drift fishing

[cattracker16]

I've heard lots of good things about drifting. you can cover lots of area easy. what i want to know is what kind of rig do you use? river and lake? I've tried it but ended up getting my gear stuck to bottum of the river. I was guessin i did it wrong.

kenny

[4rum]

I like the drop shot method when drifting on the lake. On a river this would be more difficult due to the uneven bottom and or structure.

Another method I've had good success with on rivers it to use a bobber with only 2 to 3 feet of line down to a weight. Let the current carry boat an' float together.

If there is lots of structure (trees or rip rap) you will go nuts trying to keep your terminal tackle out of the tangle.

Sometimes better to park or just go potholin'.

[Sharon]

I like using a bobber too for some areas... I dont have a boat, but if I have my line with a leader on it, I put the bobber close to the leader and let it drift.. fish usually come up to see what that strange thing is and I get bites. Notice I said bites, not catches :p But in most cases since I know Im not out deep while dock fishing, I find this method works for me so the bait isnt sitting on the bottom, or getting buried in the muck. Honestly, this is how I catch most of my gills... dangle it high and let it float under docks.
just my 2 cents :D

[Illinoisgiller]

Cattracker- Google up Phil King's catfishing. When the site opens. click on the left side box for drift fishing. Since you are a catter, this will be a very helpfull article. Mike

[gofish]

the one i used at ky was just a walkin sinker,swivel,and hook with a 12 to 18 inch leader.gettin snagged up driftin most of the time (unless really snaggy) can be cured by changin wieght or length of line out from the boat.ya want just enough wieght to be able to see bottom contact on your rod tip.gentle nodding not hard pops of the tip. if your gittin hard pops its a real hard ,snaggy bottom or too much wieght.easiest way to git a feel of what im talkin bout is cast straight across the river from your boat an just feel the bait as it bounces,then change wieghts till you just feel bottom really lightly.also a real good way to cover area for cats while anchored.15 ft deep or less i normally use 1/4 to 1/2 oz.......15 to 30 ft 1/2 to 1 1/4.....30 ft or more i go straight vertical unless theres large waves.only way to git around large waves i know of is a lil heavier wieght an lots more line out from the boat. at ky i had almost 150 to 200 ft out,and slowing/controlling my drift using my trolling motor bow into the wind.catbird or soupy can probably help ya bout driftin rivers better than me,wabash is a lil small for much driftin

[Soupy_1us]

Not me..........Never tried it but, heard of it ....Some of the guys do it around the dams and stuff..
The only driftin' I done is when my anchor comes loose.

[cattracker16]

I know that's right had a hard time with my anchor on KY lake wouldn't hold me in 35 foot of water W/ a 50 foot rope. was a little ruff to be fishing that day anyways.

[gofish]

now cattracker it wasnt a lil rough was it? lol....more rope,bigger anchor.....no worries....cept when that loaded barge goes by an ya dont see the wake comin:ashamed0006:

[captkev]

I don't fish for cat's much, there just is'nt any around here close. But Drifting is some thing I do a lot of. I don't know if you can adapt this to the way you fish or not but this is how and why I do it.

Most times Drifting becomes the better choice when mother nature is blowing a little extra air around. Boat control is esential to keeping your termanal tackle in the strike zone and out of the snags. Most times this can be just a matter of a few feet or meer inches. Knowing the structure well before you fish it can help. A good quality GPS that shows a plot trail is even more esental than the tackle itself.

Place your boat in the area you intend to drift and just make a few marks with your GPS where you want to start. You could also drop a bouy marker to mark the starting point. Now pay close attn. to your sonar. (This is where the GPS is huge) I mark all changes in the bottom with a icon or waypoint. as the GPS plots the trail you will see where the wind and current are going to take you. Now you can go back to those icons and look around and maybe place a few more, I like to find the edges of those rock piles and tree stump feilds. once I have each area plotted out I can now go back to where I wanted to start the drift and get some lines in the water. If it's realy windy I like to use a drift sock or two to slow the boat down. Now I can use the trolling motor to back up or push the boat around the edges of the snags. The fish will most times be on the down wind side of the structure waiting to ambush anything that comes by. In rivers we all know 90% of the time fish are going to be pointed into the current. Drifting brings a natural presentation to just about any windy situation because bait fish will be moving with the wind.

