Fishing 11-15

[polo-dog]

Set out this AM with my fishing buddie Jerry. Fished for bass initially, caught three or four fish close to keepers, all nice fish. Most on topwater but one on a spinnerbait. All were ganged up on junctions between the Wolftever creek channel and flats. Lots of bait to herd in the areas. Went out to some of the Harrson bay sloughs and there was some activity, caught one on top there but ran my boat aground with my trolling motor chasing jumps. Luckily had something in my boat to push myself off with. Decided that the bass fishing was on the way out as the wind picked up and figured that the front had pulled through and the bite would only get worse so, caught some shad and headed for my catfish hole. It took a few minutes and I thought that they might be put off by the front too but things turned around quickly. I have never caught so much poundage in one day. Must have caught 30+ blue cats and a couple of another species of cat that I will have to look up, all over 4 lbs and many over 10lbs. Had at least three doubles as the fish would move on and off the feeding shelf/hump in waves. Most of the fish were over 7 lbs, so you do the math, it was amazing the number of fish down there. The fish were either on a small hump on top of the "shelf" or they were off the end of the shelf in 40+ feet of water. We were both very tired at the end of the day, and my thumb was bloodied by them biting down on it. Here are some pics including one of the doubles.

 

[DHaun]

Great report polo-dog! Looks like a great day in the water! How deep was the shelf hump you were fishing? Are the threadfins still in the shallow sloughs?

 

[Jmax]

Hey polo dog those are some good looking cats. That sounds too easy the way you tell it. What is it you are looking for when you locate those big cats and what are you using for bait?emoSmile I would love to take my son out on a trip like that and catch those kind of fish with that weight. Would you consider a guide trip for a kid?emoBigsmile He likes to fish but looses interest quickly if he doesn't get bit early.emoCool Jmax

 

[polo-dog]

DHaun, the shad are still back in the creek and are really thick back in the sloughs at HBSP. Just watch for movement or wear polaroids and cruise the shallows. The hump comes up from the shelf next to the channel bend. It is about 13 feet on top and drops to 20+ feet on both sides onto the "shelf". The end of the hump drops off into the river channel which is about 40 feet deep there. I think that I sent a map to you with the location on it once. There seem to be three key areas where the cats seem to stack up within about a 30 yard stretch. I would expect that there are many similar areas on the lake, you just need to study the maps of the lake and spend some time checking out the spots. I found this spot on the maps this summer.

I know that you guys must think that I fish alot in short sleeves on new year's day!!!!!!!! One of these days I'll figure out how to make it quit resetting.

Jmax, would love to take you and your son out to catch some. I may be taking someone out later this week but maybe we can get together. You know me, I'm no guide, but I do like to catch a bunch and put others on fish! I would expect that the spot could be a fantastic winter spot for bass and if the brown bass population is getting better in the lake, it could hold some of them too. Yesterday it was all cats but sometimes the spots stack there too. I was using shad as bait, one cast and I had enough for three days worth of fishing, hmm, I wonder if frozen shad work as well as fresh. I know that I can catch all the shad I want right now, maybe I ought to freeze a few bags full. Hopefully my sweetheart won't mimd. I'll have to ask.

 

[Jmax]

You kill me!!!!!emoLaugh emoLaugh Let me know how the freeze thing works. You may get a freeze but not from the frig if you know what I mean. The little misses may freeze you but good. If you do have a couple seats in your boat freed up let me know and we can see what we can work out. My son gets out fo school around 3.emoCool Jmax

 

[drc]

Polo-dog, I usually keep a few bags of frozen skipjack in the freezer and they work just as well as fresh ones. A lot of people don't freeze them because they get mushy after they thaw out but I have never had that problem. I'll let you know how I prepare them and it should work for you as well.
Here are a few tips that will help:
1) Keep them on ice until your ready to bag them.
2) Then lay them out on a flat surface and pat them dry with parer towels (getting all the water off them will keep them from freezing together)
3) Place as many as you can into a large freezer bag so that they lay flat and don't overlap too much (this is so you can get them out one at a time instead of having a big clump of frozen shad)
4) After you have the shad in the bag, zip it up except for a few inches then submerge in a sink or bucket of cold water leaving only the open end of the bag above the water (this will push all the air out of the bag= poor mans vacuum sealer)
5) Finish sealing bag and dry off with towel then put in freezer.

