advice for catfishing

[BASSKING]

OK , with the heat and the slow bass fishing at my favorite lake me, my wife and son have been hitting taylorsville at night for catfish. i am not a very good catfisherman and we have been four times and havent caught any. i know they are there i just cant catch them. we have tried it all: shrimp,livers,night crawlers,strawberry soaked chicken, you name it and we have tried it. the biggest problem i am having is getting hung up on the bottom. every other cast i get hung up on something. does any one have any advice on what i am doing wrong and how to not get hung up on the bottom every time.

Thanks Bassking

[MsgMills]

The folks I saw who were using the strawberry soaked chicken. Were up in a cove fishing about 5 feet deep using a big float to keep the bait off the bottom. The cats were coming up from the deep water feeding in the shallow water. So try to fish a lot shallower and keep the bait off the bottom, won't get hung up as much.... Good Luck They were in a cove up towards the State Ramp area.

[PROANGLER746]

It does sound like you need to keep it just off bottom. Using a bobber will do the trick. Beef livers might work if you havent tried those.

[big_cat]

If you are going to fish with livers, take a pair of knees highs and put a little peice of liver in it and twist it up tight then tie it off with line. I make all of my liver balls before I go out fishing, they get messy, I use the real small zip ties. How long of a leader are you using? I like a shorter leader for cats, 6-8 inches. Something else that works is put a little crappies slip float below your sinker. that a 12-14 inch leader. sinker, float, swivel, then, hook that will keep the hook off the bottom very well. Then all you have is the sinker getting you stuck. try using some leeches this time of year channels love them. Got 32 at a paylake three weeks ago (Jackies Paylake) fishing under a slip rig with a long float, about six feet deep. very small bluegill are working well right now also.

Chris

[wowsafari]

google Brotherhood of catfishermen and check out that site. Great info on anything related to cats. You'll have to register to access some of the features on the site. I would post a link but I don't know if that's allow on this site.

[DMurphy]

I havent fished for catfish at T-ville at night but I have been catching a lot of them bluegill fishing with my son on nightcrawlers under a bobber at 4ft or so. Find the channel near a bank that has a lot of rock and some wood and thats been the ticket for me. We have been catching all of our fish on the main lake only not in any of the coves and have heard other reports from other guys doing the same. Go up towards the river and we get there at daylight and fish tell around 11 or 12 depending on lake traffic. A lot of nice gills this year too. Good Luck

[BASSKING]

thanks for the tips fellas , i will give theese suggestions on our next trip.

[Jabbo]

One more thing that is often overlooked.. Catfish have an overbite and truth be told, channel and flatheads are primarily live forage eaters. Don't get me wrong they will absolutely eat night crawlers, livers, chicken, hot dogs cheese and coast soap.. (yeah cost soap!!! I promise you it is awesome) anyway.. They have an overbite and it is difficult for them to pick up heavy offerings off the bottom unlike a bucketmouth. Definitely try a slip rig and keep it off the bottom.. If I'm not mistaken, I think they spawn in June/July.. I have caught several lately on crank baits around wood cover while bass fishing. I would start in the shallows, even in the heat of the day. 4-10 foot range.
Good Luck!! oh and if you put out jugs or a trot line.. try about a 1/2" cube of coast soap. It's a lot cleaner that liver or cut bait and you can absolutely load the boat with em..

[Chubminnow]

There's a real good article in the latest issue of Kentucky Game and Fish regarding Blue Cats at Taylorsville, check it out, it may be informative for you.

[rivercatman]

you probaly need to stick to BASS fishing

[BASSKING]

you probaly need to stick to BASS fishing

probably so. but you gotta change it up every so often.

we did ok last night. we went to willisburg lake and fished from 6pm to around 3 in the morning. first off we caught around thirty bass in which none of them were over 10-12 inches. but on to the catfish, i kept it simple used night crawlers under a lighted bobber and we caught around 15 decent channel cats and a couple little mud cats. the catfish were right on the bank in about 3-4 foot of water. we had a good time. the fish of the night came from my wife , we dropped anchor on the right side of the fist cut on the lake and after about ten minutes we started catching them pretty much on every other cast. she hooks a good one about 5-6 pounds and for her that is huge. she fighting it and taking her time and then "snap". the line breaks and the fish is still on dragging her bobber straight twoards a tree submerged in the water.i pull up the anchor and troll over reach dwn and get the bobber and pull it up and she grabs it with the net. a good 5-6 pound channel, had to be a moment she wont forget because she looked heart broken when the line snapped and even said a choice word that would have waken the dead. all in all we had a goodtimeand i wasnt gonna loose my bobber.lol

[dsonthelake84]

I was watching on Kentucky Afield couple weeks ago and the guy was using thread instead of knee highs. Just tie it around a few times. I went a pay lake and caught quite a bit on chubbers. Catch them in creeks and things. Put ya a slip bobber on and it should keep ya from getting stuck.