Channel Catfish

Although I am used to catching bass, trout, and panfish, catfish give me a nice thrill that makes me want to catch more and more.  And when I go fishing for catfish I usually end up with some nice channel cats.

One of the first things you want to look at is your rod and line.  For the channel cats I go after (in a small interstate lake), I am able to use a simple ugly stik, with ten pound test line.  Of course for larger fish, you will need stronger rods and line.

For my bait I use some nice large chunks of frozen chub.  At my local bait shop they sell it for under five dollars a pound.  My setup is always a hunk of chub on a 2 hook, then eight inches up I place a clip on 1/8 ounce sinker, then four feet up from that a 2-3 inch bobber.  Of course from judging on the day I will move the bobber up or down, or if its windy I’ll place another sinker or two on.

Also take in mind that I am fishing from the shore.  Here in nebraska you can only have two rods out per fisherman, make sure you know your states max number of rods.  And if you are trolling from a boat channel cats rely on sight almost as much as smell, so you could drop a large spoon off and let it run under you at a slow speed.

Hope this advice helps those of you going fishing, and thanks for still checking out the blog!

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Rainbow Trout

Now I know that I already had a post titled, trout, but now I can go in depth on some of the different species of trout.

For starters, the rainbow trout.  A beautiful fish that is fun to fish.  Found in most mountain streams, rivers, and lakes they are easy to get a hold of.  Their size is along the lines of 12-25inches, and 2-8 pounds in an average adult rainbow.  But what they may lack in size they make up in fight.

The best way to go after a rainbow trout is with a fly.   Using a fly rod, or the fly on a bubble rig that a wrote about a while back, both will work just fine.  Once you get a strike set the hook, and keep your rod tip in the air.  You may want to tire them out a bit in the water, because they will continue to fight on land.

Salmon Eggs

My first experience with salmon eggs was when I was really little.  While fishing with my dad I stumbled across a jar of the little red things.  I had no idea what they were, so my dad gave me a quick lesson.  “Those are salmon eggs.”  Pretty good lesson, but I think I’ll expand on it a bit.  You see I was in trout country, so I needed to get some more info.

Fish are cannibals, and that is why they are so willing to go after salmon eggs.  Their bright color is also a good attractant.  Now you won’t be catching any pike or bass on these little guys, but they are pretty good at bringing in trout and sunfish.

As for the presentation, just stick em’ on a hook.  You might even want to put more than one on, in fact 3-4 works quite well.  Your hooks can range in size from a 1 to a 13, and can be put on a bobber, or just sitting on the bottom.  Not to mention the fact that they sit well on a jig.  And if you are going after baitfish, these work extremely well on chubs and dace.

Trout

Trout are of a good size, and have an amazing fight.  Usually the size of the fish is relative to the fight of the fish.  This is not always the case with trout.  I have pulled out a 1 pound rainbow trout out of the water with more fight in it that a 3 pound largemouth bass.   At the same time I’ve had a couple trout which give up as soon as they realize they’re hooked.

Another really cool characteristic of trout is their soft scales.  They do indeed have scales, but they are much smaller scales than that of most other fish.  Also they have a slimy cover over their entire bodies.  It is quite funny to watch first time trout fishers grab onto the fish expecting to have a good hold on it.  Having almost no grip makes them really hard to get a nice hold on and de-hook.

Typically trout will go after flies, salmon eggs, and spinners.  They don’t exactly stay in any particular part of a body of water, but I always fished them in rivers so I may not be the person to ask.  The trout is a weaker fish, so if you have it out of the water for too long you will definantly need to revive it.

Crankbaits

The crankbait…. Probably one of the newest and weirdest fishing lures I have gotten.  In my experience of using them I have only caught one fish, but they are still a fascinating lure.

There are essentially five different crankbaits;  the deep diver, shallow diver, the top water, the jointed crankbait, and the lipless (I’ve heard some call them rattlers).

Deep Diver

This lure can go to depths of 20+ feet.  Diving as you reel, it is easy to get to the bottom of a lake pretty quick.  With a deep diver you can target those big fish who seem to just hang around at the bottom, waiting for a small fish to make the mistake of diving down.  Also, as with most other crankbaits they come in a variety of colors.  Usually the deep diver would be used in a deep lake where it can be used to its full potential.

Shallow Diver

At a simple 5 or so feet the shallow diver can be almost perfect in shallow lakes.  With the ability to dive down under the smaller gamefish you can hit the big guys.  A variety of colors adds even more to its presentation.

Top Water

A top-water crankbait imitates prey laying on the surface of the water. The top-water is a very light bait, so its not really used when casting needs to be long distance.  They don’t have a cool dive, but instead they can make a variety of sounds.  From a concave face, they make a popping noise when jerked across the water.  From side fins a gurgling sound makes the lure seem injured.

Jointed

A jointed crankbait makes a really cool swimming look.  Usually pared up with a small lip they have the diving capability of a shallow diver, but with their own twist.  With essentially no work from you the “fish”  moves his tail fin back and forth.  When none of your other artificials seem to be doing it, you may just need a more realistic presentation from a jointed crankbait.

