Cat-tubing at Lindon Harbor (Utah Lake)

[TubeDude]

[cool][size 1][#0000ff]svpdgcar, fishhound, TubeBabe and my own self met up about 6 AM at Lindon. I am glad I did the anti-W dance last night, because we would have really been in trouble if I hadn't. As it was, there was a pretty stout "breeze" and a procession of mini-tsunamis rolling by the front of the harbor entrance when we launched.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]TubeBabe got out of the harbor first and headed for the kitty zone to the north. I stayed and played around the end of the north dike, hoping for a walleye or two in the sloppy water breaking on the rocks. I scored three quick white bass, on plastic, but no walleyes. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]svpdgcar rounded the point and we moved together past the entrance of the creek. There was a blue Bayliner there, soaking bait for whatever. Saw one walleye released later. I couldn't get any other bites on either plastic or spinners so I finally brought out a chunk of carpmeat and lobbed it out. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I hooked the first catfish, but as I was bringing it in, TubeBabe announced on the radio that she was bringing one in too. The sun had just made a brief appearance and the W had laid down a bit. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I soon had number two in the basket. I radioed svpdgcar to come up beyond me, into "the zone" and to use carp meat, instead of the anchovy he had been dragging. Within a few minutes I heard him holler that he was hooked up. He had too much fun bringing it in, but we allowed him to keep it, and to cast out another bait. [/#0000ff]


[#0000ff]TubeBabe brought in her second fish about the same time Gary got his second. It looked like the weather was going to give us a break and that the catfish were appreciative. [/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I hooked my third fish and it whupped on me good. It was not nearly as big as it fought. Kinda purty too. It had an unusual number of spots, and they were a lot darker than you usually see on a channel cat larger than a foot or so. This one was 22 inches and 3.5 pounds of chunky, spunky kitty. See pictures. [/#0000ff]




[#0000ff]TubeBabe lost a big one after fighting it awhile, and I had one hit so hard it made a birdnest on the freespooled baitcaster with which I caught all my fish today. I had the tension set to allow the fish to take line easily, but not to overrun. But, the last hit I had was a hard jerk that caused the spool to overrun. On top of that, I didn't stick the fish. That was my last kitty bite.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I had picked up a couple more white bass by throwing plastics around while dragging a bait, as allowed by my two pole permit. I caught a sixth white bass just before heading back into the harbor. After TubeBabe's lost biggun, the wind and waves picked up and made fishing kinda difficult. We all headed for the harbor. [/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]Fishhound had made it out of the harbor, but went back in before we did, because the heavy wave action was giving him leg cramps. He had scored some bullheads, but no channels. Since one purpose of his joining us was to get some instruction on kitty filleting, I invited him to follow us home for a "show and tell". [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]

svpdcar and his daily double. Nice fish and a nice job of tricking out the tube.


Nice kitties in the 4 to 5 pound range. Good work Gary.


TubeBabe and her two contributions to the "shore lunch" kitty krispies back at the Tube hacienda. Both about 3.4 pounds. Just right for inviting home.


TubeDude's 3 cats (to 4.5 pounds) and 6 scampies (white bass).

[#0000ff]Yeah, the weather conditions were less than ideal, but we did get into some nice cats. Also brought home enough white bass for a panful of whitie scampi tonight. Already had some fried kitty krispies for lunch. After showing fishhound how the electric fillet knife worked, we whomped up some fish and cornbread for lunch. Made us realize one of the best reasons for going after them whiskery wascals...and inviting them home with ya.[/#0000ff] [/size]
[signature]

[JapanRon]

Wow.... nice trip.

That fish is the cat's meow!

