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Lindon Cattin' 4-7-21
#1
I make a lot of noise about planning my trips for about 3 days after a big wind.  If I stuck to that, I wouldn't get any fishing in this year.   Wind blew yesterday but today was supposed to be a day between "breezy conditions".  So I jumped at it.

Launched at Lindon just after 7:30.  Calm and sunny.  But cool...36 degrees.  Water temp started out about 50 and crept up to about 52 at noon departure.  Because of the ongoing windy conditions the water was a bit "colored".  Not so good for sight feeders...like walleye...and even catfish.  But, trooper that I be, I went for it.

Motored to an area of the flats just south of the harbor...in about 5 feet of water.  Have caught lots of cats there over the years.  POW.  First fish in the net by 8 am.  Looked like it was gonna be a bananner day.  Not so much.  Moved around a lot and tried different depths.  Didn't get another touch for over an hour.

Without much expectation of action I hit the bubbleup.  The buoys are in place...except for one at the end that is WAY OUT of place.  The aforementioned wind and turbidity had kept any fish from orienting to the pipeline.  Nothing on sonar and less on my line.  Did find one silly white bass.  Big whoop.  As I was moving away from the bubbleup a party barge full of eager anglers anchored up off the end buoy.  They fished it for over an hour and I never saw anyone acting "fishy" or a net going into the water.  Then they boogied north, never to be seed again.

I had been pulling some whirly fligs with worm in hopes of finding a spawned out walleye...or anything.  Did catch one silly cat on it.  But after the bubbleup zilch stop I rigged one rod with a whole chub minnow and one with a flig and minnow.  Made big slow S turns all the way back to the harbor area...fishing from 4' out to over 6'.  Picked up a fish here and a fish there but no concentrations of active biters.  Most were standard 2 footers.  A couple over, including the largest for the day at 27".  With the reduced visibility the plain bait caught more fish than the blinged out ones. 

A few more degrees of water temp and some better water conditions and I believe there will be some good cattin'.
[Image: LAUNCH.jpg][Image: NICE-DAY.jpg][Image: TWO-FOOTER.jpg][Image: PLUS-SIZE.jpg][Image: BIGGEST.jpg][Image: WHITIE.jpg][Image: BOATLOAD.jpg][Image: ROWER.jpg]
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#2
(04-07-2021, 09:34 PM)TubeDude Wrote: I make a lot of noise about planning my trips for about 3 days after a big wind.  If I stuck to that, I wouldn't get any fishing in this year.   Wind blew yesterday but today was supposed to be a day between "breezy conditions".  So I jumped at it.

Launched at Lindon just after 7:30.  Calm and sunny.  But cool...36 degrees.  Water temp started out about 50 and crept up to about 52 at noon departure.  Because of the ongoing windy conditions the water was a bit "colored".  Not so good for sight feeders...like walleye...and even catfish.  But, trooper that I be, I went for it.

Motored to an area of the flats just south of the harbor...in about 5 feet of water.  Have caught lots of cats there over the years.  POW.  First fish in the net by 8 am.  Looked like it was gonna be a bananner day.  Not so much.  Moved around a lot and tried different depths.  Didn't get another touch for over an hour.

Without much expectation of action I hit the bubbleup.  The buoys are in place...except for one at the end that is WAY OUT of place.  The aforementioned wind and turbidity had kept any fish from orienting to the pipeline.  Nothing on sonar and less on my line.  Did find one silly white bass.  Big whoop.  As I was moving away from the bubbleup a party barge full of eager anglers anchored up off the end buoy.  They fished it for over an hour and I never saw anyone acting "fishy" or a net going into the water.  Then they boogied north, never to be seed again.

I had been pulling some whirly fligs with worm in hopes of finding a spawned out walleye...or anything.  Did catch one silly cat on it.  But after the bubbleup zilch stop I rigged one rod with a whole chub minnow and one with a flig and minnow.  Made big slow S turns all the way back to the harbor area...fishing from 4' out to over 6'.  Picked up a fish here and a fish there but no concentrations of active biters.  Most were standard 2 footers.  A couple over, including the largest for the day at 27".  With the reduced visibility the plain bait caught more fish than the blinged out ones. 

