Vermilion River catfishing

[StuBone278]

Well I now believe that pretty much Chris (drinkmoremilk) and I make up a large percentage of the Vermilion River fishermen, heheh. Well ever since I've gotten the outboard a whole new world opened up on the river. Last Sunday was such a pretty day I couldn't pass it up! Woke up bright and early and had a yearnin to hit the water. I called around to see if anyone could come with me, as my parents don't like me being in the river alone just in case something were to happen. I had been looking at the maps on Google Earth and mapped out some distances and places to try fishing, so I packed all the gear into the car and drove the short 200yard stretch of neightborhood street to the empty lot where the day would begin.

After loading the boat, hooked up the new fishfinder, and being tired as hell from the 100yd walks back and forth across the lot, I started throwing the cast net. Catching baitfish proved to be difficult, as the water was about 4 feet higher than normal, so off the bulkhead was much deeper waters. I ended up with 1 shad. I'd later regret not catching more!

So I set off and went upriver a half mile to a small inlet and saw a GIGANTIC arc on the fish-finder right at the mouth of this inlet, but never got anything, was just checking out areas. I then headed back downriver a good 3.5 miles to an inlet just below the hwy 733 bridge. It lead into a beautiful backwater that meandered along the backs of huge houses with big beautiful yards. All I can say is that in the summer it will be GAR HEAVEN!

Well after paddling quite a ways not to disturb anyone, I started making my way back to the mouth of the inlet when I remembered that catfish should stack up at the beginning of the inlet when the river is high. I checked the fish-finder, and sure enough, started seeing a few arcs in a small hole which dropped off to 16 feet. I thought, what the heck, so I "beached" the boat in between a tree and land and tossed out my cat pole with 1/2 a shad on the end. Since I was by myself I brought out my Ipod and put it on a nice Allman Brothers song, while only 1 minute into the first song my line started dancing across the water. I picked up the rod and applied steady pressure while starting to get the fish in, not sure what it was (maybe a gar?) I didn't pull too hard. Yet when I felt the "Death Roll" I knew it was a cat and got em in. A 2 pound Blue cat!!! My first blue cat!!! I then threw out my bass pole with the same bait/rig....and it was SLAMMED within 30 seconds!!!! Pulled another 1.5 pounder into the boat, and still was removing the 2 pounder from the first pole!! Well after that the blues wouldn't want anything to do with cut bream, so I fished a while more and had to go home. Just wish I would've had more shad!!! It was A GREAT DAY!!!!:cool2:
PS: I've you've read this far, thanks! I went overboard on this one, heheh.:big_smile:

[scout]

Hey Stu, congrats on the catch. You are right about not many people fishing the Vermilion River. It has gotton a real bad rep. over the years. It is ashame because it is a very nice river. I have heard it is alot cleaner now than it was 20 years ago. I think the state still recommends that you do not swim or eat any fish out of it.

On the lower end of the river where it dumps into the marsh it gets really wide. I know people who trot line in the area and catch some really hugh flatheads and blues. Over 30 pounds.

Good luck on your next trip. If you cannot find any shad next time try using worms.

[ersel]

Sounds like a great trip congrats

[mullyden]

Stu,
Glad you had a great trip. Keep up the good work. Because of high water, I am waiting a week or so before getting back on the Miss. Go get em again.:lol:

[StuBone278]

Thanks for the replies, and especially for the flathead info! I KNEW they had some in there, they just couldn't NOT have any... I believe I've had one take a 5" mullet on the drop because it got slammed and was like being hooked onto a freight train going upriver before SNAPPP.... I know I'ma get into some nice areas of blues sooner or later.

I just want to see how to get into flatheads... The river is pretty monotonous as underwater contour goes, mainly 16-18 feet deep in the channel, should I fish the bottom anywhere specific? Bends? Any advice would be great.

I think the best part was that I remembered how the fish should stack up at the mouth of the inlet, then actually seeing fish/structure on the sonar, and finally using it to catch them! Can't wait to hit the water again!

[StuBone278]

Well I went out yesterday morning with a friend, we did ok, had a good time in the end.

To start out I was so pumped because within 3 casts with the cast net we had a 1lb. mullet, about eight 6" mullet, 2 10" shad, and about 10 more 4" shad!!!

