Knocking Off The Dust

It's finally time to start cat fishing again! I dug out my cat gear, blew off the dust, and headed down to the Jordan River. The water temps are rising, so the fishing is only going to get better from here. I've been out twice for a few hours each time. If you use worms, you can't keep the little fish off, so I suggest using cut bait. Both times I went, I landed mostly bullheads, with an occasional little channel catfish. Last night I finally felt that pull and power of a decent catfish. The fight didn't last long, but it was what I needed. Here's to looking forward to a great summer of fighting kitties!

 

A small channel catfish (left) and bullhead catfish (right).

Fishing day and night.

First keeper of the year at 22 inches.

Trips to the Jordan River and Utah Lake

 

This time of year, the fishing can be hit and miss on both Utah Lake and the Jordan River depending on the weather.The past week, we've had all four seasons of weather which has really messed up the fishing. The first trip to the Jordan, I managed a little largemouth bass, while seeing countless other fish that had lockjaw. It was the same story this morning when I took my niece and nephews out to fish. The day went from cold and windy, to hot, then back to cold and really windy in a two hour period. We all got casting practice while on the river, and that was it!

We fished Utah Lake for about a half hour, and managed a really nice 26 inch hen walleye. She was chuck full of eggs, so we got a few quick pictures and released her back in the lake safe and sound. The walleye spawn is happening now, so now is the best chance to catch a few. Please release any females that you catch if you go out. The cold wind made short work of us at Utah Lake, so we called it a day. I'm hoping in a month when they come to visit again, the white bass will be ready to tangle.

Schools of two inch black bullhead catfish.

Only fish from the Jordan.

 

Spiderman pole.. check... game face... check!

26 inch hen Walleye.

Check out those chompers...

The One That Got Away, And The One That Didn't

I realize it's been a lot of cat fishing on the blog lately, but the Jordan is producing quality fish, and it's hard to step away when the catching is this good. Don't worry though, I'll get back to the trout tails soon enough with the cool fall weather approaching. We've been night fishing twice since my last post, so I'll cover both outings. The first trip was the regular crew I fish with, and the results were typical for what we've been doing lately. Several channel cats were landed in the 24-26 inch range, and fairly consistently. The only difference now is that it's starting to cool off at night so the hoodies have come out.

 

The second trip was last night. I took one of the neighbor kids (Jared) with me. I was really hoping he could get a big cat, since he told me he's mostly caught only little bullheads when he's gone in the past. early on he had a decent one get off, but on his second cat of the night, he went beast mode! He had a lighter setup, so he had a really good fight on his hands. the cat made several runs down river, and a few up river as well. Once he got it close, I got it in the net, and the high five's commenced. His catfish measured 29 inches, and 9 pounds! He told me that was the biggest fish he has ever caught! I snapped a few pictures, and then released the fish back into the muddy water to grow bigger. Great catch Jared! It was great watching the fight!

 

My night ended fighting what felt like a giant, only 20 seconds into the fight, the fish got the upper hand. That is because the top portion of my rod snapped! At first I thought that my two-piece rod had come apart. However, I soon realized I was going to have to fight this fish with only the bottom part of my rod. I got him close enough to get a glimpse, and it was a good sized kitty! That's the only time I saw him though, because on his next run he got off. The fish got the better of me and my equipment this time. I took the rod back to Cabela's today and exchanged it for a new one without any hassle, which is one of the reasons I'm a fan of their products. I assume it was a defect in the rod, because I've never had one break that high up before. We will see if the new one holds out any better.

several cats this size were caught on the first trip.

26 inch channel cat.

Jared with his 29 inch channel cat; his biggest fish ever landed!

 

My biggest landed of the night measured 24 inches long.

The cat won this battle. Good thing Cabelas has awesome customer service.

The Bait Paid Off

Licking my wounds from my failed casting lesson, Francisco and I hit the Jordan river for a few hours last night. We set up, and shortly we both had hits. While most of the night all I had were hits, Francisco was putting on a cat fishing clinic! He was consistently reeling in fish, and I got better with my netting skills. He landed several quality fish (20-25 inches), and even a bullhead catfish, which we haven't seen much of since we started using white bass.

 

As the night went on, I stopped even getting bites on my poles. By this time I had gone a little complacent with the lack of action. I was checking my other rod when my new cat fishing setup shot out of the pole holder,  and into the water. I managed to grab the end of the rod when most of it was in the water and set the hook. My pole double over as my reel started singing soprano with how fast line was ripping off it. I just held on for several seconds, until the fish turned. I fought him in only to have him run again. After several minutes, I finally got him within net shot, only to have him dart for a root system on the side on the bank. Luckily, I was able to pull him out, and Francisco got the net on it. We were both amazed at how thick this channel cat was. I pulled out the tape, and the cat measured 29.5 inches! This ended up being my only fish of the night, but with a new personal best, I'd take nights like this all the time!

 

About 20 minutes later, Francisco had a giant of his own on. he fought it all the way in, and just like my big one, his also darted to the roots. Unfortunately, Once he made it in, the catfish broke the line! As many can attest, It's a gut-wrenching feeling to lose a fish so close to the net. We called it a night on that note, to end another great fishing adventure.

