BFT Mini Floatilla on Utah Lake

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Some of us tuber types made a semi organized assault on the fishy denizens of the Knolls, on Utah Lake this morning. TubeBabe and I met up with Swedishfish at Maverick and then caravaned to find TlSpyder13 just unloading his gear at the launch site. It was hard to see Richard in the early morning light. Not because it was still dark but because he was obscured by a dense cloud of midges. They were thick.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Air temp 70 and water temp 70 at the 6:30 AM launch. Light breeze and water slightly murky from all the recent wind. Water level on Utah Lake has dropped about a foot since our last trip. Guess spring is over and summer is here.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I let everybody else launch first in the small launch area. By the time I got on the water they were heading out all over the lake. I took my time and started dragging a minnow on one rod while casting a tandem tube jig rig on the second rod. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Got my first taker within about 10 minutes of launching...a 16" cookie cutter channel cat that was the first of about a dozen that size we caught today. It hit my infamous red/chartreuse tube jig with a piece of worm on it. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A few minutes later I set the hook in a 21 inch kitty that had slurped a carp minnow. Then my first 2 footer...a fiesty 24 incher. I had my fourth cat before we had been on the water an hour. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Spyderman had one and lost it. He went fishless for a long time before finally scoring a kitty or two. Swedishfish made up for the skunk he experienced at the Knolls last Saturday on a short trip to another area. He was whacking the kitties with regularity. Several of the cookie cutters along with some over 20. I think his best was a 2 footer too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]TubeBabe started slow but finished strong. She ended up with a six footer (3 two-footers) and a couple of cookies. You never have to wonder when she hooks up. The folks across the lake at Lincoln Beach probably heard her hollerin.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I tossed a few cats back but kept my limit of 8 since I wanted some more for the smoker. After number 8, including MY six footer (3 - 2's), I threw plastics and crankbaits on the way back to the launch ramp. Got a lot of hits and landed a few small white bass. Missed a lot more hits and lost a few fish on the way in. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]We caught cats from 4' to 9' deep today. Best depths seemed to be about 7-8 feet. White bass were all over the place in 5 - 7 feet. They kept messing with our minnows and tore up several minnows. Caught a couple on the minnows.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Water temp up to 74 when we came in about 11. It was getting hot fast. [/#0000ff]
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[peter805]

Nice going guys. That first two footer is a pig. That would
be fun on a fly rod (7wt).
Thank you for sharing TD.

Peter
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]That one weighed almost 7 pounds and put up a great battle even on stout spinning gear.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have caught cats over 10 pounds on flyrods, including some on floating grasshopper patterns.[/#0000ff]
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[peter805]

[quote TubeDude][cool][#0000ff]That one weighed almost 7 pounds and put up a great battle even on stout spinning gear.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have caught cats over 10 pounds on flyrods, including some on floating grasshopper patterns.[/#0000ff][/quote]

Grasshoppers ?!?!? wow , I would never think that you
can get a catfish on top water. The one I caught was with
sinking line off the bottom. But then again-what do I know

Peter
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[tlspyder13]

I was really wondering if all the fresh killed skunks I passed on the way in were telling me something for the day. Looked that way until the end when I finally landed a little 22 incher. After everyone else had left I hooked into one more that I never could get off the bottom. Get to the tube and just peal off the line. Thought I had it tired out below my tube and it spit the hook at me. O well. Was nice to meet Swedishfish and fish with TubeDude and TubeBabe again.
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[TubeDude]

[cool][cool][#0000ff]Catfish love grasshoppers. They are a popular catfish bait in many places around the country. However, they are usually fished on spinning or baitcast gear, with a sinker to get the bug down to the bottom.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, there are also places where the whiskerfish learn about big hoppers flying or being blown into the water along the edges of streams and lakes during the summer and they will set up shallow ambush stations. Sometimes they just suck the bugs under, like a sneaky brown trout. Other times they are noisy about it.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]My experience with cats on hoppers happened on a small reservoir just south of Denver, Colorado. It was a multi species lake and I was fishing mostly with light spinning gear for yellow perch and smallmouth bass, just offshore. Late on a sunny summer morning I heard a big splash next to shore. I turned to look, expecting to see that an animal (or kid) had fallen into the water. Nope. The splash had been made by a large fish of some kind.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]A few minutes later, a similar splash, a bit downshore from the first one. I did not see the actual splash, or the fish. I was guessing maybe a big bass chasing bluegills or something. But, I paid closer attention while continuing to cast. Then, I saw a big grasshopper lift off from the dried grassy area next to the water and fly out over the water before a gust of breeze crash landed it into the water a few feet from shore. The unlucky hopper fluttered and flopped and then started trying to kick its way back to safety. It never made it. It disappeared in a big splashy rise. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I traded my light spinning rod for the six weight flyrod in my arsenal. It was fitted with a sink tip line, but I did not take time to change to a floater. I dug out a big squirrel tail streamer that had a yellow body. Looked kinda like a hopper. I dosed it with floatant to help keep it buoyant and fired it the short distance to the ZONE. It took several casts and different jerk-pause retrieves before I got an "inquiry". The sink tip line actually pulled the fly a bit under water when twitched. But, it was good enough.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It took me about 10 minutes to wear out the "small" five pound catfish that took that streamer the first time. It took me almost a half hour to subdue the 35 inch (approximately 12-13 pounds) cat that took it a few minutes later. I caught several others between 4 and 10 pounds before a serious breeze kicked up and shut down my fun.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I returned a few days later with a 7-8 weight outfit and an assortment of hoppers and poppers. I only caught two that day, and no more on subsequent trips after that. But, I was lucky to be there on that one magical day when the kitties wanted fresh hoppers on their menu. That's the stuff that makes forever memories.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But...I have caught grundles of cats on flies over the years. They often join in with bass, chasing shad, on clear reservoirs. When they do, you are sometimes surprised to find a "whiskery largemouth" on your line when working a boil.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I have also caught a lot of channel cats and even a few small flatheads while fishing big boogers or streamers for other species. On more than one occasion I quit fishing for whatever I had been targeting before and just enjoyed the catfish action. Not many fish hit harder or fight longer than a nasty ol' kitty.[/#0000ff]
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[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]You haven't been getting out on the water nearly enough lately. We need to get you into a remedial kitty-catchin' class and then give you plenty of "lab" work...on the water.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]It is always fun to fish with ya. Keep in touch and don't be afraid to invite yourself along on our little floatillas. [/#0000ff]
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[peter805]

Great cat fish hopper read TD. In lot of reservors aroud
here they put cats in it all summer long and in big numbers.
Not too many people fish for them (bass is what they like)
so I know that some of the cats get BIG.
I think I have to start targeting them. The one I caught was
about 10 incher but it did feel like a lot bigger fish.
Thank you TD for the insparation.

Peter
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