I should've headed downriver and fished a good inlet, but decided to go upriver a few miles and fish "choupique point." We anchored and cast out lines right at the mouth of the inlet, where the clear water meets the muddy water and forms a line.
We then set up a bit and lied down on the seats relaxing, waiting for a bite....not much action, until my pole almost gets tugged into the water! I jumped up and started reeling in, but nothing was fighting...and saw a stick come out of the water. After a good laugh that I had caught a stick the thing starts running to the left really fast! A decent fight yielded a 4 pound channel cat! Didn't take a picture though, :sad2: he was hooked kind of bad and bleeding somewhat, so I wanted to return him as fast as possible.

It's all we got, but at least we got one. We also had a little engine trouble but overall the morning was pretty good.

[mullyden]

Glad you got one. Sounds like you had a good time. I let a couple of fish go yesterday also. Let's em get even bigger.

[StuBone278]

YEAH MAN!!! Got into some bigguns today!! Total catch of just over 30 pounds. I went with my friend Tim from 11am-2:30...and it was just plain nuts!!

1st off, I had cleaned the spark plug/replaced the oil on the outboard so it was running Perfectly...It was starting up on the 2nd or even 1st pull every time.

Secondly, once we got off within 10 casts of the cast net we were full of 6" shad....

We headed downriver to my favorite spot but stopped a little short to try a bend I had wanted to try earlier...Tim got the 1st one, a 2.5 pounder, then I got a 5 pounder within 10 minutes of the first one.

After a while we decided to move on to the final inlet where I had caught before. We anchored just where the water makes a seam and casted down the main riverbank. Within 5 minutes we got Tim's 9 pounder, then I caught a 4 pounder, followed by a 2 pound channel. We headed back upriver some and I caught an 8 pounder... All CPR'd

It was an overall great day, and very pretty...all blue skies. The only downside was that at times it was a little chilly with the wind.


Also as a side note, most people are saying that the water is too contaminated to eat the fish out of....for Chemistry we're probably gonna do water quality tests from different places, so when I get the results from the Vermilion I'll be sure to post them up here..

[mullyden]

Looks like you hit em pretty good. We were out yesterday also and like to have been blown off the boat it was so windy. Glad you did so well. I don't see any three eyed catfish there, they look pretty healthy. The site below is the official list of waters with mercury and other contaminant warnings. I didn't see Vermilion River but it may be known as something else. Every time folks kid me about fishing the Mississippi I quickly note that there are no warnings associated with it and they taste really good!!
Go get some more.

http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/portal/Portals/0/planning/Fish%20Consumption%20Advisory%20Table%20-%203-8-96.pdf

[StuBone278]

Thanks man, that's a great site! It seems like there may be some mercury in the Vermilion, but if I'm reading it correctly it seems that its only below Abbeville, so I'de be in the clear, but I'm still not sure. I see lots of chemicals atop the water (foam/a cleaner agent type smell) exausting from the sewage plant...:crazy:

[poisonpits]

just remember fish swim upstream.our game and fish has found some contaminated fish 50 miles upstream of where the water is bad.not so bad that you cant eat 2 or 3 meals of small fish a month.

[scout]

Nice catch Stu. I would be real catious about eating anything out of that river. I have heard that it is not as bad as it was but they still suggest that you do not swim in it or eat any fish out of it. Oh well, just my 2-cents. Again, congrats on the nice catch, Randall.:smile2:

[mullyden]

Stu,
Glad you checked the website again. After reading your post I saw Vermilion River on there. That was a good catch.

[StuBone278]

Ah hit the river again today, although I really was NOT prepared for the weather that hit as soon as we got to my favorite spot....wow was it COLD, my cousin Ross and I just about froze once the wind really kicked up and the temps dropped with the front coming through! :crazy:

Started out with some decent shad, no engine troubles, so it was decided we head down the river. Boat traffic was mediocre, mostly okay, but some real jerks planed right by us going a good 30 mph in their bay boat, scared the hell out of me because I didn't even hear them coming...

We headed for some "shelter" and went into the inlet until the wind was shrouded by the trees (we were wearing t-shirts and shorts, so we didn't have much) and decided to cast out.

After a while Ross got a yellow bullhead, first one we've gotten out the river. We decided to go even further into the inlet because the wind was still getting to us.

