# Ohio river catfish help !



## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

Hey guys, I recently posted my struggles I've been having huntin them cats since mid june. It ended up starting a bunch of threads about gar. Was looking for catfish advice or other anglers experiences lately. Anyone bBen having problems not finding the cats? I fish ohio side mainly meldahl. 9 mile. New Richmond area. I use live gills, chubs, skipjack cut worms. I can't figure it out ? Am I not in deep enough water? Where can I find some deep summer holes? Don't they still feed shallow at night?


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

My brother lives near the Racine Pool and has fished it a few times in the last week. He has been hitting the strippers but No Cats yet.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Savethetrophys, a small catfish tourney going out of New Richmond ramp tomorrow morning, stop by the ramp around 12:30-12:45 tomorrow afternoon and see what has been caught in the area and maybe get a few tips .. Wink wink Its part of the SW Ohio Catfish Club, Ill be there in my white and blue Sea Nymph, track me down. Fat balding old fart, hard to miss.

Salmonid ( Mark)


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

I mean. I haven't caught a nice one out of river since first week of june? You said yet like they are supposed to start biting soon?


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

Salmonid, I will try to do it. I appreciate the gester, I have really been scratching my head for weeks now in frustration.


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## excalman (May 24, 2013)

When using cut-bait shad or skip-jacks scale them first this helps and try to use FRESH cut bait. I think chubs work better than sunfish. We won't talk about gar again sorry, I should work on my P.C..


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

yeah over the last 5 years or so I have gotten away from fishing the river since poor results seem to be more common then ever down there. I agree that fresh bait, whatever it is, is always best. although in my trials over the years with scaled or not scaled I have never been able to prove 1 is better then the other but your mileage may vary. 

If I was looking for bigger fish, right now Id use fresh large bait chunked the size of your fist and try to cast out into the current seam to find blues. The flathead bite has been week the last few weeks with the flatties on spawn so forget the shallow live bait close to the shore or wood, some smaller fish will still be around though if that's what you want. 

I love hearing Ohio River shore guys wish they had a boat but in reality, in my boat, I am rarely out of casting range from the shore and more often then not, Im anchored within 20 ft of the shore as the river drops to around 20 ft deep right away in most spots and I know of many spots where the front of the boat will be on the rocks and the back of the boat will be in 30 fow and dropping into 50 fow within another 20 ft. Look for rock points always deep water with current on/along them

Salmonid


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

Th hanks guys. I'll Put It to use. Are the flats still spawning?


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Some fresh scars on some caught in the last few days so id say so
Salmonid


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Short Tourney update.... granted only a handful of boats, but it took 11 lbs to win it today, yup, 5 cats and they had a 6 lber, so you figure out the weights of fish 2-3-4 and 5, LOL
2 nd place team had a 7 lb channel and a 1.5 lb flattie, we were 3rd with a 3 lb channel, only bite we had all day, everyone else didn't have a single bite in 6.5 hrs. Granted poor river conditions today, they dropped the pool hard in the prior 24 hrs, over an foot, zero current, and a hard upriver wind made drifting and anchoring impossible, it seemed there was no where to hide today.... always great fishing instead of doing anything else but it was rough today, a few gar bites but mostly sit for 30 minutes, move, sit for 30 minutes, move, hate wasting great bait I worked my arse off for to reel in and it be perfect, pitch it and put on fresh. repeat...

Salmonid


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## barillms (Aug 28, 2013)

Listen man... Most people get skunked more than they catch. That's catfishing. If you're fishing one night a week, you might fish 4 weeks and catch 2 fish. That's normal.

May & June is prime fishing, this year we had a delayed spring. June still was a decent month, nothing great, but I did catch a few nice fish.

I'm not sure what your expectations are, but don't get discouraged. It takes time and patience.

If you just want to catch fish... Use small hooks, chicken liver in panty hose and you shouldn't have any problem finding 2-5lb channel cats. They're everywhere.

If you're fishing for flatheads, don't expect to catch big fish every outing. Sounds like your bait selection is fine... So that tells me you're not going to the right spots.

Don't fish the typical "fishing spots" lots of people go to... These places are fished out. Look for good catfish habitat on Google Earth, then go there and scout out the area. See if its fishable from shore. The spots off the beaten path, are often times the best spots, bc they don't get fished. 