Lipless

A lipless crankbait may seem a lot like a top water crankbait to you, but there is actually a difference.  A lipless crankbait actually is specifically weighted so that it will sink when you aren’t reeling in.  They are heavy, and streamlined, allowing for good long casts.  Also a lipless can have rattlers in it (actually all crankbaits can I believe, but the lipless is the most common), to attract more aggressive fish.

Chubs

One of he most common baitfish, the chub is quite a resilient and very attracive bait. Easily caught and good to be kept in a abut bucket the chub is a favorite live bait of many.  You can use them live with some gamefish, or they work really well after being frozen for catfish.  To hook them on, hook through the top lip, or on the back putting the hook under the spine.  To freeze them, just put 6-12 chubs in a plastic baggie with water to cover them all, seal the bag and throw in the freezer.  Cut them into 2-4 inch chunks and put on a hook.

To catch chubs, you can use minnow traps, casting nets, or even catch them like any other fish.

I must say, I am not to informed when it comes to the minnow traps, because I have never used one, except for the old 2 liter bottle standby.  Materials needed; 2 liter bottle, Tools needed; sharp knife, twine/wire/strong thin rope, nail, tongs.  To make this take your knife and cut 1/3 down from the top.  Then put the top end back into place, but upside down.  Next grab your nail with the tongs and heat it up over a candle or some other heat source, use this nail to punch holes where the plastic meets about 1/4 inch from the top, place these holes 1/4-1/3 inches apart.  Thread your twine/wire/rope through these holes.  Put some bait into the trap, weight it down, hook  a rope to it, then throw it into a good looking minnow hole.  This works because the minnows will swim in, but aren’t smart enough to swim back out.

Casting nets, or at least the ones I have seen are not very complicated at all.  Take some hardware cloth, or mesh, and attach some weights at each corner.  Then attach 2-3 foot thin ropes to each of the corners, tie these together.  Then attach one longer rope to the four, long enough to work for the creek, river, or lake that you want to catch chubs.

Catching chubs on hook and line is very simple.  Get a variety of small hooks, I have found that the best ones are 8 10 and 14.  Use chunks of night crawlers as bait.  You can just throw it out as is, but I like to attack a bobber so as to give some casting power.

Remember to keep a bait bucket nearby, and have fun!

 

Nightcrawlers

  In many movies you see a person fishing using a bobber, hook, and a nightcrawler.  That is part of what makes these guys so popular (that and the fact that they are fish magnets!).

  Catching nightcrawlers can be a very fun thing to do especially for kids!  But be careful if you have a bad back becuase this is one of those activities that you can spend quite some time walking around hunched over.  The “equipment” you will need when hunting for your nightcrawlers is: A flashlight- preferably one that you can strap on to your head as  you will need both hands, and a container to keep your nightcrawlers in.

 The time to catch nightcrawlers is during the night after a good rain.  Now I have always thought that worms were very slow creatures… Incorrect!  Because of a nightcrawlers setae, small bristles, on the nightcrawler.  If they sense your light, or feel heavy footsteps they can be back in the ground before you know what has happened.

  To catch them walk slowly scanning the ground, once you see one (after a while it will seem easier to spot them) grab with both hands and pull (not too hard), and after a minute they will give up.  Or if you are finding that to be a bit hard, or you are holding a flashlight in one hand,  my technique is to grab them with your index and middle finger on one hand, then, still keeping hold with those fingers, grab with your ring and pinkie finger and pull out your nightcrawler.

  After you have caught your nightcrawlers you can build a worm bin, which seems like a bit much to me, but if you want you can search how to build a worm bin on google, or you can put some nice fresh soil in your container your worms are in.  Then simply place that container in the refridgerator.

  Using your worms as bait is a wonderful idea.  They work great in pieces for catching baitfish like dace and chub.  Or you can use them with panfish, trout, bass, and even catfish.

Using Crawdads on Bass

  I have my fair share of spinnerbaits, and crankbaits, and worm setups for when it comes to bass fishing, but I think that a live crawdad outshines them all.  The larger crawdad bait makes smaller bass shy away, and that is when the large bass have the chance to strike.

The setup I use is simply a crawdad on a size 2 hook.  You leave the crawdad live, and cut off the two front claws.  Then hook it through one of the joints in the tail.

Cast out near some reeds, sunken wood, or other bass structure.  The let the crawdad dive a little, then raise it back up, dive, etc. Watch out though because the little guys will burrow into the ground.

Fly on a Bubble

For this post I am going to talk about my best panfish setup.

The fly on a bubble setup.  To set this up simply put a clear plastic bubble on your line. Then tie on a swivel to hold that bubble on.  Next tie between 2-3 feet of line to the swivel and on that tie a fly.  This setup gives you nice light flies with some awesome casting power.

Do you have a favorite panfish lure/setup?  If so comment, I love getting new information on fishing.

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