Went Fishing

[ToddsPoint]

I’ve never fished much. I’m not too good at it honestly. I’ve been wanting to catch some catfish to eat. I got permission to fish a new spot and checked it out yesterday. It was in the 50s, NW wind in my face and I was in the shade. 🥶 I didn’t last long but I think this will be a good spot this spring. The owner says he catches average size channel and some large flatheads.

 

[WoodsDigger]

I’ve never fished much. I’m not too good at it honestly. I’ve been wanting to catch some catfish to eat. I got permission to fish a new spot and checked it out yesterday. It was in the 50s, NW wind in my face and I was in the shade. 🥶 I didn’t last long but I think this will be a good spot this spring. The owner says he catches average size channel and some large flatheads. View attachment 2252137View attachment 2252138

Thats a great looking mud river for Catfish. We use dead minnows here for catfish at night. Im taking the grandkids soon I will post a catch. Good luck.

 

[pepperj]

I’ve never fished much. I’m not too good at it honestly. I’ve been wanting to catch some catfish to eat. I got permission to fish a new spot and checked it out yesterday. It was in the 50s, NW wind in my face and I was in the shade. 🥶 I didn’t last long but I think this will be a good spot this spring. The owner says he catches average size channel and some large flatheads. View attachment 2252137View attachment 2252138

Does the muddy water ever run clear?

 

[Oldrvrrat57]

Good luck and make sure to cut out the mud veins ! Flathead are the best eaten cats in my opinion, alive bait for them

 

[releventchair]

A Coleman lantern and a chair. Keep the lantern where you want the bugs but close enough to see your rod tip. Not that you need to see when a big cat is leaving with your tackle..

A stout forked stick holds the rod of course but a forked hind stick keeps reel out of the dirt. More importantly it is a strong stake to tie the reel leg to with a heavy stringer or other cordage.
Nothing like taking a whiz and returning to a missing rod and reel.

As mentioned flatheads like live bait.
Channel cats can be taken on fresh killed shiners /fish slabs ect.. Older cats more so.
Slip sinker rigs can tether bigger baits.
A flathead traces scent and vibration but once it touches a bait with a whisker it knows right where it is. Smaller fish get gulped. Big ones get grabbed and kind of like a shark gulping swallowed.
Let the cat be leaving with line snugged then set the hook. Or try circle hooks you don't need to set the hook with.

I used chicken liver mostly. Casting is lobbing so not to lose a chunk.
The same reusable disposable towel to wipe blood with got dunked to clean and the plume of blood in the water didn't hurt .

With a tethered rod working a stationary bait (let the cats work the scent source out) I could then slowly dunk an offering along the bank downstream and then back up.
Short lining. Not casting far if at all. An underhand lob. Let it splash if need be , we're not after frightened fish.

Cats can hole up in nasty snags or undercut banks or just sulk during the day.
Colored water ups the odds of day time traffic. As does deep water or lots of current ect..

At night they can work flats and other areas left alone most of the day.
Flats near deep water or near stretches with lots of snags or rip rap or other cover....

The stream you are fishing will have terrain like patterns.
For example : A hole or hole of sorts. Then a tail out of it. Then a run of current/water and then a riffle over some shallows of harder substrate and then another hole.
Where fish hand is determined by their activity level and what's for dinner.
A cat in a hole full of trees has been sniffing all along and has a good idea what's upstream. And how to approach it.
Crayfish on a shallow flat aren't like minnows to push against a cut bank.
The tail out of a hole is a decent place to pause and note scent again. And can be a place to keep a bait soaking. Depending on activity and what's for dinner.

Carp fishing at night younger cats were caught on doughballs. A crawler at times.
A river I worked at night for cats with liver , a guy took a big one on a store bought shrimp. (No shrimp here. Crayfish yes. Sometimes.) He caught it in the daytime I think.

Go fishing again!
(Careful not to say you are leaving to fish very loudly. Fish can hear that.)

 

[ToddsPoint]

Does the muddy water ever run clear?

Sadly, no. It’s farm country, and even though they don’t plow like they used to, I haven’t noticed any difference in the water. As summer sets in, it starts to clear but also starts to dry up. I walked this creek in Jan and it was bone dry. Mostly gravel bars alternating with mud. There’s not much to get snagged on. The bottom was surprisingly clean with no debris or tires, etc.

 

[newnan man]

Sadly, no. It’s farm country, and even though they don’t plow like they used to, I haven’t noticed any difference in the water. As summer sets in, it starts to clear but also starts to dry up. I walked this creek in Jan and it was bone dry. Mostly gravel bars alternating with mud. There’s not much to get snagged on. The bottom was surprisingly clean with no debris or tires, etc.

Bone dry creeks may take awhile to have fish return to them.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Looks like a good spot, good luck to you.