Keep trying new spots, and you gotta put the time in. Twice a month isn't gonna cut it. You need to fish 2-3 nights a week and really put in some time in good locations, and eventually you'll hook into some fish.

I've caught about 130lbs of flatheads this summer, and ive been fishing 2-3 nights a week since the end of March. I've only caught 4 fish over 10lbs. Two 12lb fish, a 19lb and a 22lb.
And I've fished over 50 nights. AND, the guy I fish with has had an awful summer, he's only caught ONE fish over 10lbs in 50 trips. Sad, I know. But that's the game buddy.


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## barillms (Aug 28, 2013)

We got skunked pretty much most of July. Tonight, I caught a 6lb flat and my buddy caught a 3lb flat. Hopefully August will be better, but I doubt it. Usually end of Aug & Sept will pick up once the water cools off back to 65 degrees. I think the best months are May, June & Sept. Some guys think Sept is best.


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## pppatrick (Apr 21, 2012)

thats pretty damn disheartening. 

if someone told me they won a cat tournament with a 11 lb five fish limit i would have laughed them off the river. that just shows you how tough july can be, especially in a depleted pool of the river. 

i've been using a double hook rig, with a 4/0 in the back and a 7/0 top most of the year and its really put a lot of fish on the table, but the size isn't coming. that smaller hook in the back has nabbed so many channels that are coming by nibbling. put time in so many new holes due to heightened pressure on some bank spots i'm more accustomed to fishing without much of a result. gonna try a couple new spots tomorrow again. eventually the big sow will latch on. 

just fish fishy areas, where bait fish will congregate and you'll get em'. i love barge cells, rip rap, confluences and bridge pilings.


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## Shovelseeker (May 20, 2014)

Yeah, I'm fishing right around the same area and I haven't caught anything but 1 lb shovel heads since the very beginning of June. I think they just moved deeper. I don't think you can reach deep enough water from the bank in that area and that's what our problem is. Shovel heads like that highly oxygenated water this time of year and I'm thinking they are out further in those deep holes that are out in front of the dam. The current from the dam provides the oxygen they need. I'm hoping when the last bit of them completely finish spawning, that maybe it will get a little better. But deep water is definitely where I think they are.


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

Hey guys it's me again. I appreciate all feedback. Excellent and very nice of you guys to help. 
I have so many questions ! Bar, I do fish probably 4 times a week. First question? Do they not feed at all during spawn? Does spawn last 2 months? Why is this a depleted pool u say? Is it better to get them when the river is higher? I got 2 last year in mid august back to back that were around 30 lbs. And had alot more action with smaller ones as well. Do I need deeper water? I'll start there and keep the questions coming .....


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

In august river was super low too when I caught the 2 flats in same night. ? I really wonder if commercial is hurting my river. Another thing I haven't seen the bait near as much this year?


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

Salmonid! Sounds like a tough day in the tourny? What kind of weather should I look for when I go after them? Do u think this oddly cool summer might have a negative result?


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

As far as expectations go... I had days last year where I couldn't keep 2 poles in water.... I didn't fish much June and July though... I don't expect them to be on fire all the time. But I have never gone weeks without a nice fish or two..... and by nice fish I mean catfish over a pound or two. Mainly for 2 months I have caught baby cats like under 2 lbs. And not many... other then that just gar. Which drive nuts lol. But let's not start talking bout them again lol


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

I know the ohio is a huge body of water, but my feeling is that there is not a large amount of mature cats in this area of river? Lots of dead water... but again with all this we have talked about. I know I don't know much about the river like u guys. so this is really helping get a better picture of things


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

well, Im no expert, obviously...LOL but the flathead spawn usually starts when water is in the mid 70's and starts with males making a nest, then a female will come in and lay her eggs and then chase her off, she relaxes and recovers for about 2 weeks while the males guard the nest for about 3 weeks so the whole thing lasts about a month but some start a week or two later and end a week or two later so for about 2 months total, the bite can be really weird, most catches are smaller fish but a few bigger fish are still around and available to be caught. after dark id still focus on woody areas along the banks, under barges etc. 

