# 74 catfish in 2 nights on the GMR



## cats under the stars (Jun 8, 2004)

ME and my buddy caught 23 flatheads and 6 channels the past 2 Saturday nights on the gmr.

We have missed almost 40 fish. We are fishing with cut bluegills and they will pick the bait up and run but we miss a ton of them.

Does anyone have advice on why we are missing so many fish?

They are small for flatties they average between 3 lbs and 9 lbs.

We usually let them run for 20 seconds but a few times they will drop the bait after a 15 second run so sometimes we set earlier.

Time after time we will actually fight the fish for a minute or two then lose them.

We are usung #2 or #3 eagle claw hooks. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Could they be gar?


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## cats under the stars (Jun 8, 2004)

Definetly not gar. A few of the misses I actually got to the bank and they were all flatheads. Some jump out of the water and you can see they are catfish. We havent seen any gar.

If I hook whole bluegills in the mouth they will bite of the body but not the head. If I hook the tail they will bite the head off. If I hook in the back they bite the middle of the body before the hook.


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## GMR_Guy (Apr 10, 2004)

Those are good numbers and they attest to the fact that certain parts of the GMR have a LOT of flatties. Size 2 and 3 hooks seem to be quite small if you are using bluegils with much size to them. I went fishing with three other catters a couple of days ago. All of us were using 8/0 Gamakatsu Octupus Hooks (some were the regular shank and some were circle hooks) when using goldfish that were 4 to 7 inches in length. 

The GMR is almost plagued with small flatheads and a lot of those missed runs are probably the result of them messing with your bait. A decent size flathead will inhale a bait and run with it.


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## shuvlhed1 (Apr 13, 2004)

A good turtle raping.


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## cats under the stars (Jun 8, 2004)

Yes I am going to go with a much bigger hook when I go tonight or tommorrow.
This is really fast moving water about 2-5 feet deep.

I have caught at least a 100 channels out of there this year w/ livers but once I went to whole and cut bluegills, I'm catching almost all flatheads. 

Both nights we started at 9:00 pm and fished to 6:30 in the morning.

The runs down there come almost as soon as the bait settles, it's just ashamed how many misses on BIG runs.

How long should I wait on a run?

I have tried it every way. Soft set, hard set, long run, short run. I have caught and lost them every way. Maybe bigger hooks is the key. I think a #8 is big for 3-9 lb flatties?


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

If your having parts of the baits being bitten "off", then it's turtles. Catfish don't do that. For the ones your losing, is your bait too big? 2/0 or 3/0 hooks are plenty big for that size fish, but the fish may just be carrying the bait away if it's a bit big for them. This is just a quess, as I've caught some mighty small fish on some mighty big baits, but they were always live baits.


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## cats under the stars (Jun 8, 2004)

M.Magis said:


> If your having parts of the baits being bitten "off", then it's turtles. Catfish don't do that.
> 
> Well that makes me feel better about *some* of the missing. A few weeks ago we caught 9 turtles out of this stretch in 1 night on livers.


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## rockbass (Apr 16, 2004)

Sounds like a heck of a lot of fun! 


now the dumb questions. GMR stands for what??? Great Miami??? And where abouts in the state is this river?? I may want to take a trip there! Oh yeah, I catch and release for the most part. I am not a "meat hunter!!" I think it would be fun to catch a lot of these fish. Also if there is a good number of turtles in there, may just try to rod and reel some of those!


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## monsterKAT11 (Jun 20, 2004)

yes GRM is great miami river, i don't know where it is but i would also like to fish it, i'm around the dayton area can someone PM me a map of where i could go on the GMR for cats?


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## cats under the stars (Jun 8, 2004)

I'm fishing the Great Miami River from Harrison Ohio to the point (the point is where the GMR meets the Whitewater river. This is located on river rd just past Kilby Rd. (Cleves) 

There is a ton of great bank fishing on the GMR on East Miami River Rd. From the point all the way down to Blue Rock Rd.

Eggleston softball park is fishable. Located on Blue Rock and East Miami River Rd. Alot of people fish at Dravo Park. Its a small park between Harrison and Blue Rock Rd on East Miami River Rd also.

