Me and the wife had a great morning on Utah. Started off frustrating, but we managed to boat a few nice fish.
Followed the DETOUR off the frontage road to AF boat Harbor, only to find out that at 6:10, there still isn’t anyone there. went around and launched at Lindon. SWEET. First time I had used that ramp. We really liked it. Will use it a lot more often.
Could see some White Bass “boiling” around the docks, but no hits. headed out the main lake to our “spot”.
started catching WB right off the bat. Typical sizes, with a nice one every once in a while.
Cut one up for bait and tried some cats. wish we would have done that earlier! Wife caught 2 17 inchers in about 15 minutes or less. I will still catching the WB, practicing catch and release, we already had about 45 min worth of cleaning to do in the live well. Shen later caught a 3rd around 18 inches.
She had one really nice on, will guess around 24 inches or so, big head, maybe 5 lbs? i lost it for it her. i told my self NOT to lift it up with the string, but the body didn’t listen. PLINK!
I finally hooked a good one. 30 inches and between 10 and 11 lbs (scale was bouncing ). we were off the water and eating Del Taco by 2:00.
Very windy all day.
we ended up with a butt load of white bass, 1 yellow perch (didn’t know they were in there), 3 nice cats, a blue gill.
Great report, thanks! I have never been to utah lake, I wonder if both AF and Lindon boat Harbor charge an entrance fee even if you fish from shore? Is there a good free place around the lake?
fishing_4_fun wrote:
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I wonder if both AF and Lindon boat Harbor charge an entrance fee even if you fish from shore? quote]
Yes Lindon charges even if fishing from shore. It is for parking. It is still worth the price. They charge $5 for me to put in my boat. Don’t know any of the other fees. You could park outside the area & walk in I guess.
There are many places around Utah Lake where you can park and fish without paying a fee.
Several spots around the pumphouse, at the outlet of the Jordan River. Utah county parks are free…such as the one just south of Lindon and at Lincoln Beach.
Also lots of shore access and usually decent fishing at the Knolls…on the west side of the lake.
See attached map for general locations around the lake. Get a good detailed map for better definition of access roads.
Wow, I check out all these Utah lake post and see all the fish you all are catching and taking home to eat, It brings back some bad memories, i used to fish UL a ton, about ten years ago had an experience that stopped me from keeping fish from that lake to eat once the water warmed up. We caught a mess of cats, we put them in a bucket of water and headed home to clean em up. it was about a 30 min drive home and by the time we got home there was parasites in the bucket, worms about 1" long, as we looked at the fish the parisites were coming right out of the skin and every fish, It was disgusting! From them on we through everything back in the lake and I have refused to eat another fish out of that lake, What is your experience with the fish you are taking home, any worms! Or am I just paraniod!
Hi, designyourhome, I totally understand why you were freaking out when you heard the worm story. But fish parasites don’t infect human. So, although it is disgusting to see those worms, nothing to worry about it even you accidently eat some of them
You would eat them! I am very picky when it comes to fish, but when I see worms coming out of the fishes skin and the bucket is chuck full of them, I AIN"T EATIN EM!! Never, 10 years later I will still not eat them, That was just disgusting. I even have a hard time convincing myself to even spend time fishing that lake, But thats just me.
No, of course I would not eat them! I don’t think anyone would if they see the worms are there. The only circumstance one eats them is when he doesn’t know they are there. You could have eaten worms from fish in any waters and had no clue you did. So why it matters?
Not disputing your personal experience, but I am saying it is UNIQUE. I have fished Utah Lake since the early 1960’s…A LOT. I have kept and consumed many fish of all species from Utah Lake and I have NEVER seen ANY parasites like you described.
I fillet all of my fish and carefully examine the innards of the fish I fillet…both from a desire to know what they have been eating and as a guage of the general health of the fish. Never seen any parasites. Ditto for the flesh. I not only fillet the cats but usually slice the fillets into “finger strips” in order to get them to cook better. Never any parasites.
What I suspect you observed was small leeches. They do attach to catfish on the outer surface of the skin. (See attached pics) If they are present at all, they are usually on the underside of the head. They do not enter the fish nor affect the overall health or quality of the fish in any way. And…they are completely removed during the filleting or cleaning process. Yes, they are not appetizing in appearance, but you can choose whether or not to keep the fish.
If you are that queasy about what you consume, I suggest that you never visit a slaughter house. You would never eat another hamburger or hot dog.
Lindon charges a $2 walk in fee.