Too many fish

It's been crazy for past couple days - I've been catching so many fish I don't have time for anything else (having too much fun to care what type of fish I catch)

That's the good news - the bad news is that most are so small I throw them back.

And worst news is a lot of them are the 'stupid yellow bass' that are useless IMHO - BUT they sure do fight - especially when you get a-hold of a big one (which is seldom) - for example yesterday I lost count but I landed over 50 yellow bass - and only 4 of them were about 1 lb or bigger. I was getting hits on every cast for almost 2 hours (from about 10:30AM to 12:15AM - when I got hungry and stopped fishing - was tired of catching the yellow bass)

The reason I kept fishing despite the yellow bass attack - was to find some crappie - which were hard to find yesterday (got a couple yesterday - then about 20 of them today - BUT only 3 were keepers i.e. the crappie around my brush pile are really small - but I keep hoping the big ones will show up - tomorrow :)

Fishing reports from nearby - are much better i.e. people are getting some slabs but I've not gone looking - I keep waiting for the slabs to come to my fishing pier (I know - foolish but hey I'm retired - I got time to wait :)

Got a couple catfish last night - also picked up several large mouth bass and a dozen or more keeper bream

I've been catching all these bass, bream , crappie on a jig and grub (which most people call a twist tail jig but it's really a grub (3 guesses what color - rhymes with 'char tre use'

The crappie usually move in about same time as yellow bass (which are following the shad of course) - so I was expecting more crappie today - and I was right - but as mentioned my brush pile is full of little ones - still waiting for the big ones to come on home with their baby brothers and sisters :)

I may have to start fishing from my boat to find the big ones (but knowing me - I'm more likely to wait to see if they find me and my brush pile ;)

Cleaned 2 - lost 1 - holding 1

In past few days - got 3 keepers mixed with the baby channel catfish that I get daily - and lost a big one this AM on trotline.

The last hook on the trotline is too close to the weight and when I went to lift it - a big catfish had ran around the weight line and all it took was me lifting the weight and the catfish was gone - best guess was at least 8 lb (was longer enough to be anywhere from 5 lb to 15 lb IMHO)

I have one channel in pen - haven't checked weight yet - but about 2 lbs (will see if little lady next door wants another fish dinner - bad enough to clean it :)

Day before yesterday - she wanted a fish dinner so she helped me clean two small ones (1 lb or more)

BTW: most baby channel on magic bait - and keeper size on shad (using 3 to 5 little shad per hook)

Footnote: Dang yellow bass are everwhere - eating all my shad that I've been feeding (chum) all year - wish the crappie would join the yellow bass.

BTW: A lot of people around here are still calling the yellow bass - white bass when the color is not 'very yellow' - but I keep a picture (worth a thousand words) in my boat house to make sure. So far I've NOT got a single white bass out of this lake (dang yellow bass are over populated IMHO and people should start eating them to clean them out (but not me :)

Still catching em

Dang Magic bait went up in price - from $2.94 to $3.56 at Wallyworld but the catfish keep eating it like crazy so I keep feeding them.

Most nights I get 2 or 3 (more if I wake up and bait in middle of night after turtles get full).

Most are 1 lb or less but last night I got 2 that were 1.5 lb to 2 lb - plus I got another 1 lb that I kept this time (little ones add up) - now if I can just find someone to clean them (before I decide to let them go or get energy to clean them for my freezer :)

BTW: I keep putting bream on trotline hoping for big ones but 'my secret place' is just not a good place (but sure is handy for a lazy guy like me :) Bottom line my brush pile that I chum with dog food + range cubes keep the shad and/or small catfish around my fishing pier - so my yoyo's still work (I usually only bait 3 of them with magic bait - and have to rebait several times before midnight (I use large teardrop chunks to try to get bigger fish but little ones have big mouth and usually catch them :(

Magic Bait flavor - chicken liver / chicken blodd

This is for people that ask what type of bait I use when I can't get enought bream (my favorite bait is always bream for flathead (or any catfish) but magic bait sure has helped fill up the freezer with channel catfish)

I seem to have the best luck with the chicken liver / chicken blood flavor.

sheepshead and crappie on trotline

Unusual catch on trotline this AM = crappie and sheepshead.

Yesterday PM - I was running late and only threw the cast net a couple times - I got about a dozen small shad that I kept alive before I put them on trotline i.e. didn't have much bait so didn't put 'shad clusters' on the line.

Well the small 'single' live shad got a crappie which was barely a keeper (but I let it go - only one is not practical to clean) - and I got a 4 lb 4oz sheepshead (also called a drum :) :)

Small catfish + cypress trout

Last night - I got 3 channel catfish on magic bait - on the fishing pier and one polywog - all too small to clean (1 - 1.5 lb) - then trotline had another small one on 'small shad'

But today I put a left over bream (bait) on the noodle at end of my fishing pier and got a cypress trout (for complete details try this link :bowfin




ADDITIONAL COMMON NAMES: In the south, anglers also call bowfin: grinnel, brindle, blackfish, mudfish, dogfish, shoepike, cypress bass, cypress trout, choupique, scaley cat, buglemouth bass, German bass, spottail, grinner, and brindlefish

Another skinny catfish

Last night, I got another channel catfish that had almost no belly i.e. it was sorta skinny like the other one - but not as bad - cause it weighted 4lb 6oz - so I put it in the freezer.

I don't know if the catfish are just not getting enough to eat or what - but this is the time of year that catfish overeat to get ready for winter i.e. they normally are 'fat' this time of year.

The lake has plenty of food / especially shad - I get them in my cast net every day when I'm trying to get little bream. In fact, the only reason I baited the trotline last night was because I had dozens of shad with just a couple throws of the cast net - and I hated to see them go to waste (freezer is already full of them)

Skinny channel catfish

Got another catfish that looks slim and skinny - by the head size I'd think he should be a 4-5 lb channel catfish - so I let him go so I can catch him after he gains weight :)

Dock (Fishing) Spider (followup on previous spider blog entry)

In a previous blog post- I promised to catch one of the big spiders in my boat house - finally got one last night (or he got me - since he crawled on my hand in the dark and I kept trying to flip him off - until I turned on the light and saw him (then I tried to get away from him :)

I had to review my notes from previous blog entry to find out that this spider has two names - dock spider and fishing spider.

If you google dock spider or fishing spider you can see pictures that match my friendly spider plus - there are web pages that describe them e.g. these spiders walk on water - can dive to catch small tadpoles or small fish - they are harmless.

Channel Catfish - 3 places

one @ 2lb - hwy 89 bridge - daytime
one @ 2lb - yoyo fishing pier - night
one @ 1.5 lb - trotline - night

All on magic bait - but got several other smaller ones on small shad
Bottom line: small channel catfish biting everything you throw at them - but most are around 1 lb - and go back to grow up

Catfish by the dozens

Really had fun today - went out at 11AM with magic bait and minnows (time of day when I have the lake to myself - which is what I like because of health reasons).

I lost count but I landed about 2 dozen channel catfish - trouble is most were 1/2 to 3/4 size - which I threw back.

I kept 5 that were close to 1 lb and I did get one that was 2 lb 2 oz (yes I checked weight :)

Several crappie fishermen came by (under the hwy 89 bridge) - but the crappie were not biting (only saw two small crappie - one on jig - one on minnow)

Actually the catfish would bite very fast - for 10 minutes or so - then stop for 20 minutes or more i.e. they were moving in and out - under the bridge.

A fun day and I promised the 6 catfish that I kept to the kid that lives behind my house (his dad will clean them tomorrow)

Fall Catfish

Three I had to clean - dang it