A few more degrees of water temp and some better water conditions and I believe there will be some good cattin'.
[Image: LAUNCH.jpg][Image: NICE-DAY.jpg][Image: TWO-FOOTER.jpg][Image: PLUS-SIZE.jpg][Image: BIGGEST.jpg][Image: WHITIE.jpg][Image: BOATLOAD.jpg][Image: ROWER.jpg]

   Pat, thanks for the Lindon depth info. I was gonna head to the Bear River today, then saw the forecast for 13+ mph wind at Willard tomorrow, so went to Willard today instead. I'll fish the river tomorrow when wind is a good thing (keeps the pesky batting bugs away).
I've seen this in one of your photos recently and forgot to ask.... the photo of the WB, the pole to the left of your hand, are the bottom couple of guide eyes turned on purpose ?   

That guy in the row boat, I've seen him several times leaving out of Lindon same time as me. All I ever see him do is row that boat.
"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
    Or so it says on my license plate holder
                                 
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#3
(04-07-2021, 10:27 PM)Tin-Can Wrote: I've seen this in one of your photos recently and forgot to ask.... the photo of the WB, the pole to the left of your hand, are the bottom couple of guide eyes turned on purpose ?   
That is a way of wrapping a casting rod to put all of the "working" guides on the bottom of the rod...as they would be on a spinning rod.  The idea is that with the reel and all the guides on top of the rod, there is torque when you are fighting a big fish and the rod wants to turn over.    With the guides on the bottom the pull is straight down.  It takes some practice and training to learn how to place the 3 or 4 "conversion guides...the ones that take the line from the top to the bottom.  But there is no added friction or resistance on a cast or when fighting a fish.  This is a repeat picture from my trip to Willard last week.  I have now caught fish on that rod in both Willard and Utah Lake and I like it.

My overall opinion, however, is that unless your rod is pretty soft, you really don't have to worry much about it shattering from torque by having all the guides on top.  Anglers have been fishing them that way for years and it kinda developed as a foo foo California thingy in the past few years.  Just something else to look at when the fish ain't bitin'.  I rebuilt that one on an old Lew's Speed Stick rod I have had but not used much...just for grins.
[Image: NEW-ROD.jpg]
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#4
(04-07-2021, 10:52 PM)TubeDude Wrote: My overall opinion, however, is that unless your rod is pretty soft, you really don't have to worry much about it shattering from torque by having all the guides on top.  Anglers have been fishing them that way for years and it kinda developed as a foo foo California thingy in the past few years.  Just something else to look at when the fish ain't bitin'.  I rebuilt that one on an old Lew's Speed Stick rod I have had but not used much...just for grins.

[Image: NEW-ROD.jpg]

OK. Makes sense I guess. But I only use spinning combos, so I won't need to study up on that.  Bait casting reels are a bit of a misnomer to me. Every single time I have tried to use one, I've ended up with a bird nest big enough for a California Condor........ Sick . 
"OCD = Obsessive Catfish Disorder "
    Or so it says on my license plate holder
                                 
Cool
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#5
(04-07-2021, 11:19 PM)Tin-Can Wrote:
(04-07-2021, 10:52 PM)TubeDude Wrote: My overall opinion, however, is that unless your rod is pretty soft, you really don't have to worry much about it shattering from torque by having all the guides on top.  Anglers have been fishing them that way for years and it kinda developed as a foo foo California thingy in the past few years.  Just something else to look at when the fish ain't bitin'.  I rebuilt that one on an old Lew's Speed Stick rod I have had but not used much...just for grins.

[Image: NEW-ROD.jpg]

OK. Makes sense I guess. But I only use spinning combos, so I won't need to study up on that.  Bait casting reels are a bit of a misnomer to me. Every single time I have tried to use one, I've ended up with a bird nest big enough for a California Condor........ Sick . 
No need to make excuses for sticking with spinning.  With today's quality gear you can do everything you might wanna do...fishingwise...with spinning.  Of course, for the guy who favors baitcast tackle, he could make the same claim.  It all boils down to what you like best and are most comfy with.

There are some arguments about baitcast being better for casting larger lures...or for fighting larger fish, etc.  But again, ain't much you can do with baitcast that you can't do with a properly set up spinning rig.

