Fishing Information


A Guide to Non-Typical Catfish Fishing Techniques - Part II


Method 1

Equipment

I fish baits at all depths, not just the bottom, in wide-open water. I always set up and fish deep lake structures. Besides an understanding of the contours on the bottom of the lake, being mobile and being able to read your fish locator are the keys. The tools I use are 8-foot heavy action rods, circle hooks, cut and live shad, balloons and the all-important fish locator. I use 30-pound line, large capacity reels, 8-foot heavy action rods, 2 oz. Egg sinkers, barrel swivels and #7/0 circle hooks.

Basically a Carolina Rig, I have a hook with an 18-inch leader tied to your barrel swivel, which is connected to your main line, which is where your egg sinker is attached. My boat is equipped with steel rod holders, a hand-controlled trolling motor, two fish locators, a big dip net and marker buoys. My equipment is not the most expensive but it is practical. The main thing to remember is to keep whatever equipment you use in good condition. Many know all too well about the disasters that can be caused by old line and improperly maintained fishing equipment and big Blues will test everything from your knots to your rod holders. If there is a weak link, they will expose it.

Find the Big Fish

You need to know how to tell the difference between larger fish and bait fish while using your fish locator.

There are two main structures that I catch Blue Cats on: ledges and humps. Blue Cats are creatures of edges and they seem to congregate on the brake lines of ledges and humps. The one-two punch comes when you find these structures with both bait fish and big fish mixed together on your locator. There are very few spots that I will stop and fish where I don't see either big fish or bait fish on my locator. The ledges that I primarily fish are old river channels edges. The fish can be scattered up and down the edge but the best fishing occurs when they are on the top.

Catching Them

Typically, when I set up to fish these ledges, I run my boat over them and throw out my marker buoy where I see the fish. A little trick to using your marker buoys is to throw your marker upwind of where you are going to fish. If you drop the marker right on top of the fish, you will be bumping it and will eventually move it while the wind is pushing you around. If you throw it upwind of the fish, you can run your trolling motor right up to it without the wind pushing you over it.

Next I bait my rods, staggering them at the depth I see the fish. If the fish are up high, above 10 feet, I use a balloon and live shad on two rods. The other four rods will have half live and half cut shad, which I will suspend over the fish, continuously moving around the marker until the first strike occurs. In the warmer months the bite will usually occur on live shad. The colder the water, the better that cut bait seems to work.

Keep moving the depth of your baits up and down according to what your locator is telling you. An easy way to determine the depth of your bait is to measure the distance between the first guide and your rod's reel. My rods are two feet from reel to the first guide so when I pull out twenty sections of line between my reel and the first guide, my bait will be approximately 40 feet deep. Stagger the depth of your bait so that you know how deep each is. When you get your first strike, move your other rods to that depth. If no strikes occur within 30 minutes move to another structure. I have set on the same ledge for many hours and caught fish, but I will usually have to move after catching 5 to 10 active fish. If you do not have a trolling motor you can use anchors, but it requires many sessions of heaving up heavy anchors and can soon kill the fun of ledge fishing. When water is at its coldest, the anchor method will work better due to the inactivity of the fish below.

In other words, the warmer the water the faster the fish will spook out from under your boat. The colder the water the less chance the fish will want to move away due to their comfort zone in the water column.

Make sure to read Part 3 of this article to learn about Capt. Jeff's second non-typical technique!

You have permission to publish this article free of charge as long as you are not selling it and that you include the author bylines immediately visible with the article and, if published in an electronic medium such as on a web site, you provide a link back to www.ozark-lodges-fishing-trips.com in the author bylines, both where the web address is listed as well as well as with the text "Lake of the Ozarks Catfish Fishing Guide Service"...

Jeff Williams runs a Truman Lake Hybrid Bass and Lake of the Ozarks Catfish Fishing Guide Service offering lodging and guided trips in Missouri. To book a trip, learn more tips, or find out how Capt. Jeff would fish your own local waters, call 1-866-HOOKSET or visit http://www.ozark-lodges-fishing-trips.com today!


