# Blue cat advice



## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

Hey guys. I’m going to take my son and his buddy out to Hoover and try to catch some blues. I’ve caught them on accident using blade baits and spoons while bass fishing but never actually targeted them. I’m wondering if any of you blue cat experts can lend me some advice. Specifically:

Anyone had luck targeting them using hard baits like spoons and blade baits?

My planned approach to locating blues on Hoover will be find large Shad schools in deep drain basins near or on the main lake. I will be fishing in August or September. Does that sound like a good general approach?

Do I want to fish near the bottom or suspended? The plan is to slowly drag our rigs in/around Shad schools using my trolling motor on a slow speed. 


What’s a good blue cat rig? Circle hook and a weight?

If I can’t use a cast net and get fresh Shad, do live bluegills work? Does freshly cut bait or frozen Shad work? Any other live/dead bait I should consider?

I’d like to avoid having to get live Shad with a cast net if possible. I won’t have use of my big motor at Hoover so I think we’d spend too much time using my trolling motor to locate and catch Shad. Plus I’ve never even used a cast net before. 

Any advice or answers you guys can offer me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 


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## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

The Twin Bridges coves seem to have a really good population of blues. Always lots of schools of shad in there. Lots of shore fisherman, so they’re feeding them pretty good. There’s a boat ramp right there so you won’t have to travel far on your trolling motor. We’ve caught them trolling small cranks and on minnow rigs fishing for crappies. I imagine any typical catfish bait would catch them.


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## Fisherman 3234 (Sep 8, 2008)

Fresh cut Shad and Bluegill, fish the ledges just above the thermocline, I would target the upper and middle pools.


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

Thanks guys. I forgot all about this post until today! Still haven’t gone to Hoover for cats but will in the coming weeks. I appreciate the advice. 


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