I have been doing this for about three years now and have never had a problem with my shad getting mushy or falling apart. I'm sure a lot of you already know how to do this but this board has been a great help to me with my bass fishing so if I can give something back and help a fellow angler I'm more than happy to do so. Some of the years best trophy catfishing is just around the corner!

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the great tip drc! I was wondering that myself. I tried that with shiners this summer. What ever you do...do NOT put old frozen shiners or shad in the garbage in the middle of summer. Put them in the night before pickup. It will stinkify the entire yard and start seeping into the house after a few days... I had to dig into the garbage can to remove the sackful of rancid bait and after a major gag attack in the driveway...I triple bagged it, threw it in the back of the truck and hauled it off to a car wash garbage can it stunk so bad. I will never forget it...it smelled worse than when a nuclear plant rat ate its way into my truck and then died in the summer heat...emoVomit

 

[polo-dog]

Thanks for the tips drc I will have to try it. I too am trying to "give something back" as I really feel blessed to live in such a great part of the country. You said that the best cat fishing is just around the corner. What do you do and when do you go to really catch some good ones at this time of year? You should start a thread on it as it sounds like you have done a bit of it. I did catch some Hickory or Gizzard shad also in my net today but didn't use them. I didn't want to wait for a big one to come. Maybe I should have tried some cut bait to get the cats going. I know that odors really get cats going. It also sounds like odors get DHaun going too: "a major gag attack in the driveway", sounds like something I would have. I will try to be sure that any shad that I get rid of is fresh or still frozen. The rat line really brings up good images too. My stomach is churning just thinking about it.

 

[drc]

DHaun, thats pretty funny. Iv'e thrown away about three coolers this summer because I forgot to throw the left over bait away before coming home. I can simpathize with you cause when I did open the coolers a couple days later, WOW what a smell!!
As far as the winter catfishing I don't catch a lot but I rarely get anything below 25lbs. I do most of my catfishing up on WattsBar lake and most of my bass fishing on the Chick. A few years ago I joined a catfish web site/ message board, I met a few guy's in the Knoxville area who are serious catfisherman (anything under 40lbs isn't worth a pic.). I fished with them on and off for a year and finally lost contact. In that time they taught me a lot about big cats and showed me several good spots. The catfishing has taken a backseat to bass fishing, guess I needed a new fish to study or something.lol.
If anyone likes catfishing on the Bar, PM me and I can tell you some places that have always given up big fish for me. And if anyone knows any big cat spots on the Chick then feel free to share.

 

[DHaun]

drc, do you ever fish for cats drifting below Watts Bar Dam turbines? I really want to try it sometime for stripers and have never been. I think I have located the ramp using google earth (downstream on the east side of the channel) but was wondering if you knew...

Do you know of any depth or rock hazards? What is the general depth below the turbines?

 

[polo-dog]

drc, I would expect that the same types of areas that are good catfish spots on the Bar would be the types of areas that would hold them on the Chick. Do you have topo maps of the Bar and the spots marked on it or can you describe the areas that hold the cats? I'll bet that we could figure out some big cat places down here too. I know of one hole in the Chick that holds big flatheads in the winter. Most of them over 25lbs. I hope to hook one on light line and go for a new line class record but it's a long shot. The only record that is within reach with the fish I catch is the 2lb line record which is around 30 lbs. Who fishes with 2lb test anyway? So if I don't break it I doubt that there's anyone else dumb enough to try. That's my hope anyway.

