# Great night on the Ohio 5/29



## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

Put in at Tanners, got shad quickly and some big ones at that and hit the river. Action early was slow with only one hit and nothing- gar most likely. Moved to several spots over the next 2 hours with nothing but sore fingers to show for it. (22 lb anchor HURTS!!!) However, I returned to first spot as it looked promising. I targeted slacks behind barge towers as the current was decent. Anchored up and dropped a lime straight down into the eddy. Felt the sinker hit bottom and went to crank up a foot or two and thought I was snagged. Nope, it swam. So after a spirited fight of 5 minutes or so I was rewarded by the nice 13lb flatty you see pictured. I must have dropped the bait right on his head. In fact, he had the tail of a baitfish sticking out of his craw already so he hit mine just out of instinct. Taking pictures with the camera sitting on the dash of a rocking boat makes things tough. 
Nothing else until after dark. Ran around a couple more places until I settled down near another tower. I was able to tie up to this one. ( a no-no I know) but the current was perfect to hold me against the side of the tower while I fished the eddy and the edge. Dropped baits and waited to see what happened. It didn't take long before the outside rod bowed. That fish would being a 5-6 lb channel. As I was unhooking that one, the back rod bows hard and the drag sings. Tossed the little guy back in and grabbed the rod. I was rewarded by a solid fish that didn't want to come see me. 5 minutes later I lip a nice channel. (Seen below.) Black in color unlike the smaller cat that was your typical color. Got those pictures, turned her loose and rebaited. Another two cats came to the boat within 30 minutes, both in the 7-8 lb range. Great fights, especially with the current helping! I ran out of shad and resorted to the frozen skipjacks I had taken along. I used the head of one and it probably weighed about 1/4 lb. (15" long skippy) Dropped it down right next to the tower and cranked up a foot or two. 10 minutes and boom, that rod drops and another good fish. Brought up a 12 lb flatty and the picture is there. Hung out until about 11:00 or so and headed home. VERY little boat traffic, only one barge and that was as I was leaving and a decent night for me. Overall a good night on the water.


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## RodMan (Apr 6, 2004)

Good report and great fish. Keep them both coming!!!


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Good report man, the fishing has been real good lately but cant find the BIG flatties, we got a 22 and 15+ the last two trips but no real monsters??? Of course at any time on the Ohio, you could get hit!! We also found that the fresh shad quickly seemed to be the best bait going but did take a fish or two on skippies and even moneyes.

Salmonid


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## skipjack11 (Apr 12, 2004)

Nice going Craig. Ron hit Tanners on Sunday and caught some whites and hybreds but left early due to the crowd. I hope to head down soon.I haven't hit the river once this Year.


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## catking (Apr 5, 2004)

Looks as if DA KING !!! has been out of the loop way to long...... Captain Craig has finally figured out the mighty Ohio.......... nice to see you still out catchin Craig...also nice to see Allan still kickin.... THE CATKING !!!


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## Doctor (Apr 5, 2004)

Nice fish Craig, still can't believe you never boated a turtle, your losing your touch Man.............Doc


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## hunterm (Apr 22, 2004)

Had to look twice to make sure that was actually UFM in the pics...not use to seeing him holding up fish l

Nice going Craig, sounds like an excellent evening.

Mark


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

I haven't caught a turtle in a few years. I sure had a streak going there for a while though! Maybe as my bait selections have improved over the years I've moved away from turtle food. I'll have to say that shad heads and skippies have become my bait of choice. The cats LOVE shad heads for whatever reason. Always seem to get the most action from them. I would think a thick gut section would be better bait but the heads sure do draw the strikes. And thanks to Doc, I love the circles too. Don't have to worry about timing the strike and missing fish. In fact, the black channel hit while I was untangling one of the smaller fish and I just let it run while I got the mess undone, knowing he wasn't coming loose. That's a huge benefit! Love the circles. No damage to the fish, easy unhooking usually and they don't tend to hang on snags like regular J hooks do. 

UFM82

Has catfish fever now!!!


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

Congrats looks like a good night on the big O


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## nanoshell (Oct 13, 2008)

Sounds like you had a fun and productive night. I have a few questions from
a new fisherman if don't mind. We have a bass boat that we got last year and
have been putting it in at the New Richmond August St. ramp. My young son and I like to fish but really don't know what we are doing and don't have much 
sucsess. Would you mind telling us in detail what bait and rig you used to catch those cats? In laymans terms please.

thanks,

larry


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## Mean Morone (Apr 12, 2004)

You did better than my buddies and I did. We fished from Meldahl dam to about a mile down stream and caught two catfish, one small channel cat and one small blue cat.


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

I use a simple bottom fishing rig usually. Weight depends on current but 2-4 oz is typical. Put the sinker on the main line, add a bead to protect the knot and tie on a ball-bearing swivel. ( Don't know what size off the top of my head- I think mine are rated at 100lb.) Then I tie on my hook with a 24" section of Trilene Big Game line 50#. I snell Gammy 8/0 circles ahead of time for these and keep a dozen pre-snelled hooks onboard. I use no-rolls or egg sinkers depending on what I'm doing. Friday night I was using 3 oz eggs for less water resistance. I'd park as close to the barge towers as I could that would allow me to drop baits straight down. Once the sinker hit bottom, I'd crank up a foot or two and this would prevent the sinker from snagging in the debris that stacks up behind the tower. The bait would flutter in the current near but not on the bottom. I used shad that I would either use whole, cut in half or chunks of skipjacks. Use the heads as a bait and the midesection as another. Toss the tail section away. Drop the baits, put the rods in the holders and wait for them to bow over. Waa-Laa! Catfish. Nothing unusual or imaginative- just a basic bottom rig. 

UFM82


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## mrfishohio (Apr 5, 2004)

Gheesh, couldn't you hold it closer to the camera ?? Glad to see you're on the water, I really miss it now & then. I haven't fished in a few years now.


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## nanoshell (Oct 13, 2008)

UFM82, thanks for the response, I'll try and rig something like that.

larry


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