OzarkFishman

It is night and day (both literally and figuratively). If you are fishing for catfish, then slow roll a black spinner bait between bites for bass. Have fun, OzarkFishman

Nice pics, I will hopefully have some pictures to add in a few weeks.

I can see the Hurricane Deck bridge from where I usually stay. You will catch a lot more blues than flathead around there. At least I have over the past few years. Just put out some hooks and you won't be disappointed. Live bluegill or sunfish work best for me. I have fished the channel some, but there is a BIG mud flat right in front of where I stay and I usually catch some healthy fish. Last year on one anchored jug, I had a 3 1/2 foot gar, followed by a 20 pound blue, with a 2 pound "kicker" channel. Good luck and show us pictures, OzarkFishman

Here is what I have for my trip: Bought 2 saltwater Penn Fierce (5000) reels from the outlet at Bass Pro. Originally $70, picked them up for $45 each. I am going to pair one of the reels with a medium-heavy catfish pole for casting a Carolina rig with plastics or cut bait/shrimp. Spooled up with 20# P-Line Floroclear. The other is spooled with 30# power pro and is attached to an 8'6" pole. This is the rod that will have the pyramid weight on it. Let me make sure I have this right ... I will attach a swivel 3 or 4 feet up from the weight and another one about 2 feet up from the weight. Then, I will add my dropper lines to the swivels (between 6 and 18 inches). If toothy fish start biting, I bought 6 and 18 inch wire leaders. Finally, I will attach 5/0 or 7/0 circle hooks with cut bait or shrimp. Does that sound like a good set up? Should I worry about a leader with the braid OR will the drop lines serve as my leader? I will take a 3rd cheap freshwater reel that will probably bind up on me by the weeks end and end up in the trash. This will have 10 pound mono to catch bait. Do swimming minnows and crappie jigs work for the bait fish in the ocean? I know fishing is about gaining experience and knowledge on the water, but with only a week to fish I will try to learn as much as possible before I get there. Thanks again for any info shared and I will be shooting a PM to some of you when my trip gets closer (July 23 - 30th). OzarkFishman

When you drift for cats, what kind of lead do you use? Are you fishing more a dropshot type set-up OR the normal Carolina rig type set-up for cut bait? Thanks for any answers. I always have a lot of luck setting lines and plan to do so in a few weeks (24-26th). I mainly catch and release, but my dad always gives me fits until we keep some. I am telling him this year that anything over 10 pounds goes back in the drink. Have a good one, ozarkFishman

We ended up with 7 fish and the coolest thing is my 3 year old caught HIS first official fish (he cast and reeled it in with no help). The bluegill were cruising real shallow and we saw 2 monster green sunfish. Also saw some decent bass real shallow cruising. Fun night, OzarkFishman

Took the yak to the park yesterday for a few hours. Started out with a small creature bait and then switched to a smaller plastic. Ended the trip with 6 fish: 2 bluegill, 2 bass, 1 crappie and 1 green sunfish. Nothing big, but I wasn't after size. Taking the family (wife, 3 year old boy and 7 month old boy) to the park tonight. My boy wants to catch fish on his Cars pole.

Justin, I agree with you 100% and did a lot of studying about pond management a few years back. There are not a lot of big bluegill in that pit (but there are big crappie). The other pit, there are big bluegill. The problem is that the owner's son likes to come in and bait fish and keep most of the fish he catches. He will even keep 2 and 3 pounders. While I know that it could be an amazing fishery, I don't have the right to tell family what to do with their land ... BUT, you all could help me map out a management plan and I could see if they go for it. The landowners son could do all the harvesting and in a few years there could be some monsters. I have already caught a 6 lbs 2 oz and 5 lbs 15 oz and multiple 4 pounders in these pits. Could get crazy with proper management. Thanks for the tips and I welcome any more management tips, OzarkFishman

Last week and the week before that, I took 4 groups of kids fishing at the park. I am a teacher and get to teach a 30 minutes Conservation enrichment class to start everyday. I picked 4 days out and took 1/4 of my class each day. We simply fished worm and bobber, except for a few kids that fished a grub. Each day we caught at least 12 and the best morning was 19. Mostly bluegill and longear sunfish, but some green sunfish and one 12.5 inch crappie mixed in. We fished from between 8 and 9:30. The bite usually got better around 8:45 or 9. These were week days, so there wasn't much traffic. The weekends can get crazy. We caught almost all our fish close to structure. Hope this helps, OzarkFishman

