junkman

Hay guys I haven't been around as much as I used to be for all spring I worked out in Kansas. While out there I had over three miles of muddy river all to my self. Long story short I caught the catfishing bug as a result. Figured I would try catfishing out of the boat and as well figured I could use some rod holders as well. After looking at the factory ones and then the prices, I concluded that maybe I should just make some beings I am a junkman. I first set out and built a prototype to see what the results would be. And with a few modifications and as well some tests to make sure my one of a kind gunnel clamp would take the abuse of a monster cat I set out and fabricated six for my little river rat. Here are a few photos showing the results. i got them built in around 12 hours at a cost of around $20. Just thought I would post them for others to glean ideas off of if they want.

This is lust my humble opinion but I hope yours is better then the one in KC. I thought I would go up there and check it out for my brother had mentioned they had a little better prices then BP. Got there and was really disappointed in the selection. If you wanted cloths why you could have had a smorgasbord but not into that. One of the items on my list was some crappie niblets but no, could not find any. wanted as well to look at the difference between the abu 6500 c3's and c4's for my brother had bought one on line, but when I went to look at them they didn't even have any to look at. The more I looked the more the urge came just to go down to BP. The urge won

Swimmers would be shocked if they knew what was swimming around then in that salty water. I have done a lot of pier fishing in Florida and there wasn't a day go by seems like that you would see a shark swim through. and no swimmer would even know. Was a great video.

All I would say is flats have been pretty tough lately. It looks like many are on the nest right now. Have been catching some blues yet.

When you catch as many as I have in the last few months, you don't want to see another for a long time. Actually caught my largest a month ago. Didn't weigh it but it was over 4 1/2 feet long. It would have put up a good fight on a fly.

Most of the time they will come loose by tapping between the key and shaft with a chisel. Or some times tapping down on the ends of the key with a flat punch. I would put some PB Blaster on it first and the vibrating of the hitting should penetrate it down into the slot. hope it helps and good luck

Don't ask me about cleaning one for i am a vegetarian. Just catch for the thrill. the ones I have seen cleaned were filleted. Look on You tube for I would say someone will show you the best technique.

Mr Jack Jones, usually all county libraries have some history books on the area. It can take many hours of reading at the library to find what you are looking for. Been there done that. If you can find anything within the history books, then you might be able to expand by looking up the time line in any newspaper archives if they are available.

Yes Mitch f I usually have at least a 7/0 circle hook on when fishing with 3" to 5" perch. But I do have one pole that is a brute that I like to have a 10/0 attached to it as well as a 6"to 8" perch on it. Actually the brute pole was the on I caught the flathead on in the photo and as well the flat Wednesday night. You will want to remember that flatheads mainly eat only live bait. So in order to catch one you have to cater to one. I must admit I do fish with one pole that is baited with cut bait sometimes, for actually some of the blues I caught two days ago were caught on it. It is nice to have a little action while you wait for the big one to swim by. One more piece of advise for those that want to try catching a brute. this time of year I seam to have the best luck fishing the flats that adjoin deeper water. at night they will come out of the deep in search of food. Actually the cats I have been catching have been coming out of 2 to 3 ft. of water but this can very with the river or lake. Tight lines guys and get out there and catch a brute. PS post a pic of it when you do.

Tore up the blues again last night. Figured it would be good with the front coming in. Caught 8 blues between 3and 7 pounds, One 5lb. fat lipped blue, one 12 pound flathead and one 5 ft. gar. Headed out before 11pm. for the lack of bait but it was fun while it lasted. Sorry no pics for I forgot the camera. The pre spawn bite seems to be good but could be better if we had some more rain. tight lines

Sorry Hoglow did forget to tell you that I try to fish in the evening until 11 or 12ish. Just depends on the bite Have fished lakes all night sometimes. Now if you can catch it when a front is on it's way it is a bonus as well. That is when I caught the flat in the pic. Finally got ran off by the lightning getting to close.

