# Ohio River Catfishing Cincinnati 7/19



## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

My group met me at Schmidt ramp at 8 AM this morning. I had Ralph and his wife, and 2 kids 9 and 12 year old's. Went up to my first spot and got 6 rods in the water and started to drift shad and skipjack. Within 5 minutes we had our first fish on a nice chunky 5 pound blue. In the next 15 minutes we added 5 more blues ranging from 6 pounds to the biggest of the day at 15 pounds. About a half hour later we added a 5 pound flathead (we don't catch a lot of them drifting). We went through a dry spell for about an hour and a half so I made a move to another section and started drifting there. Picked up 4 more blues again between 6-10 pounds. By this time it was getting hot and they were ready to call it quits. I told them I had one more spot I wanted to hit real quick before we got back to the ramp.

Spot locked on the spot and got the first rod in the water. Before I could get the 2nd rod in the water we had a 4 pound channel cat on. Got 2 rods in the water and had a 2 pound channel cat on. Finally got all 6 rods in the water. Went about 5 minutes and got a good take down. Ended up being a 13 pound channel cat that gave the 9 year old a hell of a fight. Got that rod back in the water and it immediately got hit again with a 12 pound channel cat.

Ended up being a decent day. Top 5 fish would have gone right around 60 pounds.

I don't have any more trips booked until after vacation so hopefully have some more reports next month.


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

Please take our buddy Nicatfish (Norb) along with you sometime.
The poor guy is still looking for his first catfish of the season, and he isn't getting any younger.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

Marina's most of the time. 4 seasons is a good one usually. Small feeder creeks are also usually pretty productive for shad also.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Nice job captain!


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## alexfishing (Aug 8, 2021)

Hey Im wondering the spots you were catching these cats at. I use Schmidt ramp too but I never know where to go


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## sliprig (Apr 6, 2004)

Nice write-up. When your on the right spot it doesn't take long for a bite. I usually give a spot 30-45 mins, no bites time to move on. Talking blues and channels, flatheads are a different story. Robby Robertson (RIP) would sit on a spot for 24+ hours if necessary. He had the patience of jobe.

Slip


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## Hatchetman (Apr 13, 2004)

alexfishing said:


> Hey Im wondering the spots you were catching these cats at. I use Schmidt ramp too but I never know where to go


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## alexfishing (Aug 8, 2021)

Hatchetman said:


>


That was helpful and productive, thanks


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## sliprig (Apr 6, 2004)

Cut the guy some slack. Never fished that stretch, but I would look for creek/river inlets, deep holes, current breaks. Another place to start is structure, logjams, barges that have been docked for while, points that run down into the river, bridge piers, etc. Anything not ordinary.

Slip


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## sliprig (Apr 6, 2004)

Just looked at a map. Don't know how far you are willing to run...I would look at LMR area, downtown Cincy(tons of structure), Licking River, Mill Creek(maybe). Not brain surgery, just put in the time and keep moving. Soon you will have a list of honey holes.

Slip


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## mrfishohio (Apr 5, 2004)

Hey Sliprig, how goes it? I fish out of Riverside now, formerly ran out of Tanners in Lawrenceburg. Son & I share a boat. We've not had much luck. This pool is overfished commercially and not finding the large fish. Used to always put a 30+ lb fish in the boat every week or so. Now it's all 5-15# mostly. We did get a 27# blue Friday PM. Good to see people still out fishing the river. Although I still think I could find some if he'd go out of Tanners LOL. Funny how the fishing bug comes & goes. I was all in for years, then I stopped since about 2004-2005 I guess. Oldest son is a certified fish-a-holic. Trying to start a You Tube channel River Lunacy. When I see a video with me in it, I'm shocked as I look old LOL. Not in my mind. Hopefully we'll all have some good fishing coming up soon. 
Looks like you had a real good day last month fishdealer04. Thanks for the report. We have an old school trolling motor, no spot-check. We normally fish on anchor but are determined to do some driving. Still setting up the boat. Realized we need a bigger boat. Trying to make that happen soon. Tight lines everyone.


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## sliprig (Apr 6, 2004)

Jim, Tanner area gets hit hard by the commercial fisherman also. Bigger fish are getting harder to come by, even with the increase in CPR. (Catch, Photo, and Release). Blues have come on strong since you were active. Hope to see you out on the water again. Gonna check out that UT channel.

Slip


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

If I am anchoring for channels or blues I will give it 15-20 minutes. If no bite then I will reset on what I am anchoring on or I will move. I am fishing for active fish, especially when I have customers out. If I am specifically targeting flatheads then I will take it up to 40 minutes + for a bite if I am confident in the spot sometimes longer. In the summer months I spend my time drifting and dragging. I only use my spotlock when I am setting up on known structure points or holes, otherwise I am free drifting or dragging. It is just like trolling for walleye or any other fish- covering water to find fish. If I come across a really productive ledge or rock pile or log pile then I will go back and spot lock it or continue to short drift it. A lot of it depends on the customers and what they want. Some guys want that 1 big bite and that is it, so we will fish big baits and work for that 1 bite. Other customers just want to catch fish, or its families, or kids, in which case we are trying to find as many fish as possible.


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## nlcatfish (Mar 21, 2005)

BMustang said:


> Please take our buddy Nicatfish (Norb) along with you sometime.
> The poor guy is still looking for his first catfish of the season, and he isn't getting any younger.


Thanks for the suggestion I have only caught 5 catish all season
u


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