Catfish Fly Fishing

[fishinwrench]

you live in stl?

No I'm at Lake O. They were catching cats real good up shallow when the water was way up in the bushes ....but that appears to be over now. I was tied up on a big job and totally missed out on it.

[theokieangler]

I hate for my first post in the fly fishing section to be a hero-shot, but I was really pumped about this one and thought I'd share it with you...

Check out this flathead on the fly... guessing it was 38in and ~30lb!!

Was fishing alone and the only person around only spoke spanish so I had a hard time communicating with him to take the picture... this is the only one that turned out!!

[esox niger]

Nice flippin fish dude! where were u at and what were you using. Im giving the meramec a shot right now, the water is way down and i have a feeling theres a deep hole under the 141 bridge that i might be able to reach now. got some new ddh leach/minnows tied up and gunna give that a shot. awesome fish man.

[theokieangler]

Nice flippin fish dude! where were u at and what were you using. Im giving the meramec a shot right now, the water is way down and i have a feeling theres a deep hole under the 141 bridge that i might be able to reach now. got some new ddh leach/minnows tied up and gunna give that a shot. awesome fish man.

Thanks! Caught this one in Oklahoma (below the dam at Lake Overholser in OKC).

I was actually throwin' a rope fly trying to tangle up with some of the BIG longnose gar surfacing all around... Heard something that sounded like someone wading in behind me. Turned around and saw it. Hands started shaking instantly and had a hard time tying on a rusty orange egan's headstand. Took 5 casts, but he finally sipped it in. Good luck on the meramec!

-ward

[esox niger]

this was maybe a 24 incher i got in the morning....got a 28 and a 22 after the sun went down off a boulder section of bank. all of them on a new fly...Im calling it a ddh sculpin, tied fat. just got some ep fibers and made some nice shad flies...im hoping they like shad better than sculpin...bet they do... now if i can just get myself back to the big fish water before we get more rain. but even if we get rain ive got an alternate spot that benefits from it, so i guess im all good. id like to beat that 38 inch flathead. some big cats out there...

[shadman]

well Im sorry to disapoint everyone by not havig a picture of todays catch. at least im disapointed! by the time i got back to my car and got the camera it was too dark for a photo so i held the fish up to my rod and it was about 5 inches shy of the first guide im measured that out to be 28 inches. booyah! i saw about 3 or 4 more the same size and hooked into another one maybe bigger for a couple of seconds till the fly pulled out!!! dont be saying there going to disapear dudes!

i bet this backwater holds cats all summer long....last summer i had a fish come after my fly that made a wake witha 3-4 nch front wave, if you like minnows why not cruise the backwater, and im under the impression that we are early in the spawning season cats dont even hit peak activity till 75-80degree water temp, though i havent looked at what it is lately im guessing 70degrees max. you may be right but im not convinced. or better, im in denial. shoot, im in jepordy of loosing my lame job by taking days off to go fishing, all i need is more pressure to be out hunting fish. well im a little amped up. next time i bet i remember my camera. I appreciate the replys everyone. ps #2 hook ,white rabbit strip tail (2-3 inches) with hook point up through the stip clouser style, 1/40th oz lead eyes and yellow or silver estez body/head has been the big producer. pretty sure the fish are alerted by the smack/plunk when the fly hits the water 90% hit within 4 strips of the fly...no sink time needed.

im no fly fisherman but i am a cat man.. those cats are up in the shallows protectin the nest,,, its great when u find these fish at just the right time o year,.. usually i find em on real rocky banks in shallow water(u can see em chasin off perch), on small lakes or big ponds. when they are runnin like that i promise you that they will hit just about anything u throw at em. but like was mentioned earlier,, that "phase" will only last a week or so at most... BUT, this tells u that the cat pop is good where ur fishin... when they move back out again, just change ur tactics and ull still catch em.. they will come to the shallows at night to feed all summer long... Good luck!

[esox niger]

I've added to my arsenal of big fish flies. havent tried the puglisi flies yet but the "ddh" fat dubbed sculpins/ leeches are good on the white bass and cats for sure. the best thing is this bait stays fresh for weeks, months, and even years.

[theokieangler]

this was maybe a 24 incher i got in the morning....got a 28 and a 22 after the sun went down off a boulder section of bank. all of them on a new fly...Im calling it a ddh sculpin, tied fat. just got some ep fibers and made some nice shad flies...im hoping they like shad better than sculpin...bet they do... now if i can just get myself back to the big fish water before we get more rain. but even if we get rain ive got an alternate spot that benefits from it, so i guess im all good. id like to beat that 38 inch flathead. some big cats out there...

That 2nd ones a great channel cat! Those fly's are lookin' solid too... always nice to throw versatile and durable flies

[esox niger]

That 2nd ones a great channel cat! Those fly's are lookin' solid too... always nice to throw versatile and durable flies

Thanks Okie.

[esox niger]

Nothing on the puglisi shad flies yet...the brown ddh sculpin is a killer. went out at 10pm tonight to fish a creek conected to the missouri. the creek was down and the white bass were in town. ....Holy McShiznit! #1 i didnt know they were on at night. #2 they seem to fight harder at night. those things fight like hell to begin with. probably 7or 8 14-16 inch fish and 5or 6 17-19 inch fish. got 2 cats with the best at ?24 inches. love those bass. 20 lb test tippet with my 8weight and they were rippin out line.