10/25/15 Ohio River fishing report

**AaronS** · 10-26-2015

My wife and I tried our hand at fishing for blue cats in the Ohio yesterday for the first time ever. We put in at Grandview, IN and fished in the general area of the ramp. Air temp was 63 and water temp was 66, wind was out of the East. Our old boat has a small cheap Lowrance down-imaging fish finder (which I have a lot to learn as far as reading it goes), but it seemed that the area was one big flat with not much of a channel. We free-drifted using cut skip jack suspended about 5 feet off the bottom, we anchored near a log and fished with our bait on the bottom (the log still has one of my 8/0 Gamakatsu Octopus circle hooks and 8 ounce no-roll sinkers) and never got a bite. We moved up river to the down-river end of an island and anchored, then tried the cut bait on the bottom again while trying for channel cats using punch bait under a slip-bobber. Still no bites. I saw some logs and brush upstream a bit so we moved up and fished it with the same negative results (same except for another log eating another hook, sinker, swivel, etc.)

Like I said, this was our first ever time trying this, but won't be our last. A few things we learned from our trip:

1. An old 17 foot bass boat isn't really that big. When you add 2 people, a German Shepherd, a cooler, tackle bag, anchor and fishing poles, it gets down-right cramped. We're thinking of moving to a pontoon in the future for the added room.
2. We need to add rod holders to the boat! I knew this before hand, but didn't have time before this trip. I have a lot of work I want to do on the boat over the winter and rod holders are on that list. My wife didn't really like holding a 7 1/2 foot rod with 8 ounce sinker and big cut bait for hours.

3. Better electronics would be a huge help and they are on the wish list. They sure don't give them away though.
4. A trolling motor with i-pilot would be a huge help too. Foot-controlled can be a pain for this type of fishing.
5. This isn't something we just learned yesterday, but something I'm reminded of every time we go out.....any time on the water with each other is a blessing. Enjoy it every chance you get!

**70worm** · 10-29-2015

I've never been this late in the year so I'm no help right now. We usually go over by Tell City when it's hotter than hell outside and do ok. I can usually tell how things are going to go by the number of boats. More boats usually equals better fishing. The locals know when to go fishing.