Daniel Ambrose answers:

Lukas H,

Sounds like a good fishing spot to me! Let me start off by saying there is no lure that will constantly catch catfish. It’s just impossible. Catfish feed off of smell, not sight. But for the walleye and bass, you can both catch them on Rapala Shad Rap’s. These are crank baits. They are available practically everywhere, and cost around $5-$7. Go for the natural shad patterns with a flicker of chartreuse. My equipment with the Shad Rap would be a spinning reel, filled with 10 lb. Mono, and a 6 1/2 ft. Medium action rod.

Now on to the bottom feeding catfish. There is a ton of baits to catch catfish, but the best would either be live night crawler or chicken liver. If you’re using night crawler a bait holder hook will do fine. For chicken liver you need a treble hook. For my set-up, i would be using a spinning reel filled with 14 lb. Mono, with a 6′ medium heavy action rod. You will catch a ton of catfish with chicken liver or night crawler!!!

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Well, #1, Musky fishing from shore is going to be very difficult. Why?

The population of Musky in any given water is usually very low, (compared to other species).

So, the odds on just finding one, (much less getting it to bite) is extremely low, esp if your only fishing along a 50-100 yard stretch of shoreline. (If you were able to troll your odds would jump considerably.)

But, you might get lucky.

Your best bet is to find the deepest section of river, near a drop-off. Once you’ve found that, look for the nearest weed-bed. Musky love deep water next to shallow weed-lines.

You’ll need a MH-H action rod with 17-20 LB Mono OR 12/50 Power Pro Braid with a leader of 25-30LB Fluorocarbon. An excellent reel would be a 6600 C4 reel- http://www.basspro.com/Abu-Garcia-Ambassadeur-C4-Classic-Round-Baitcast-Reels/product/74091/-1205081

If you use a lighter action rod you’ll either never get the fish in OR you’ll kill any Musky you happen to catch. (When a Musky is fought for an extended period of time a poison builds up in their system which kills them shortly after the release.)

Here are some lures that have an excellent reputation:

1. Mepps, Musky Killer- http://www.basspro.com/Mepps-Musky-Killer-Lures/product/1881/-705606

2. Rapala, Subwalk- http://www.basspro.com/Rapala-X-Rap-SubWalk-Lures/product/97792/-1434419?cmCat=CROSSSELL_THUMBNAIL

3. Dardevle Spoon 1 OZ- http://www.basspro.com/Eppinger&-x00ae;-Original-Dardevle&-x00ae;-Spoons/product/2918/-269983?cmCat=CROSSSELL_THUMBNAIL

Hope this helps ya?

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Yes its possible. Catfish do not grow evenly at all. Some will be big, some will be more aggressive and eat more, so the chances of larger ons is pretty good. Channels aren’t notorious for getting “huge” though, like flatheads and blues.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

I suggest going at night.
Most Catfish love the dark and the cooler weather which causes them to genetically want to feed. The best time to fish would be at sunset until an hour after complete darkness.

As for bait i have had best luck with 2 types of bait here. Take a large hook and place as many worms that can fit on it until you reach the barb. Usually you can fit about 7+ worms on there which is like candy to big Cats. Another great bait is liver. I have had success with it but my favorite is worms.

NOTE** Wherever you chose to fish for your catfish, no matter what depth. Make sure you have enough weight to get it to the bottom. Because you will almost never find a catfish between the surface and bottom.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Flathead hunt mainly at night. In order to catch them during the day, you have to get your bait VERY close to where the fish is laying up. They won’t move very far to take a bait during the day. In order to do that, you will have to spend a LOT of time learning about their habits. You also will need to know exactly what is under the water in the river where you fish. If you don’t know what’s down there, you can’t know where the fish are.

Flatheads prefer LIVE bait. You won’t catch very many on dough bait or dip bait or cut bait. It needs to be alive. The best bait for flatheads it live perch.

As far as how to rig your fishing gear, here is what I like to do. I use at least 20 pound test line. You can use lighter stuff but flatheads are found in the logs & sticks so you’ll hang up quite a bit. I slide a sinker on the line then tie a large swivel on the end. The sinker needs to be free to move up & down the line. This allows the fish to take the hook without feeling the weight of the sinker. The line just slides through it. The weight of the sinker depends on how fast the current is moving. Usually, I use a 2 ounce sinker. The swivel needs to be large enough to keep the sinker from sliding past it. It has two jobs. The first is to keep your line from twisting up. The second it to keep the weight away from the hook. This will let your bait swim freely in a small area. You will need a leader attached to the swivel with your hook on the other end. I make my leaders between 12 and 18 inches long, depending on how much “stuff” is around for the bait to get tangled in. I use a hook that is a 3/0 to a 5/0. Be sure to note that a 3/0 is a whole lot bigger than a 3. Don’t get them confused. I hook the bait through the meat in front of the tail. Some people hook them in front of & below the dorsal fin. That works too. I just think hooking through the tail causes the bait to struggle more so it sends out more vibrations.

