Split Shift at Lincoln Beach

Utah Fishing Reports & Discussion Utah Fishing General
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:sunglasses:Haven’t been on the water in a few days and the weather doesn’t look good for a whole lotta nothin’ for the next few days. Figured I’d chance a quick run to Lincoln Beach. Even took my bow in case the carp got frisky. Didn’t happen.

Launched off the shallow beach at Lincoln about 6:30. Light breezes. Air temp 46 and water temp 57.5. Better but not there yet.

Carp clumps all over the place. Groups of a few to a bunch were gathering on the surface to blow bubbles and arrange “dates” for the upcoming spring fling. Standard prespawn activity. Hard to fish plastics anywhere without hanging a dorsal diner or tail taker. But, when I would swim a small jig with a piece of worm quietly into a clump one of the rowdy ones would usually slurp it in and game on. Made my string sing on a few. Kept 4 for bait.

Hung a few small whities but did not fish them seriously. Waiting for the water temp to come up a bit. Afternoons are better. Didn’t happen today. More on that later.

Dragged a minnow on one rod. Had a few inquiries and landed two mudders (bullheads). One was nice and chunky. The other was a skinny minnie. Also caught a fiesty 22 inch channel cat.

Had a brief visit with ripnlip, who cruised up in his nice pontoon with another angler (sorry, didn’t get the name). They moved off to fish around the mouth of Benjamin Slough. We talked about getting together to compare notes later…and something about him towing me at mach 10 behind his boat. Not me. My mama got rid of all the dumb ones…except my sister.

**The carp never did move into the shallow cove to start splashing so I got out and moved my base of operations to a spot off the highway down in Goshen Bay. Figured there might be some warmer temps there and some whities to go with it. There was and there were. Got a few whities to convince me they were there for the taking…when I got around to it. **

Worked out into 5 feet of water and soaked a minnow while casting twin plastics. Got two nice cookie cutter kitties on minnows, along with one other one that smacked my little red and chartreuse jig. Fun fun.

Just about noon the water temps were edging toward 62. I had planned to be off the water about noon but wanted to get in a few casts for whities before I left. And heck, I was only a couple hundred yards from my vehicle and launch spot. Piece of cake.

I could swear that I heard Mama Nature giggle about that time…right before the sound of the switch turning on that powerful fan from the north. It had been almost calm all morning. We joked about “having to fight the heavy wind.” Now a “noon monsoon” slammed into me from behind…just the direction I had to go to get back to my car. NO WAY I was going to be able to kick even that short distance back. SOOOOOO…I powered my way through a couple of stands of reeds in my tube and took my gear out of the water at another spot…hiking up to pick up my car and return to load up. Been there done that before.

By the time I hit the road there were whitecaps on the lake big time. Looked like cottage cheese floating on a giant bowl of green jello. I know, bad visual. But hey, this is Utah.

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No, that was not a “bad” visual, that was a horrible visual. :slight_smile:

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You gotta love(or hate) how it goes from flat calm to whitecaps in thirty seconds on that pond. I was anchored straight out from the pulloff spot at the start of the orchards. The whities were biting everywhere from 3’ to 11’. I caught a dozen for bait then anchored for cats. Caught one big cat and almost lost a couple rods to fast takes.Missed them and had one more halfway to the boat when it came undone. Constant marks on the finder in 11’. Then when I had enough of the wind I tried to pull up my anchor. It was stuck hard. Drove around in circles trying to coax it free until my rope broke. Thats the fourth anchor I’ve lost to Utah Lake. No Walleye, but one take on a jig that wasn’t a bass. Never got to see what it was.
I’m using circle hooks for cats so they are seldom hooked anywhere but the corner of the mouth. Easy to un hook, but you miss more bites.

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Thanks for the nice report gonna hit it this afternoon on the north end maybe from shore!!

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That was my Brother in the boat with me this morning. Mike.

we ended up with 8 cats i think. 7 or 8. only one worth taking a picture this time.

WIND got crazy, crazy about 12:30 - 1:00. rough ride back tot he ramp.

we moved a lot and fished kinda fast. not enough patients for the WB I guess? we didn’t catch a one.
that was my first time launching down there. don;t know the area well enough to drive straight to the fish like i can
on the northern end.

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At least you got into something this morning. I went to Provo harbor and nada, zip zilch. Came out with a dead motor to boot.:angry: Now I am back on manual until Swede R’s can fix it.

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:sunglasses:Yep. WIND is a 4 letter word.

