branched oak

[grillking]

I'm going camping with the family at branched oak the 5th-7th. I have never fished at this lake at all. could someone thow out some advice on where and what to use. gonna have a good group of kids with me, so panfish advice would be good. i wanna do a little fish fry, and i understand there are white perch in branched oak. are they good to eat? cat advice is also appreciated, preferably for flats. i hear they have some monsters in there. i do know the NE gathering is there at the end of the month. my wife and sister planned this trip with out my knowledge. I'm gonna try to hit that also. thanks, any input is appreciated:wink:

[catmanjeff]

B-O has had allot of shore line work in the past. Most of the shore washed out and had 4 foot drop offs or more which is all covered with limestone boulders. You would be wise to take some pieces of 1-1/4 inch pvc pipe to sandwich in the rocks as rod holders. Areas 10 and 11, the areas near the marina have a nearby new shower house that is really nice. Bring quarters. It costs 75 cents to take a shower. You will have the convenience of being close to the marina and the swimming beach is a 5 minute drive away. There are rock jetties there to fish from. Flatheads are catch and release only. I went down there last night and caught a few small crappies and small wipers then a storm moved in. Take some shad sides if you can get some, some creek chubs too if you can afford them. The nearest bait shop is in Raymond I think but the bait shop down in Emerald is open 7 am to 11 pm and it's a 10 mile drive from area 10.

http://www.ngpc.state.ne.us/parks/guides/parksearch/printpark.asp?Area_No=34

[jrgriffhusker]

If I was going to go panfishing in BO I would go to any of the boat docks and throw out the crawlers. The gillies are in full spawn right now, at least on the western part of the state they are. So catching them should be no problem. If I was going catfishing I would hit any of the coves on the west side of the lake, take lots of livers and you should be able to catch lots of eatable size channies which should be in spawn right now too.
I went to my little private pond and caught some channies and they were all full of eggs. There's my two cents good luck and post some pictures for us to see. Good job on taking the kids fishing hope you all have fun.

[newtothesport]

I have fished by the marina quite a bit, I catch bluegills and white perch in the brush by the west wing dike along the bank. Then with that bluegill walk about half way to the gazebo thing on the dike and cast north. Its a nice deep hole there and have had some killer hits and pulled the cat from my avatar out of there. Its an easy walk down to the wing dike on the west side with room to get comfy there on the sidewalk. The emerald mini mart usually has a good variety of bait (gills, golds, mud puppies, koi minnows and worms....... ) so they make a great stop for bait.

[Huskercat]

I was gonna ask a similar question about B.O. I am pretty new to catfishing the Lincoln area and have done fairly well on lakes like Wagon Train, Conestoga, and even Holmes Lake and Salt Creek near Ashland but have never fished B.O. and am planning to head out there Sat night so this advice is beneficial to me as well. I have heard that Flathead fishing is good when there is a full moon fishing off the rock jetties using gills or goldfish about 4 feet under a bobber. Was wondering if that would work this time of year or if the water needed to warm up more. Also was curious if anyone catches any cats drifting cut bait and what depth to fish...I mainly fish from the bank unless my buddy decides to take out his boat. I'd really appreciate any advice on this lake - would love to beat my PB flathead of 11 pounds and this sounds like a good place to do it :)

[bownero]

From my experience at last years gathering, Branhed Oak is plum full of eating size Channel Cats. Big Vic, Wil, Newtothesport and myself had great success drifting the lake with blood and cutbait (bluegills)!! If my memory serves me correct, the mojority of the cats were caught in 15-20' of water. Making long drifts at a relative slow speed. Talking about flatheads, I'm thinking game on for these beasts. The water temp at the lake I fish is 70deg. right now and this should prompt some action on the Flatties. Live bait, like gills or the present white perch, should be the ticket for these guys. Channel Cats have a great attitude and should be hot action all day and most of the night. From the experince so far at the lake I fish alot, the 10-11pm. time slot is the hot bite. Not sure is this occurs at other lakes right now.

Gotta try it and post the results. Good luck and see ya at the gathering!! Getting pumped and hope to BS. with some great bunch of guys. That's CATTIN' guys I mean!LOL!

Later. :cool2:
Mark.