JapanRon
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey Ron, howzit goin'? Here's a followup trip the next day.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[size 1][#0000ff]Family commitments kept us away from the Willard Bay shindig, and forced us to cancel a trip to Idaho with Xman. However, about 1 PM TubeBabe said she did not want to waste the rest of the day, and it was a nice day for fishing. So, we loaded up the Jimmy with tubes, gear and bait and headed for Lindon. We wanted a rematch after we got blown off by the W on Friday morning.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]We got launched by 3 and "cruised" out the harbor entrance about 3:20. Water temp was 68 degrees, which felt good in the warm afternoon air. We had elected to fish wet (waderless). There was a steady procession of boats and PWC coming and going, but we managed to time it right for our departure from the harbor.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]TubeBabe headed for her kittyfish honey hole, a few hundred yards north of the jetties. I paused to play with some whities or wallies at the mouth of the creek. One boat had just pulled out of there, and there was a canoe and a couple of waders up in the creek. There was another small boat anchored next to the reeds on the south side of the creek outlet. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]My first cast got a solid whack, some surges and headshakes. I was thinking walleye and that's what it turned out to be...a 21 inch 3.5 pounder. Took his picture and released him unharmed (into my basket). Two casts later I got another whack and wrestled in a determined white bass on my ultralight gear. The poor guy in the boat was on the verge of tears. He admitted that he had been there for hours and had not had a bite.[/#0000ff]



[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]A couple more light taps there, but no more takers. I powered down the lake to the north, to see if I could entice a couple of kitties for the smoker. We had decided that we were going to do some jerky-smoked kittyfish (if we caught enough).[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The water had a slight ripple, but the only waves were from all the boats running back and forth in the toasty afternoon sunshine. It was not difficult to maintain the slow stop-and-go bait drag we do from the tube. Everything was just right...except nobody told the catfish. Neither TB nor myself had even a "pop and drop" on our baits for a long time. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I was dragging a piece of carp meat, while casting with my new red hooked jigs. They had accounted for several whites and walleyes over the past couple of weeks and continued to entice more white bass. I had four or five in the basket before my bait rod twitched and the line began running out from the spool on my baitcaster. I set the hook into a chunky 22 inch 4.5 pound channel cat and enjoyed being spun around several times before she came to the net.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]TubeBabe had previously netted a feisty 20 inch channel cat that weighed in just under 3 pounds. We continued to fish carp meat with no further results. TubeBabe finally decided to try dragging a crawler, in hopes of getting something besides a channel, if that what it took. It worked. She bagged a nice 24" walleye that later weighed 4.6 pounds and was looking much healthier than most 'eyes we have seen this year.[/#0000ff]

[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]TB continued to get hits on the crawler, but they were not taking it solidly. I suggested the "inquiries" might be from white bass. She then caught one of the little varmints to confirm my theory. I kept fishing the plastics as well as the bait and brought in several more white bass. I cut one up and used the meat for bait. Two whacks but no runners.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]By 8 PM we decided we had all the fun we could stand. The cats were just not playing and the sun was headed toward the hills on the other side of the glass smooth lake. Couldn't ask for a nicer evening, but the fish were just not active.[/#0000ff]


[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]As we approached the harbor entrance, the water was 71 degrees and there was still a procession of as many boats going out as coming in. There was also a pretty good lineup on both jetties, with folks fishing from the bank. quite a few had lanterns and looked like they planned to make a night of it...at least until 10 PM closing time at Lindon.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Met Coldfooter just coming in (in his "dinker"), He had found the same lack of action on cats that we had. Said he fished all the usually productive spots on the north side of the lake with only minimal success.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Also was approached while going out, and later while fishing, by a "lurker" in a Crestliner, who recognized me even though I did not know him. He is not a registered member. He admitted that he visits BFT often, and enjoys our chatter, but did not feel that he had anything to contribute. Was also concerned that we might criticize his spelling. WHAT? We don gots no prolem with spellun on this board. Does we?[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]When I hit the launch ramp I noticed that my tube had lost some air. I know the reason. When I lifted my fish basket to get a white bass for bait, I allowed the basket to contact the right side of my tube. One of those wascally whities (stickery devils) probably flopped around and got a fin spine into my air chamber. It has happened before. At least I know where to look for the leak. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]

[#0000ff]I ended up with one walleye, one cat and nine white bass. Didn't fill the basket with kitty fillets for the smokeout, but have some frozen ones to add. I'll do a pictorial on that process.[/#0000ff] [/size]
[signature]