Mississippi River-World Class Catfishing "part 6"

[Rbms]

I know how you feel Daryl. This year hasn't been very productive for me either. I have seen a few deer here and there, but nothing like the past few years. But, bucks are starting to chase does and I have seen a few small bucks. Got some great game cam pics of some nice ones. At least I know they are there.

I won't get to fish and hunt as much as normal over Christmas week. Wife is making me drive to South Carolina to see some friends. This trip will burn up 4 of my normal hunting/fishing days. So I won't have any reports till after the new year.

Good luck to any of you heading to the outdoors in pursuit. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

[Rbms]

I know how you feel Daryl. This year hasn't been very productive for me either. I have seen a few deer here and there, but nothing like the past few years. But, bucks are starting to chase does and I have seen a few small bucks. Got some great game cam pics of some nice ones. At least I know they are there.

I won't get to fish and hunt as much as normal over Christmas week. Wife is making me drive to South Carolina to see some friends. This trip will burn up 4 of my normal hunting/fishing days. So I won't have any reports till after the new year.

Good luck to any of you heading to the outdoors in pursuit. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

[turtle1173]

Today was an interesting day. Demetrius came over. We did some fishing and then did some work on his outboard.

We met up at the ramp this morning. During the launching of my boat, I pushed on my boat a little too hard to get it off the trailer and proceeded to do a swan dive at the ramp:embarassed: Danny, I can see why you dove in so many times last year. That water was real nice, LOL. So I started the day off a little soggy and humbled by my lack of fish-like agility.

We fished a few dikes and then the revetments. Within about 3 minutes of our 1st spot, I boated our first fish which weighed in at 25 lbs. 10 minutes later I got another one at around 7 lbs. That was all my fish for the whole day. The fish were both real healthy and showed no signs of cuts or scrapes.

Many of our bites were rather frustrating. They would give us the beginnings of a real nice take down and then they would just stop midstream. This happened several times and provoked numerous moans & groans throughout the day.

Demetrius man-handled a 2lb channel and a 10 lb Blue. The 10 lber was all beat up.

We had fresh skips, so the bait wasn't the problem. They were just real finicky for some reason.

Hope you all caught some good ones today!

[bigriver]

Fished today way north of Memphis with Daryl and Jason. The river has cleared up quite a bit and we were able to catch a few skippies off the ends of dikes. We only caught one fish while anchored, but it was our biggest at 27 pounds. It was in 60-70 feet on water. We caught several more drifting deep, but all were 5-6 pounds, except for one nice twenty pounder. Seems like they are staying deep, but at least the bite is picking up some.

[Eithne]

Carried over from:

Mississippi River-World Class Catfishing "part 5"

[gofish]

I'm not sure how or why....maybe the planets were aligned just right, maybe the moon exerted some extralunaticular forces......something! I caught fish yesterday!!! In the first hour, I had landed four fish. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I have the bruise to prove it. Speaking of bruisers, my big fish of the day was a drag-peeling, current-busting seven pounds! I caught a few more but they didn't compare to the whopper. :wink:

The water had a reddish tint and there was a lot of debris. I was fishing with frozen skipjack in cut in a dike with 70 feet of water below it. Heavy current. Most hits came from the seam. I was anchored over about 35 feet of water fishing 4 rods at various stages down the ledge. One of my smallest fish hit my biggest bait...about a 3 inch head on a 12/0 circle hook. Worst mistake he ever made.

I hope this is an indication of things to come.....:cool2:

[solomon]

Some action is better than none huh? :roll_eyes: I'm still looking for an indication that I might get to fish. :angry:

[gofish]

Hey Solomon, I'm still waiting for an invitation from you to go chase some redfish. Have boat...will travel! :big_smile:

[scout]

Don't listen to him Solomon. The man is a Redfish junky and he needs to quit:smile2:. He is always looking for his next fix:wink:.

