I haven’t posted in years since my boys went off to college, but once a year my wife takes pity on me and is willing to let me take her to Bird Island. June has proven to do well for me there. (The least we’ve caught in one trip was 28, the most was over 50 cats in a day.) I’ve got a nephew that’s never caught a fish, so I thought it was worth coming out of “fish retirement” for him. Surprisingly the boy’s mom was interested too, and she was in a similar situation. Boat full.

Upon arrival at the Provo ramp there was a fellow fishing in the Marina that had a nice rig. It took me about a nanosecond to figure out why once I saw the lake… whitecaps all over. The first plan was to first troll near the mouth of the river for bass, however that changed in an instant. (Note to self, this wasn’t looking good...) Life jackets, juuuuuuust to be safe.

If I were a catfish, I’d want to get out of the waves and this meant shallow protected water. En route to Bird Island I texted some catfish friends to let me know where they’d be, and I was invited to the party. (It was B.Y.O.Bait.) 

 
I anchored up in casting range of shore and gave some instruction to my guests on party etiquette. I got a bobber rigged up 2’ over a chunk of carp meat, and cuz of the cloudy water I added some walleye beads as bling to add to the attraction. I tossed out a line and explained that we were looking for the bobber to disappear. I sat down preparing to rig the next pole and the bobber vanished as if at my command. I demonstrated reeling up until I felt tension on the line, then set the hook. I handed the pole to my nephew. About a 26 incher in under a minute. Cool. 

I don’t think we went 10 minutes without something wanting to party with our lines. We didn’t even have to move the boat for 3 hrs. I always cast one pole out deeper to the opposite side of the boat, and I caught a few that way, but most were in very shallow water, under a foot, near rocks.

I’ve seen all that many times before, but I’ve never experienced pulling one fish into the net when another pole got seriously bent and in a totally different direction from where I cast. It felt strange reeling in. A seagull had drug the line trying to get away. (There’s always someone that goes uninvited and becomes a party crasher.)

 

I’ve never seen the Island with so many birds. None of them were happy when their friend was caught, so they defended themselves the best they knew how. We found ourselves in a real live version of the movie while all his friends gave us “The Bird.” 

 

I brought the winged creature close to the boat to untangle the line from it’s wing but it was just too disagreeable (you know the type, can’t remain chill) and kept attacking me… So I cut the line as close as I could and it flew away. Then came another first, hand lining another big cat. Party on.

Excitement was to be had as Mom got turns with the action. Cheers! 

Being inexperienced anglers, my guests weren’t always sure what they were feeling on their line. A couple of snags fooled them, and they had fun until they realized that reeling wasn’t doing any good. But then there were some curious tugs and releases. They learned that after pulling in these big cats, the occasional white bass were barely noticeable. But, the diversity added to the festivities with equal opportunity.

OK, so what is the seagull limit on Utah Lake? My bride caught a second seagull... Again, with the emptying of the Island with the alarmist protesters. (I'm good with free speech). Short of cutting the line, or one person grabbing the bird’s head so he doesn’t bite us while the other deals with the line/hook, I’d be curious if there was another way... Be afraid, very afraid.

The smallest cat of the day was 22 inches. The wind even got calm. Couldn’t have asked for a better day. Almost. We went back to the Provo and tried to find a school of Bass. We caught a few. (Note to self, it’s a good idea to have people practice casting before a real trip.) Even without catching a boatload of bass, the trip well exceeded expectations. (Nice to see the water a bit higher this year. Maybe with some luck the algae bloom situation will allow another trip.)

Wow... fish breath....

Those that remember my posts of the past, I can see you rolling your eyes because you do not believe me. I get it. I'm guilty of being pretty good at Photoshop, so the truth may remain a forever mystery. If anything less than literal is irritating to you, I suggest you talk to someone with counsel that can help your soul be at ease. Absolute certainty is hard to come by, especially when fishing, and with "fish stories" as recorded in the Book of Roghet from the good ship Genuflect.

I’m curious what my nephew will tell his friends about his first fishing experience. I suspect, if I got him off on the right foot, it will be something like this: 

Congratulations young man! I'm a believer!