One of the few bullheads caught lately.

A few unwanted guests came to see how we were doing.

My only fish of the night. Just a half inch shy of 30 inches! A new personal best!

 

Francisco's keepers. His biggest was 25 inches.

Night of the Cats

It seems as of late, I'm only able to find time at night to get some fishing in. Thankfully that should change in the next few weeks. My brother and his family were in town from Boise for the Pioneer Day celebration. He is the brother that got me into fishing and started my addiction. Can you guess who my wife's favorite in-law is? We were talking and I found out he had never been cat fishing before, so I figured I had fix that situation quick!

We headed out last night along with a few other friends. We set up at our usual spot at around 8:30 p.m. and the fishing started out really slow. We would have a hit here and there, but it didn't get interesting until around 11:30 p.m. when the moon came out. That seemed to flip a switch and the catfish came calling. The first one to the net was a 20 inch cookie cutter, and Jason's first ever channel catfish. I like to see people knock off a species from their list as much I like doing it myself.

Not long after landing the first fish of the night, my pole slammed down and was on it's way in the water before Francisco grabbed it and handed it to me. I set the hook, and immediately knew it was a big fish. I fought him about half way in, and handed the rod over to Jason so he could feel the tug of a big catfish. A few minutes later, He got him close enough, and I netted him! What a fish! Jason and I are both counting it as our personal best since we both fought it. It measured in at 28 inches. Needless to say, we were stoked!

While we fished, we noticed a cat face spider starting to weave a new web close to where our poles were. It was amazing to see natures art take shape right in front of us. Before too long, I found myself throwing bugs into the web to watch the cat face wrap them up like a bug burrito and chow down.

We landed a few other cookie cutters, and lost two that felt just as big as the 28 inch beast we landed earlier that night. One was lost to a bad knot thanks to yours truly, and the other broke the line. I would say it was mission accomplished for Jason's first catfish experience.

Here kitty kitty...



First netted cookie-cutter kitty of the night.

A cat face spider munching on an insect caught from her newly spun web. Can you see all three spiders?

New personal best channel catfish for Jason and I. 28 inches long!

Jason's first cat fishing experience was a success.

Hide your kids, hide your wife...

Fishing in the Dark

The catfish have been active the past few nights. My neighbor Francisco went out with his boy and went six for six of channel catfish in three hours of fishing. It was fun seeing some of the neighborhood kids come and inspect the nights catch. They seemed to think the fish were pretty cool.

Seeing Francisco's success, Roger and I went back out a few nights later to our regular fishing hole, and ended up with similar results. We didn't have to wait long before I had a hit so hard, that my pole nearing went into the water. Luckily I was able to grab it in time and set the hook. The catfish bulldogged me the whole way in. Once Roger netted him, I was surprised he was only 22 inches based on the way he fought.

We caught a few more cookie cutter catfish before it was Rogers turn to fight a big one. His fish gave him a few good runs, and even got caught but in some brush along side the river. How Roger got him out of that mess is beyond me, and soon I netted him! This catfish measured 28 inches, making it the biggest any of us have landed so far this year. White bass is the hot bait right now for those wanting to go and give the Jordan a try. Worms also work for the smaller bullhead catfish.

Francisco with his six good sized catfish.

Neighbor kids came to see the nights catch.

My biggest of the evening.

The biggest catfish of the night measuring 28 inches long.

Night fishin' on the River

Roger and I have been hitting the Jordan river hard lately. We have had several trips in hopes of catching a few decent channel cats for another fish fry. We typically head out around 7 p.m. and stay till around midnight.  

 

We've caught a lot of catfish, but it takes patience to get though all the mud cats taking your bait to get a few Channel cats to the net. We've landed several keepers with the two biggest ones pictured below. Catfishin' is a great way to get to know your neighbors. I've really enjoyed hanging out and getting to know Roger better. He's taught me a lot about this river, and it's been great catching fish with him. These catfish will never win any beauty prizes, but they sure are good to eat!

 

I love the river this time of year.

Biggest channel cat of the year so far.

Roger looking on as he awaits the next catfish to bite.

Typical 12 inch mud cat. These guys are hard to keep off your line.

Tied my previous for biggest of the year.

First Night Fishing of The Year

My neighbor and I had been talking about going out to hit the catfish at night for some time, and last night we finally made it happen. He took me to a section of the Jordan River that I had never fished before. I've seen some of the channel cats he's brought home the past couple weeks during the day and was impressed at the consistent good sized fish he was catching. We arrived at the river around 7:30 pm and got everything set up. We rigged our lines with the white bass that I caught a few days ago for bait and cast in.

 It wasn't long before we started having nibbles and small takes. Soon my neighbor had one on and landed a nice channel catfish! It seemed to me we were in for a fast night. But then we waited, and waited... and then waited some more. It was really odd. Typically when you get a hit, you just need to wait a second and there will be more. This night, you would get a hit and then nothing. It was strange to say the least. I had one on for few seconds before it got off and my neighbor land another decent one to finish off the night. It was slow fishing, but to sit and chat along the river was relaxing and well worth it. We'll be hitting it again soon.

A beaver strolled by to inspect his territory.

Here kitty kitty...