Lincoln Beach Utah Lake early morning float

[cat_man]

[font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1][font "Verdana,Arial,Helvetica"][black][size 1]Originally posted on the Utah forum...


Hit Lincoln Beach this morning from 5 am to 7 am. Got a late start cause my buddy who was supposed to pick me up never showed, so I ventured out alone anyway. I got to try out my "new to me" Eagle Cuda 168 fishfinder and the mount I set up for it. Here's the display unit, mounted onto a block of 2x4.

I did this late at night, so to avoid waking up the baby I cut it with my swiss army knife saw. Man that takes forever to saw a simple 2x4 with such a small blade! lol

I also brought along this trout net. I thought I would show it because it's special to me. I made it in high school wood shop from maple and walnut, then later bought a net and strung it up.


The water temp was 75 degrees the whole time I was out there. I launched from the south dike on the inside edge, then paddled around and headed south towards Benjamin slough area. Got a couple of bumps on jigs but no solid takers. About halfway out I switched to bait -- a 2way swivel with piece of carp meat below and a worm on the upper hook. I slow trolled it while I paddled out towards the reed edge. Had a hard hit and set the hook hard into a nice scrappy white bass. Stuck him on the string for bait. I stopped and casted jigs in the area for awhile in hopes of locating the school, but no luck so I moved on.


Up near the reeds the water was only 2.3 feet deep, but I casted out anyway with no weight. Caught 2 small mudders on the worm before I had to head back to get ready for work. No takers on the way back to the car either. Although I was a little disappointed at not getting into any channel cats, it was still a fun morning out on the lake. The only real downside was the ARMY of midges that flew in my ears, up my nose, in my eyes and everywhere else. Apparently DEET has no effect on those buggers. Didn't see any mosquitos though, which was good. Once you get away from the dikes a bit there are a lot less bugs. Left at about 7 so I could get to work. [/size][/black][/font][/size][/black][/font]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey Kevin, glad you got on the water. Too bad the big boys didn't want to play. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]When I got into them on Monday morning, they did not start hitting until after 8, and then they shut off just after 10. They seem to have a different schedule about every day we go down there. Also, the fish had been holding in tight to the reeds, but with the water dropping a little some of them are moving out. Most of my fish on Monday were in a little deeper water, farther away from the reeds. I don't think I hooked any channels in less than 3 feet of water and the bigger ones were in 3.5 to 4.0.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]On any given day, it is best when you can have enough time to wait them out and then keep moving in and out and up and down the shoreline until you find them. The last three successful trips down there the fish have been mostly in only one or two areas. If we strayed too far from those the bites dropped off.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We still have to get our social calendars coordinated so that we can gang up on them. I have been back to Utah for almost a year now and you and I have still never met up. That's wrong.[/#0000ff]
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[cat_man]

[cool] - ya no kidding. It is quite frustrating to me as well when I don't have a lot of time to fish and it seems like just when I'm getting started I gotta leave. It didn't help this time that I spent a lot of time setting up cause I hadn't set up the fish finder before. I think I need a better way to hook on rod holders and the transducer that can be quick attach and release. Something like small bungee cords or clips. I hate tying on the line (I use old cord from my duck decoys), then trying to untie it all afterwords when the knots are wet. It was also tricky getting the transducer tube to sit just right vertically so that it would get an accurate depth measurement. It ended up being slightly at an angle but it was good enough.

It's my fault our schedules haven't lined up yet. You fish like 3 or 4 times a week, I've been able to go like once a month until just recently, if that. We'll get it lined up sooner or later, hopefully sooner.

