Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Catfishing, Lake Erie (dialup warning)

Went out today, drifting north of Lorain "hot water". Cold windy, lake whipped up nicely.
Jigs, w/white or green tails, tipped with worms.
Ultra light tackle, 2 pound test, 5' stick, biggest one was 26".
Drifted hoping for smallies, tied into some sheephead(freshwater drum) biggest was over 5 pounds(they fought brilliantly, but gave up quickly, the biggest sheephead came in quicker than the smallest cat), but nothing to eat till we drifted over the cats, they didn't move much, maybe a hundred yards all morning, about 12-15 feet of water
WHAT a battle! Longest was over five minutes. Longest run was over a hundred yards, little reel just SCREAMING
Sadly lost one that was horrifically huge, no idea how big, but it hit close to the boat, didn't realize it was hooked until it saw/heard the boat and simply blistered off a few hundred feet of line shaking its head wildly and broke the knot just below the leader. Lost a few more when the tiny (3/16"oz brass wire) jig hooks just straightened out. Basically an ultra light crappie rig pressed into duty. What a blast!

This is the second biggest of the day


This is the biggest!
Quite a net full, nearly lost him at the net-


Mmmmmmmmmmm, guess whats for dinner?

oh wow!
I'm a die hard catfisherman, and that sounded like a blast!

I caught my largest a 32 lb channel cat using a light action rod, 8 lb mono using a 1/2 oz egg sinker and a 2/0 hook with 3 dead fathead minnows on it. middle of the day, just hoping to catch a cat big enough for lunch. fought him for 45 mins and he made several runs, luckily I was at the river and could move up and down the bank, I think I was more tired than he was when I got him in.
brings that story back to me seeing those pics, thanks for posting!

Lare Erie??? Ever here of Walleye??? LOL

nice fish Medina!

you make stocks???

i just got some walnut and white oak veneer that i was planning on making into a set of pistol grips or some knife handles. any advice?

Oak? after shaping it, make sure you seal the hell out of it!

Hey Medina! Parma here. Love to go fishing with ya sometime. Hinkley lake or Erie.

Srp

Does Hinkley still have pike???

Check out this link:


http://www.clemetparks.com/recreation/fishing/hinckley.asp

There ain't a walleye swimming anywhere that will put up a fight even close to that of a catfish! Anyone who's ever burned up a set of gears on an ultralight could attest to this. (I have-twice) These big cats are perhaps Erie's best kept secret.

did they finally take off the restriction on eating them? at one time they said it wasnt healthy to eat more than a couple a month due to the waste at the bottom where they feed being full of mercury and other yummy stuff.

I guess Lake Erie is getting better, all of those only have one head. I'm real shy about eating cats out of Lake Erie or the rivers. There's still a lot of bad stuff in the bottom.


I grew up in Lorain. I used to go to Hot Waters back when the electric plant was in full operation. I remember the shad in the discharge being so thick it looked like you could walk on them. Some guys would catch smelt and eat those.

I remember watching the unloader operate. The entire coal car would shoot down the tracks and up and around turning it upside down like a roller coaster, I could watch that for hours.

Cool thread- I bought my uncle's walley boat a few years ago- he hadn't used it for years and is now 90 and doesn't fish. I keep it at his farm near Wakeman- not too far from you. Fished for perch out of Lorain and Vermillion last October and east side of Kelly's for walleye a year ago in May- did great.
Born a Buckeye (Defiance) mom born in Toledo, father in Elyria. The rest of the living family are all in the Elyria, Wakeman, Norwalk area. I visit my relatives there often, and get a chance to go fishing as well!
Have a great season!
Jim

I'm giving thought to going out again, and as much as I love smallies, focusing on cats.
I used to cheat when we would fish bridges in florida Tampa Bay- Anchor uptide 100 yards from the bridge (and all that rubble, sharp structure etc) I got the brilliant idea to take an ice pick and poke a bunch of holes in cat food cans, tie them to the anchor and jig right off the bottom close to the boat. Took half an hour before they swarmed the chum, started slow but by tides end we were nailing them.
Could work for catfish?

Nice idea with the catfood. When I am in Ft Lauderdale, we fish the reefs and use a similar method. We take a netbag, (like what you buy oranges in), fill it with dry dog food, pour on some fish oil, tie it to the boat and toss it overbord. Soon a party starts and its on.

...As a teen aged lad I'd head down to Frazier's pond for a Friday overnight. Pitch a tent, cobble up a campfire close to shore, and ice pick a bunch of holes in a tin of sardines in sild oil. Then I'd pitch the tin about twenty feet offshore, and follow it up by dropping a baited cane pole right in on top of it. It was a rare night that I didn't catch a mess of bullheads for the ice cooler. Mom would batter up a fine fish fry for the whole family on Saturday night!

....When it comes to fishing, nothing is more productive than fishing with your best chum!

I've seen a few pike in Hinkley back in the day, but they were tough as hell to catch, especially since Hinkley used to have boat restrictions. Spent a bunch of nights catfishing off the west bank of Hinkley though and crappie fishing off the docks on the north side.

There are those that preach and practice "Catch and Release", but looking at the results of you day "Catch and Grease" comes to my mind. Ok, maybe a little cornmeal in there too!