Right as we started to leave and pick up the poles, a catfish jumped out of the water about 10 feet from the boat, but I thought it was a silver carp and just kept going to reel in my rig when I find its all tangled around the shaft of the motor and my cousin's lines also, so we untangle it and I had a cat on! Ended up being a nicee blue, 8lb. 12oz.!!! Ross then caught a 1.5pounder as I was dehooking the biggun. We shortly decided to head in before we really froze.:smile2:

The lesson I learned here: don't just check if it's going to rain/river height, check the AIR TEMPS too...:angry:

[mullyden]

Sounds like you had a somewhat eventful trip. Nice to see you got something for your efforts. I bet it was a little nippy out there. It was fairly cool not on the water and in blue jeans. Take care and catch some more.

[drinkmoremilk]

Cant wait for some warmer damage...then the real fun starts (GARRRRR)

[StuBone278]

Cant wait for some warmer damage...then the real fun starts (GARRRRR)


Ay Chris, glad to see you postin up here...I know gar sound so good but the catfishing has been hot lately...with 8 pounders the last 2 trips i'm not sure if we should still specificly target those gar. Who knows maybe we'll find another spot with some sure 10s to 30s (catfish)....

[MrsBuck8Point]

Stu,

Keep up the good job with fishing reports. My husband and I like the pics. Looks like its gonna be a great spring and summer.

[StuBone278]

Here we go again, a good day overall, great weather and no other boats on the water...probably cause it was a monday afternoon, hehe....

We didn't have much work after school so me and Chris set out to catch a few cats. Nice and warm weather, no troubles, got a few shad and bream.

Fished the same inlet as last couple of times, I may need to find a new spot soon (and I know a good one now) but we're still tearin them up. Chris got the first one, a 2 pound channel, and I got a 3 pound channel and a 2.5 pound blue cat in an hour and a half. All on cut shad in 5 feet of water. :cool2: Chris also had a gar on his line with a cork for a while, but it got off after tying into some floating debris. :sad2:

[drinkmoremilk]

Where are you thinking would be other productive areas, studaddy?

[StuBone278]

Caught the first catfish in the aluminum boat! Sadly its hard for me to fish my old spots now since there is no boat landing near them, but I still know some good places, as where I went today. Another plus is its only about a half mile from the boat ramp. I got a nice 3.5 to 4 pound channel while fishing for 2 1/2 hours today with my friend, but I was sad that he didn't catch. Oh also I got into some skipjack for the first time! That's actually what I was using for bait. They were small but stayed alive forever in the bait bucket!:smile2: Only thing is i've been having trouble catching shad lately. It seems there's only mullet!!:angry:

[mullyden]

Nice channel cat. How did you catch the skipjacks?

[StuBone278]

I got them wayyyyy up in a lake above Lafayette. The thing was my friend and I originally planned to go for some alligator-gar in Sharlo Lake (northeast of the airport) so we put in at Beaver Park, which is about 9 miles upriver from my normal fishing area, and still go upriver another 3.5 miles to the lake. After casting about 100 times and finally getting about 10 skipjack and a bream, we couldn't even see in the water for gar because it was too choppy, so we decided to just go back to the boat ramp and put in at Rotary Point, near my normal catfishing areas.:confused2: I don't know if I'm going to Sharlo for a while...its a big hassle and I broke a bass pole weaving through the tight swamp/stream in order to get there.

On a side note, we did see two 5-6foot alligators sunning themselves while on the way to Sharlo.

[StuBone278]

New PB blue!! 10lb. 9oz. Caught it on a sandbar I found in the middle of the river!

:big_smile: http://www.catfish1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48127 There's the link to the video and full story.

Here's a pic just for the record.:smile2:

[mullyden]

Great fish and super video. I really enjoyed it. Looks like you had bunches of fun. I'm not sure that it wasn't a channel cat, which would even be more rare. My experience has been that after channels reach a certain size, they lose their spots and look very much like a bluecat. The research I have done tells me that the anal fin on the channel is curved and on a blue it is pretty much straight. We very rarely catch channels as you can see by the pics at the BR area thread. Either way, it was a great fish and I hope you go back and catch his/her grandma or grandpa:lol:

[StuBone278]

I too at first questioned it because of the anal fin, but then I saw how the top fin was on the "hump" on its back, where as on a big channel there are two distinct humps before the fin right below the head.

