Posts: 35,761
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[#0000FF]4 of us tuber-tooner types met up at American Fork Boat Harbor (Utah Lake) this morning for a cat-fest. Got 'er done. Air temp 51 and water temp 54 at 7 am launch. Both dropped a bit when a stout south breeze blew in for a couple of hours. Final water temp was about 57 around 1 pm.
There was TubeBabe and myself, Waljustia and high n dry. The first three were tubing and HND was in his pontoon. We were all dragging carp meat and/or chub minnows (the left handed blue-eyed ones). Took a while for the fish to wake up in the cool water. TubeBabe (who else) scored the first couple of kitties a bit after 8...and then Waljustia whupped a nice one for his basket.
I had been messing around in shallower water, looking for whities or whatever. The fish seemed to be holding in 5.5 to 6 feet for those that were getting bit. So...I moved back out to deeper water. As soon as I got in the ZONE I started getting action too. In fact, I ended up with about 10...which was about double what any of the others scored.
There were no skunks. We all got fish. Mostly nice 22 - 24 inch channels. Some "Willard-sized" under 20's. A few chunky little mudders and TubeBabe got one 6" white bass on a minnow. I pitched a lot of plastic and had a few light hits. One of those light hits turned into a cantankerous kitty of about 24 inches. Much fun on my light whitie rod. And, we got fish on both minnows and carp meat. Although I think the largest cats hit the carp better.
Waljustia had to bail out for work detail about noonish and TubeBabe and I weren't far behind him. HND had the whole day off and stayed out to make the best of it. Hope he scored a few after we left.
Water inside the harbor is five to six feet out from the ramp, but only about 3.5 feet between the two rocky points at the harbor entrance. Saw very few fish on sonar inside the harbor and only got one smack on plastic. Might be fish under the docks but I didn't take the time to work them.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 575
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2007
Reputation:
0
Thanks again TubeDude! Next stop Lincoln or Lindon! I got some good footage of a couple catches. Will work at getting it online when I get home.
[signature]
Posts: 14,113
Threads: 169
Joined: Jan 2011
Reputation:
14
Looks like a fun day on the puddle, nice catching and glad you had a nice day to enjoy... Later J
[signature]
Posts: 2,379
Threads: 4
Joined: Jan 2006
Reputation:
0
Awesome pics from my old stomping grounds. Looks like lots of snow on Timp still, always a good photo.
Nice job on the kitties...hate the mudders, love the channels.
I caught 3 ugly carp today over 2'...dang things destroy my hooks. Only one 20" channel, so I'm still looking for something 'contest worthy' in the cat contest.
Glad you guys had fun at the AF harbor! That town sure is growing.
[signature]
Posts: 199
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2009
Reputation:
0
Looks like a wonderful day to have been out... Just makes it that much more clear that I'm in NEED of some water therapy something fierce...
[signature]
Posts: 35,761
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[#0000FF]Whenever I post pics of Timp I know you will appreciate them.
Yep, still some snow...but going fast now. There probably won't be much by the end of May.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 1,437
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2009
Reputation:
0
Meh. Majestic scenery of almost fairy-tale mountains is overrated. Timp- schmimp.
Jk.
TD, do you think this afternoon might be a good time to get after them? Been two nice days since you were there, but I might have to work from shore or wade. Got some frozen carp chunks to thaw and slice.......worth hitting the bulrushes along Pelican?
I have never fished AM Fork should successfully, even for panfish, except through the ice, when I have done pretty well.
Lindon/Bubble up?
[signature]
Posts: 3,327
Threads: 0
Joined: Jul 2011
Reputation:
0
At first when I saw the title I almost didn't want to click on it.
Latley I have been working very close to Af harbor and Lindon and a few times this week my boss told me to take and hour or two off. Been kickin myself for not having a fishin rod in the work truck! Luckily you mentioned the harbor was almost lifeless.
[signature]
Posts: 35,761
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[#0000FF]Gonna be "airy" this afternoon. That tends to send cats to deeper water and reduces their activity level. But if you could find a sheltered spot with warm water you might get some love. No suggestions on where that might be...but if the forecast is for SW winds then the area between Pelican Bay and Pelican Point might be workable. Some structure (snags) in there so a bobber might be helpful.
We just timed it right...between blows. The water was murky from the wind early but cleared and warmed later as the south breezes blew cleaner water in from the open lake.
Lindon will be rocked by waves from the SW so it will be unlikely today. I like the mornings when there are only light breezes from the SE...and the steam plume from the power plant is vertical.
Stupid weather.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 35,761
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[quote TyeDyeTwins] Latley I have been working very close to Af harbor and Lindon and a few times this week my boss told me to take and hour or two off. Been kickin myself for not having a fishin rod in the work truck! Luckily you mentioned the harbor was almost lifeless.[/quote]
[#0000FF]We did not see much in the harbor at Lindon last week and AFBH this week. But keep in mind that we usually take a straight line from the ramp to the harbor exit. Once I feel there are likely to be more fish inside, I take more time to work around the edges and the dock. And I have done very well inside both harbors in the past.
However, my best days in the past were after the water warmed well above the 60 degree mark and the water levels were close to full. Still a ways to go on temperature and water levels are only about half what they should be inside the harbors right now.
Still...the fish gotta spawn and they gotta eat. So they will come inside for both. Just not as many and not as easy to find and catch. There have been times of drought in the past when fish were being caught under the docks with only a couple of feet of water.
Take advantage of any chances you get to explore those spots. Any fishing trip you don't take puts you one behind for the rest of your life. And they are always better than anything you could be doing in the office. Well, almost anything.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 1,437
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2009
Reputation:
0
Thanks, TD. Been rough trying to get around the weather this year, alright. Almost no matter where I do or what I go, wind shows up and blows it!
