Lower Missouri River ...fly Fisherman Needs Help Finding Catfish

[esox niger]

Hello to everyone, I just thought I would check in with the board and see if anyone fishes the lower Missouri River. This year is an exceptional opportunity for me to fly fish the lower missouri....I mainly catch Grass Carp,common carp and drum in the river but I have a thing for catfish, and i just can not seem to find them anywhere...I have a kayak and sometimes have access to some wingdykes...either way I am limited in mobility and ability to park over anything more than 20 ft and that usually makes me nervous. So I have some mobility but not much. Can anyone suggest what is going on with the catfish in the lower river this year and where and when to look for them. dusk and dawn obviously leaning toward dawn I would think. I had a couple little flatheads a week ago around 12pm around wingdikes and breaks and thats it. I can fish bottom in 20ft or surface down to 12ft fairly easily.

Thanks

-Chris

[fishinwrench]

You may already know this but the Summertime sweetspot around the wing dikes is on the upstream side at the depth where the rocks stop and the sand begins.

I have no useful ideas on how to effectively FLYFISH those spots, but I know that's one location pattern where they like to position themselves on the big rivers.

I expect the bite in those backwater spots you like is pretty slow now. That'll change when some cool rain breathes some life back into those areas.

[Wayne SW/MO]

I agree with Wrench. Cats like to be where the food comes to them and when the flow is low it will be in front of the dams where the current is slow enough to pile up some food. When the current is strong they will go behind the dams where they don't have to fight the current and the food will be push into the eddy.

[esox niger]

Hmm? I think the river level is about at where the sand meets the base of the wing dykes right now. Plenty of places where the dykes run parallel to the current but not many perpindicular. Oh well, I fish where I can...Heard some good surface ripping a couple nights ago off the ends of the dyke...not sure what that would be, probably catfish but I don't know... the adventures continue.

[Jerry Rapp]

keep us posted esox. It will make for a neat story. Be careful on that big river.

[fishinwrench]

My Missouri river experience is limited to the Mokane/Portland/Hermann area, along that stretch there are dikes that are situated 70-90° to the flow. The face will not have any sand above 3-5ft of the current water level at any given time because the surface currents keep it scoured.

Dikes that run mostly parallel to the flow are nothing more than a rip-rap bank....and not worth spending time on I wouldn't think. Except for maybe the uppermost end of them.