Kinda liked Jeffs idea last year of having this Thread for sharing info and just pain old fish talk.
I think it helps keep our scoring threads a little cleaner making it easier for Jeff to see our entries.
Good Luck To you all. Go North we got this AGAIN 
John, wondered if Jeff would put up another thread like this. Glad you did. I got a hunch that with the site change, the ice contest ending, the Cat Contest starting, jeff is pretty busy.
Was planning to head up to the river in the morning if the weather will cooperate.
Been a couple nice days this past week, you been doing and good up there ?
Hey you two, you better leave some big ones for me! Hopefully I can get in a couple of hours of fishing here and there next week. Looking forward to an early charge by the North team.
come rain or shine, or wind Iām hitting it tomorrow.
Good luck all
Hey John, your āCat Chatā thread was a good idea. Good to see you are getting out a bit and having some luck. The wind has me holed up so I canāt get out in my boat. Plenty of time, but still anxious to get out.
I have to wonder about the impact this C-19 bug is having on everybody. Fortunately, fishing is not a spectator sport so we should be able to get out and do our thing. I feel for the guys who will lose work dollars becacuse of shut downs. Being retired and not much of a socialite Iām fine just keeping a low profile. Seems like the most contagious aspect of this bug is the panicā¦ armed confrontations over toilet paper??? Hoping for the best.
I have always found the cattinā to be kinda slow in the early spring. I know Pat has always done well in the early part of the year and you guys that fish the Bear always get some biguns. I long for those warm summer months when there is always the risk of having your pole ripped right out of your hands and only a foolish catter leaves an unwatched pole with the bail closed. Love it. 
Good on you northern guys, us southern fishers will be coming on strong as soon as the weather calms a bit.This is the year for my 36 incher.
2 fish on the board already Southerns got some catchup to do.
it was windy on the bear I did find two fish that wanted to play.
Nice going John! Enjoy it while you can! ?
Yes Ben I will. Glad you are sticking around for some of this years contest. the South needs all the help they can get.
Nice goin John. I looked out my yard several times yesterday, saw the blue sky and white clouds up towards the BRBR, and just knew you were up there hittin the contest board with something.
I got a question, so do I need to have your measuring stick Iām using for the contest certified?? I saw in some other threds people talking about getting their bump boards certified?
Anybody catch cats at Hyrum, I see them listed as a āspeciesā in the lake
Okay I have a topic that I could use some help with: Yesterday when I went out I actually had several hits I missed, well truth be told the day went like thisā¦ First cast out of both poles I had a fish grab my left pole which had a big honking quarter pound of carp on itā¦ It had an 8 ought hook with a 3 ought stinger hook right by it with both hooks in the same piece of bait. As the bobber took off I was so excited I immediately tried to set the hook and gave a big harry jerk and pulled it right out of its mouth, no contactā¦ While later right pole bobber takes off.. Note this pole has a flig baited with carp and then two other 4 ought hooks lower with less bait on this rig prospecting for what they wanted. Anyway it is under a bobber and the bobber takes off, this pole has my bait feeder reel on so I let it take off and swimā¦ note they are moving slow, not the summer grab and run ā¦ The fish gets out maybe 10 yards and I decide to set the hook, so I cranked into it and all heck breaks lose as the fish thrashes like an alligator, the head pops out and itās a big boy, like probably 28 plus fishā¦ I fight for maybe two or three seconds after and itās gone, like opened its mouth and spit it outā¦ As the afternoon went on, two more takes and total whiffs when I try to set the hook after the bobbers being carried a long ways awayā¦ So I tried to cut my bait into smaller pieces so the hooks stuck out better and casted back outā¦ Then I caught the 22"er, but it was hooked on the outside of the mouth, so probably not the hook it tookā¦ A long time later I got the 26.5 and it had swallowed it so I did get a good hook set there. My question is, how should I be baiting up or rigging my hooks so I get a better hook up ratioā¦ I donāt usually get many bites and if I miss them I have a good chance on not catching anythingā¦ Anyone willing to do a basic rigging baiting piece so I can try and do better? Thanks Jeff
**Well, I did venture out to the River yesterday. Rain and wind off and on. Still no bites for me. But I did get a good laugh. I pulled up to the boat ramp, saw something strange sticking out of a fence post. When I got close enough I could see that it was a camera tri-pod. Now there may be other guys, but I only know one that takes and uses a camera tri-pod at the riverā¦Ahi1953 John. Shortly after seeing it, John pulled up. I had already taken and put it in my truck, figure I would be a good deed angler friend and keep it for him. I see him at the river just about every weekend. I show it to him, he says, āyeah, that was my old broken one. I got a new one. I put this one in the trash can in the bathroom at the bottom parking areaā Well I guess there was someone else at the river, saw it in the trash and decided they would also be a good deed anglerā¦and stuck it in the fence post at the ramp.
(I had a photo of it, but must have cleared it off my phone)
Anyway, glad John caught another Cat yeasterday. **
I vote for better weather as well. Man itās cold when that wind gets blowing. Tough cattin lately. Later J
Not sure whats happening Jeff. I have had fish that pick up the bait and run without getting the hook and fish that get hooked in the wiskers. When using circle hooks the main thing to remmber snell them with the leader comming out of the front of the eye 
Hey John Iāve never learned to tie a snell hook, I use the Palomar knot and itās easy and doesnāt fail me. So thatās my knot of choice. I let that last one take its time with the take and it swallowed it deep, but luckily it was easy to get out without hurting the fish. Poor fish looked like it had been fighting already, it had quite the wounds already. Maybe it found a boat motor. Hope the coming week will be better fishen. Later J