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Joined: Sep 2006
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Campfire Tracker
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OP
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 7,150 |
Thanks for all your replies. Now that the ice is melting, I'm going to try some bank fishing. These lakes have cat...but they're small lakes (man made) so a good cast can get you to the deepest water they have.
Best to y'all.
"It's a source of great pride, that when I google my name, I find book titles and not mug shots." Daniel C. Chamberlain
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 9,532 Likes: 2
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 9,532 Likes: 2 |
Lotsa luck, big cats can be fun. So can regular sized ones on lighter gear, so hope you do good.
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 2,987
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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IF you want to take a BIG Flathead, you need a bucket full of live Sunfish or BIG Goldfish (where goldfish are legal) , as "PAPA" doesn't often take cut bait.
Fish the live bait about 6" off the bottom. - After dark is BEST. (Our largest flattie so far was 68# and pulled like being hooked to a Jeep.)
yours, tex
Last edited by satx78247; 01/27/18.
"VICTORY OR DEATH"
William Barrett Travis, Lt.Col., comdt. Fortress of The Alamo, Bejar F'by 24, 1836
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1 |
Dan...a little more grist for your mill..I found for channel cats the best bait I ever used was LIVE minnows, as they are a bit more predacious than some species. Fish them on the bottom. Second best bait, for reasons known only to the catfish, was shrimp....raw.
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 2,987
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 2,987 |
ingwe,
Oddly enough, the channel cats will frequently hit an artificial bait. = My biggest channel to date hit a Rapala.
yours, tex
"VICTORY OR DEATH"
William Barrett Travis, Lt.Col., comdt. Fortress of The Alamo, Bejar F'by 24, 1836
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1 |
ingwe,
Oddly enough, the channel cats will frequently hit an artificial bait. = My biggest channel to date hit a Rapala.
yours, tex Yep! Caught them on plugs AND plastic worms fished for bass!
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 2,987
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 2,987 |
ingwe,
A K-12 buddy of mine was in a BASS tournament & caught a channel cat on a plug. - He was disgusted with having wasted time reeling-in a lowly catfish & tossed it back. - Later he discovered that he had likely released a NEW STATE CHANNEL CAT RECORD. (His partner said that what Tommy said then is truly "unprintable".)
yours, tex
"VICTORY OR DEATH"
William Barrett Travis, Lt.Col., comdt. Fortress of The Alamo, Bejar F'by 24, 1836
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,606
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2008
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I've had good luck on Frogs, live shad or shiners (seined) the same freshly dead (less than 12 hours) and crawlers. with crawlers you often catch a variety of fish, especially carp where I am. I never had much luck with gizzards or livers but only tried them a handfull of times. I've always wanted to try shrimp and might do that this spring. I preferred circle hooks and egg or flat sinkers. never used floats to keep them off the bottom and didn't need to in my experience. all mine have been caught in rivers or reservoirs. biggest channel cat was 30.2 lbs biggest flathead was 28 lbs even.
Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.
Calm seas don't make sailors.
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Joined: Apr 2010
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Campfire Outfitter
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That’s a monstrous channel cat!
We haven’t been doing much good around here lately, it’s been so damn cold that our water temperature has dropped making bait tough to catch and the cat bite slow slow. Spring is right around the corner and as soon as it warms up for a week or two they’ll pick back up again.
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Joined: Feb 2008
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2008
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I missed the state record by 2 lbs I haven't caught one even close to that before or since. it was spring 1998 and I caught it on an ultralight rod, 8 lb test using a plain hook and 3/8 egg sinker and 3 dead fathead minnows. biggest not including that one were about 18-20 lbs and a lot in the 6-12lb range. good eaters. I miss walking out the backdoor a few hundred yards and catching catfish all night along the river.
Beware of any old man in a profession where one usually dies young.
Calm seas don't make sailors.
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Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 127
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jun 2014
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Some very good info on this thread. I would add one of my favorite ways is to drift in a slow river with no weight, or will add just enough weight to bounce on the bottom. Then I use the trolling motor to keep the boat in the right position. Once we find fish we will redrift the same area. Very productive.
Does this .405 Winchester make my butt look big?
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