The cat on my avatar is a 15 pound channel cat, and most of the time the channel cats I get out the Vermilion are the same brown/blue color and all the blues are a pale blue/white color.:smile2:

[StuBone278]

It's been a while now since my last post, so I thought I'd update it a little.
Well I've been going all over in this little aluminum boat lately, but had a chance to fish with Chris on the river sunday midday. We had a tough time catching shad but managed to get two 1/2 pound buffalo in the cast net. After catfishing an hour and not getting anything except the gar messing with our lines (which we wanted badly to catch, as we saw HUGE longnose surfacing) we tried going for sacalait or bream in a small inlet...we ended up cast-netting a small spotted gar, and saw quite a few nice ones surfacing. We then headed back upriver a little further to fish a bend and I got a 7lb. cat, not sure if its a blue or channel, (but I have a feeling its a blue) right after some guys flew by towing a wakeboarder, which got me quite aggravated as the river isn't wide at all...maybe 50 yards...

anyway here they are

[mullyden]

Really nice fish, Stu. I have not been out in a few weeks. Maybe I'll get to go Saturday.

[StuBone278]

Here we go again, fished the river yesterday in my regular spot with no takers, just lots of gar which I couldn't even get....when I was going to catch baitfish I cast-netted a 7lb. carp, maybe it took all my luck, but that became my cut-bait.


Also I went out today right after work, putting in behind my friend's house about 3 miles downriver of my normal fishing spot, and continued 3 miles downriver to my good old fishing spot at the mouth of an inlet. Within 30 minutes we cast-netted some small buffalo/large mullet. Caught the first small blue within 20 mintues of fishing, then a 2lb. GAFFTOPSAIL!!! I found it extremely odd, being 60 miles upriver from Vermilion Bay and catching a saltwater catfish!!
We then moved spots and fished different areas for 15 minutes a piece to find a good bite. Finally Chris landed a 6~7. blue out of a small logjam on a bend. A pretty nice evening on the river overall. :big_smile:

[StuBone278]

ALSO that larger catfish Chris caught only had 1 eye!!! looked like it was an injury due to a hook going through the eye when it was smaller....

[Cornmeal and Catfish]

I just moved to Lafayette and was wondering why there wasn't any boats in the vermillion. Now I know. Does the river ever clear up?
I'm more of a c/r fisherman so I may look into fishing this river if it clears up. I know this is a catfish site, but do any of you know where people catch sacalait around here?

[StuBone278]

You're just saying there's no boats because the water never clears up? No, it never clears up.
I've been fishing it for a while now.. and its not too bad. On average we catch 6-8 pound blue cats, and there are some huge longnose in there! Sacalait? I think you'd be best fishing Henderson for them. I solely catch and release out of the Vermilion, its not recommended to eat anything out of there.:wink:

[scout]

Hey cornmeal, welcome to the BOC. I live in Abbeville and work in Lafayette. There is a reason you do not see many boats in the Vermilion River. It is probably one of the most polluted rivers in the area. It is recommended not to swim or eat fish out of the Vermilion. There are way better fishing areas near by that are alot cleaner. The marsh is not that far away if you like fishing brackish water. Again , welcome to the BOC, you will love it here.:006:

[Cornmeal and Catfish]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys.
I live near Ambasador, almost bought a house on that river until someone told me about it. I moved from Covington, fished the Tchefuncte river for cats, bass, sacalait, and gar by the mouth of the river. The cats in hat river get big. I ran trotlines each spring then would switch to R/R once I filled the freezer. I kept the eaters (2-8lbs.) but most were 20+. The largest blue weighed 37lbs., flathead 65lbs., channels were small but good numbers.

I fished a bridge one summer from the bank. It was so hot that day, but I wasn't leaving. Around 3pm my uncle met with me and couldn't believe that I hadn't caught anything all day. By 5pm I was ready, but let him talk me in to staying. Right before dark the bite started and in an hour we caught 34 cats. All blues 3-6lbs.

I already miss the fishing, this area is so populated and there arent any spots where you can walk into the woods and find a honey hole. Well, I haven't found any yet! ;)

[StuBone278]

Wow, what an amazing day, at first no bait could be caught in the cast net, then after 30 minutes we had 2 6" shad....started catfishing and within 1 hour had a 15+ pound bluecat on and fought for a few mintues, only to come off at the last second (and, unfortunately, after we saw its size!!) A few minutes later we got a couple of small blues, about 1 pound each. Finally my rod keeps getting hit at by something, and I thought it was a small catfish or spotted gar messing with my bait. After it was picking so delicatly at my small piece of cutbait for a few minutes, it started slowly navigating away, so my friend Chris told me to set the hook, which I did, to a satisfying solid object. It was coming in fairly easy and then right as it neared the boat we saw a huge swirl and my line almost snapped (17lb.) Thank God for drag!!! After a while of tug-of-war with the unknown it made its first appearance, and I almost had a heart attack when the 4 footer ascended off the transom of the boat, only to take off again and shoot under the boat! By now I was completely shaken and was playing the fish in very lightly (i knew it was hooked, at first I thought it was a 5 or so pound catfish, so I had set the hook multiple times) Chris and I decided the only way to boat the fish would be to drop the castnet on him, so thats what we did, and managed to untangle him later. I cleaned him of what I could and ate some this afternoon, didn't have time to make gar-balls, but pan-fried it and it wasn't too bad. I'll quit writing now...picture... (30 pounds)