Ultimately, fishing is about having fun and enjoying the sport.  Picking out "professional overruns" from a baitcast reel is not on the top ten list of enjoys for most anglers.
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#6
Congrats Pat, you had them dialed in again, even on a day I didn't expect too much... but it did turn into a really nice day... I was soooo close to leaving my taxes and running to the pond for an afternoon trip, but I resisted.... Mostly because my wife returned home and grabbed me by the ear and told me to get the taxes done first... Not really, but it kind of felt that way anyway.... Made good progress on the tax prep, so hopefully I'll get them finished tonight and be ready to try the pond by Friday afternoon.... Sure hope I can anyway... Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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#7
(04-08-2021, 12:11 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: Congrats Pat, you had them dialed in again, even on a day I didn't expect too much... but it did turn into a really nice day... I was soooo close to leaving my taxes and running to the pond for an afternoon trip, but I resisted.... Mostly because my wife returned home and grabbed me by the ear and told me to get the taxes done first...  Not really, but it kind of felt that way anyway....  Made good progress on the tax prep, so hopefully I'll get them finished tonight and be ready to try the pond by Friday afternoon.... Sure hope I can anyway... Later Jeff
Lucky me.  My wife takes care of our taxes...and does the prep work for several other family members and friends.  So she is more likely to tell me to get out of the house while she is working so I don't bug her.  Lucky me.

I didn't mention that the wind started to pick up about the time I was leaving yesterday.  It was gettin' gusty by the time I drove off.  So I wouldn't have had much quality fishing time if I had stayed longer.   This time of year...and this year in particular...I have to really watch the weather because the forecasts seem to change on a daily basis.  I am usually able to pick decent days to fish, but I have had it go both ways: staying home because of a poor forecast and then have it be a super day for those who went...and heading out on a good forecast only to get blown off the water by "variable breezes" up to 30 mph.

I'll say it again.  The best time to go fishing is whenever you can get away.  But, unfortunately, when we are still working and have families there are other precedents that greatly interfere with our fishing schedule.
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#8
Hey Pat that one looks like 27.5 to me. If you enter it I’ll get it scored. Anyway I’m glad you found a good open window to catch a few. Is that the rod you were talking about Shawn getting you to build for him? I was fishing with bblake the other night and man he could almost double my cast distance with a bait cast reel. Almost enough to get me to try one. I still have too many visions of early years bird nests so I haven’t dared try it lately. Plus my cat gear gets pretty beat up so I don’t want to ruin another reel in the mud and slime. Anyway nice report. Later Jeff
When things get stressful think I'll go fish'en and worry about it tomorrow!
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#9
(04-08-2021, 03:17 PM)SkunkedAgain Wrote: Hey Pat that one looks like 27.5 to me. If you enter it I’ll get it scored. Anyway I’m glad you found a good open window to catch a few. Is that the rod you were talking about Shawn getting you to build for him?  I was fishing with bblake the other night and man he could almost double my cast distance with a bait cast reel. Almost enough to get me to try one. I still have too many visions of early years bird nests so I haven’t dared try it lately. Plus my cat gear gets pretty beat up so I don’t want to ruin another reel in the mud and slime. Anyway nice report. Later Jeff
Nope.  I built my rod after making that shorty mack rod for Shawn.  See pics.  
[Image: MR-1.jpg][Image: MR-2.jpg]
I agree.  The baitcaster reels of earlier days were ornery suckers.  The very earliest didn't have any refinements and control was strictly by thumb pressure on the revolving spool.  Backlash city guaranteed...even if you were good.  But the ongoing technology in baitcasters had made modern models so adjustable and tweakable that once set up it is almost impossible to get those "professional overruns".  So if you get one, be sure you have someone experienced help you get it adjusted right...for the size lures you will be throwing, the size line, etc.  You will be amazed if you try one of the newer reels...of good quality.  You really can get as much or more distance with them casting the same lures on the same line...once you are properly set up and get some experience...and never have to worry about  being attacked by nesting seagulls.
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#10
In our U-Tube society it is tough to come up with any topic that is not well covered by a plethora of online videos.  Such is the case with using a baitcast reel.  BAITCAST REEL VIDEOS
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#11
I've now added 4 baitcasters to my lineup to only 2 spinning reels. The spinning reels I have I can outcast 2 off my baitcasters for sure the other I just bought so I don't know their capabilities yet. The more I use them the more I like them but the spinning reels I have are Penn fierce liveliners and they are great all around reels and hard to keep locked in the shed and not used. So I take 4 rods with me so I can keep 2 going all the time.
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