Forget Football

This afternoon - I got tired of watching football games and waiting on Razorback game so I went fishing along the bank in front of my house - well I got at least 20 crappie but was only keeping 9" and larger - so I kept 13 (largest was 14")

Well I was tired so I took a break while a couple of neighbors started fishing and they started catching crappie - many of them 7-8" that they also threw back. Then finally I went back out to fish some more and guess what - the neighbors started catching fish and the spot where I had been fishing - went dead. Ended up they caught about 30 fish and kept 14 - largest 13" and smallest keeper was closer to 10" i.e. they got my fish to move to them and I didn't get a bite

Oh well it was a great day - first I had my turn and would have had a limit if I kept the 6-8" that I threw back - then neighbors did same thing but in different spots i.e. crappie left me and went to where my neighbors were fishing

We were using jigs and squirming grub - and a weighted cork

Most of my fish were 5 - 8 ft from the bank - while neighbors got most of theirs 15-20 ft from bank i.e. crappie moved to slightly deeper water when I came back to fish again.

I should have taken photos - was nice mess of fish i.e. 27 nice size - but I gave away the 13 I got to another neighbor and the other 14 are still in the fishing pen (one neighbor is coming back in AM with a friend and try to get enough for a family fish fry i.e. he wants 20-30 more nice size (good luck - I'm planning on sleeping late - besides the crappie today didn't really start biting until 3 PM

BTW: Been lazy

For past week, cleaning fish almost ever day - mostly crappie - but too lazy to post cause just been 1-2 per day (one day had 3 keepers)

1lb 13oz Catfish - 10.5" Crappie - 9" Crappie

Crappie biting a short time - just before dark (6:30PM) - off my fishing pier. Been like this for 5 days and I'm picking up 1 or 2 Crappie on Rod n Reel. Then I put out yoyo's with minnows for after dark and usually pick up 1 or 2 more Crappie (but last night I added a 1.75 lb channel catfish).

Slowly but surely I've put together several 'fish dinners' (mostly for my neighbors but also some for my aunt)

Storms tonight shut me down on rod n reel fishing - but I do have the yoyo's out - just in case another catfish or crappie swim by.

Oh - I forgot - I usually on keep 10" or bigger crappie but two 9" in last few days swallowed the hook.

BTW: Biggest I got was Monday night - in the rain = 14" - it swallowed the hook so I had to clean it in the rain - so today I moved my fish cleaning table inside the boat house.

Keeper a day

Was catching a keeper a day for 3 days - then missed a day. Dang yellow bass still hanging around my pier.

Went looking for catfish - one hour yesterday - got one 1 lb. Day before I got a 1 lb blue and a 1 lb channel i.e. still feeding little catfish and now some of them are blue's

Bream - Yellow bass - Crappie

Been bream fishing to catch trotline bait - hoping a big ole flathead will swim near my shallow trotline - catching plenty of bream.

Shad all around my place and was hoping the crappie fish would be 'hot' but the dang yellow bass are everywhere (eating my shad) - so I catch them off my pier instead of crappie

Did manage to get 2 keeper crappie in last two days (and a few smaller ones) - they were not huge i.e. only 9-10". One of my neighbors got 2 keepers and another neighbor had 1 keeper - so we combined them for the 'newest neighbor' so he could have his first fish fry since moving here.

Baited trotline again tonight - but it's still in an unlikely place i.e. I'm still putting trotline in front of my house - instead of taking it to better place and I'm too lazy to run it at night i.e. I bait once before dark and check next day. Others that put their line in deeper (better) place at catching a few big catfish - but so far the big ones haven't found my house :)

Same story next day

forgot to post but got another 2 lb channel (2lb 4oz this time) on Thursday. Also have picked up a couple small (less than a pound) Thursday - Friday / trotline / magic bait. Water still high - spillway gates open - did not waste time rod n reel fishing e.g. lazy - cool weather - high water (no motivations :) :)

Clean one throw one

Fishing tough with high water and fast current - so baited a few hooks on trotline with magic bait - got two channel cats - one was 3/4 lb (checked wt at 11 oz) and one at 2 lb 6 oz - so cleaned one - let one go. Water still high and more rain coming tonight - so not expecting to fish much for next couple days

