# Catfishing Today



## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Well, got up early, went down to the Provo airport to do some catfishing. Kicked a long ways, saw a ton of ducks, snagged some carp and on the way back to the truck, caught a pretty big catfish. Wind wasn't a big deal but it kept it kinda chilly, even though the sun was out. Fished with carp meat, old and new and dunked a few carp minnows but didn't have any takers until I used some fresh meat. Had cast out, was getting ready to reel in and all of a sudden the bobber disappeared. Set the hook and the catfish actually jumped clear out of the water.... biggest cat I'll probably catch all year. I don't know that I've ever had one jump all the way out of the water but this big one sure thought it was a bass or something. Pulled my tube in circles for about five minutes and when I finally got the **** thing to come up for pictures and a little video, I was kinda worried about how I'd handle it. Totally forgot the net behind my seat because I was just groovin on the big cat (and finally catching something). Anyway, finally put on some gloves, stuck my hand in the vise the thing used for a mouth, and pulled it out of the water. I'd be interested to know just what the crush strength on a big cat's jaw would measure at. Anyway, my wife's computer is a POS so they've locked out any way for me to upload the video and pics with a jump drive... it'll be Monday before I can get them on here. I only caught the one cat (think it might have been the moon but I don't know... maybe I just had an off day) but it was enough....at least there was no skunk smell on the way home.

Weeds are just starting to grow back in on the weed line and there was lots of debris in the water.... temp was cool, but I have no idea exactly what. Fish was caught on a bobber rig with one of Tubedude's jigheads poured on a Matzuo hook with a fresh piece of carp meat. I think thats about all the important info.... I'll post pics Monday morning. 8)

After reading Nor-tah's report, it kinda confirmed what I'd suspected... with warm weather and a full moon, the cats were eating all night, so that kinda jacked me from the start today... its all good... its a long summer and knowing they'll feed at night with clear skies and a good moon is just another option to consider another time. I'm planning on fishing out of the tube at night this year now that I know the area and where to go in the tube.... looks like from their report it can really pay off when you hit it right. 8)


----------



## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

Cant wait to see the pics bud. I want to get down to that weed line with ya some time in about a month.


----------



## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Nor-tah said:


> Cant wait to see the pics bud. I want to get down to that weed line with ya some time in about a month.


You can hit em on both sides of the lake and when you find em, its one nice cat after another. I can't do the thing like Tubedude where you kick around and catch em... I've only ever caught one that way but hitting the weedlines has been money the last few summers. I used to fish at night out off the airport when I lived down there....the lake was low and you could wade out. Testing with my pole I'd guess its about four or five feet deep out on the edge of the weedlines right now... it'd be nice if it'd go down so you could just wade out again... Neoprenes were all it took to stay warm and you could catch messes of cats at night. Was that at Lindon where you went?


----------



## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

Not really my spot to give away on the open forum.. I considered posting it in the confidential forum actually.

Cant wait to tube that with you. I think in a month the water will clear considerably. It would be fun to fish it in the afternoon and stay till just after sunset. Thats when I do the best for cats.


----------



## REPETER (Oct 3, 2007)

I want in on a future trip. I want to learn how to dial in those kitties and would stay out all night. 8)


----------



## Hounddog (Apr 9, 2008)

+1 count me in on a catfish lesson.. Would love to learn a few tricks.

Hounddog


----------



## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Thats cool Nor-tah... totally understand. :wink: For the other guys, I don't do anything real complicated. Tubedude actually showed me the rig. Its just an orange cigar shaped bobber (you can use the standard round red/white too, doesn't matter) clipped on to your line about 2-3 feet above a chunk of carp or whatever bait you want to use. I've used carp exclusively since I started using this rig because not much else seemed to work as well as fresh carp meat. Other guys use shrimp and some prepared bait and swear by it... whatever floats your boat. On the bottom, I have a Palomar knot attaching a jighead that Tubedude calls a "bobberhead" jig. Its basically a flat jighead poured on one of the Matzuo sickle hooks. THose hooks are sharp as hell, never miss a hookup, either on myself or the fish with them, and they seem to work just like a circle hook. Most (probably 90%) of the catfish I hook are tagged right in the corner of the mouth. The biggest key is take it easy when removing the hook. The certain bends in the hook produce the strength of the hook even though its not heavy guage wire. Bend the hook and its done for. The key with the rig is to get it as close to the edge of the weedline as you can without hanging up. WHen the rig is cast right, the bobber will be about a foot from the weeds, hanging the bait straight down and because of the knot and how the jighead sits, the bait will be hanging horizontal about 3 feet off the bottom. THis will keep most of the mudcats off and will catch mostly channels, walleye, the occasional white bass. All of those will come UP to hit a bait, where the mudcats for whatever reason, seem to just cruise the bottom. If you're not getting hits, you can slide the bobber up to let more line hang towards the bottom or if you're snagging weeds growing off the bottom, slide the bobber towards the hook to keep the meat out of the weeds. I used to do the egg sinker, swivel, baithook rig on the bottom but since going to this new way, I catch almost all channel cats and not nearly the mudcats that used to pester my line otherwise. Anyway, fishing the weedlines is a one or two man game, unless you go different directions when you start out.... its just hard to keep fishing past each other because you're fishing the same water the other guy just had his bait sitting in. I know that on BFT, they get together and do "flotillas" during the summer with a ton of guys but I've never gone. Tubedude is the guy to learn from on catfishing though.... pretty much everything I know about it came from his suggestions or this guy Mike (used to be the fishing manager), down at the Provo Sportsmans.... don't know if he's still there or if the store is staying open, but if you can hit him up, he knows a lot about the lake as well. 8)