Fish on the bottom. During the day, if you haven’t gotten a bite in about 15 minutes, it’s time to move. You don’t need to move too far. A few yards is plenty. Then try again. That goes back to knowing the river & knowing the fish. The best way to get started is to find someone to take you with them & show you the ropes. I am going to list a couple of links below to catfishing boards. You have to register but it’s free. You will find the best catfishermen in the world on these boards. You can look at dozens of articles on gear & bait & everything else concerning catfish. You can probally find someone near you to take you fishing & show you how it’s done. Good luck.

Http://brotherhood-of-catfishermen.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi

http://www.catfish1.com/forums/

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Generally when the baitfish move, the flatheads will follow, and that’s around a 50 degree water temperature.

I suggest you read the article at http://www.gofishohio.com/articles/doc/doc_rivercurrent.php

for some great information on Ohio River flathead fishing.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Ok ill throw it down for you…for my set up i put a 1oz egg weight then a swivel and the about a foot from the swivel maybe two i put 4/0 circle hook and then i go out early in the morning i get up at 4am and try and be there at 5 and fish until about 10am and what a lot of people don’t know is catfish a lot of times are off the bottom and are suspended some even most of the time but still go with the bottom rig up i just told you. You should get more than one rod for catfish since it is a waiting game.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

I would approach the pond with two tactics….both using live baits.

#1: Try using baitfish like minnows hooked lightly through the upper lip/nose so it can still open its mouth to breath. For the hook use a “small” leadhead jig of about 1/32 or even 1/64 ounce in weight. If you have an Aqua-Vu and you see NO fish, move your location until you do. If you can’t see them, they can’t see your bait either. The bass, catfish, and bigger panfish will be attracted to the activity of your minnow. The fish can be at any level of the 8 feet pond, but I would start near the bottom and work my way up gradually from there.

#2: I would repeat the same method above only I would use a different bait. Try using about a third of a nightcrawler and slide it on the hook just enough for the front end where you tore it off to be slipped up and over the leadhead. This is a method I created for fishing the jigs and it is called “turtleknecking” because if you do it right, the jig looks like it’s wearing a turtleneck sweater. About half or two thirds of the worm will still extend away from the hook and the twisting gyrations of the worm almost always provide iIrresistibletemptations to fish. The alternative to the worm is to attach three or four maggots hooked once and lightly through their tails. They too will prove too enticing for most fish to resist. Using these methods, I have caught bass, northern pike, walleye, yellow perch, bluegills, crappie, a small muskie, and three kinds of trout. I use the method and similar baits with great success here in Alaska for catching grayling, trout, and landlocked salmon. It works! Go for it, and GOOD LUCK!

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Technique: bottom fishing. Just cast your bait out there and wait.

Tackle: long MH rod, decent-sized baitcasting/spinning reel, 15 or 20lb mono, egg sinkers, barrel swivels, khale hooks.

Bait: cut up shad or other bait-fish.

Place to fish: deep spots with cover (log jams, etc)

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Raw meat let it sit at the bottom

Daniel Ambrose answers:

One good tip.
Forget catching flatheads in a pond unless you stocked them yourself. They won’t be there. Flatheads live in rivers and creeks.
They are also predatory carnivores. Top of the food chain. They eat live fish along with snakes, turtles, rodents, ducks. Anything that will fit in their mouth. And they have a big mouth.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

That 4 to 6″ bluegill is one of the very best baits for these top-of-the-food-chain predators.
They prefer live food over anything, be it fish, frog, duckling, small rodent, snake or crayfish.
Bullhead catfish are another excellent bait. Will stay alive longer than most any other.
A big flathead can eat a big meal. As large as a two pound fish.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Personally I like stink baits. I have the most luck with them. If I don’t have stink bait on hand then I prefer chicken livers. I always use a treble hook and a fairly heavy weight as catfish are bottom feeders for the most part. And last but not least, I usually fish for catfish at night.

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Ahem…you talking to a pro here…yeah…ahahaha. Get a size 2 octopus hook. I usually put 3 mealworms at a time and add a lil extra onto there. Like 3 mealworms + half a shrimp or 4 mealworms + 1 nightcrawler or 2 mealworms + some stinky stuff. There’s a lot of combinations you can do. Always worked out for me.
:]
yup…leaned it from my dad.
X]

Daniel Ambrose answers:

Once I watched two guys empty a lake of catfish while I was bassing on both sides of them and they were using Kentucky fried chicken skin cut in strips one inch wide and 3 – 4 inches long folded over and it looked like a ribbon stuck on the hook when it was cast. I have mentioned it here and only one other person I know had tried it and recommended it. Big big catfish would eat bluegill as would the bass if food gets in short supply. And they eat anything that was once alive. They own the bottom of all waterways. I always fished the conrock quarry up the 605 for bass almost thirty years ago and used spinner baits very effectively there I would standing thirty feet from the corners and cast across the 90 degree corners about 30 feet past the corner but on to the opposite bank than me and then dragged the spinnerbait off the ledge(s) letting it fall down into the water but bouncing it kinda working it like a jig, making it flutter and fall.