New Guy. Critique, Insult, and Advise =)

Hey fellas,

I'm [B]new[/B] to fishing. I can count on one hand the number of times I've gone in my life. However my friend and I want to become serious anglers. We're stuck on shore for now but are planning to rectify that in the coming months.

Anyways, he invited me out to an impromptu night of cat fishing on the Ohio River yesterday. I told him sure but that we're not likely to catch anything but snags and that we do not have what we need yet. If anything, it got us out of the house for a few hours.

I took an older 10' Okuma Fin-Chaser rod that my father-in-law gave me recently and attached this to the line. I know this is not correct but what I do not know is [U][B]why[/B][/U]. If you could critique, insult, and advise that would be helpful.

Attached is a picture.

We also took our ugly stik's. We did happen to catch some small bluegills near a moored boat.

Thanks!

[QUOTE=CorydonAngler;569381]Hey fellas,

I'm [B]new[/B] to fishing. I can count on one hand the number of times I've gone in my life. However my friend and I want to become serious anglers. We're stuck on shore for now but are planning to rectify that in the coming months.

Anyways, he invited me out to an impromptu night of cat fishing on the Ohio River yesterday. I told him sure but that we're not likely to catch anything but snags and that we do not have what we need yet. If anything, it got us out of the house for a few hours.

I took an older 10' Okuma Fin-Chaser rod that my father-in-law gave me recently and attached this to the line. I know this is not correct but what I do not know is [U][B]why[/B][/U]. If you could critique, insult, and advise that would be helpful.

Attached is a picture.

We also took our ugly stik's. We did happen to catch some small bluegills near a moored boat.

Thanks![/QUOTE]

Use just the swivel, cut off the snap ring or just get a swivel. Tie a 2 ft leader to the tail end and then tie the hook to that.

Using the rig the way I propose will seriously help with snags, IMHO. It kind of looks like a carolina rig, if you look that up.

Have fun........

Try something like this but with a circle hook. This is a photo of what Geo suggested.

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First off...your in great shape with your rod and reel, and the Ohio can be a great place for big flathead catfish. My brother and I have had great success fishing near the big four bridge pilings on both the Louisville and the Indiana side. I would recommend using cut bluegill (head and guts are best pieces, shave the sharp fins off) or creek chub for bait. Chicken liver with a liberal amount of salt (to toughen meat) and cherry Koolaid added a few days ahead of time can also be good also. Run it on a Carolina rig -main line with no roll lead sinker 2-5 ounces, then a bead (to keep weight off knot), then a barrel swivel with your leader line (12-16") attached to a 6/0 or 8/0 circle hook. I like to use either a enhanced clinch knot or a palomar knot, look it up on youtube tons of easy tutorials. For main line braid in the 30-50lb test range is best, but mono in the 20-30lb range will do fine for much less. leader line 20-30lb mono (go with lighter leader than your main line so if you snag you should save your swivel and your lead. Bright colored line is my prefrence for catfishing it's easier to see the sine moving and color doesnt matter to cats. Circle hooks are self setting so there is no need to jerk up to set the hook. Put your rod in a rod holder anchored in the ground (a few bucks at any retailer that sells tackle) and watch the rod tip, wait for a big bend, the current will cause the occasional little pulse. Im attaching a photo of a Carolina rig to help, and a flathead my brother and I caught on the river this summer. Good luck, and tight lines.