[mullyden]

Looks like the gar gave you lots of fun. Glad you were able to land him (or her?) We're gonna give the MIssissippi a shot this am.

[Katfishing Cajun]

Good luck Denny, let us know how you do. Stu you catching in the vermilion still? Very nice gar! How about Teche, you do any fishing their? I've heard of some nice cats that were caught in their.

[StuBone278]

Nope, haven't fished the teche...the lauch for the vermilion is just so close and easy, so it takes about 30 minutes to go from saying, "i want to catfish" to being on the water! I may fish the lower end of the tech sometime soon though, the only thing is definately no eaters out of there either.:angry:

[Katfishing Cajun]

Yea Stu, I wouldn't eat nothing out of either.:too_sad: But I know of a 52lb flattie that was caught in the Breaux Bridge area. Speaking of flatties did anyone see the new state record in the sportsman mag what a giant. It weighed 95lbs with a 41in. girth and 48in length. It was caught in Wax lake.

[StuBone278]

OH MAN! Talk about crazyness on Friday! Little late for the posting but I caught my new PB blue on friday after school! Decided to do a little catfishin' cause the weather was good, so I went as fast as I could and got in the water around 4. River was a little high, and had a crazy current flowing. Couldn't catch bait for about 30 minutes and I was about to give up when I got 2 big shad, one a little under 1 pound! I cut up the smaller one and fished the bend where the gator gar was caught, but got nothing and decided to move after 30 minutes (a great rule that is pretty consistant for catching/locating fish!) I went back to my old hole where my old PB blue was caught, and cast out into a small flat that runs the middle of the river. As I was baiting up my 3rd pole, the first one went, and I caught a nice *averaged! size 6-7 pounder. As I was taking him off the hook, I noticed a gar had been playing with the bass pole so I would recast it once I had this cat back in the water. I picked up the bass pole and started reeling in when I see a wave of bubbles come to the surface and my drag starts screaming!!! After a few minutes of this fighting the catfish JUMPED out out of the water like a bass!!! Half it's body came flying out the water, and for a while I thought it popped my line. Well finally I got it next to the boat, and realized I had left the landing net in the car! Wow....just great! I lipped her and just let the darn thing clamp on, got it in the boat, and my scale is dead! Got pictures, help me on guessing a weight. I'm going to say it was 25-30 pounds. Released it right after the pictures.:big_smile:

[mullyden]

Great Cat Stu! I bet it was a ball bringing in. Sounds like you had a great day. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[StuBone278]

Went out yesterday after my last mid-term of the year and did alright. Got 2 4 pound blues, my first flathead (1lb.) and missed a very big cat. I saw him break the surface and I would modestly estimate between 20-30 pounds He broke off my 17 like it was nothing. I cast in that same spot with my 30lb. rod and within minutes it was screaming and guess what...the knot breaks off at the weight. Very frustrating but I know they are there. Hopefully I'll catch one with 2 hooks in his mouth so I can reclaim them!:smile2: Re-spooled that rod this morning and will try again tomorrow. Seems I've found a hole with some big ones in it! Other than that, here's some pics...

Oh yeah, Going to new orleans sometime next week so I'll be sure to do some catfishing in Pontchatrain...they have huge blue cats/alligator gar at the canal pumps!!:wink:

[mullyden]

Way to go, Stu. Wish you had a pic of the big'un but maybe next time. I haven't gone for about a month. Hopefully I'll get back out in a few days. The Miss. River is really on a rise. I imagine there is lots of trash there now. Anyway, it was nice to see your fish. Keep at it.:big_smile:

[StuBone278]

Chris and I hit the river yesterday again. It was awesome weather but too windy sometimes. The river was barely flowing and we ended up fishing a bend we had never tried before (the wind was so bad at our main hole it was pushing us upriver!!) After a while chris got a small 2-3 pounder, then I got a 7lber about 20 minutes after. We decided to try the main hole again but it was still too windy, so we just went looking for another new bend to fish, and ended up going a few miles upriver before we found the mouth of a canal we never knew about. About 30 minutes into fishing it I got something tapping the line, but didn't think much of it. I went to recast and felt something, then chris's line went nuts! We saw it hit the top and had no clue who hooked it or how, but there it was, a 6lb. longnose. Once we landed him we figured out that he tangled himself in my line at my bait, then swam into chris's line and got snagged there, too! Anyways here they are, a pretty awesome day to say the least, maybe not so much catching-wise, but that gar really made the day!