[signature]
Posts: 35,761
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[#0000FF]My theory is that there is a very sophisticated weather generator in the middle of Utah Lake. And, it is contrarian. No matter what the meteorological forecast...based upon real science...that generator will whip up something the exact opposite of what has been forecast. And it will be entirely different for different guys on different trips in different parts of the lake. That is the only possible explanation for the hundreds of trips I have planned...based upon forecasts...and then ended up with the worst possible weather conditions for the venue I chose.
Oh yeah, there is a reason why "Mother Nature" is of the female gender. Never will be a "Daddy Nature". If there was it would always be mellow weather. Mama always gotta keep putting us guys in "our place"...as long as it ain't her place.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 1,586
Threads: 5
Joined: Mar 2004
Reputation:
1
Glad ya got out and everybody caught a few fish. Makes a nice day. Been preoccupied but I need to get out soon. The low water and the pumping makes me nervous I was hoping for a good spawn on the pan fish this year.
[signature]
Posts: 1,437
Threads: 0
Joined: Feb 2009
Reputation:
0
Yep. I went to Pelican, but it is SO low, as low as it on my first was my first look around Sure enough, between leaving work and buying some bait, the 80F dropped to a windy overcast 60. . Went anyway. Did manage one 19" cat. Had to make LONG casts to get into what I vaguely hoped was 5' or water with some big egg sinkers I had and hope the God of Snags was merciful. Also scored a couple bullheads, and a few small crappie in the marina after dark. So, catching a fish at UL only took 5 trips this year, but the skunk is dead.
Also saw the biggest garter snake of my life. Sucker was as thick as a rake handle and probably four feet.
[signature]
Posts: 35,761
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[#0000FF]Water temps and water levels this low in early May do not bode well for good spawning...for any species besides carp. And so far they have been scarce. I at least hope the white bass can get in a good enough spawn to get their numbers back up a bit.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 35,761
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[#0000FF]Glad you performed your skunk exorcism but sorry it wasn't better. Sounds like Mama Nature and her mid-lake weather generator gotcha.
I had planned to hit Willard this morning but when I got up my trees were already rocking and rolling in the wind. Another planned trip "blown off". That is somewhere around a dozen cancelled trips this year so for...called on account of weather.
Some big snakes around Utah Lake...of several species. I have seen some big gopher (bull) snakes too. Also a few "buzz-tails". Had a big gopher snake swimming out toward me from shore at Lincoln Beach one time. Brought back memories of the big diamondbacks that did that down in Arizona. I'm not afraid of snakes but I do not care to share the comfort of my float tube with them. TubeBabe, on the other hand, does a very good imitation of a Polaris missile launching from a submarine whenever she sees a snake while out in her float tube. Either that or a hydroplane racing boat throwing up a giant roostertail as she kicks to get away from it.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 14,113
Threads: 169
Joined: Jan 2011
Reputation:
14
Hey TD sorry you got blown out already, I'm just leaving Logan and its still dead calm up here, but with a storm on the way in, I hear the wind is on the way. So what is your thoughts on bigger catfish this time of year. I found a good pocket of kittens in deeper water, but I suspect the big ones were somewhere else. Are they heading to the shallows this time of year, depending on weather of course? I did find that they are eating minnows again. I couldn't keep the mudders off on worms so I switched to sucker and minnows and it helped get more channels, but I even got some mudders on that. One especially hungry mudder grabbed ahold of a chunk of sucker bigger than it and didn't have a hook in it, but wouldn't let go of the bait so I caught it without setting a hook.
Hey just running through Brigham and the trees aren't blowing yet. Later J
[signature]
Posts: 14,113
Threads: 169
Joined: Jan 2011
Reputation:
14
Little north breeze on the flag near north marina at Willard, looks like light walleye chop on the bay. 6:15 drive by. Later J
[signature]
Posts: 35,761
Threads: 262
Joined: Sep 2002
Reputation:
49
[#0000FF]The wind has died down a bit here too, but the forecast is not stable. "Fair and sunny with occasional hurricanes". I was hoping for a few hours of "mild" conditions...realizing that by mid morning it could be too windy for decent tubing. But I fish for enjoyment, not endurance. And I would rather stay home than drive two hours for only an hour of fishing...and then watch the whitecaps blow by.
Bigger cats are looking for spawning cover. That can be tangles of roots, holes in rocks or undercut banks. But they will not be making nests until the water temps bump up well over the sixty degree mark. 65 - 70 morning temps are best. If there are areas of riprap rock near the dam there will be big channels using it for spawning.
Until they actually spawn the cats are more interested in food and warmer water. If they can find a shallow protected cove or channel...that warms a few degrees more than deeper water...that is where they will be on warm afternoons. If the weather stabilizes for a few days the fish will be more predictable. Otherwise they move in and out and don't feed as actively.
In short, they can be anywhere at any time. And in the relative shallow waters you are fishing they can really move around a lot during any given day. Good timing and good luck are a big part of it.
[/#0000FF]
[signature]
Posts: 14,113
Threads: 169
Joined: Jan 2011
Reputation:
14
Thanks for the info Pat. How much do cats move in a day, do you have any idea? Would they move into shallow side channels and sloughs that are up to a half mile out of the deeper protection waters? Earlier I wasn't finding them there, but it seemed like they are changing up a little now to more the pattern I seen last year. I'm sure hoping so, but I guess another storm will change that again. With a toon it's hard for me to change from one location to the other so I kind of have to guess right to start with, but I guess you know how that goes really well. Thanks again. J
[signature]
|