[gofish]

Anyone who considers redfish as trash fish is welcome to stay out of this conversation :0a19: :happy:

Some people just don't know what good fishin is...:tounge_out: :0a30:

Now, there is some truth to what Randall says. I'm always looking for that next redfish fix...:0a32:

[scout]

I also know that if the Redfish are not biting he can get his fix by catching some nice big blue point crabs.:roll_eyes:. If Joe ever moves closer to the coast, no Redfish will ever be safe again.:smile2:

[solomon]

Shame I don't go more as close as I live to saltwater. Lately it's been impossible to get away to do any kind of fishing at all. I'd settle for an afternoon of perch jerkin right now.:ooooh:

[gofish]

Solomon, you almost sound like a married man with a child. I wouldn't know anything about that.....LOL

BTW we can go crabbin if the reds aren't biting. I have no problem with that......:wink:

[jtrew]

I have to agree with Joe about the reds being fun to catch. Fun to eat, too!

[dudlbugr]

"If we weren't meant to eat animals, God wouldn't a made em out of meat"

Nice One!:cool2:

GooManDu, what else you got down there that both of y'all like to catch, speaking of trash fish?

For a falling river, I ain't never seen so much trash! I'm getting ready to try lake fishing today!

[scout]

Hey Reb, How have you been? Man we have some nice nasty Goo here too.:smile2: We also have some nasty Hardheads that really make my day.:angry: The water in the marsh right now is really salty and they are catching alot of sharks. Maybe you and Joe could come down and thin out some of those trash fish for me before the Fall fishing season arrives. :wink: You guys have a great day.:big_smile:

[solomon]

Solomon, you almost sound like a married man with a child. I wouldn't know anything about that.....LOL

BTW we can go crabbin if the reds aren't biting. I have no problem with that......:wink:

:smile2: Being as she's working now, I'm thinking about going ahead and retiring. I got a brand new boat ramp I havn't even used yet. I've cleaned out the boat and serviced the motor, but I havn't got to the part on her to-do list she makes me where it says go fishing. :wink:

[gofish]

It'll probably be a looonnnng time before you see 'go fishin' on the honey-do list. You just have to convince her that you need to go.

If you figure out a way to retire, please share the information! :big_smile:

GooMan....those black drum may not be worth eating but they sure do make the drag sing. I love that sound! I'm not all that interested in sharks but I hear they eat good!

Man, what I would give to live close to the coast!

[1 cattin dude]

Catsandman and I will be fishing at Memphis on Saturday. So far, we've not had much luck on the Mississippi, but we are both still new at fishing that awesome river. Could some of you guys that fish Memphis regularly give us some tips. We really want to catch some hogs. We don't do tourneys or anything so please feel free to share what you know by p.m. if you want.
Thanks!

[dudlbugr]

We really want to catch some hogs. We don't do tourneys or anything so please feel free to share what you know by p.m. if you want.
Thanks!

Yeah, at least tell us what's really going on, now that the tourney is outta the way....:roll_eyes:

Me and Coach are headed north in a few hours, up above the Arkansas to some hole he's picked out of thin air. I'm taking a camera, so we ain't gonna catch nuthin'...:smile2:

[85Dave]

Has anyone been to Pickwick recently to get skipjacks? How are they biting?

[scout]

Hey Reb,I hope you and Coach tear them up. Try and leave a few for Joe.:wink:

[coach]

i'll be dang!!! after that remark reb made about "thin air", i hope his camera breaks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:tounge_out:

[droptines]

lets go fishin!!!!!!!!!!! i saw joes buddy at the claiborne port today(george).hes bored with no characters like joe around.i was working in the area(grand gulf)and rode down there in a freightliner.sure got some funny looks making the loop down there.we will be camped on the sand bar under the bridge at vicksburg on the weekend of the 4th so if any of yall are in the area stop by and say hello.just look for tents every where and something that looks like a bunch of hillbillies.gonna try for some green tea.