We each took a picture with the gar because we figured both of us had caught it.:wink:

[mullyden]

Glad you made it back out. Nice cat and gar. That baby sure has a long snout! Thanks for sharing the pics.

[StuBone278]

Ok yall I'm pretty excited now about this spot, I went yesterday with my friend to the same good hole. The current was pretty good to start out with. We caught 1 big shad and decided if we needed more bait to just cast later. After an hour or so of nothing, we were going to move when my bass pole gets drilled. It was weird because I calmly picked it up, set the hook, and realized I had a big fish on. I fought it for a good 5 minutes and my friend did a great job netting the big one. Ended up being 19lb. even. Nothing after that, I really wish he would've caught a fish and we had a few hits but I'm sure it was gar.:big_smile:
I gotta get the pictures on here later because my camera batteries died, but I got pictures from my friend's IPhone that are just as good!:ooooh:

[StuBone278]

Here's the picture...and upon seeing it I think it may be a channel cat....anyways, 19lb here's all of it. :big_smile:

[mullyden]

Great fish! Congrats. It may be a channel cat, which makes it much bigger relatively speaking since they don't get nearly as big as blues. If the anal fin is rounded vs. straight, it would be a channel. The pic a little dark at that point so I can't tell. In any case, it is a really nice one:smile2:

[StuBone278]

Hey well I went fishing by myself right after school today and after having an impossible time catching bait. (managed 2 threadfin @2.5" and 1 gizzard @5")

I fished the same old spot and after 1 hour of little hits and sticks (the current was strong from the rain we had lately, river up a few feet, underwater debris sometimes was pushed into the lines:angry:) Finally one pole went hard and a solid fish was on. A 1 or so minute fight yielded a 8.5pounder, and I have to note that at first it was fighting so hard I was questioning whether I had another 15+ pound fish!! Anyways it was a fun time, didn't get skunked....and a beautiful day with no wind to top it off!:big_smile:

[scout]

Nice catch Stu. I am at work today, but I would rather be fishing.:smile2:

[StuBone278]

Fished for a little while with shrimp from Albertsons for the last day of the Mardi Gras break. It was really nice outside, a little too windy. We had a few hits on the lines....caught my first gaspergou! We also saw gar like crazy which was really unexpected. Can't catch any bait right now.

[scout]

Glad to see you made it out and got some fishin done. I went last Sat. and got 21 cats. The weather was great.

Did you ever get to go try out the marsh out of Intracostal City?:006:

[StuBone278]

I'm trying to but with lacrosse tournaments almost every weekend until May I don't know if I'll be able to. What can you target there even when the water warms? I'm guessing the catfish will stay, but will the reds and black drum move offshore?

[StuBone278]

Hey well school ended early today for spring break, so I hit the water! Not too much on bait...1 shad, cut, got this 20lb. blue just 5 minutes into fishing!!! I hadn't even set up my other poles yet! It really gave a big fight! Also caught a small buffalo for bait in the castnet and the gar were going crazy. I'm going to have to get up and go for those gar tomorrow...I was hooking into one almost every cast, and they were big longnose!

Here's the pic, the weather was perfect!

[mullyden]

That is a great fish. Are you headed up to #5 L&D to catch paddlefish?

[StuBone278]

L&D #4... wish me luck I don't know what's going to happen! Should try to be out there by monday.:tounge_out:

[StuBone278]

Hit the vermils. again today, went up into a coulee and caught/released about 20 bream and a nice 2 pound spotted gar!:tounge_out: I should've brought the cast net as I could've gotten some very nice mullet for bait instead of bream. After about 2 hours I headed back to the old catfishing spot and within 20 minutes caught a 6 pound blue on leftover cut bream that I used for the gar! (gar fishing there is so fun because it's like you're hunting from the boat, sightcasting them)

Good day!

[catfisherman_eky3]

Thanks for the report interesting stuff