Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

K.. so fished all my life but haven't fished from a boat as much. Mostly fish for cats and carp. Bank fishing, plop and wait. Figured boat fishing would be similar, except with a boat you can change locations and go where no bankfisherman has gone before. Been reading some threads and people say they drift for catfish. Can someone give me the details? What time of day? Deep or shallow water? Bait? How do you rig the line?

Thanks!

Where are you located? State, etc?

The catfish and carp capital of the world... Columbus OH

Go to www.ohiogamefishing.com. There are a bunch of cat guys there, and they're very helpful.

When I drfit for catfish in the REAL catfish capital ( lower James River in Virginia), the current is usually strong, so drifting only seems to produce at the end of one tide to the beginning of the next. I try to set up so I stay on the edge of a dropoff or cross as many creek moths and points as possible. Around here the cats stick to structure more than in lakes.

I use a fish finder type rig bnecause it fouls less.

Wilson Lake, Alabama recently experienced a major catfish tournament. The winners' 10 fish limit weighed in a just over 250 lbs.
Try that on for size.

Bill Dance caught a 55 lb. catfish in 100' of water behind the dam while filming his television show a couple of years ago.

45 lb. and 55 lb. cats have been caught in front of our house.

A neighbor pulled in a 45 lb. spoonbill catfish on a trotline--the only big catfish fit for human consumption.
He couldn't hold it high enough to get the tail off the ground.

My grandfather caught a 95 lb. catfish on a trotline in the 1920's.

Most catfish around here are caught on 100 hook trot lines--hooks 3' apart. Some will jug fish. I've seen professional fishermen fishing all night on a shallow shelf tight lining them--without floats. Catfish love anything that stinks, and the commercial fishermen use a cheese byproduct in their fish traps. Otherwise, they'll bite worms, minnows, crickets, ivory soap cubes and sponge cubes soaked in oil of anise.

I catch them at the local fish market--pond raised. Note: the prices have recently skyrocketed as the Mississippi fish farmers are planting more cotton, beans and corn due to extremely high commodity prices. Catfish have not proven profitable in recent years with escalating feed prices.

A 25 pound average would finish out of the money around here. Usually have two fish limits for tourneys here and need to be over a hundred total to have a shot at any cash. Check out www.jamesrivercats.com for some great photos and results

Don't forget liver. They use a piece of nylon hose to attach someway. Talking about bank fishing, most of the bank fishermen throw out far as they can. Boat fishermen throw to shore, both thinking that is where the big ones are. Sort of the grass is greener on the other side of the fence logic. The 3 largest fish I have caught were in 2 1/2 ft or less of water depth . The big cats, so I have heard, are in 60 to 100 ft water. Think you need a depth/fishfinder to find the honey holes.
doc