[dudlbugr]

Well, Coach and I made the trip, and it was okay. A nice ramp with a healthy population of wickumbills a short distance away. Concrete as far down as I needed to go, but know idea how it is further down. A lot of the kinds of water I like to fish. Like Tunica, I guess. I got the skunk out of the boat pretty quick, at the first hole. Started with a 3 pound blue-channel, and then caught a 2 pound blue while trying to figure out if a blue-channel meant it was time to move. :0a36:
Decided to move shortly after that, anyway. Tried fishing a back eddy into a seam, and wound up having to drift fish it with only 1 rod. Marked fish in 45 to 52 feet there, but didn't do any good. Coach and I played leapfrog up the bank. I think we both had small bites everywhere we went. My last spot was straight-line current, and I kept marking the same fish in the same place, in 47 to 56 ft. I would up sitting over 56 and fishing in 50 to 60 ft, a little out from where I marked the fish. I caught a 2 pounder here, and then caught a 28, which felt a lot bigger coming in against the current! I've GOT to get me a big jug for my anchor today!
I think Coach caught 2 or 3 fish, with no lunkers, but we'll likely try it again here one day soon....

[scout]

Looks like you guys didn't do too bad.:006:

[bigriver]

Good job Reb! But I must say I was a little disappointed when I veiwed your pic. Where was your stiped umbrella????? Was that a smooth sto-bought bimini rig I saw shading your pretty little head????? Since I copied you on your umbrella, now you have upped the ante and I'm gonna have to go and buy one of those bahamabimini thingiis.:tounge_out: I sure hope Coach hasn't followed suit.

Sounds like ya'll had a good day though. I sure wish I could report a twenty-something. Or even a teen-something. But all I managed was a five pound channel and a blue about the same. The channel was from anchored in current, about thirty feet and the blue was from drifting, about the same depth.

Looks like our fishing has moved down stream. You boys keep sticking them and do what you can to run them back up this way!

[three_rivers]

Good fish reb! You keep that up and we'll have to come down there and feesh with you! :big_smile:

Anyone here drive a maroon F250 (not sure on the color) with a boc sticker on the back glass?

We made it up north of memphis this morning. Wanting a little fresh bait we stopped at a dike and started wearing out the white bass. After catching enough to get the anxiousness of catching something gone, we move on to another dike and still no skippies. Luckily we had frozen.

We fished everything, dikes (front and rear), straightline, dead water, a cut or three and was just about to start drifting. Uh did i mention it got HOT! Around noonish the heat and lack of a bimini (ahem reb) a ride sure sounded nice. After a nice cool ride i happened up on a section of rip rap/ revetment that looked perfect. After deliberating with how long we were going to be anchored with my fishin partner (wife) and dodging a few barges passing each other we got anchored up. A tap tap here or there and FINALLY a rod went down. He looked to be 5 or 6 pounds and shortly after the inside rod goes down. He was a little bit better maybe reaching around 15 or so.

Sitting there another 15 or 20 minutes, we moved on up and without anything to eat all morning stashed away was a sausage mcgriddle that got the best of me. Just after getting set, i'd moved to the front to get a little nourishment. About half way through the mcgriddle i hear a ssssst, sssssst, ssssssssssst to look up to see #2 singing like a phat lady! If i remember correctly the mcgriddle went out the left side of the boat and in one hurdle i'd cleared the seat to watch the rod go limp........... Needless to say we sit there a good 20 minutes hoping ol sore lip would want another nibble.

We could smell rain and had been listening to rumbles off in the distance so we called it a day. Got back to the ramp to see all the locals had abandoned us.... Soon as the boat got trailered the bottom fell out. Luckily we found a shade tree that gave us enough of a break to get everthing tidied up.

Oh water temps were a balmy 85 degrees, the river must be on a rise as the floatsome was steadily working itself down one bank. If any of you guys go out make sure and take plenty of sunscreen. Even after double dosing today my skins a nice shade of pink......:ooooh: Good luck this weekend guys!

[Catter]

Were you at Osceola Danny? If so that was my f150 there. We went out for a few hours this morning after we got off work. (gotta love getting off at 6:30am) All we got was a drum thanks to my bud. My 3/4 lb frozen skippie turned into about a 1/4 lb with the bones hangin out after the drum finished with my bait. lol

If the wind would have been blowing a bit it might have been nice out there for sure. Yall take care.


