My hunt for cats

[jsnyd86]

I took a friend out with me today. First time rolling tandem. It wasnt too bad, but wow was it windy at times! Freezing advisory covered the night and barely let up in the morning. We launched anyway and our target was slow water coming off the current. We came loaded with nightcrawlers, green nightcrawler, some of that processed chicken liver catfish bites (that I dont think ever work) and hotdogs marinated in red kool-aid and garlic, ooh-yea. We got a few bites at our first location (south side of rock pile across from launch). But, we snagged so many times we decided to move. We dropped anchor just past the last pier as the river bends towards 95 bridge, where we caught a few small white perch. Threw them back, except for one really little one. Cut him in half and we both tossed him as bait. 10 minutes later we both got hit, about a minute apart from one another. It was so fast and hard of a hit, we both missed it. Too bad because my heart skipped a beat after I watched my pole slam down and come back to its resting position before I could even lift my arms. A little while later we moved down, but got stuck under the 95 bridge as the wind really picked up. There was a lot of boat traffic today too, with a handful of people disregarding the no wake zone. I took on some water but not much. We were about to give up, but I thought of one last place, between the piers just before my second spot. Its near deep water, protects us from the wind and is still warm and sunny. So I battled the elements and the dick heads… one last time and we anchored there. Green worms were a hit. We caught all 5 channel cats at this location and the biggest one was caught on a far cast in the middle of the channel about 2 seconds after the worm hit the water. fun was had by all. We stayed here for about an hour and a half and then called it a day.

Oh, and yes this was Occoquan. Water temp was 55 in the morning and rose to a solid 59 by 2pm. outgoing tide. depth 10-20

[Rockchaser]

Nicely done.

I have found that a chunk of white perch on a circle hook and just the clicker on works well for the bigger cats. Let them take some line so you know they have the hook.

[cptwardog]

Saw you guys out there, and yes, I would agree there were a bunch of folks out there disregarding the no wake zone. I was the guy in the orange Dagger. Anyway, got into some LMB in the slough next to the golf course. I was using a white spinner bait. Last week hit them pretty good on the opposite side (got 15 and lost 5) in a slough next to the house with the helicopter on a yellow spinner bait. I ventured all the way down to almost Mason Neck State Park and then realized I needed to start heading back. The trip back was an adventure, got some water in the boat from the waves and other boats.

[ictalurus]

Yeah, the wind yesterday was no joke. I think there were so many boats on Friday and Saturday because there were small craft advisories on the Potomac on both days, and people stayed in the Occoquan. Too bad they were jerky. At least you got a nice stringer of cats for your efforts.

[jsnyd86]

Nice to, kind of, meet you wardog. It's always nice to see other yakers out. Especially when the conditions are less then perfect. Our efforts were rewarded thankfully. Before we got into the cats I thought to myself how I was going to disribe my utter failure here. Overall it was a fun day. I haven't Put my yak to the test like that before and had a good chance to learn a few things. I'll try the circle hook and clicker next time. I had the same idea with the worms but maybe my hook wasn't big enough?

[PotomacTide]

thanks for the report and nice catches! smart move on using the cut bait. I've been experimenting with cats using local cut bait with great results. I use to just use night crawlers, but now I,ve switched to Shad cut bait. Ill save one shad that I catch each time I go out. Save the roe for my breakfast and use the rest of the uncleaned meat for night fishing. As someone pointed out earlier it seems to attract the bigger cats. I can relate to the violent hit the cats have on the pole. I learned this year that you need to loosen the drag when targeting the larger cats. Just last week one snapped 16 lb test line on the hit on me. 10 minutes after I missed it I realed in a 35 incher! I was fishing from the banks of the Potomac using Occoquan Shad that I had caught earler that day. I just wish I were on my yak when I caught it.

[bull.dog.jon]

Just curious... I've seen many different baits mentioned on different boards when it comes to catfish. HAs anyone here tried catfish bait soap? If so, I'd like to ear your thoughts. I make it and do quite well with it.

[jsnyd86]

Just curious... I've seen many different baits mentioned on different boards when it comes to catfish. HAs anyone here tried catfish bait soap? If so, I'd like to ear your thoughts. I make it and do quite well with it.

Never used it. It's mainly for trot lines right? or juggin?

[bull.dog.jon]

Never used it. It's mainly for trot lines right? or juggin?

I use it for regular pole fishing myself. It was mainly designed to be used with trot and jugs though. But, as long as you give it a little time to soak, it works well with all of the above.. at least for me.