A Change in Tactics...

Wheeler Lake - Decatur

Time: 8:00 AM - 12:30 AM
Air Temperature: 75 - 85 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 
Lake Level: 556.05
Weather Conditions: Mostly Sunny.  Winds NE 8-9 mph sustained.

My friend Joe came down from the Nashville area and we decided to approach the day in pursuit of a mixed bag.  We loaded up with worms, minnows, and frozen shad to be prepared for pretty much anything.  We launched at Arrowhead Landing and started the day fishing the deep water cover hoping to pull out some crappie on minnows or bluegill on worms.  We also launched 5-6 jugs on the flats out from the landing and 5-6 more just out of the mouth into the main river.

After an hour or so, we had zero luck on in the brush and it was obvious we needed to change tactics.  We needed to run jugs and I was thinking about trying for catfish under the interstate bridge, but another idea hit me on the way... We should try the grain barges by the cat food plant.

We went back into Arrowhead and ran the jugs.  No catfish, but right after we checked a a jug and threw it back in, Joe noticed it was acting funny.  We circled back and had a gar that is probably the biggest one I've ever caught.  

We ran back out into the channel and checked the others and pulled in one small catfish.  We headed on to the grain barges and set up there.

At the grain barges, we cut up shad and bounced bottom around back of the barge.  There were lots of baitfish in the area and we quickly hooked up.  In about 2 hours, we landed 12 catfish.  We had a solid time and it proved that sometimes you just have to adapt your plan to whatever works.  Look forward to doing it again!

  

Catfishing with friends

Time: 6:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Air Temperature: 71 - 81 degrees during trip
Water Temperature: 81 degrees
Lake Level: 555.44' - 53,325 cfps - Perfect conditions
Weather Conditions: Light winds, variable 2-5 mph

We had some family friends come in for the weekend.  Joe had never been fishing specifically for catfish before, so we went out to see what we could do to round up a few.  We launched from Cowford this morning and proceeded to drop some jugs.  We placed 10 baited with a mix of chicken gizzards and cut shad along the flats in front of my house.  We placed another 10 around the mouth of Mallard Creek and then went to the Nuclear Plant to try rod and reel.  

I immediately caught a little flathead on my first drop at the nuclear plant.  Joe reeled in a nice blue in the 6-8 lbs range around 8:45.  Fishing was a little slow along the boils and channel, so we ran the first set of jugs before moving over to the intake gates.  I think we caught one on the first pass on the jugs.  Back at the intake gates, Joe picked up a channel.  Within just a couple hours, we had already netted all three major catfish species.  

We ran the 2nd set of jugs without much luck and then headed down toward the bluff across from the Elk to try bouncing bottom around there.  Joe again landed a good channel before we headed back in to pick up all the jugs.  

The last run on the jugs was more fruitful as we picked up 3 more cats.  We looked everywhere, but ended up losing one jug.  Must have been one heck of a fish to have gotten in under and out of sight!

Overall, we ended the day with 7-8 cats with about half coming from rod and reel and half on jugs.  It wasn't the best fishing day ever, but was still solid and Joe got to experience pulling in a few nice cats. We culled our count down to 4 fish and went home and dropped them in the grease. Looking forward to doing it again next year!