Joe

[three_rivers]

Joe, wished i'd known you needed bait, i always pack about 20 or so and would of gladly shared. Was that you guys anchored off ahead of us this morning on the dikes? We'd left the net in the truck after trying for bait wishful thinking was telling me to pick it up and i'd noticed the sticker... Matter of fact you parked right beside me on your drivers side.

I did meet some guys at the ramp that offered (because he said he'd be tough) me a nice blue that would of went in the upper 20s. He was pretty well spent or i'd a took him, said he was caught on trotline, tho they had nets in the boat. :confused2:

[Catter]

Thanks Danny but i usually carry a little extra bait. That was just what mine looked like when I pulled it in at quitin time. We anchored off the third little dike on ark side up stream from the ramp. If that was you on that first one we passed by ya when I was on the phone. lol If i'd known it was you i woulda hollared a bit. Our boat has blue stripes with "bluefin" on the side, stick steering, 50hp merc on back. If ya see us stop and chat if ya have time.


Joe

[gofish]

Our day at Farrell was not as productive as we had hoped. I did get the skunk out early with a small blue. I was fishing with a guy I work with who fishes that area a good bit. We both moved around frequently and would pick up a fish here and there. We only caught 4 all together and none were very big. We fished below and above dikes, some revetment, and I fished some straightline current. It did get very hot! Love them striped umbrellas!

Hopefully, I'll make another trip in the morning. Good luck to all that go this weekend.

[1 cattin dude]

We went to Memphis today and got the skunk out early as well. We had some trouble finding bait as we are not too familiar with fishing at Memphis. We caught a few small shad but no skippies. We started the day out at the end of a dike and actually never saw the bite. When I reeled the rod in to move to another location, there was a 3lb. blue on (kind of odd). That ended up being the only fish of the day. We had just started trying to drift a little when the sky opened up. We had decided to stay and just get wet when we heard a couple big claps of thunder, so we decided to call it a day.


I saw several other boats and I always wonder if any of them are BOC folks. I even saw a couple with those fancy umbrella rigs!!!:big_smile_2:

[Catter]

Maybe we should see if we can get some flags made up with the BoC logo on them to fly on our boats guys. I'd be willing to buy one if the BoC would offer them.


Joe

[dudlbugr]

Catter, we've talked about flags before, but never really got very far with it. I think it's a good idea, and would be willing to buy one, but I know some folks that won't be. I think I'm gonna get a pirate's flag. It's not like it would keep strangers from talking to me. I pulled up to some Bolivar county jug fishermen yesterday, but they weren't real friendly. It might have had something to do with that southbound tow and half of their jugs in the channel... I don't know. :roll_eyes:

Matt, If I was you, and had a well laid out boat with a center console, I'd get me a T-Top. I've thought about doing it anyway, and make it where I could adjust it up and down. The bimini is nice. If the shade still isn't on you, you just crank up and drive, and it's really like having an A/C! Unfortunately, it's a bit complicated handling rods and anchor ropes past all of the straps and braces. That's something I'm still working on. No straps or braces on a T-Top. IMHO, if you fish the river, and don't spend a lot of time up in the backwater, a T-Top is the way to go, if you can get the right shape T.

Coach and I went back up there yesterday. Fished from 7 am to 1:30, and caught 4 fish, combined. Together, we caught 3 blues: a 3, 4, and an 8; we also caught 1 15# flat that hit like a blue, off the end of a dike. We had few bites, and at least 2 of the fish were barge bites.

[turtle1173]

I wasn't able to get out this weekend. My wife had some outpatient surgery on Friday afternoon. I wasn't about to mention that I needed to go fishing on Saturday, LOL. :ooooh:

Sounds like some of you have at least been catching a few fish. Anyone else do any good this weekend?