MORE RESOURCES:

Radioactive fish Northern Vermont bass test positive for strontium, cesium
Brattleboro Reformer
By BOB AUDETTE / Reformer Staff BRATTLEBORO -- Fish taken from a lake in northern Vermont had similar levels of strontium-90 and cesium-137 as fish taken from the Connecticut River near Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon. During a Feb.

and more »


Newfoundland and Labrador Compass

Fishing standoff heats up
The Telegram
More than 50 unionized crew members from the fishing trawler Newfoundland Lynx have been locked out by Ocean Choice International. — Photo by Terry Roberts/The Compass Tension between the fisheries union and Ocean Choice International (OCI) has ...
Fishing standoff unfolding in Bay RobertsNewfoundland and Labrador Compass

all 9 news articles »


Lewiston Sun Journal

Ice-fishing events are at mercy of Mother Nature
Lake County News Sun
1/29/12 Lake Zurich Len Miglieri and Ed Nuemann stock their sleds and pull their gear to the lake for some ice-fishing on Bangs Lake at sunrise on Sunday, Jan. 29th. An ice-fishing derby, with headquarters at Bangs Lake Bait Company, had proceeds going ...
Derby, free fishing to take place Feb. 19Lewiston Sun Journal
Hundreds gather for Tupper Lake fishing derbyThe Adirondack Daily Enterprise
Lake Colby Fishing Derby March 3, 4North Country Gazette
NewsChannel 9 WSYR -Northumberland Today
all 7 news articles »


Wired2Fish (blog)

Being First: A Fishing Strategy for Staying Ahead of the Competition
Wired2Fish (blog)
I'm not talking about a specific fishing hole but the next “piece” of the fishing puzzle that no one else had found that day, that week, that month, that season … yet. I learned at an early age that knowing a good spot was not nearly as effective as ...
Extended fishing report for Feb. 6Santa Rosa Press Democrat (blog)
MN DNR Weekly ReportDuluth News Tribune

all 3 news articles »


Minnesota Ice Fishing Shanty Rentals that Won't Leave You Cold
Yahoo! Sports
Contributor Network 12 hours, 27 minutes ago Headed to Minnesota for an ice fishing excursion and wondering where you can rent a lake-front cabin and an ice shanty? Well, I have you covered. Looking for copious amounts of perch?

and more »


Homosassa Fishing Report 2/6/12
The Ledger (blog)
I began in waist deep water while wade fishing with Mark Nichols and Jerry McBride of DOA lures. We casted a variety of their artificial baits. They caught a ton of fish and I caught about a half ton using the DOA three inch shrimp and CAL tails near ...
Mother Nature forgot it's wintertime, so let's go fishingTCPalm

all 2 news articles »


PennLive.com

Reporter's Notebook: A fish out of water
Carlisle Sentinel
So, as I walked around and around tables full of hunting and fishing gear at the Outdoor Show, I felt (no pun intended) like a fish out of water. With the bright blue jacket I was wearing, I probably even looked like one, too. Luckily, a nice man named ...
Show organizer says visitors demand a purchasing option at the Eastern Sports ...Patriot-News (blog)
Eastern Sports & Outdoor Show a nine-day extravaganzaThe Tribune-Democrat
Eastern Sports and Outdoors Show Begins at HarrisburgDaily Local News

all 91 news articles »


Very good ice fishing in northeast Washington
The Seattle Times
Those who enjoy ice fishing and like to catch quality trout should consider a couple of lakes in Okanogan County. One is very much overlooked, and I suppose the reason is that it is a winter lake, that is it is managed to open in the late fall and ...
Rainbow trout coming to Lake MendocinoSanta Rosa Press Democrat

all 3 news articles »


Cumberland Courier Newspapers

NSW Recreational Fishing Trust funds available
Cumberland Courier Newspapers
FISHERMEN with thoughts on how to improve the fishing in their area but without the means to reel the idea in, are invited to apply for government funding. Organisations and anglers are now invited to apply for NSW Recreational Fishing Trust funding, ...
For-profit fishing limited on reefs; new law cuts commercial harvestGeorgetown Times
Regulatory Agency Treats Recreational Fishermen UnfairlyThe Ledger

all 3 news articles »


WEEKLY DNR ENFORCEMENT REPORT: Ice fishing, Dog in trap, vehicles through the ice
Grand Forks Herald
The vehicle owners are brothers who were fishing in the same shelter. Plans to remove a 2011 Ford and 2012 Jeep are underway. Here is the weekly report from Department of Natural Resources conservation officers in northwest Minnesota for Feb.

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2007