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.

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 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.

Fish Tacos and More Fishing

After the nice day of catching white bass and catfish, Roger and I decided to have a fish fry. Roger was nice enough to share his batter recipe with me (I'm working on having him let me post it because it's goooood)! We decided to make fish tacos, and I'll tell ya, they were some of the best I've ever eaten! Roger fried up the fish to perfection! We used corn tortillas and put cabbage, chopped cilantro and onions, a touch of tarter sauce, and some green salsa from a local Mexican restaurant called Beto's. We topped it with a splash of lemon juice and then ate til we about popped.

 



Almost time to chow down!

Best fish tacos I've had.

After we had our fill and cleaned up, my Father-in-law called and wanted to go fishing. Since my wife was headed to a concert with her sister, it was game on for another afternoon fishing trip. After eating, I wanted to go catch more white bass. That, with finding out that my Father-in-law had never caught a white bass on the fly, we decided to go back to my honey hole. We launched around 6 p.m. and were lucky enough to get the spot all to ourselves. I kept joking that I'd catch one on the first cast, but it turned out I got one on the first three! The hole was on fire again, and it was great seeing my father-in-law get his first white bass. He couldn't believe how fast the fishing was. We landed 50 in the hour we fished and kept 15 big ones for the fryer. Purple Woolly Buggers were the trick again.

Future fish taco.

All the keepers were about this size.

one of many doubles we had today.

Headed back after a successful trip.

We made it back to my house and started filleting the bass. While we were doing that, Roger came over to see how we did and to shoot the breeze. While we were all talking, it was decided that we needed to end the day with a night fishing trip to add some catfish to the mix, so we finished cleaning the fish, put the boats away and were off again.

 

We went to Pelican Bay Marina, since Roger did well there a week ago. We landed four catfish while we were there, but it was pretty slow going. The bait of choice was a chunk of white bass meat. we called it quites after a few hours. I love the time and stories shared on these fishing trips with family and friends. It really doesn't matter if you catch fish or not when you're with great company.

 

Night fishing at Pelican Point Marina.

Roger with the first catfish of the night.

Utah Lake by Land and Sea

Roger and I skipped the river today, and instead headed to Utah Lake to try our luck there. We wanted to have a fish-fry tomorrow, so Roger set up on the bank to go after catfish, and I headed out on my pontoon in search of white bass. As I headed to my honey hole, I fished for carp along the way. but the wind made you some difficult casting. I had a few chances at them, but no one came to the party. I continued on to a spot that usually holds white bass and started flingin flys.

 

I made my way around the area for about 20 minutes before I found them, and once I did it was game on! I started out using a purple wooly bugger, and the fish were fighting over it. As I stripped in line, I could see several flashes in the water as several whites were jockeying to see who got to eat it. I even had a little large mouth bass that took it.

 

After I landed several on the wolly bugger, I switched to a clouser minnow, and the fun continued. It got to wear I would only cast my leader out and drag it towards me, and I would get takes. It goes without saying that I love days like today. I ended the day catching 70 fish and keeping 63 white bass for the fish fry and also for catfish bait.

 

When I got back to the marina, I found that Roger had also gotten into some fish. He held up a stringer with four bullheads and a nice channel catfish. He also tangled with a big carp, and was able to land him. Needless to say, the trip was a success, and I can already taste the fish tacos we'll be eating tomorrow.

 

First hook-up today



even this little Large Mouth Bass  seemed to love the purple wooly bugger.

The clouser minnow got in on the action as well.

One of the bigger ones

Roger's four bullhead cats and nice channel catfish with my 63 keepers. Fish tacos, here we come!