Salmonid


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## throbak (Jul 8, 2012)

Come to your own conclusions Where I fish I finally found them was doing alright Then the CF showed up 4 weeks later he is still there Nets and Trot lines 24/7 Then hes on paylake sites bragging on stocking over 30,000 LBs of catfish In TWO Lakes not all the lakes he sells to Just Two after seeing him checking nets and lines 4 times I havent been back why waist my time Ill go when I am ready for a Boat Ride but not to fish


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## pppatrick (Apr 21, 2012)

savethetrophies said:


> Hey guys it's me again. I appreciate all feedback. Excellent and very nice of you guys to help.
> I have so many questions ! Bar, I do fish probably 4 times a week. First question? Do they not feed at all during spawn? Does spawn last 2 months? Why is this a depleted pool u say? Is it better to get them when the river is higher? I got 2 last year in mid august back to back that were around 30 lbs. And had alot more action with smaller ones as well. Do I need deeper water? I'll start there and keep the questions coming .....


depleted pool(s), meaning there has been a tremendous amount of fish taken out of the river by commercial guys in the meldahl, markland, mcalpine etc pools of the river. but i was mainly referring to that tourney weight salmonid had mentioned, but i guess would really apply to anyone fishing down that way.


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

Yeah I figured that probably happened every year maybe it's getting worse. That's very unfortunate. I don't understand why the law can't protect them better being it's been progressively getting worse I'm sure for years now.


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## whodeynati (Mar 12, 2012)

savethetrophies said:


> Yeah I figured that probably happened every year maybe it's getting worse. That's very unfortunate. I don't understand why the law can't protect them better being it's been progressively getting worse I'm sure for years now.


There is no law on the river that borders Kentucky. The law that passed legislation should take effect in 2015, I believe. So they are after all the fish that they can net.


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

So in 2015 they can't steal our fish anymore with giant hoop nets and stuff them in pay pond mud holes? Do u know what kind of limitations will be set?


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## whodeynati (Mar 12, 2012)

I believe it is 1 over 35" per bluecat, and flathead. And 1 over 28" channel cat. Unlimited harvest I believe under those measurements. Hopefully 1 of the catfish guys will also chime in. I'm about 90% sure that's what it is though.


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## barillms (Aug 28, 2013)

The fish are ON again. Had a good week, caught multiple fish both last weekend and last night. Going again tonight! They are hitting live gills right now! 

Got a 10lb flat and a 27.2lb flat... Both on live gills.
Hopefully break 30lb tonight!


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

That's great news. Hopefully I can break the skunks back tonight. I'm dying for a big old pig to come by and say hello.


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## barillms (Aug 28, 2013)

They seem to be in the deeper water right now.


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## throbak (Jul 8, 2012)

Hope you are not going to Markland The CF have been there a month now was seen today up next to the Bouys at the Dam puts in at VeVay


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## Shovelseeker (May 20, 2014)

Just caught a 9.3lb shovelhead! Had some good runs already. Think it's gonna be a good night!


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## barillms (Aug 28, 2013)

I rarely catch flatheads under 5lbs. If you're catching 1lb flatheads... Your bait & hook is way too small.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

whodeynati said:


> I believe it is 1 over 35" per bluecat, and flathead. And 1 over 28" channel cat. Unlimited harvest I believe under those measurements. Hopefully 1 of the catfish guys will also chime in. I'm about 90% sure that's what it is though.


You are correct. However it depends on where they are harvesting fish. I am pretty sure below Cannelton dam they are allowed 4 fish over the 35" limit or at least that is what was proposed. 

I have caught my fair share of flatheads under 5 pounds on the river. Lots of "blacktails" we call them as they always seem to have a black tail. I only use 8/0 and 10/0 hooks and I can assure you a 1 pound flathead has no problem getting that in its mouth haha.


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## savethetrophies (Jul 4, 2014)

I can't find public area with barges? Anyone have any idea where I can find some to fish them?


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## throbak (Jul 8, 2012)

The 1 over and 4 over takes effect NOW and can be enforced NOW learned this at Frankfort Today the attorney for KYDNR made a point to come ove and tell us ,that at the adjournment of the meeting it was enforceable for Rod and Reel anglers. the CF have untill Dec 1st to Rape the River Bloody and will and are doing it


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## pppatrick (Apr 21, 2012)

when i said barge cells, i meant the large round structures the barges are moored to. though, most are in industrial locations and not really accessible. some that i fish at, i have to walk the bank about 100 yards to access one of them i fish.


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