I like to use these in situatons of large snags like rocks or rip-rap...

http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/tackleshop2/home.php?cat=285

And these for areas where you might be in the sand and gravel with a few larger snags like rocks, logs or stumps.

http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/tackleshop2/home.php?cat=108

Those Walleye that are in the recent Walleye forum came on drifts that were set up to fish the down wind side of a mid lake hump with a drift sock in 25-30 mph winds. Keep in mind if you go look that those pictures were taken once we got to calmer water.

http://www.lindyfishingtackle.com/tackleshop2/home.php?cat=722

Good luck, and good fishing.:evilgrin0039:

[captkev]

I know that's right had a hard time with my anchor on KY lake wouldn't hold me in 35 foot of water W/ a 50 foot rope. was a little ruff to be fishing that day anyways.


One more thing... The rule of thumb for anchoring is 3/1 Three foot of rope for every foot of water depth.

[gofish]

capt.kev....he was jus havin a bad day......tryin ta anchor out on a huge offshore flat (had bouys on a outside corner) 2ft plus waves,ect. hes funnin on hisself a bit cause they were gittin the hang of that offshore thing purty good.....somebody needs ta learn me on how ta navigate with a gps.git all turned around usin mine.still triangulatin usin landmarks on ky this year lol

[blackhorse]

This is a very productive way to catch cats, I haven't caught really big ens yet drifting but usually catch several. I try to get on the flats on the lake and drift thru an area till they stop biting and the go to another spot. I really like it at night as I have small clearence lights set up on the back of the mount for my rod holders, they are amber and really work good for seeing the rods and tying hooks and such

[Timotha7]

Drift fishing we did was on river fishing for Sauger
used electric to hold the boat where we wanted it an let the current
push us while we was jigging

Can be especially good for locating the fish you are looking for then you
can come back an anchor up on structure

[gofish]

controlled drifting is how i locate the sauger/walleye on the wabash too at times. i never drift aimlessly fer cats though in lakes unless im in the main lake basin.always cross points,follow breaklines,or brushpiles ect.

[Timotha7]

I have never drifted for cats when I still had a boat, always was about hitting
areas

Have always had my best luck on the waters I fish fishing cats from the
shore line
We don't have blues that I know of anyhow, (think too far north)
and in the smaller rivers, getting at the flats just walk the banks an drift
bobbers in or in some cases might lay a slip sinker rig in front of a hole, get a no roll down on bottom then feed slack line an let the bait go over the
edge of the hole like it is drifting with current

Far as channels go, we got some water around here where if you get on
the shoreline in right spot an throw it out you are generally going to find them

Size depends on how well you know the water, and how well you know
what the bigger ones like to eat

Tim

[tim hagan]

I do alot of drift fishing in the summer and fall. for rigs i use a 3 way swivel and drop a walking sinkers with 8 to 10 lb test line about 10" . On the leader to the hook I use a small inline float about 4" from the hook this will keep your hook off the bottom and when you do get hooked up you only break off the sinker the hook will then pop on up to the top of the water. I have pulled some big blues in the summer this way from the river sometimes we drift for 3 or 4 miles then ran back up river and go again.

[Timotha7]

That is bout how we used to do it for the sauger an eyes, concentrating on
rocky bottom areas where they hang behind rocks
Sounds like the blues probably feed a lot in same way, small rock can hold a huge fish behind it

Those fish laying on the bottom behind debris an popping into current to take what drifts by I reckon??

That kinda presentation is as natural as it gets imo, I bet those fish are
like freight trains when they feel the hook, just kicking back kinda lazy an
all of a sudden you sting em --

Tim

[tim hagan]

Ya tim a big blue on the drift can put a rod tip in the water so fast you can even get up from your seat. I have had some load the rod so hard that its a job just to get the rod out of the holder. But the walking sinker has been the best i have seen for drift fishing. sometimes i can drift all day and not break one off at all.

