Channel cats and fresh cut shad

[flathunter]

I started using fresh cut shad excluisvely for channels cats several years ago, and found out I catch bigger fish for sure..I dont seem to catch as many, but the average size runs bigger..I also use circle hooks by gamagatsu, in 6/0 size when after just channel cats..Below is a pic of a 13-lb channel I caught in July of this year.


http://www.whereifish.com/gallery/data/500/July_13-lb_channel.jpg

[Timotha7]

Another BEAUTIFUL CATFISH! With you hiding behind him again too:D

An that is a great tip too, I have not tried fresh cutbait for channels, but
in lake I favor there is a big population of channels and I have found that BIG
live baits seem to be the ticket for the bigger channels there

Creek chubs bout 4-5 inches are good but the very best I have found is the
JUMBO leechs

There is a lot of man made structure for crappie in the lake, and we can go
out of an evening an fish for crappie, and then bout hour an half or so after
dark you can take an set a lighted slip bobber up with a creek chub or leech
an set it bout 3 foot off bottom by where you been catching the suspended
crappie

That seems to be where the biggest channels sit an hang out

(also get a very nice suprise with occassional walleye that way too)

[capt.kirk]

flathunter,those are some fine looking pics.Thanks for sharing them with
us,and the bait tips are always welcome:cool: KIRK

[Catfishing Matt]

Haha, that channel is fat.

[Timotha7]

Sure is a healthy channel !
An I know there is lot of debate bout which fish is greatest fighter,
I am real partial to a big wiper for the best fight of all
but I'll tell you for certian sure, you get a channel cat over 10 on your
line an that fish will DEFINITLY let you know it is there!
Tim

[gofish]

i agree about the wipers got one just over 19 on my wall,chase em all winter.try cut bluegill for bait in lakes,lots of times itll out produce cut shad.make sure its legal though,cant use it if theres a limit on em

[Timotha7]

19 LB WIPER IS A GREAT FISH!
I have a few in the 13-15 lb range an they are FUN
They stack up in spillway late winter early spring down here an in that shallow wing area it is like watching huge frisbees skipping across the water when they are really hitting you can wear your arms out pretty quick like

I wonder how big they are going to end up getting?? LOL imagine getting on a school of them running bout 30-35lbs!

BUT
I STILL WANT ME A BIG BIG FLATHEAD !
I ain't gonna be happy till I get one 40+ :cool:

[Catfish Fever]

Jack, great looking Channel, do you CPR? We catch some pretty good size Channels and Blues here (Milford Lake, Ks) on shrimp along with cut baits, shad, goldeye, perch, etc.

[Catfish Fever]

Hey Tim, you don't suppose Jack might be related to the guy that lives on the other side of the fence next door to Tim the Toolman Taylor do you? LOL

[Timotha7]

LOL he definitly got that "Wilson Look" going hiding behind them big cats doesn't he :D bout all you can see is catfish an the whites of his eyes

Jack above post from Jim bout CPR!

Jim, I got a feeling Jack is almost 100% CPR on them cats, Jack was one of the guys I mentioned was involved in helping get the Pols attention in Ohio
an getting them slot limits put in

Now if we can just get them to start regulating Pay Lakes will be great!
An for any fishermen don't think those pay lakes are issue outside Ohio and the states that got them, THINK AGAIN
I have talked to DNR people in Ohio and those PL owners get commercial licenses and travel all over the country an net fish where-ever it is legal
Guy said they have seen them come in trucks from as far away as Santee
Cooper

:mad:

I'll stop now before I get all wound up ! Fishing issues get me fired up,
my grandpa instilled some serious lessons about conservation and doing
what could be done to help make sure my boys and their boys catch the same beautiful fish we do

Tim

[flathunter]

Yes sir big or small I release them all.....My wife always jumps on me about holding the fish in front of my face:D

[wewamohawk]

that it sure a nice catfish you have there and thanks for the tip on the bait you use to get them good luck and show us more ,,,maurice

[capt.kirk]

Reckon,if you ask her just right that she may hold the next biggn for
you so that you can stand beside it????:p KIRK

[Catfish Fever]

Tim, read his post, that's nice to read.
I doubt very seriously that PL's will ever put any kind of limit on what folks catch and keep. People would stop fishing/catching(?) there. They strictly exist for the money. I've never fished, or been near one, all my comments are based on what I've read about them. I've read where some of them charge by the pounds you catch, also, it's been stated that it's not fishing, just catching(?).

