2nd Trip Below Bagnell Dam Tomorrow

[Deerhunter2]

Hello, I am new to the forum. Went below bagnell for the first time two weekends ago and caught nothing. Going back in the morning (3-07-09) to try again. Primary target is catfish. Have always fished the Missouri river at Herman, Mo. and at Washington, Mo. but some buddies of mine have talked me into trying bagnell out. Anyone that can give me information (such as how to catch cats there, any way to know when they will be letting water through ahead of time, or what ever) will be very much apprecciated. By the way, I've heard of drift fishing there, how in the world does anyone drift fish there, with rod and reel, without being hung up constantly?

[creek wader]

We caught a total of 8 cats below the dam today using worms. We were bank fishing. If they're generating water you'll do well. If they are not it'll be slow. I see them drift fishing all the time. I don't know how they don't snag up. I guess you tie the weight below the hook, it still would snag, though. Good luck. ,... wader

[Deerhunter2]

Thanks Wader. I'll post tomorrow night to let you know how I did. It's good to know that someone has been catching some. I already have my worms ready to go swimming!! Also hope to find some shad.

[rangerman]

Bagnell dam is a great place to catch catfish and some big ones. If you apply tactics which you use on the missouri you should do alright. There are some facts about fishing this time of year up there you should know. In winter and early spring such as now, alot of the blue cats school up. The last time I was there about 2 weeks ago while walleye fishing, I found the school about 200-250 below the boat ramp. Run down river and look for holes on your electronics. It was late in the day and did not really feel like messing with them to much. I was able to get one about 6 pounds and another 15 pounds. Use small baits such as small cut shad. The water is cold up there and remains that way for awhile. It was 38 degrees when I was there and the fish are slow minded. I was able to use a jigging spoon which I have done in the past and caught the 2 I was talking about, I did loose one that I figured would go 20 or so.

While looking for the fish on the graph, you would not be able to miss them. The pod of fish I found covered an area of approximately 5 foot deep and 5o yards long. ALOT of fish. This is no joke. I was getting false bottom readings do to their numbers.

As far as drift fishing, use a heavy enough weight to stay as vertical as possible while drifting. Try not to drag the baits down stream as this is going to cause you to lose alot of tackle.

These tactics work clear into the spring.

Also think out of the box, Try using jigging spoons and heavy bladebaits. By doing this and fishing vertically over them, you can keep the bait jigging right in front of their face and even with the cold water you will likely get a reaction strike. I have used this tactic in numerous places. While employing this technique use your bass tackle with a fireline or braid. The resistance is less and the strikes are more evident. Plus when you do hook up, the fight is pretty good even in the cold water.

Good luck

[rangerman]

Also look in the phone book and find the number for dam information, I can't find mine offhand, however, they will give you discharge information and predicted information. When the water is slow the fishing generally slows, however, the jiggin spoon technique is never slow, as you are going to the fish and not waiting for the fish to come to you.

[Drbucketmouth57]

Also look in the phone book and find the number for dam information, I can't find mine offhand, however, they will give you discharge information and predicted information. When the water is slow the fishing generally slows, however, the jiggin spoon technique is never slow, as you are going to the fish and not waiting for the fish to come to you.

Bagnell Dam info number is 1-573-365-9205

[Seth]

I'll have to try the jigging spoon technique like you mentioned, it sounds like a good way to catch anything that swims up there. Last year during gigging season I noticed that the hole just below the bridge in front of that old barge or whatever it is was just loaded with fish of sort. My graph would literally black out from the bottom to about 15' up. I just assumed it was asian carp or paddlefish. As soon as snagging season started, it stopped doing that though.

[Deerhunter2]

Thank you all for your information, especialy Rangerman. I have never heard of using jigging spoons for Catfish before. We arrived at the ramp at 8:45am yesterday. They were not running water and never did all day long. We did not find any shad running. We fished with minnows, worms, pre-packaged shad, and artificial stuff. Between the 2 boats and 5 guys, we caught 15 baby cats (6 inches to 14 inches long), and 3 blue gill, all on worms. We fished mainly up close to the boat line and once about 200 yards below the ramp. My friend in the other boat recently purchased an underwater camera and tried it out for the first time. They said they saw lots of crappie, and a few small cats, and 2 or 3 big fish (maby a stripper). They pulled beside us so we could see how well it worked, and it did show a very clear picture which impressed me. We left the water at approx. 5:00 pm. I saw lots of fish on the fish finder but looking at them on there is one thing, catching them is what seems to evade me. I guess I need to get some jigging spoons.

[creek wader]

"maby a stripper). ", man I'd like to see one while fishing... oh wait.. you mean a "striper", lol. ... Well at least you caught something. Fishing below dams can be tough, when they're not running water. Timing is everything. Here's a site to check the flows of the waters in Missouri, including Bagnell. I see they ran it briefly, today.. Also, here are a couple of pics, the first is last fall when they were running water, the whites were easy pickings, the 2nd is from the other day when they weren't, a lot of bank and no fish. good luck .. Wader

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/mo/nwis/current/...roup_key=huc_cd

[rangerman]

I wouldn't expect them to run a whole lot of water anytime soon. They have the lake so drawed down, I can't see them dropping it much more. It id about 6 feet low the way it is.

The technique I spoke of, jigging spoons, works. The thing with it is it takes ALOT of concentration. You have to keep in touch with the bottom and it takes time to distinguish the difference between a subtle fish hit and a rock. Once you learn it you'll do fine. I have gotten some big hybrids up there. I have a stringer mount with 4 I caught up there with the largest being 14 3/4 and the smallest 13 pounds. It was a pretty good day. I also had a limit of blues.

As the water warms, you'll find the blues scattering. They will move up closer to the dam and start feeding on killed shad that comes through the dam.

I forgot to mention another technique I have used up there when I got bored with what I was doing.

Take a large pyramid sinker, size depends on current, and tie it on 3 way swivel (10inch dropper) and place about a 10 inch leader on it. Catch some shad and thread a full size shad on the hook (4 to 6 inchers). Using your trolling motor, slowly drift downstream keeping the rig as vertical as possible. You will catch just about everything on this rig.