Take River rd from downtown follow it till you get to Cleves.


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## gmrkatman (Apr 16, 2004)

In regards to hook size, I use 9/0 and have caught the tiniest dinks on those. To directions to the Gmr, if you are from Dayton I would fish south of Dayton and down river, the farther you go the better size and numbers of flatties, at least that is my take on it. There are a lot of bank fishing areas from West Carrollton down through Trenton that are not to far from Dayton. You are welcome to join me if you would like and I can show you a few places. With all the guys fishing the GMR we could have our own little branch group.


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## OhioCatman (Aug 4, 2004)

A GMR branch group sounds pretty cool!


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## TimJC (Apr 6, 2004)

Maybe it's time for GMR outing this year.


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## gmrkatman (Apr 16, 2004)

It,s been brought up but the problem is where to have it. There are not a lot of areas that can hold a bunch of anglers and produce fish. Any suggestions?


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## TimJC (Apr 6, 2004)

We did it at Dravo Park last year. The only problem was that there weren't to many people there and most only being there for a couple hours.


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## gmrkatman (Apr 16, 2004)

I stopped by there to say hi last year. One problem is that there is little bank left there, and also if we are flattie fishing I don't think that is the best place. I know from talking to quite a few of the other guys that they are not so hot on that spot for catching fish. Also would there be more interest in a day or night gathering? Let's get some feedback. I would like to help get an outing together.


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## OhioCatman (Aug 4, 2004)

Start in the day and move on into the night.


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## Catfish John (May 10, 2004)

Im with OhioCatman... nice to see you finally get onboard dude.... if we just can find a place to go ....


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## Rooster (Apr 8, 2004)

Im ready for a GMR flathead outing (it definitely sounds like the cats are ready), and would agree that we should start during the afternoon and fish into the night. It might be best to see how many people are interested, and then try to pick a spot that can accommodate that number. It doesnt have to be anything elaborate..Just a few guys fishing, and maybe a grill for some dogs and burgers.


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## monsterKAT11 (Jun 20, 2004)

i'm 16, i would love to go with me and my dad....that is if you guys don't mind a teenager goin along


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## BowKat04 (Feb 27, 2005)

I know where that spot is on river road. Was always wondering how the fishing was down there. Are there alot of huge cats down there?


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## lurer (Oct 25, 2006)

I would be interested if the outings coincided with my open dates, etc. The fishing a Dravo can be really good. I witnessed a 30 shovel come out of that spot. A day into night tourney would be best for me.


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

Dang, this is an ancient thread! BTW, i used to fish down that way quite a bit for cats, last i seen Dravo it was really messed up from the flood of 04/05.


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## Guest (Jan 23, 2007)

I started reading this and thought "no way not catching that many flats in january!" and then I saw the date. haha


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## peple of the perch (Sep 13, 2004)

traphunter said:


> I started reading this and thought "no way not catching that many flats in january!" and then I saw the date. haha


You are not the only one. Y was this brought back up?


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## gdtii (Oct 31, 2005)

Cabin fever!


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## WISH IT WAS YOU (Jul 25, 2006)

cats under the stars said:


> Definetly not gar. A few of the misses I actually got to the bank and they were all flatheads. Some jump out of the water and you can see they are catfish. We havent seen any gar.
> 
> If I hook whole bluegills in the mouth they will bite of the body but not the head. If I hook the tail they will bite the head off. If I hook in the back they bite the middle of the body before the hook.


jumpout of water i have only ever seen one cat fish jump one was my cat that fell in the pond and the other was a channel


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## WISH IT WAS YOU (Jul 25, 2006)

peple of the perch said:


> You are not the only one. Y was this brought back up?


i just found out the same thing it jan thats all imposible then he said jumping out of water in clod water like this dang lol


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## chrisoneal (May 13, 2006)

were abouts do u fish the GMR. Do you fish it by middletown/hamliton area. Just woundering i do alot of fishing there how is the river right now. i have been thinking about getting out there but i thought it might be to cold.


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