 

[drc]

DHaun, Iv'e fished below WattsBar dam a lot in the past for cats but the fishing on the lake is MUCH better. There have been times the big cats and stripes have been thick below the dam but those days are few and far between. I will usually put in right at the dam, the ramp is on the east side of the channel and is right at the dam (when your standing on the ramp you can see the entire lock and dam). There are no hazards or shallow places to worry about, the depth is in the 15-25ft range if I remember right. I have never hit bottom or even heard of anyone hitting bottom and Iv'e fished it when the water was down with no turbins running. If you enjoy fishing below Chick dam then you'll love fishing below WattsBar, there's some real good places a few miles below the dam also, look for the eddys behind the rock points.

polo-dog, I do have topo maps of both lakes. The only real constant factor I can see with the spots on the Bar is deep water. All of the places I catch big cats from are at least 30ft deep with the best places in the 45ft range. Most of the places are pretty common for example: secondary channels that are at least 30ft deep wiyh stumps on the bottom, points that drop quickly into deep water, but mostly VERY steep banks or bluffs that are at least 40-50ft deep with large chunk rock. You'll hang an anchor every time but can usually pull them free, I did lose two this year though. I think the Chick has just as many big blues as the Bar but unfortunatly no one has shown me a dozen spots that have the big fish. I was really lucky to meet such nice people that didn't care to show a newbie the ropes. You guy's need to stop, your making me want to go catch a big cat.lol

 

[DHaun]

Thanks for the info drc!

 

[drc]

I copied and saved some of the WattsBar maps, I circled in red some of the better places I have fished. I'm not sure if you'll be able to make it out since I had to down size them. If not then disreguard this post.

 

[polo-dog]

drc, hey, I thought that "making me want to go catch a big cat" is what this forum is all about. Putting our heads together and figuring out areas in this great place and not paying out big bucks for a guide to spoon feed us is what I'm hoping to get out of this forum. The area that I have been catching all those blues in is exactly the same as what you described. I would expect that if I put a big bait down there that there would be some really bit ones down there. I would expect that there are at least a dozen similar spots on lake Chickamuaga. Maybe some night a bunch of us could get together and figure out where to go on the Chick. What do you think?

 

[polo-dog]

drc, thanks all of those spots look similar in many ways to me. Lots of river flow and most of them are on the outside swings of the channel where there would be an eddie set up where the bait gets swept right to those fat cats and they don't have to fight the current all the time. Have you been to the TN aquarium and looked at where those big cats hang out? They sit there right up next to a bluff and under a ledge or in a little cave or under a big branch that's hung on the bluff. The spot that I've been hitting so much is very similar. The more time I spend at the spot the more I can picture the cats just hanging there waiting for my bait to come by. I will look at the Chickamauga maps and see if I can find similar areas. I see that you live in Cleveland, so maybe the river near where the Hiwasse comes in and North of there would be good and easy for you to get to. Where do you normally put in?

 

[drc]

Say when! You struck the nail on the head. Big bait =big fish, I now use nothing but 8/0- 10/0 circle hooks with very large pieces of skipjack or whole live gizzard shad. The little ones will still peck at it but can't fit the bait in their mouths. The guys I fished with had an intresting theory, they think that fish can comunicate to some extent. I think everyone has heard a catfish bark while removing a hook but have you ever thought about why they bark? I always assumed it was because it didn't feel good having that hook twisted out with a pair of pliers. But what if they have diffrent kinds of "barks". Maybe when your getting your hook out that is some sort of distress call, if that is so then they may also have a feeding call or even a mating call. I don't know, maybe those guy's had too much time on their hands but I don't think it's all that far fetched.
I can tell you from personal experience that the little cats will find my bait first. They will start "pecking" the bait first and keep hitting it quicker and harder as time goes by. If they all of a sudden stop bitting the bait it is usually only a few minutes before a big one grabs it and doubles the rod over. Iv'e heard people say that small cats and big cats don't hang around together but trust me they do!

 

[drc]

Normally put in at Blythe-ferry, Grasshopper, Skull island, Harrison bay.

 

[polo-dog]

drc, here are some areas that I thought looked similar, also some jetties or other man made structures on the Breedenton map that look interesting. Oops, downsized them more than you and used thin circles but I think that they can be made out.

 

[drc]

DHaun, I circled the general area of where the boat ramp is located below WattsBar dam. Don't know the road number but hope the map helps clear it up.