Actually I have been fishing the Marais des Cygnes river and I have been using exclusively live bait. Here is a write up I was going to post some day but I guess today will be fine. by the way I can't respond to this post during the week much, but will try to explain or instruct all that I can when I can. Mark Catfishing a few helpful techniques I thought I would post a few pointers for those that might be new to the world of catfishing. Now I must admit I’m no expert in the field, but growing up on the head waters of the Osage river and its tributaries, I have had a lot of practice catching the common cat and as well all the rest of the species our muddy water contributes. I could go through all the different techniques like trout lines, limb lines, and jug lines and such, but I really want to expand the minds of those that might not know the different rigs that can be used for a good ol rod and real. There isn’t anything much better then catching double digit cats on a rod and real. Now a word to the wise; When you use such methods, it is wise to have the proper equipment. And we could go on and on about what proper equipment consists of but for time’s sake I will just tell you that my go to pole is a 7 ½ ft. medium/heavy action pole with an Abu Garcia 6000 spooled with 50 lb. braided line. You can use what you have but it is a great disappointment when you hook into that big one and he gets away. I’m not saying you need this kind of equipment for I’ve caught many on an old Zebco 606 and a light fiberglass rod. But then again I lost a many as well. As well we need to know a little bit about bait. When growing up we knew where all the river worm beds were and used them almost exclusively for cats, carp and such, but I know for many, a good river worm bed would be hard to find and the price of night crawlers will eat you alive. And though I was raised using this bait as well as fresh chicken liver, there are many alternatives out there such as frozen shrimp from Wali World, or shad gizzards or sides for a common stink bait just to name a few. But the one I use pretty much exclusively use now is live perch. You may be thinking I have heard of using live bait on trout lines, jug lines or limb lines but not on rod and real. Well let me tell you, to me it is the only way to go. No more the little peck peck from the ones that cannot even get the hook in their moth. But only the ones you might want to take home. A 3 pound cat can suck in a fair sized perch but so will a 20 pounder as well. Don’t get me wrong I have caught 20 pound flat heads on worms, but a lively perch ups the odds of catching him greatly. Now for you that have access to live shad maybe for lake fishing use them. But they seem to me to not be as tuff as perch. Now for the hooks and rigs: Most of the time when fishing with worms, shrimp or liver I always used a 2/0 or 3/0 hook. Even when fishing with what I call a weighted worm rig I use this size hook. But when I switch to what I call a live bait rig, my hook size goes up to a 6/0, 7/0 or 8/0 hook. I have found that many times when using this larger size the fish will actually hook themselves which makes it a priority only to make sure your pole does not disappear beneath the murky depths. For a worm rig as I call it you will need some large barrel swivels, some line beads or bumpers and some extra line like ten pounds lighter than your main line. First put on your main line the desired weight. If fishing in heavy current you might need a two or three oz. sinker. But for most general fishing a one oz. usually works fine. Next string on a bead or rubber bumper to protect the knot that will come next when you tie on a barrel swivel and complete the main line setup. Now tie a 12” or 18” piece of your lighter line onto the other end of the barrel swivel and then finish it off with your hook. Like I say this rig I primarily use for non moving baits, but can be used with live bait when you know the bottom is free of debris that live bait can hang you up in. Now my live bait rig as I call it consists of a hook, extra line, weight, a large clasp swivel, and a three way barrel swivel. First you tie a three way swivel to the main line. Then you can tie your extra line lets say12” to 18” to the same swivel. Now on the end of this line I tie the large clasp swivel in order to connect my weight. Now to the third loop on your swivel tie about a 8” section of line preferably monofilament and then add your hook. (Mono in larger tests is stiffer which in turn seems to help hold your bait away from your main line.) I will mention another rig I have used successfully when fishing at night on lakes and that is a main line weighted to hold your live bait down with a large Styrofoam cork keeping it afloat. Have had this method work well even on flat head cats. I will note that when fishing either the worm or live bait rig, it is best to fish them with a tight line. You will not want slack in the line for your live bait to take advantage of. Also check your states regulations for not all bait sometimes referred to as perch is legal for bait. I know for many this might seem like generic info and maybe it is. But it can and will produce cats, and in most cases bigger more quality cats. If some of you have a technique or rig that works for you please post it for not only I, but many others as well would like to know. I believe this is one reason for this great site, to exchange thoughts and ideas about the interests we like. I hope someone can get some benefit from this post for it took me a long time to peck it out. Tight lines and don’t lose that pole.

I thought I would post a pic from last Thursday of one of the cats I caught on my job location in Kansas. I have really been tearing up the blues and flat heads. 10 and 15 pounders have been common as long as some even larger. this one in the photo went 25lbs. It was actually the first fish caught on one of my new big cat rods. where I am working the owner has over 3 miles of river frontage which makes it nice for I can fish all alone. I have more pics but can't get them off the camera. tight lines.

I find that right before a front comes through or the barometric pressure is dropping is the best time to fish for cats unless the water is rising fast like on a river. Seem to me they sometimes stop eating once high pressure first sets in. Try live bait with a live bait rig. It is another option for those big cats. It is what I mainly fish with now.

How many remember the photos of the giant cats at the dam on Stockton? Remember a write up along with photos in the Conservation many years ago ( like 30). The write up made a believer out of me and as well scarred me. So I have no doubt they are there.

checked in

Never seen many of the new/cheep spin casts worth much to me. I use a trusty old metal Zebco 33 that I rescued from the junk yard. been using it for 6 years now and still going. Have been considering one of the higher end spin casts from Abu Garcia but figured I would hold off till the trusty 33 quits. But then again I have a spare from the junk yard when it goes down. Many would argue with me , but I have used these reals all my life so I am pretty accurate with a spin cast so why change.

My choice would be; 1 assorted jig heads with 1" or 3" gulp minnows plus cork for floating them sometimes. 2 Rapala like a J-6 or similar 3 Plastic worm rigged on weighted weedless hook 4 A good popper 5 medium sized spinner bait

As much as I hate to see that much rain fall at one given time, here where I live it actually makes the fishing better. You have to realize I live close to the head waters of the big Osage river. And as well have been fishing the Marais des Cygnes river over in Kansas. Although these rivers in my opinion are not a Ozark stream due to their muddy nature, they yet can produce some amazing walleye, crappie, and catfish fishing if we have the right amount of water to bring them up out of Truman lake. Probably many of you have never thought about hitting a river when it is way out over it's banks to fish it, but here this is called cat-fishing at its best. I guess I live in a unique spot, for if we get to much rain fishing is great, and if we don't, I come visit you guys over east and south for some great fishing. A win win when it comes to fishing but my garden is a different story.

SPRING? The last time I looked at the calender it was still winter.

I see bass pro has the Garmin 300 on sale till the end of April. With the mail in rebate it comes to 149 dollars. Been thinking of buying one but the Garmin 550 looks very good as well.

I agree with WC. hit the rivers. The blue's are starting their journey upstream for their annual breeding cycle. Went yesterday in Kansas and caught 5 blue's. I actually was surprised that they had made it that far so soon, for the closest impoundment of water is Truman lake which is at least 60 miles away. There were no big ones for we haven't had enough water for that yet here but I would focus on the rivers feeding into the lake and as well fish the river channels themselves.

The big clunky BC's do have there place. Took my Abu Garcia 6000 out for a little workout in Kansas today. Fished a river and caught 11 cats and one drum. Nothing big but 5 of them were over 3 pounds. 5 of then were blue cats which surprised me. Didn't figure they had made it up that far yet. Tried for a walleye to but had no luck. Clunkers fit the bill for this kind of fishing.

Yes broke out the vintage fiberglass fly rod today for the tip got broke off my graphite. put the zebco 11 trigger cast on and just got back from catching over 40 perch, three bass and one crappie. boy was fun for probably a ten dollar setup.

I would say fish with what you are most comfortable with. Of course there are many nice rods and reals out there that come in many different price ranges, but will one catch more fish then the other? They will all catch fish but some do it with more ease. Personally I have always fished mostly with a spin cast reel. I have a stash of the old metal body zebco 33's that is my go to reel. Although not the perfect reel they can still catch fish. I have actually been thinking of buying one of the new Abu Garcia spin cast reels for they seem like a pretty nice reel. i love my Abu Garcia bait cast reels as well but they are only used for catfishing. Some of my fishing calls for very small presentation 1/32 or 1/48 jigs so a baitcast would be irrelevant. I have so much time on a spin cast that I can get pretty precise with my casts so I figure why change.