in action.

Attending funerals is seldom pleasant. But it can be made more tolerable by enjoying a return to places you love and reliving more pleasurable times from the past.
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