[Timotha7]

That is a great rig set up you got there with the three way, guessing you are fishing a big old chunk of cut bait, so that scent has em fired up before the bait ever gets there
Once those fish start running upwards of 70+ lb class you are gonna be glad that smoker craft is deep, talk about loading up

Ol Gofish an that bobber boat, he probably be taking on water if he was driftin an one of them 75lb blues loaded up a holder on it !:winking0071:

[gofish]

nope.......member its a bobber boat...small but floats real good lol.....use them walkin sinkers myself......wabash bein so small an full of wood the way i drift it is anchorin an adjustin my wieght so when i lift an feed line the bait walks downriver.gotta really fine tune the wieght else ya just end up feedin line an bait stays put

[Timotha7]

That is way I like to do it with a no roll up in front of the timber an stuff off shore line or fishing into the wash outs on turns drop the weight up front
an feed line

Sure can tell pretty quick if there is something in the hole cuz them big
chubs get pretty frantic
Tim

[wewamohawk]

the only place that i have drift fished in santee cooper s.c. and it worked real good ;;;maurice

[Sonny]

Hey, Soupy, how're you doing?

My father (God rest him) was a big believer in drift fishing, and I've done it quite a bit for many species... not just catfish. Walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth, pike... many different types of fish have fallen victim to driftfishing.

With the gas prices rocketing up the way they are, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts this will become a highly popular method this year. There's also "controlled drift fishing," where you use the depth finder and the Minn-Kota (or the GPS and the trolling motor, or all three) to stay at a certain depth throughout the drift. Most of my drift fishing has been on lakes and ponds.

As far as a rig, with live bait or lures, I've almost always used a Carolina Rig with a bullet weight in place of the usual egg sinker for driftfishing... bullet weights don't seem to snag as much, and a sliding sinker lets you detect bites better.

Drop the rig to the bottom, then reel up until the rig hovers just off bottom during the drift, and you're good to go. I'll also use a bobber if there are a lot of snags, using a slip bobber so I can adjust the depth as needed. Using a bobber when it's choppy is good, especially if you're targeting walleyes or other fish that prefer a vertical presentation, because the waves will do your jigging for you.

Tight lines, buddy, and best of luck with drifting those baits to those fish.

[Soupy_1us]

Hey, Soupy, how're you doing?

I ain't doin' so good Sonny........Seems like the fish have just got to the point where they just don't like me any more.
And now y'all are talkin' 'bout something that I never have got the hang of... Drift Fishin'.....
I seem to have a lot of trouble tryin' to slow my boat down enuff to fish as I drift.... Reckon I'll just have to get "gofish" and hang him off my anchor rope ... Maybe that'll do it for me.
Or they gonna have to build a damn between me and gofish......Everytime I get ready to fish , he flushes and our river goes nutts !
It's so rough down here now I seen cat fish tiein' lines around trees just so they had something to hold on to while they fed.

[DaveIN]

Well I must have to admitt that I have learned something from this thread.

Whenever I have heard of "drift fishin", I thought it meant that the fish were "daffy" enough to take a bite at anything..........

Who knew?

[gofish]

dang it soupy i cant help it your downriver! least i warns ya its a comin buddy lol.....this here floodin is gittin a lil old..dun had fall,winter an spring floods,cant hardly git a chance to git on the river fore its floodin again...dun quit tryin an took some side jobs.:icon_mad:.........hangin me over the side aint gonna help none,ya know im scairt ta death of the water.....faster than you could blink id be back in hangin on fer dear life lol

[Fishaholic]

rivers on the rise up here again!! not lookin good for a little while here!!

[Soupy_1us]

What's that? CREST???? I hear it two or three times a day now....And now they even said DROPPIN'... This here Ohio River has been "UP" for almost 4 months... And now they are sayin' it's gonna drop !
Might get a chance to learn some of the "Drift Fishin" this summer after all. :party0045:

[DaveIN]

I am like you Soupy. I thought "crest" was a mispelled word for that flaky stuff on a pie. LOL

Still flooding somewhat in southern Indiana. In my region, some folks still can not get back into their home.