2.75 lb Blue Catfish

Been Lazy - didn't report 4-5 small (1 lb) channel that I cleaned this past week - but got over lazy spell and baited yoyo's since lake is high (water deeper at my fishing pier)

Rain - high water - weather front made fishing tough last few days (only got small channel cats) - so last night I baited 5 yoyo's on my fishing pier with Secret-7 / Magic bait - and I got my first Blue catfish in a long time - it was 2 lb 13 oz and I made this video to show the shape of the fins and to explain that you can count the 'splines' to tell difference in a real Blue and a Blue Channel. This Blue had 33 splines and a channel catfish always has less than 30 i.e. 30 to 35 and it's a blue
Also note it's color is very similar to Channel - BUT it does not have any spots on it's belly. BTW: Bigger catfish are ever harder to tell apart cause Channels do not always have spots on the belly - so the count and the shape of the fins (squared off - instead of round / smooth) are positive ways to tell a Blue from a Channel

4 lb Channel Cat - Secret-7

Lately I've used treble hooks with Magic bait on bottom - with Secret-7 on top. Small catfish eat off the Secret-7 but I like 'bigger bait' and mixing the two makes a 'bigger looking Secret-7 bait i.e. Magic bait is just 'filler cause it stays on hook better'
I presoak catfish food and / or dry dog food to use as chum - and sometimes I'm not sure it's working - but when I cut open this catfish belly it was full of the chum I use i.e. I know the chum was working today (sometimes I think the chum attracts to many small catfish but today it got this 4 lb catfish to hang around for me to catch

Addendum: I forgot to mention I make a 'ball' of the presoaked chum - about the size of a softball i.e. use large ball of chum to hold fish in area

Lost big catfish - cleaned 6

My neighbor likes thin small fillet at times (cook fast and more 'fried taste') - so today I kept 1/2 dozen of the small (around 1 lb) and a 2.5 lb for us to clean.

The sad thing is I had a HUGE fish and played it for about 5 minutes before it tore off the hook and made me cuss. I already had the net in my hand and decided to work it up to top - it had made a bunch of deep runs and I was worried it was going to get me hung up - wish I had played it a little longer - cause it was HUGE

Bottom line: I got a 2.5 lb (actual 2 lb 7 oz) to go with 5 small (about 1 lb) channel cats - all on Secret-7 / magic bait

Bad Weather

Cold and rainy but I still managed to battle wind for an hour and got one keeper - 2 lb 9oz - on Secret-7 /magic bait - I forgot to mention the 3.75 lb from yesterday was also on Secret-7 / magic bait

Addendum: A couple of my neighbors went out at 5PM and fished a couple hours and came back with a couple nice cats - one at 5lbs 9oz and other 4 lb 4oz - that they got on night crawlers. I think the place they fish is more out of the wind - sorta shallow (5 ft or so) - i.e. I was fighting the wind to get in deep water / channel - and got smaller catfish :(

Almost forgot

Got a 3 lb 12 oz channel today (Saturday) - and of course several small cats that I let go i.e. had one to clean

Still slow n babies

Stupid me battled the wind for an hour in AM for 1 baby catfish (too small to keep) - then went back for 2 hours 4-6PM - wind still bad - but a few more baby catfish (10 or 12 but more bait thieves than normal i.e. lost a lot of bait when they nibble with wind blowing - hard to spot them until cork disappears and they get bait.
With wind I wore a jacket for first time this year.

Crappie fishermen didn't seem to be doing much - which surprised me with the much cooler water.

May skip fishing tomorrow - figure the area will have plenty of crappie fishermen - may let them take over lake (or may wait and only fish late in afternoon ?)

Catch up - only catching little cats

In last 3 days - all I've cleaned are little catfish - around a pound or a little less. Neighbor still likes little ones so we've been cleaning a couple each day. On most days I get about a dozen (15 one day) - so I just pick out a couple for her. Still fishing a couple hours a day - still catching fish on magic bait / Secret-7 combination (easier to keep Secret-7 on hook for the little bait thieves.