----------



## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

how big of a chunck of carp meat do you use on your hook?


----------



## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

RR, 
Tubedude is definetly the man with the cats. I think the reason he does floatillas is because the fishes the knolls and lincoln where the cats are out cruising the flats. The weedlines on the east end are a more precise game like you were saying.
Mike is still at sportsmans but he is pretty tight lipped after hearing the same thing over and over. Once you get on his side though and chat with him for a bit, he is a WEALTH of info. Some of the pics he has showed me are unreal.


----------



## Leaky (Sep 11, 2007)

Sorry to hear it was a slow day for ya. Guess I'll have to wait a spell before I get down there. For now, I'll just have to do some bassen at the "weed patch". :wink: Tough job but Sparky and I can handle it. :lol: :lol:


----------



## sfy2004 (Jun 2, 2008)

thanks for the description of the rig you use, cant tell ya how many nights i missed all the channels and just played with the muddies.


----------



## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Nor-tah said:


> RR,
> Tubedude is definetly the man with the cats. I think the reason he does floatillas is because the fishes the knolls and lincoln where the cats are out cruising the flats. The weedlines on the east end are a more precise game like you were saying.
> Mike is still at sportsmans but he is pretty tight lipped after hearing the same thing over and over. Once you get on his side though and chat with him for a bit, he is a WEALTH of info. Some of the pics he has showed me are unreal.


He ever told you the story about the guy who fishes foot long jerkbaits for HUGE browns on the Provo? He told me the guy is normally sloshed so they blew him off at first but then he brought pictures and they were floored. :shock: He's the guy who gave me the first bits of info down there.... you're right.. you gotta share with him and then he'll usually at least get you pointed in the right direction.

No prob on the rig info... hope it helps somebody. Torowy, its usually about a 2 inch piece of meat, and I try to cut it into triangle then hook the tip of the triangle so the piece will dangle off the end of the jighead.... I don't know, I think that as long as the hook point is exposed, it'll hook fish.


----------



## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

thanks


----------



## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

Here's the pics and a video.

Yellow headed blackbird









Honkers in the airport Canal









Sunrise over Timp









Video of the catfish


Facefull of glove









Too big for the camera


----------



## ScottyP (Sep 12, 2007)

Nice fish. I caught 4 nice ones in one of the harbors sunday night. Went back for more last night and the action had died. I think it was because I had run out of my special bait (perch meat) and was using white bass instead.

As far as how I rig, I just use a sliding weight above a barrel swivel, 18 inches of line and a heavy sharp hook. I leave just a bit of slack in the line and use a bell to indicate the take (catfishing 101). I love when a big girl rings the bell and tries to take my rod in the water :wink:


----------



## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

Massive cats, guys. It makes me want to give it a try. After work yesterday, I went to the lake and saw how high the water level is. The temptation to go and float the weedline is there, but I don't know if I'll get around to it.

The fight sounds like a lot of fun.


----------



## JAT83 (Sep 9, 2007)

That's a stout cat! I need to get down there and start fishing UL again.


----------



## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

Big fish boys!! Good tip on the perch meat scotty!!! I'll try that soon!!


----------



## deadicated1 (Mar 17, 2008)

now nor-tah, where are you gonna find perch meat!!??
nice fish, all. i cant wait to get out after em.
RR-- whats all this "too big for the camera" talk? sounds to me like you need a bigger camera! :wink:


----------



## utcat (Jan 15, 2008)

Nice fish guys! thanks for the report.


----------



## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

deadicated1 said:


> RR-- whats all this "too big for the camera" talk? sounds to me like you need a bigger camera! :wink:


Don't tell my wife... she'll go out and get one, taking you seriously.  My arms can only reach so far, so I'm limited on just how much fish I can fit in a lense. Thats about the only bad thing about fishing alone... sometimes you just can't get the shot you want on a nice fish. :lol:


----------



## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

deadicated1 said:


> now nor-tah, where are you gonna find perch meat!!??
> nice fish, all. i cant wait to get out after em.
> RR-- whats all this "too big for the camera" talk? sounds to me like you need a bigger camera! :wink:


haha I got some from yuba still!! Just a little bit though.  Lets go carp huntin soon!!


----------