[jrgriffhusker]

All I can say is EVERYBODY remember that Flatties are CATCH AND RELEASE only at BO. Don't get caught because the fine will eat you up. I got caught with 4 gillies undersize at Olive Creek two years ago and it cost me 500 bucks. Plus a messed up weekend of fishing. Flat tire, and a buddy who didn't help with the fine at all. All in all that weekend of fun cost me around 750 bucks because I drove up from Auburn and had to pay for all the gas. Not anymore I carry a copy of the fishing regulations in all my vehicles one in the tackle box and one on the boat. I learned the hard way and hope no one else has to do the same.
And I thought I was within the regulations.

[catfishjohn54]

Been fishing Branched Oak for several years now. It is the most mysterious of any lake I have ever fished. Folks oughta be pulling out big cats on a regular basis. Only big cats I've seen there are dead flatheads washed up on the shore. Similiar large reservoirs in Kansas, for example, have got blue and channel catfishing to die for! On a regulare basis, from March to October, I used to catch hefty stringers of catfish. Is BO too fished out, or dose the pollution from the nearby fields and the outboards have an effect on the lake?

Beware Holmes Lake. Big catfish are hammering shrimp and cut bait between 9:30pm and 11:00pm. However, a bored and zealous police officer run me out after 11:00 pm the other night. A lot of people igniore the closing hours and fish anyway, but they are taking a chance. I called Lincoln Park and Rec, and they told me they have these hours to keep the transients and bums out of the park. I told them that is silly, and I told them why. I reminded them Lincoln isn't like Baltimore, Detroit, or East L.A., or even Omaha. Besides, I said, the homeless could care less about park rules. Anyway, for your info. Good luck.

[skawez]

big as in 3-5 lbs? they just renovated the lake.. i know the bass in the 3-4 lb range are hittin worms and spinners by 70th in the weeds but cats? big? holms lake?

[skawez]

Beware Holmes Lake. Big catfish are hammering shrimp and cut bait between 9:30pm and 11:00pm. However, a bored and zealous police officer run me out after 11:00 pm the other night. A lot of people igniore the closing hours and fish anyway, but they are taking a chance. I called Lincoln Park and Rec, and they told me they have these hours to keep the transients and bums out of the park. I told them that is silly, and I told them why. I reminded them Lincoln isn't like Baltimore, Detroit, or East L.A., or even Omaha. Besides, I said, the homeless could care less about park rules. Anyway, for your info. Good luck.

ok ok.. point made.. took liver didnt have any shrimp.. thougth id test the waters... lost a 12+ pounder thru the hook a few feet off the shore.. nice fighter .. didnt take a cat rod just a light rod... couldnt believe it had cats like that in there this soon after renovation.. but heres one i did get to the shore... reps..

[catmanjeff]

Maybe I'll try Holmes lake I have yet to catch a keepable size cat in Nebraska this year. Time to go back to Lake of the Ozarks.

[Huskercat]

All right...I suppose I better head over there to check it out for myself considering I only live like 5 minutes from there :big_smile: Got a few nice ones there about a month ago in the 1-3 pound range - didn't think there were any bigger than that in there! Hey Steve, where abouts were ya fishing? Send me a PM - I might head out there tonight after dinner for awhile...

[uhrich33]

I'm going camping with the family at branched oak the 5th-7th. I have never fished at this lake at all. could someone thow out some advice on where and what to use. gonna have a good group of kids with me, so panfish advice would be good. i wanna do a little fish fry, and i understand there are white perch in branched oak. are they good to eat? cat advice is also appreciated, preferably for flats. i hear they have some monsters in there. i do know the NE gathering is there at the end of the month. my wife and sister planned this trip with out my knowledge. I'm gonna try to hit that also. thanks, any input is appreciated:wink:
Hey ryan try little turkey liver for some small cats, catch them with my kids a few times.good luck

[BurnoutNova]

Last night at BO caught a decent blue cat, probly 3-4 lbs. first blue cat ive ever caught, pretty looking fish thats for sure. Got him on a piece of chicken liver.

Where do you guys go at bo? Iwas in the backwaters by the trees coming up out of the water in about 6 ft of water. Are they deep yet?

[skawez]

dont know if they are deep yet.. still trying to figure out if they went deep or are spawning at the moment.. as to where at BO do we fish... come to the gathering and find out.. :big_smile: