Bass Upper Chick 10/15

[Fishin Fool]

Fishing Fire and me hit the ramp about 11am and the first person we bumped into was DRC going out to hit the catfishing as the nuke plant. He sounded like he already had caught some good ones. We had gotten 9 dozen minnows and were going to see if the crappie were in the channels or around the docks but started fishing buzz baits and never stopped! Like Jason in the other report on here, we found the bass had pushed baitfish in between 2 sand bars and were just using it like a corral! Final tally on white buzz baits about 230pm was Mike 16, with 3 keepers and me with 12 with 2 keepers, no real big fish. I also hooked and landed a 15lb catfish that hit a BB! He hit just like a bass and gave me a few minutes of serious sweating before I realized what it was! We did catch something I have never seen before and maybe someone on the forum knows a little about it. It was a type of hybrid between a smallmouth and a largemouth. It had the body of a largemouth but the mouth of a small mouth. The coloring was something between the two but leaning more toward a small mouth. He was one of the keepers I caught weighing in at 2lbs 3oz. I have never caught one of these guys before and really didn't know they are out there. Has anyone else ever caught one? Wish I had thought to bring the camera but I thought it was going to be a crappie day. We never even got a line in the water for them as we were to busy with the bass!

 

[jon the fisherman]

sounds like the fall feeding frenzy is on! That fish you caught was probably a mean mouth. There was a post on here a few months ago about it.

 

[Fishin Fool]

Jon it was ideed a mean mouth! I looked it up on the net and found this pic! Thanks for the info. It is amazing to see this fish and catch one. It was EXTREMELY agressive, hitting the BB 3 times before I finally hooked him on the 3 strike. Pic is below

http://www.tablerockguideservice.com/bill_mccurry.htm

 

[polo-dog]

A catfish on a BB? Wow, I've never had that happen to me. I didn't think that those things would come up off the bottom like that. That does sound exciting though.

 

[Fishin Fool]

I tell you Polo, cat fish are doing some weird stuff this year! I used to never catch a catfish fishing for crappie but went Saturday around the docks at Harrison Bay and caught 3 big cats in about an hour! All on freelined tuffy minnows fished under a bobber near the docks. Didn't catch a single crappie. Did luck into some Spots that were around the docks and the cats.

 

[polo-dog]

If I was a crappie, I'd stay away from docks that had big cats on them too. I'd hate to be the next meal, if you know what I mean.

 

[jason]

Fishin Fool - 10/15/2006 9:59 PM

I tell you Polo, cat fish are doing some weird stuff this year!

I agree! They have moved into largemouth territory on the Hiwassee and tend to inhabit shallow brushpiles. I've caught them on every lure you sling for bass, however, their preferred artificial meal is anything by Lucky Craft.

 

[MrWiskers]

polo-dog - 10/15/2006 9:56 PM

A catfish on a BB? Wow, I've never had that happen to me. I didn't think that those things would come up off the bottom like that. That does sound exciting though.

In the spring we typically catch 1-3 channel cats per trip bass fishing. Usually catching the cats on pig n jigs, crank baits, and sometimes on spinner baits. My dad used to catch catfish and carp on torpedo's on Watts Bar. Both catfish and carp would blow up on the torpedo like a bass. Channel cats will and do eat anything they can catch and can be caught using artifical bass baits. I saw an article in In-Fisherman where these guys would target channel cats in the spring using crank baits.

The other thing about cats are we catch about 50% of our fish in the spring suspended off the bottom. We may be in 25-50 feet but the cats will be suspended half way up or more. This is why jug fishing works so well. Channel cats go even shallower and the ones we catch on artificals are usually in 5 feet of water or less.

Cats are amazing fish!!!