ive been fishing utah lake for a few years now, about 20 or so.. looking for cats over that 10 lb range, any suggestions, seems like theres infinite amounts of 5-8 lb 22-27" cats but were are the big ones, im sure theres a hand full of 25+ pounders in there… so where are all the cats between state record size and cookie cutter size?! i know the loys that do the carp netting got one pushing 36 lbs a few years ago. thats the only large one recently ive heard of, has anyone else caught any over say 15 pounds?
I am not the cat purist that TD is, in fact I have not really pursued them for many years. However, back in my distant past I did a fair amount of Kitty fishing and it always seemed that we caught our biggest fish on live bait, specifically 3-5 inch bluegill/green sunfish. In the days below Kentucky Dam, we used Gizzard Shad, either live or cut. Unfortunatly both those baits are not legal for use here !!! I would love to hook a 4-6 inch White Bass through the back with a 4/0 Circle hook and allow it to swim around out at the Island, mouth of the Spanish Fork River, or Powells Slough to see what would ingest it. But t t t, that is wishful thinking, so, cut bait will have to do !!!
TubeDude will need to respond to this one himself for sure, but let me put my mindless wonderings in on this one.
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Water quality is up from the days when untreated water was dumped into UL, so better water quality improves fish. Plus 1.
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When carp numbers are up, weeds and food are down. Right now the carp numbers are down, or so we are told. So, in theory, more food. Plus 1.
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Too many predators means less food. Lots and lots of white bass mean lots of small bass later in the year to feed on, but less food in the winter and spring. The large number of white bass have been an impact, reducing the bluegill, Largemouth bass, perch, … you get the idea. But, it appears that the last couple of years the white bass numbers may be down some. I’ll rate this a plus zero for undetermined.
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In the 80’s few people fished for Channel cats, at least compared to what I seem to see now. There was no BFT to spread the word, there was no social media to put people on every “secret hole”. We can now go on Facebook on the right pages and find someone posting pictures about their latest fish (all kinds) at any time, real time. While most BFTers may release most of their bigger cats, a lot of lurkers, and in general other fishermen, do keep their limits of cats. Some big, some not. Most fishermen, and I suspect BFTers included, use standard J Hooks, gut hooking most fish, so released fish may survive but will suffer weight loss for some time. All things considered, I give this a minus 2.
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Utah Lake is huge, and while I have my favorite places, seldom do I feel crowded in anyway. If I want, I can go to the crowded places and catch cookie cutters…always need some fresh cats for dinner. Once in a while I even find a brute there. But, if I want size, well the lake is huge and not over pressured. I rate this a plus 1.
In MY summary, this adds up to a marginal improvement over the past, but more pressure on the more known locations. Do I think that a new state record exist in UL, actually no, not at this time. But, if the White Bass numbers do decline, and if the Carp are kept to a lower number (bless the June Sucker – the reason they are removing carp to improve conditions), and if with increased submerged weeds the water improves more, and if other smaller food sources continue to improve in numbers and biomass, then … in the near future YES, I have high hopes.
That makes me so happy. My favorite place is getting better. Thank you guys for your information. You know there might be a lot more people fishing but it is just so big, it is easy to get away from the crowd. I haven’t been to Bird Island, does anyone know if it is crowded out there. I want to get out there later.
Anglinarcher wrote “… in the near future YES, I have high hopes.”
I hope so too, but reality says maybe not so fast. Catfish grow a lot slower than most people realize. After the first couple of years they routinely add only about one inch a year. So it would take something like ten years for a 20"er to reach 30. And when they get really old they put on weight and girth and little additional length. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert on the subject but I have read a lot of studies. BTW, I loved your analysis.