Sorry about the anchor. Sounds like UL was hungry today. Ate one of ripnlip’s rods too…when his brother practiced “cast and release”.

I gave up on circle hooks. I use the Eagle Claw 84s in red, bronze and nickle. The way I fish I also hook almost every fish in the corner of the mouth. I only use size 4 and 2 hooks…maybe a 1 or 1/0 on bigger baits. I may be a silly old dude but I enjoy whackin’ those fish when I set the hook. Seems kinda sissy lettin’ the fish do all the work.

PS…I didn’t miss one hookset today and all my fish were hooked in the corner of the mouth.

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Pat, I’m a little disappointed. All your PVC mastery and yet you haven’t made a BOW holder for your Tube??[;)] That is the first time I have seen a Carp in one of your posts that hadn’t had any “medical” procedures :laughing: Thanks for the report and let me know when we can get together to shoot some Carp[pirate]

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Another great report. I love your narratives and pictures! I see that the red glitter, chartreuse lure is continually appreciated by the Utah Lake fish.

I went fishing at Schofield and Deer Creek this week. The fish at Schofield were small…too small. The fish at Deer Creek were large…beautiful!!

I am waiting for the weather to turn for the better, and for the fish at Starvation to get ready to play.

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Do you make bait or scampi out of the white bass?

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Looking good Pat!! Nice post, Its great to have some regular weekly posts to look forward to again…we have to get together soon once the weather is constant.

C ya around,

Shawn

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Pat, I’m a little disappointed. All your PVC mastery and yet you haven’t made a BOW holder for your Tube??[;)] That is the first time I have seen a Carp in one of your posts that hadn’t had any “medical” procedures :laughing: Thanks for the report and let me know when we can get together to shoot some Carp[pirate]

:sunglasses:And just HOW do you know that I haven’t. The truth is that I have enough line catching stuff on my ride already and don’t need something else…like a bow. If I wanna perforate carp I step out of the tube and put on my Carpin Hood personna (apologies to Russell Crowe).

But, on a side note, I DID make an arrow-shooting slingshot arrangement from PVC and surgical tubing. It worked fine for close range shots but even with its lesser bulk it required SOMEPLACE to be stowed. Not much available extra space on my craft. Still better to use the real bow and stalk the scaly buggers afoot.

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“we have to get together soon once the weather is constant.”

:sunglasses:But…the weather HAS BEEN constant…constantly terrible.

Maybe about August.

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“I am waiting for the weather to turn for the better, and for the fish at Starvation to get ready to play.”

:sunglasses:The “extended” spring has kept the water temps very low at Starvation. Don’t think I will spend the time (and gas money) to hit it until reliable reports of warmer water and willing fish.

We have caught a lot of fish from Starvation on those cute little jigs…and a couple of others.

Glad you did well at Deer Creek. Maybe we can find some more big perch in there this year…if the white bass haven’t eaten them all.

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Do you make bait or scampi out of the white bass?

:sunglasses:I did not keep any yesterday. But, when I am harvesting I usually keep only enough for a meal or two…fresh…and maybe fillet a couple of the smaller ones for future bait.

I enjoy them “scampi style”…garlic butter saute…sometimes dipped into some shrimp bouillon butter…FAUX SHRIMP. But also like them grilled in my fish basket. I plan to do some in the smoker soon. Waljustia just sampled me on some whities he had smoked and they turned out great. Not big, but tasty.

I like to see white bass harvested…if utilized. No way the angler population can ever adversely affect the whitie population. By removing as many as possible it leaves more food for the others. Utah Lake white bass are only a fraction of the size they grew in the olden days…or in years when water fluctuations or heavy harvests reduced the numbers so they could grow more.

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Nudder great adventure Pat, thanks for posting and allowing me to fish by proxy. [:/]:sunglasses:

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:sunglasses:Thanks.

By the way, who is Proxy and does your wife know about her?

