CATFISHING TIPS FROM A PRO

You have permission to publish this article in its entirety either; electronically or in print, free of charge. As long as bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication; or notice of your use of my article would be greatly appreciated! Thank You. Catfishing tips from a PRO Last week I attended a seminar on catfishing presented by a local catfish guide. He guides on the Ohio River for boating BIG flathead and blue cats. He has a very nice boat rigged with a 20 gallon fish tank. The two large outboard motors moves him from place to place quickly. He mainly covers the mid range of the Markland pool. That means he finds big catfish close to Cincinnati. He likes the river stage to be around 27-28 feet. Normally at that level there is a current in the river that keeps the fish actively feeding. His main bait is FRESH live gizzard shad. He stops and collects the shad with his casting net before heading for the fishing holes. That is why the big fish tank is so important to him. When the river has NO current he depends on LIVE bait. He wants the Shad to be giving off vibration to get the attention of any Flathead in the area. When there is some current then he prefers to use fresh CUT bait. The cut up fish put a scent trail in the water that draws the catfish to his rods. He fillets the gizzard shad the threads it on the hook. This makes it hard for a fish to just knock the bait from the hook. He also likes to use skipjacks for they are very oily. The small skipjacks he cuts in two pieces and puts as many as he can on a hook. Large skipjacks can be kept in a freezer and then filleted when thawed. The key here is locating the skipjacks. Skipjacks around here come and go very quickly, so you have to harvest them whenever you get the chance. His rod is 7.5 feet with a strong back bone. He uses non- roll sinkers that are 2-5 ounces depending on the river current. The line is 20-30 pound solar mono. Hopefully, this information will enable YOU to catch more and bigger catfish. I plan on using these pointers on my future trips. Tight lines to all. nlcatfish@fuse.net webmaster for Cincinnati Catfishing www.cincinnaticatfishing.com AND SHOP WITHOUT DROPPING www.cincinnaticatfishing.com/Shop1.html LINKS 4 FISHING INFORMATION AND SUPPLIES www.cincinnaticatfishing.com/links4fishing.html