Trip Report (Sort Of)

[straw hat]

Well, a little cooler today so I decidedd to go catch a few cats. I fished about a mile from the State marina on a steep shore line. The water temp was 84 and about 5' visibility and slightly stained. I caught one 2 lb cat at 24' and lost a moderate size flathead (maybe 7 to 10 lbs) in the first hour. Around 10 AM my breakfast decided it didn't want to stick around if you know what I mean. I packed up my stuff and headed back to the truck. Every 15' I would get sick again. It took me 2 hours to get back to the truck. A shame, it looked like it was going to be a good day for cats. On the way to the lake I passed over the Y bridge near Ruark and they had one side closed. I had to wait 15 minutes to cross. I bet that will be a disaster on the weekend. If you are going to head that way you might want to plan on a little wait before you can get through.

[luv2fish]

Put in at Masters and fished brush piles 20-25'. Only found one with active fish, caught 7 nice keepers. Really a light bite. Caught them on jigs tipped with real tiny minnows. State Park marina had no minnows and the only place in bolivar has about 1" minnows. Fished a few points with jig/crawler combo and caught one short walleye. Caught a few bass and my mandatory drum.

[Travis Archie]

Well, a little cooler today so I decidedd to go catch a few cats. I fished about a mile from the State marina on a steep shore line. The water temp was 84 and about 5' visibility and slightly stained. I caught one 2 lb cat at 24' and lost a moderate size flathead (maybe 7 to 10 lbs) in the first hour. Around 10 AM my breakfast decided it didn't want to stick around if you know what I mean. I packed up my stuff and headed back to the truck. Every 15' I would get sick again. It took me 2 hours to get back to the truck. A shame, it looked like it was going to be a good day for cats. On the way to the lake I passed over the Y bridge near Ruark and they had one side closed. I had to wait 15 minutes to cross. I bet that will be a disaster on the weekend. If you are going to head that way you might want to plan on a little wait before you can get through.

Straw Hat,

You're KILLIN ME haha. My Catfish fever has been unstoppable since about april, that's the last time I got a respectable stringer of Channel Cat and that was at Taylor Bridge on Little Sac, other than that I caught ONE nice 3 pounder up at Orleans Bridge a couple of weeks ago on some liver, but other than that my summer's been pretty dry in both weather and catches, I wish I could go this weekend but my other obsession history is calling me stronger. I have to go dress up in clothes that have been out of style for 150 years and chase gentlemen in blue at the Battle of Wilson's Creek haha. Well maybe next weekend, until then keep me entertained with bedtime catfish stories haha I love 'em...heck I even have a channel cat tattoo haha111 Hope you get to feelin' better!!!!

[straw hat]

Thanks for the response Travis. I am going to try and go again tomorrow. No blueberry muffins for me in the morning! lol I was looking over your profile and I saw that you were only 21. Man, depressing, I have hangnails older than that. Keep your catfish tackle ready, October and early November are some of the best times for cats I will let you know how I do..

[junkman]

You guys are fishing the wrong lake. Went to truman Sunday and spent the night fishing me and and my boy and nephew. caught I would estimate 40 to 50 lbs of cats. Two of the biggest was two 7 pound flats. Had a great time and were all to are selves. Seen a guy run his trout line Monday morning and came back with a 45lb, 30lb and about 6 smaller blues

[straw hat]

What can I saw Junkman, it sounds like you are right. Those are some nice cats. We don't have blues down here in Stockton and this year the faltheads are a little scarce. I don't get to do any night fishing and with this hot water the nights would definitely be better. I went again today down to Springfield landing. I could only manage two 2 pound cats. Not good for 6 hours of fishing. I also put out a couple lines for crappie and managed 8 keepers. The crappie were 4 to 7 foot deep. I fished the windy side because I figured there would be more oxygen there. The water temp was 89 !!! That is just rediculous. The water was also very green with about 2 foot visibility. At least I came home with a few fish but it was tough fishing today.