The Big and Ugly

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Comment by John Sheehan on August 12, 2013 at 12:56pm

Great report Allen .Would like to fish for cats on water like you have access to and learn the craft!

Comment by Allen Morgan on August 12, 2013 at 12:36pm

Keystone Dam, 8/12/2013

 

The Corps. Of Engineers has 38,000 cfs going through the dam right now.  There are Shad and Ghost Minnows by the THOUSANDS in the water up on the sidewalk, up against the wall, and in the eddy up to the current seam.  As a result, bait was easily caught with one throw of my cast net.  So much bait, in fact, that I ended up opening my net and let most of them go, then dumped what was left into my little bait cooler, of which only half made it in.  That still left me with enough bait for hours of fishing.

 

I was armed with a 12’ surf rod, a large Styrofoam slipfloat, and a 25 lbs test leader with 2 oz weight and a 5/0 circle hook on a dropper loop.  I originally had my rig set to hang the bait about 4’ below the surface, but that was just at the bottom of the bait ball, and small fiddler cats.  I reset to hang the bait about 6’ down.  That proved to be ideal.  I wasn’t getting a lot of bites, but the ones I was getting were all decent fish!

 

I ended up catching 3 Blues and 5 Channels.  Two of the Channels were small fiddlers, and one of those was a snag.  Some other folks were snagging just as many fish as they were legitimately hooking, which is a good indication of just how thickly the Cats were stacked up below the bait ball.  I also caught a Drum, no big surprise there.

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on February 4, 2013 at 4:15pm

Welcome Mike.....we get some interesting posts in this group but that's why we like it.....share some of your other species in this group.......maybe a big flathead or an alligator gar....LOL....

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on January 3, 2013 at 9:27am

Welcome to the group Bob....hope you enjoy the posts...

Comment by Allen Morgan on December 19, 2012 at 5:11pm

I agree w/ Jim.  Those look like great eaters!  They wouldn't be bothering my rigs for long, as they'd end up on my stringer!

Comment by Jim Gronaw on December 19, 2012 at 4:59pm

Man...they look like 'eatin' sized' cats! Well done!

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on December 19, 2012 at 3:38pm

Had a good time with some solid Channel Cats on this December afternoon......Fishing a Tomato Seed 1/50 ounce jig tipped with Grass Shrimp in 49 degree water......Jig fished under a float ranging from 6 to 8 feet in total water depth of 10 feet.......These fish have been aggressive all week....

Catfish can reward the winter angler........they can also interfere with those of us trying to find a Crappie and/or some Gills......Catfish stay active in colder waters especially when temperatures fall back into the 50s........

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on December 18, 2012 at 5:58pm

The kitty fish were aggressive this afternoon in coastal Carolina....Only fished an hour and caught six up to 20 inches....Nice battles for sure.....I released them all for another day...

This small tomato seed jig was intended for some Crappie but the catfish kept anything else from giving it a go.....

Comment by John Sheehan on December 6, 2012 at 5:03pm

Thanks Jeffrey. 4lb test, fishing for Perch .This was a nice surprise and battle !Drag taker!  Your Cats look real healthy as does mine! Mine took a White marabou Jig /Yellow Head /mealworm at 5' below a slip bobber. I'm quessing yours took a pink Jig.Nice ones you got there!

 

Comment by Jeffrey D. Abney on December 6, 2012 at 4:55pm

Nice cat John....I had fun last Sunday with some solid Channel Cats.....

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