[big country]

good looking fish jack,,,,,,,,

[Timotha7]

I'm with you Jim
I have never fished in one, in fact, had never heard of one till just a few years ago

It isn't so much what they PL's allow folks to catch
For example there is one that posts numbers on their web site, saying they
stock TONS of cats over 50 lbs in a MONTH
Those cats are netted out of public waters, transported in fish trucks to these lakes an dumped in
They hold "big fish" tourneys an have "pots" to winner

These fish are taken in nets and trucked into these lakes from all over an
sold to attract people to these winner take all pot tourneys, lot of them
die before they ever spend a day in those little shallow lakes

A PL that stocks farm raised cats and lets people pay by pound is one thing
but to have them targeting trophy fish and taking them from public waters is another
That just din't seem right to me at all
Tim

[Soupy_1us]

'nother little thing to keep in mind about PL's is Like in Kentucky you don't have to have a state license to fish in these lakes thus takin' more revenue from your Fish and Wildlife Management.. The owners of these lakes are the only people that profit from them.

[Timotha7]

I want to see everyone enjoy fishing, and I think that PLs can provide fishing for people that might just not be able to access any other kind of fishing..

But I would like to see them regulated
Stocked with farm raised clean fish and run right by the owners
I have heard of some that from all accounts are a great pleasure to fish

But, I don't buy into the argument that you need to toss TONS of
TROPHY fish into a small pond to provide someone with a fishing experience
A kid or somone that don't get to fish otherwise is gonna be thrilled to go to a place
where he can catch some 4-5 lb channels

Have seen pics from some of those lakes, cats in pics said they weigh 40lbs
look like eels with 5 gallon buckets on their headss, unhealthiest looking fish I have ever seen
same fish in its own water probably more like 60 lbs

Just don't seem right on a lot of levels the way they operate
Tim

[bamabass]

i don't beieve its right for the owners of the PL to be able to net fish out of lakes and rivers and put them in there ponds. i have never fished in a pay lake and never heard anything about them netting fish in a river or lake until i read this but that don't suprise me that some people would do somethen like that. the DNR needs to lay down the law on that and do somethen about it.

[Timotha7]

When I was writing letters an talking to people bout this in Ohio an KY
found that at DNR in both states was all in favor of regulating PL's

But they got to get the pols behind them an there is money on a lot of
levels when you are talking bout these places

What needs to happen is that fishermen need to stand up an really raise some HE$$ with the pols in your area
There are a big bunch of licensed fishermen and if the pols here from you
then you can definitly get their attention

Like:
Dear mr Politician
I would like you to take a look at study done by South Dakota State University in conjunction with Fisheries Biologists from several states and independant people
This study shows without question that Big Catfish have very great appeal to catfishermen, and it shows 70% of fishermen in the Mississippi River Basin
are all in favor of regulations on catfish to protect them, an it shows that
almost 80% of those fishermen will travel an spend tourist dollars
in effort to catch a trophy catfish
BY the same token, these big catfish have no value as table fare on the marketplace, so establishing slot limits protecting trophy catfish is good sense.

Tennessee used that logic to pass the 36 inch slot limit, Ohio has done same or very similar, KY is initiating studies into populations and how to manage
them according to DNR people I talked to last fall

Look at Bass anglers, or Ducks or pheasants unlimited, look at the other groups of sportsmen and women who have made their voices heard
These tree hugging groups can talk the conservation talk, but for a fact,
there are no greater conservationists than the concerned sportsmen an women who do the right thing day in and day out to protect the resources they love

It can be done, but it is up to the sportsmen to do it
If we make the noise our DNR's will back us