The Fishing Thread

#277
#277
I hope the bass are coming off bed / more active soon. I'm in a huge 0'fer the last several hours in my usual spots and rounds in Tim's Ford.

I'm mainly a plastics / Texas rig fisherman, so "my time" should be here in a few weeks.
 
#278
#278
joevol33 said:
That sounds like a good idea.
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We do it every year now in the Sarasota area. We have a blast. Catch speckled trout, snook, snapper, bonnethead shark, catfish, and many others. I didnt have a clue the first time I did it. Took my throw net, several baits I use for bass fishing, and also bought some shrimp. If youre an experienced bass fisherman you wont have a problem. Look for structure, points, or just active schoolers and you will be catching fish in no time.
 
#279
#279
jp1 said:
We do it every year now in the Sarasota area. We have a blast. Catch speckled trout, snook, snapper, bonnethead shark, catfish, and many others. I didnt have a clue the first time I did it. Took my throw net, several baits I use for bass fishing, and also bought some shrimp. If youre an experienced bass fisherman you wont have a problem. Look for structure, points, or just active schoolers and you will be catching fish in no time.
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We caught a bunch of fish of the jettys today. Nothing big, but fun.
 
#280
#280
Anybody doing any sauger fishing? I usually do a little this time of year on old hickory using jigs and minnows when there is current
 
#289
#289
Catfishing has really picked up on Boone Lake in East Tennessee. Both Flathead & Blue Cats are being caught off rocky points in 10-15 feet of water. Baits being used are live bluegill for flatheads & chicken livers & nightcrawlers for the blue cats.

Sizes on these catfish have been huge on the flathead. Medium-Large size on the blue cats. My best friend sent me a photo of a flathead he caught Wednesday evening. It weighed 45 lbs.

One of his blue cats was 10 lbs which is pretty decent for that type catfish. The fish are hitting best from early evening until just after dark. Starting July they will bite at night only.

I've caught some of these monsters myself in the past going with my best friend. Health issues though have kept me from going like I want to for the past 3-4 years. I'll see if I can get that 45 lb flathead picture posted on here in the next couple of days. Thanks!
 
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#291
#291
Escape Goat said:
I have never caught a blue or flathead cat
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They are fun to catch buddy. Bluecats fight much better than a flathead catfish. However, flatheads do get bigger. I'll post the picture of my friend's humongous flathead either later tonight or sometime tomorrow.
 
#292
#292
Here's the pictures on my buddy Matt who caught a 45 lb. flathead catfish not too long ago on Boone Lake:
 

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#294
#294
Escape Goat said:
Very nice. Huge cat.
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That's the biggest one he's ever caught but not the biggest he's ever hooked. He had one last year when I was with him right up at the boat & it broke the line right before we were going to scoop it in the net. I bet it would have been close to 60 lbs. That's what we both guessed anyhow.

He also hooked into a Blue Catfish in 2012 that was really huge. His biggest bluecat has been 30 lbs. That one would have been 45-50 lbs easily. We have 2 spots on Boone Lake that from April-August we can catch them like crazy.

They hit nightcrawlers & small-medium minnows from April-May. Starting in June for some crazy reason they switch to bluegills(some bigger ones too) & Shiners(very large minnows). The dark colored bluegills they hit the best. I mean bluegills as large as your hand.

Most of the flatheads hit the bluegills while the blue cats hit the shiner minnows better. They are all grouped up together in about a 75-100 yard area along a rocky bank. They will bite all the way thru September. They stop biting at the end of September to 1st of October.

BTW, early on during the spring when they're hitting nightcrawlers & small-medium minnows they only bite from late afternoon til dark. They completely stop biting after dark during this time period.

Starting in June, they hit from early evening until about 2 hours after dark. From August thru September it's almost entirely right after dark til around 2-3 AM. Sometimes up until 4 AM but rarely past that time. The prime time is around midnight during the last couple of months of biting.

It's a blast. We fish out of a medium sized flat bottom boat. Plenty of room for just me & him. All we use is a small trolling motor(15 HP) because we dock about 200 yards from our fishing spots. We also have a nice crappie & hybrid hole in between our catfishing spots.

Crappie start hitting in early February & hit good until the end of March. They slow down but still hit until the end of April. We catch most of our crappie on minnow/fly combination. The Hybrid hit topwater from early April thru the end of April during the evening hours. You can also catch them during the day on chicken livers.

In the whole month of May they hit topwater at night only. That's when you can get into some huge Hybrid. I have him beat on the biggest Hybrid though. I caught one at night that weighed 18 lbs 2 oz. back in 2004. His biggest Hybrid is 13 lbs. 8 oz. The state record is 24 lbs. 7 oz. I believe. I know it's 24 lbs. but not sure about the oz.
 
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#297
#297
tonybologna said:
No problem buddy. Anytime. I could take about hunting & fishing all day long. :)
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It's been a year since I have fished. My rod is still hanging in my living room, and time to time I open up my tackle box and
look at my lures. Have you ever heard of dip baits for catfish?
 
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#299
#299
Escape Goat said:
It's been a year since I have fished. My rod is still hanging in my living room, and time to time I open up my tackle box and
look at my lures. Have you ever heard of dip baits for catfish?
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Yes, heard of & used them both. Not much luck out of them. All of my big catfish have been caught on live bait. They do make some stinkbaits that work but I've never caught anything big with that stuff.

Have you heard of nightcrawler links? They are pickled links in a jar that smell terrible. They used to work when I was much younger but not anymore for me. I used to take those nightcrawler links to the river & wear out some yellow & blue channel cats.

Now, most of my catfishing is strictly from Boone Lake up here in East Tennessee. These 2 holes me & my buddy use nobody & I mean nobody knows about but us.

That's why we do so good all the time. My buddy has caught a lot more than me though. He started fishing it a couple of years before I finally went with him to those spots. That's been 15+ years ago. These 2 spots continue to provide great catfishing to this day.

You won't catch anything else but catfish in these 2 spots. You might catch an occasional bluegill with smaller minnows but other than that it's all big catfish.

Never caught a catfish smaller than 5 lbs from these spots. We already know there's a few over 50 lbs in these spots. We just have to learn how to get them in the netting before they snap the line or get away. :)
 
#300
#300
Just caught 6 red snapper, 2 amberjack (out of season), and a trigger fish (out of season) on a charter boat in Destin Fl. Best time ever
 
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