Fishing the Mississippi 7/30/06

[sltrnsam]

well went to the mississippi today and caught 17 channels, i finally did some trolling and caught five fish the biggist was 7 pounds. this was good enough to finsh second in the tourament that i fish. frist place had 10 fish for 52 pounds, second 10 fish for 48 pounds, third 6 fish for 38 pounds which they had big fish a 21 pound channel. boy was it hot but still had a good time.

clayton

[RiverKing]

congrats on placing in the tournament, thats always a good feeling

[BIGCATMIKE]

Which part of the mississippi were you fishing?

[sltrnsam]

Which part of the mississippi were you fishing?

i was fishing the muscatine area, up by the dam and down by the power plant.

[Burwell40]

Clayton, You're getting to be a regular tournament stud!

Tell me more about the trolling. Were you going upcurrent, down or cross? Did you gets lots of bites to pick up your five?

[sltrnsam]

Clayton, You're getting to be a regular tournament stud!

Tell me more about the trolling. Were you going upcurrent, down or cross? Did you gets lots of bites to pick up your five?

we were trolling up stream, i had john shults boat today so with 74 pounds of thrust it was pretty easy. we still fish for most of the day, but decided to troll for last two hours. we didnt go hundred feet when the big one hit yes we did get alot of bites but it was to late in the day just small ones hitting. i think if i would have started early in the mornig i would have done better.

with the trolling motor on 60% thrust i was going .5 on the gps, of course when the wind would blow or get in slower current you have to adjust your trolling motor, it does take some work. i use the same rod set up as i do drifting but two out the back and one out each side, we were useing cut shad. i have drifted down stream but miss to many fish, when they hit they would go down river and not hook as well so going up is alot better when the condition are right. as for where to troll i look for holes or drop offs and channel edges. somtime we need to get over there and do some trolling with your autoplot it would be a blast.

[Burwell40]

You mentioned earlier that you might fish Coralville on Aug 5th. I think I'm going out of town that weekend. We'll stay in touch and sure enough I want you to see the autopilot work.

I'll tell you something I find odd. It would seem that with the water this hot that the cats would be stacking up in deeper water. But, at Coralville the last two Saturdays, we were catching them in 3-6 ft of water. Yesterday, it was beastly hot at 9 AM. We were still catching them in 5 ft but we wanted to fish deep near a wall so we could catch some shade. Couldn't get a bite and the graph showed no fish at all...clean bottom...nothing. I'm simply not man enough to fish when it 100 degrees so maybe the cats go deep later in the day.

Anyways, Clayton, congrats to you and John on your 2nd place finish. Hope to get together with you on Coralville before the month is out. I still have your phone number!

[sltrnsam]

You mentioned earlier that you might fish Coralville on Aug 5th. I think I'm going out of town that weekend. We'll stay in touch and sure enough I want you to see the autopilot work.

I'll tell you something I find odd. It would seem that with the water this hot that the cats would be stacking up in deeper water. But, at Coralville the last two Saturdays, we were catching them in 3-6 ft of water. Yesterday, it was beastly hot at 9 AM. We were still catching them in 5 ft but we wanted to fish deep near a wall so we could catch some shade. Couldn't get a bite and the graph showed no fish at all...clean bottom...nothing. I'm simply not man enough to fish when it 100 degrees so maybe the cats go deep later in the day.

Anyways, Clayton, congrats to you and John on your 2nd place finish. Hope to get together with you on Coralville before the month is out. I still have your phone number!

john wasnt with me he was just kind enough to let me use his boat, the wife and i went to coraville friday evening about 9:30 pm and caught 8 in a few hours still fishing in about 6 feet of water, with her we still fish she says drifting with circle hooks is not fishing. just ask her who catches more fish. i got two tournaments the last two weekends in agust some day we will hook up.

[Cattracker16]

congrats on the 2nd place. i was on the mississippi this morning also but i got there late about 10 ish was rather hot. using stink and cut gil i didn't catch anything. lol but the wife and i tried to enjoy the day even though it was hot and sticky out. the bimini top helps some. they had a ba$$ touney going on in the same pool the weigh in was at the muscatine landing some nice looking boats. again congrats on the 2nd place

[oldstylelight]

way to go clayton. sounds fun. was thinkin about it today as i was riding roller coasters at six flags.. woulda rather been fishin though!

thanks for the encouragement to try some driftin.. i have the rod holder setup and a troll motor. definitely will give it a whirl this week b4 tourny this weekend here. way to go on 2nd. i would have love to see that 21 #fish! wow!

dave.

[Burwell40]

I hope to get a top on my boat before the year is up. I think this stuff is too hot with or without a top. Sweat gets in my eyes and stuff.

Clayton, if the Mrs. won't drift or troll, I leave her at home. Actually, my wife likes drifting cause it's cleaner and easier than anchoring and we catch lots of fish.

By the way, have any of you guys heard of "The Ultimate Circle Hook" by Frenzy? I've been using them almost exclusively this year. They are fish-catching sons of guns, I'll tell you. And you don't have to snell them.

Mike.

[sltrnsam]

I hope to get a top on my boat before the year is up. I think this stuff is too hot with or without a top. Sweat gets in my eyes and stuff.

Clayton, if the Mrs. won't drift or troll, I leave her at home. Actually, my wife likes drifting cause it's cleaner and easier than anchoring and we catch lots of fish.

By the way, have any of you guys heard of "The Ultimate Circle Hook" by Frenzy? I've been using them almost exclusively this year. They are fish-catching sons of guns, I'll tell you. And you don't have to snell them.

Mike.

hey mike where can i get some of those hooks.

[oldstylelight]

Well guys i finally got out to try some "trolling" for cats. Just for a brief time last night after i put the baby to sleep... fished a deep long hole and made 3 passes... got one 3# channel on some shad that were about 2 days old. It worked, bottom line. And i will be trying it more and more., maybe not saturday cause a big tourny and you cant try new stuff there. I think i am gonna like the trolling thing. I dont mind drivin the troll motor while the fishin partner has the hot seat on 4 poles!

I did get snagged up a bit and that kills everything cause you gotta go back to get it, reel in all poles and start over again.l i need to focus on the setup.. I know you sent me info on what the setup is mike, any specifics?

[crs#1catkiller]

congrats clayton