I owed a wrestler (I'm a coach) of mine a fishing trip (since February). Since I made him wait so long, figured it would be worth the 1 1/2 hour drive to get some good fishing in today. We headed up to some pits (family) that don't get fished more than 10 - 15 times a year. It makes for some fun fishing. He started with a tube and caught 2 crappie, then he folded and switched to the stik-o (bass pro brand senko). This pit has cattle around it (fenced off usually, but they run the cattle through a few times a year), therefore there is plenty of growth in this water. It has a green tint to it with a visibility of maybe 12 inches. I have fished this pit many times and the weightless stik-o by far out produces everything. We started the day hot, with three fish over 3 pounds and six over 2 in the first few hours. From then on, it was consistent until 2, when it got slower until we left at 3. We ended the day with six over 3, twenty over 2, probably 40 - 50 dinks, and the rest pounders to 1 1/2 (over 90 fish total). There were 3 crappie (all caught by him). The biggest was 13 inches (stik-o). We threw some jugs out and caught one 2 pound cat. Before we got there, I told him that the day didn't count if he didn't catch a fish over 3 pounds. After the 19 inch, 3 lbs 15 oz fish, he was happy it counted. Funny side note: I took quite a few plano tackle boxes jammed into a milk crate and could have fished the whole day with a package of 5/0 magna ewg hooks and a package of black/blue stik-o. Why use something else when what you have tied on is working? We were both fishing with light or medium-light rods and 8 or 10 pound test. He had a 5' 6" light rod and had to ease some of the bigger fish in. He only had one fish snap his line (before we got the drag set). It was a nice probably 3.5 or 4 pound fish, but losing it was worth getting the drag set early in the day. Enjoy the pictures and hopefully you all put some time aside and get to a pond. It is good for everybody to fish a farm pond every once in a while. It reminds you that fishing is fun and not a battle (the up and down of the river has killed me this spring). Good day, OzarkFishman

I live in McGuffey, so we are practically neighbors. I will definitely be in touch.

I will definitely shoot you an email, I live close to Lamberts. Thanks for the info. Do you ever do any night-fishing there OR do you stick with day time fishing? Are 7/0 good for the circle hooks? Should I use a metal leader for the toothy fish?

I use a piece of pool noodle and put my name, address and phone number. Just tie the piece to the limb, it makes it easy to find. It is also easy for other people to see it, but that is the price you pay to run lines legally. I would recommend checking the lines ever 8 - 12 hours, but 24 hours is the legal limit. Set lines are a privilege for us in Missouri, so we all need to work together to keep this method legal. Good points Stoneroller. OzarkFishman

I will PM you guys with more specific questions/directions. I have been to Destin/Panama City, but never to Gulf Shores. When you say shrimp: Do you mean live, fresh OR frozen? Thanks for the replies. OzarkFishman

Since you didn't get to fish, maybe you can help me out with some knowledge and get your fishing fix anyway (I see that you like to shore fish for sharks). I plan on going to Gulf Shores this summer (end of July). It is a family trip, but I will have a car and plan on doing some shore fishing for saltwater species (I don't care what kind of fish, I just want to feel the line tighten). The plan is to buy a saltwater spinning reel and use a medium-heaving 7' rod. Warning: I ask a lot of questions. 1) I was planning on spooling up with hi-vis yellow power pro, then tying on a flourocarbon leader. What pound test would you reccommend for the braid? How about for the leader? 2) When bait fishing: What bait should be used? Would you use a normal bait set-up with a sliding weight and swivel? Have you ever had luck with the gulp products for salt-water species? If the gulp stuff works, then that will help the bait finding proccess. 2a) Would you just cast out the bait and let it sit OR slowing drag the bait in? 3)When lure fishing: Big in-line spinners, big swimbaits, big plugs ... is that about right? I have more questions, but if you could answer any of these questions I would appreciate it greatly. I know I have hijacked your thread and for that I apologize, but I saw the opportunity to ask someone with knowledge and pounced. Have a good day, OzarkFishman

Good luck Huck and have fun with your kids. I have a 3 year old and a 7 month old, so the fishing with the older one is just starting. As for having fun with kids, I teach for a living so I get to do that daily. Hope you enjoy your birthday, OzarkFishman PS - Fishinokie1, your signature matches my way of thinking exactly. With two boys, I have already informed my wife that there are going to be many days in the future that she gets to shop while I take the boys fishing (win, win if you ask me).

You can have 33 hooks in the water at a time (except for the Mississippi where it is 50 hooks). It doesn't matter how many lines you have, just a total number of hooks. Each line should be labeled. As far as weight use ... it depends on your method. If you set your line so that the baitfish will just be flopping on top (a flathead technique), then no weight is needed. If you plan on putting your bait down a little deeper, then I would use a weight. OzarkFishman

I think you mean Bill Dance with the Vols hat, but there could be another guy Don. Just put the sliding weight (egg, bullet, some type of lead that can slide) first. Then, tie on the swivel which will stop the weight. Finally, tie on a leader and attach the hook. Circle hooks are big in catfishing, but they are more popular in salt-water fishing since the hook-ups rate is so high and the fatality rate for the fish is decreased due to the hooks being set in the side of the fish's mouth and not in the stomach. Some people sweep set (left or right like you said) and some people just start reeling. The main thing is to not jerk the hook out of the fish's mouth. Good luck out there, OzarkFishman

I would recommend using a sliding weight and a swivel, then tie on a leader. It adds to the rig, but it allows some line to move through the weight without the fish feeling as much resistance as a big split shot. I would also recommend moving quite a bit up in size for the hook. I use size 6 and 8 for bluegill fishing with worms ... I am sure you can catch big fish with these small hooks, but big cats have big lips . Go with anything from 1/0 up. Sometimes I use 4/0 to 7/0 when going after bigger cats. As far as hookset goes ... it should be a sweeping hookset for circle hooks, not a jerk. The physics of a circle hook allows it to continue to sink deeper with consistent force. Setting the hook can actually decrease hookups if it is done wrong with a circle hook. If you want to set the hook, then you can use a Kahle hook that offers a good wide shape to the hook while also having a straight point to set. Hopefully some of this helps, OzarkFishman

What kind/size of hook are you using? What is your set-up as far as lead, leader, etc?

A chatterbait is just a bladed jig. Mostly I fish it like a spinnerbait. Just vary the retrieve until the fish tell you what kind of action they want. Just don't forget it is a jig, so you can pitch it to cover and then swim it back to you.

I use circle hooks or big Kahle hooks. For whatever reason, I have had better luck with Kahle hooks, but I would still recommend circle hooks. I use a white twine for the main line and then tie black twine for my leaders (usually 12 - 24 inches). You can use braid or mono for your leaders if you want. I keep the main line a different color so that I can easily cut the leader and know that I am not losing the rest of the rig. This actually saved me at Lake of the Ozarks when I had a gar and a 20 pound blue on the same line. I cut the leader to get the gar off and then landed the cat. Good luck and take plenty of pictures. You have 33 hooks that you can legally put in the water (label your jugs), use as many of those hooks as possible OzarkFishman

If they are floating jugs, then cast net some shad. Set the bait to somewhere between 8 and 12 feet. Find some flats and have at it. If they are anchored jugs, then you can use any baitfish (I prefer small bluegill/sunfish). I set 3 hooks ranging from the bottom to the top of the line. I fish anchored jugs in deeper water, but watch the thermocline with summer coming soon (even though it doesn't feel like it outside). If you want specifics, then ask. OzarkFishman

Went to a couple different spots on the Finley today, trying to get my bearings back after the epic flood. I had a nice fish break me off (spinnerbait). Then I caught this decent girl on a chatterbait. They were chasing pretty good today. Get out there and fish, OzarkFishman

There is a 6 hp limit on the lake. I don't know for sure where the cut off is for the restriction above the lake. As far as the dam, that boat must have put in somewhere down river and the water must have been high to get a boat that big below the dam. OzarkFishman