Cats caught this weekend. Love playing with the cookie cutter kitties.
Location: Utah Lake
Time: morning
Weather conditions: sunny and hotter than you know what
Set-up: sea circle hook on 2’ leader (braid), egg/slip sinker(small)
Bait: first day-carp meat and couldn’t buy a hit with shrimp, second day-shrimp and couldn’t buy a hit with carp meat, this may of been due to the fact the carp meat was RAUNCHY by the second day.
Nice fish but not worth bothering with a PM.
I agree, others need to see that too.
You know Utah Lake so well, I’d betcha dollars to donuts you know within an 1/8th of a mile where I was anyway.
Nice cats bet they put up a good fight .They look a little on the skinny side I have been catching them at LB and they have been fat . Guess theres more forage there for them .
You know Utah Lake so well, I’d betcha dollars to donuts you know within an 1/8th of a mile where I was anyway.
I know EXACTLY where you were…right next to the water.
This year with the higher than normal water there are quite a few spots that are deep enough to attract the kitties and have lots of reeds to hold their food…and to provide good spawning and nursery habitat. But, for the “average” angler it is too troublesome to drive around and do a little looking to find those hidden honey holes. They would rather just “drive and dunk” and miss out on some of the best fishing.
Seriously, those really are nice fish. But by Utah Lake standards they rate only a notch or two above cookie cutters. On many of my tubing trips in the fall they are only “average”…but a NICE average. They are all fun and when they get over about five or six pounds they can really bend your stick and stretch your string.
Just a suggestion. If you add white bass to your bait arsenal from now on you will do even better. The bigger white bass are eaten whole by the big kitties and the new whitie fingerlings are candy to all species. They will be getting to about 2 or 3" long soon and you can catch a grundle on a small hook and worm…or even small flies…next to shore in many spots. No limit so catch and keep as many as you can. Freeze a few and fish them whole…just like minnows. Fish the bigger ones in chunks or fillet strips.
Nice cats, but I don’t think you will have to worry about getting tons of PM’s…every reed pocket on UL has at least 1/2 dozen cookie cats in it right now.
If these were cookies, then I have been catching mostly minnows this year [:/]
As Pat said, they are on the bigger side of the “cookies”, and nice fish. The cats this year from UL seem to be bigger than last year…and other species as well. That lake is producing great this year! We usually release anything over 24", and keep the smaller ones to cook up. Those are great looking fish.
My experience this year hasn’t been what you’ve described at all. It’s been a rough catfish season for me. My ‘cookies’ this year have been 14-18 inches. Over 24 inches, I can barely count on two hands and the biggest only at 29.
Last year I had a handful over 30 inches with the biggest just under 33".
Maybe I’ll have better luck next year.
Edit: I just wanted to clarify the ‘rough season’. I’m talking about the size of fish, not quantity. We’re catching tons in the 14-18 inch range. Just seem smaller this year.
** But, for the “average” angler it is too troublesome to drive around and do a little looking to find those hidden honey holes. They would rather just “drive and dunk” and miss out on some of the best fishing.**
Isn’t that the case with *any *fishery? Seems like it, no?Yes? Maybe?Perhaps? Meh?Hmmmm?Well? [fishin]
Indeed. Fishermen are generally inclined to follow the “road most travelled”…with easy access, parking close to where they will be fishing, etc.
Can’t say as I blame a lot of anglers for fishing like that. After all, for many fishermen the experience is more a matter of just kicking back and “drowning worms”. They really do not attack it as a challenge. Instead they are reactive…not proactive. They wait for something to happen rather than making something happen.
One of my favorite old posters shows two bearded backwoods cane pole anglers leaned back against a tree with their bobbers floating in front of them on the pond. One of the bobbers is obviously wiggling, as the result of a bite. The owner of that rod says to the other guy “Okay, what fool went and stocked fish in this pond?”
“Everybody to their own tastes” said the old maid as she kissed the cow.
Its good to see the trends that others have experienced this year. I try to talk to many people and put together a general flow or trend, but at times it may be random.