What I know about blue cat fishing… Written by RobertRBobeJr1960
A big thanks for the article Bo 77j juy
Granted I am not familiar yet with a lot of Indiana Rivers yet. But from what I have seen of the White for instance, I know there has to be some decent areas blue cat would call home. With the amount of Dams, and the fact the White meets the Wabash and then shortly after the Ohio there has to be some big ones roaming the lower sections of the river and I am sure the upper section with all the dams and as well cliffs.
This is what I know about pole fishing for them I have learnt from my experience growing up on the Mississippi River.
Look for them in deep holes with ether a stair step rock shelve that steps down deep. Bluffs that have the main channel run right along side of them, concentrate in the bends. And look for areas that boil, they normally feed above the boil and then rest below them in slack current.
Mud banks that have a deep channel cut along them, again bends are the best bet.
Below a dam, right below a dam that has a spillway you will notice the water forms a eddy normally on ether side, try to hit that area. Also if there is a large eddy below a dam I have done great fishing a slip cork with a shad or cut fish drifting in that eddy. A bend in the river that has a break in it, like riff raff positioned to stop the bank from washing away in the bend. Normally there is a eddy right below that break,, fish the eddy and right about the riff raff.
Winter months blues school big time, also when they feed the generally feed in fast deep holes in a river. I use in Winter Months almost always cut shad, buffaloe, gar, Asian Carp. Buffaloe and Gar cut bait, I only use if I kill the bait fish and cut its fillets up for bait. I never have had luck on cut buff or gar that has been frozen.
To cut a gar for bait, first skin it then fillet it like you would any fish. Have to be carefull however the skin of a gar will cut you deep. The edge, scales are sharp as glass. A buff to use for cut bait, first beat the sides of the buff with like a wood stick, then scale the fish and side it out like you would a crappie or perch. Then cut cubes from its meat about 2 inch cubes. Leave the skin though on a Buff or Asian Carp without the skin it doesn’t last in current for long.
I have never used skip jack until I moved here a couple years ago. But I would assume I would cut it just like I do shad. We used to use Hickory shad, and we used to split the shad then pack it insides with yum yum catfish bait strips and or plain pork rines. We would warp it up with plastic wrap and sit it out in direct sunlight. Once it got real oily we would then take out the yum yum or rine strips and store them in a seal able bag, ( they reek) and then cut up the hickory shad just like you would normally. When the water is real cold this works great too. I bet if a person did this with skip jack, as oily as they are it would work about the same.
In the heat of summer, fish generally the same types of Areas, except keep a eye out below dams and in back currents. Just like in pay lakes blues feed near the surface, and if you see them busting the water or their backs breaking the water fish your bait below a slip cork and let it drift in the eddy, anywhere from a couple feet to several feet deep.
In the heat of summer small craw fish can’t be beat for blues, I use a drop rig instead of a slip type rig. I use a three way swivel 1/0 or bigger, with a drop line to a pyramid sinker. Then I use a 1/0 or 2/0 circle hook for crawfish or grasshoppers. I thread the crawfish on the circle hook like you would a worm on a hook, starting with the head all the way to the tail. Also don’t over look a big glob of Night crawlers.
The biggest blue I have caught on rod and reel was in the Mississippi river between two large rock dikes, the water was deep and fast. I was using a similar rig with several nightcrawlers strung up big glob like the size of a tennis ball. I fought the fish for almost 4 hours. I never got a weight on it, I was to far from any road and didn’t have scales with me, I have a picture taken of it somewhere and when I locate it I will scan it into my computer and post it to the site. It reached from the bottom on my chin to its tail was dragging the ground. I caught it, took a pic and released the old girl.
Even when I commercial fished none of us that fished in a group kept large cats unless we had a order from a pay lake for stocking. We always let fish 20pds or so and over go. To say the least I was hooked on big blues after that and crave to get into a big one again. I have caught many 20 pds or a bit bigger, but have never hung into another truly big blue since.
I enjoy flat head but when you get into a mess of blues they hit hard and fast!!! And generally you don’t catch just one.