I was marking tons of fish all up and down the water column from the surface to mid depth to bottom in certain areas, like the one where I caught the white bass, but they didn't seem to be very active, or they just didn't like what I was offering. Most fish were holding in areas around 6 feet deep. In the shallower 2.5 - 4 feet depth I marked practically no fish at all. Doesn't necessarily mean that they weren't there, but I sure didn't see them.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Hey cat_man, both my rod rack and transducer mounts are quick on and quick off. Here are links to the two posts with pics I have put up in the past[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=87989;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]BUNGEE CORD TRANSDUCER MOUNT[/url][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]By using the bungee cord, you can set up your transducer so that it rides up out of the water (and away from rocks) while launching or beaching. When you get into deeper water, you can rotate the shaft so that it points straight down.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=115559;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;;page=unread#unread"]LITE RACK WITH LOOPS MOUNT[/url][/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]About the fish you see on the sonar. There will be more showing up in deeper water. First, because schooling fish prefer deeper water. Second, because fish will usually scoot out away from you in shallower water and rarely show up within the "cone" of the transducer...unless you are just floating quietly, without moving your fins.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]One of the worst things about sonar is that it tells us there are fish there, even when they aren't hitting. That messes you up. You don't take it nearly so personally when you can imagine that you are not catching fish because they are not around.[/#0000ff]
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[cat_man]

Ya I'm envisioning something like your bungee on the single tube transducer mount. I also had a real hard time getting it hooked on and setting everthing else up cause it would hit the rocks. I tried having it hang over the edge of a rock with mixed success. I then finished airing up the tubes the rest of the way and got it in the water. Being able to move it horizontal over the top of the tube will be a big help.

My other problem is with the 2 rod holder, as it always seems to fall over backwards or lean against me if it's not balanced perfectly. This means if I'm only using 1 pole in it, or if I'm paddling and the boat is slightly rocking, etc.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]I secure the bottom of my rod rack in place by using a bungee cord attached to some D rings on the underside of my SFC. Not sure if they have those on the FC4 or not. They were put there to attach pack straps, and I think most Outcast craft have them. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I plan to take a new series of pics on my latest setup. I have been using white plastic molding strips for attaching my rod tubes, instead of wood or PVC as a base. I have been using the same material to make my "tool rack". [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I also have some new "take down" rod tubes that can be set up as "outriggers" to hole bait rods while fishing with two poles. I finally have a design that holds either spinning or baitcasting rods securely to that an eager catfish cannot make off with your rod if you do not have the free spool on or the bail open.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I'll try to get the new pictorial ready to post before the weekend is over. It will include pics of attaching the bungee cord to the bottom of the tube and then to the rod holder. If you only need two rods, my design will work well for you. All you need to do is make the tubes the same distance apart as the two D rings on the side of the tube, and make nylon rope loops to slip them into. Quick install and take down.[/#0000ff]
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[cat_man]

I'll be very interested to see the new setup. Yes the Fish Cat 4 does have 4 D-rings on the underside of the seat to be used for backpack straps. They are not parallel however. The ones towards the front are spaced farther apart than the ones towards the back, which would make each backpack strap angle from the should inwards towards the small of your back. I suppose this was an attempt to make it more comfortable to carry.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Outcast and other companies sell backpack straps that can be attached to those D rings. Here is a pic of the ones sold by Outcast.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I simply run a piece of bungee cord between the two D rings on the side of the rod rack and pull the middle around to hook to the bottom of the rack. That holds it firmly in place, as long as you have the side attachment adjusted properly.[/#0000ff]

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[cat_man]

If I had a third rod holder in the center that would work perfectly for me. Unfortunately, as you can see in the pic, there are only two. How would you suggest I rig this one?


The way I have it, just tied to the D-rings and leaning off to the side, is far too unstable. A bungee underneath to the D-rings would secure it nicely, but do I use two then? One for each rod holder tube? Do I drill a hole in the center of the cross tube and attache it there? That doesn't seem like it will be affective there. Whaddaya think?
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]There are several options. I run a length of stretch cord between the two D rings on one side of the bottom, then stretch it as shown up to a hook. At least that is the old way. When I post my new design, there is a carabiner run through a hole in the baseboard material and I just hook the loop of cord in it. With your design, you could drill and crimp S hooks in the bottom of each tube...or you could tie on a carabiner with a loop of cord around the cross tube. It does not have to ride centered. On my first designs, I only hooked one tube and it worked fine.[/#0000ff]
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