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I’ve been fishing the Jordan here close to home on 48th south and have been catching a bunch of channel cats. Quite a few I have been catching were born last summer and that is really encouraging for their numbers. I don’t bait chuck that much and, therefore, don’t spend much time with cat fishing. I’m not against angling for them and they are a hard fighting fish pound for pound and are good eating if you know what you’re doing. However, they leave a string of slime on your line, they aren’t very pretty, they have a distinct odor, and I used to only go after them throwing obscenely huge baits on a surf rod, jug lining, limb lining, trot lining, or noodling. I don’t care how ugly the thing is if it is 40 pounds or better and you pulled it out of its nest bare handed. Channels, of course, don’t grow that large yet they put up a respectable fight and I have seen some posts documenting some really nice ones in UL. When I do go after cats, I would rather be catching a decent channel than a bullhead. There is one thing that has me a little concerned and that is the girth of these fish. That 22 incher in the pic looked very thin and that has been the case with all of the channels I have been tangling with. I hope that the decrease in the carp population is going to have a positive effect on the food source but I think they are still a menace to anglers and game fish. The river isn’t being seined that I know of and it is every bit as relevant to the carp population in Utah Lake as is the existing population there because it is directly connected when the gates are open at the first inlet park. I know there are darter and dace minnows present at the bottom of the food chain but are they prolific enough to sustain the biomass? Given the decrease in carp, which currently account for approximately 90% of predation, can the river and lake both actually sustain a source for game fish to not just survive… but thrive? I’m used to gizzard shad being the number one food source in waters I frequented and I wonder If Darters and Dace can be equally abundant as a sustained population and a reliable food source?

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:sunglasses:**I have not noticed any skinny catfish from Utah Lake. That 22 incher was quite healthy. I was holding it at a wierd angle for the picture but it was thick across the back. **

Unrealistic to propose seining the Jordan River. The concept is not to totally eradicate all carp from the system but to reduce the overall numbers so that natural predation and normal dieoffs will keep the population at a manageable level. Seining is a mass production basis. You set the nets where there are large concentrations of fish. And, no matter how many carp are netted…or poisoned…there will always be survivors in various tributaries or isolated sloughs that would restart the population.

**There may be darters and dace listed as a species for Utah Lake, but I would seriously doubt that they are a significant food source. They are typically species of small clear creeks. Like many of the forage species that have been introduced to Utah Lake they just don’t show up…in nettings, angler catches or in the innards of predator species. Heck, there even used to be chubs in Utah Lake but I have never seen any or heard of any being caught or found inside other fish. **

Yeah, carp are the bane of Utah Lake. But, they do contribute a lot of food to the system for about two months each year after they spawn. All predators glut heavily on carp fry, but they grow so fast that by late in the year they are too large for all but the biggest walleye and catfish to eat. Without the carp fry there would be more predation on the white bass, crappie and bluegill youngsters. That would reduce the numbers of those species but might contribute to larger sizes.

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I guess that I’m more accustomed to cat fish with pot bellies. As a matter of fact, when cleaning a mess of them for big fish fries, I usually volunteered to at least help with the cleaning because I once had the pleasure of biting into a fried hunk of flat head lard and it was so disgusting that I still wretch to think about it. Man it was wrong.[:p] I’ve seen actual fatty tissue on blues and channels as well but haven’t seen it here. You’re right that the channels aren’t unhealthy but they just don’t put on as much girth here. I presume it’s because of the shorter growing season and the vast difference in the food source. I did look up darter and dace minnows after talking with the biologist that is in charge of UL as he told me that they are quite abundant there. You’re right that they are more accustomed to warm, clear water streams and I haven’t noticed any in the stomachs of several white bass, crappie, or any other fish that I have cleaned from there. What I have noticed is a variety of aquatic insects.

I would love to see a population of gizzard shad introduced, but with the plight of the June Sucker, I don’t think that line of reasoning will ever get beyond the suggestion box. Shiners might be a viable alternative since they don’t grow large, don’t eat much besides zoo plankton, and can tolerate cold temperatures. One more suggestion for the box I guess.

It’s mice to see that we have opportunities to go after something other then trout and the fishing at UL can be really good at times for my beloved pan fish. Not that I don’t enjoy catching trout but variety definitely has advantages. It would be really cool to see fishing docks with sunken brush implemented but that’s a concept this state hasn’t caught on to. There are some privately owned fishing docks back home in Okiedelphia that are totally enclosed and have willow branches and Christmas trees tied onto ropes every 5 feet or so and extended from just under the dock to 70 feet deep depending on the location. For 5 bucks you could fish through a 30’ x 30’ hole in the center of the dock and order a burger in the comfort of heating or air conditioning. Every lake had fishing docks with planted brush in just about every public access area and the handicapped access was great for getting elderly folks on the water. It was awesome talking to the old timers and picking their brains for some really valuable fishing info. I don’t know if it’s possible to get the DWR to go along with the idea as most introduced species are not really promoted by anything other than size and creel limits.