[crane]

As bad as fishing has been here lately, I had to pull out the "take a new guy fishing" trick to catch some fish. It worked, but barely. We caught some fresh bait pretty easily and then proceeded to spend the rest of the day sweating our.........well lets just say we sweated pretty bad. The catfish weren't tearing up the bait quite like I wanted them to. For the whole day of fishing we could only coax 3 bites, a 24, 9, and a 6 pound blue. The 24 and 9 came from anchoring and the 6 was from drifting. The new guy had a pretty good time, he just wished it could have been better. I assured that compared to fishing here lately it was better.

Something I haven't heard about that kind of concerns me is all the rain in Kansas. Is it going to be round 2 for the river of trees here next week? If it is I think I'm going to sit out this round, the last time was more like work just to fish.

Happy 4th to everyone out there and good luck to everyone that is going to give them a try wednesday. I just hope the bite picks up soon so the pictures of the bigguns start rolling in again.

[ArkansasCat]

Well like Shane, I didn't get to go this weekend either but it wasn't for lack of trying. A buddy and me had the boat loaded and was pulling out of the drive way Saturday to fish here close to home on the Black River. Before we ever turned out on the road it started a down-pour. We just pulled back up under the garage and called it off.

I'll be heading over to the Missippy Saturday morning. Maybe they will start biting good real soon.

Did anyone else get to go this weekend?

[bigriver]

Well Brad, I went this weekend. Both Friday and Saturday. But I have swore off posting pitiful reports. So I guess that's all I've got to say about that!:angry:

Daryl, nice job showing a new comer a good time on the river. I'd say that was a spectacular day compared to recent results.

Shane, we hope the little woman recovers quickly. A pic or two of your fifty pounders would sure make us feel better.:wink:

[CatMaster of the Mis]

My fishing partner and I took a buddy from Georgia out on the Miss saturday nite. He got a real kick out of those flying carp, he managed to catch one up-side the head. The action was slow but he did manage to boat a 24 and a couple in the 3# range. We got off the water bout 4:00 AM. We were about 2 miles from our exit on I 40 when the U-bolt on the trailer axle came off.:crazy: The axle did'nt get into the boat but I will need new springs, spring hangers, rim, tire, and axle. I guess you have to pay to play. After a couple of hours and 3 ratchet straps later we limped on the shoulder and made it home :confused2:. You fellas might want to glance at your u-bolts every now and then. It's kinda unnerveing when your tooling along the interstate in la la land and it sounds like you been plowed by a 18 wheeler :ooooh:. Good luck to yall this year cause mine is proably over.

[turtle1173]

Josh, sorry to hear about your trailer trouble :ooooh:

I got out this morning by myself to fish till noon. Started off catching 15 skips at the dikes. Ended up catching 8 cats. They were hitting pretty good. 2- 5lbers, 3- 7lbers, a 15, and 2- 25lbers. All blues. A 5 and the 15 were cut up badly, the others looked normal.

All were caught on the revetments banks in deeper water (45ft).

Not a bad way to begin the 4th. Anyone else get out today??

[bigriver]

We had a pretty good day on Wednesday too. I think we ended up with a couple in the twenties and a few in the teens. Most were caught anchoring in current, except for two or three from drifting. But the bites we got drifting were few and far between.

This could be a good sign. I also spoke with few other folks that fished yesterday, and they had pretty good luck too. Hopefully it's not just a fluke, and the slow fishing days are behind us..... for a while anyway.

[canepole]

We had a pretty good day on Wednesday too. I think we ended up with a couple in the twenties and a few in the teens. Most were caught anchoring in current, except for two or three from drifting. But the bites we got drifting were few and far between.

This could be a good sign. I also spoke with few other folks that fished yesterday, and they had pretty good luck too. Hopefully it's not just a fluke, and the slow fishing days are behind us..... for a while anyway.

Thanks for the report, Now if you could send some of that current to the the Cumberland that would be great LOL...I have been trying my luck at Flatheading, Hadn't got one yet, But still trying,. I had a hard time yesterday getting Bluegills then about the time it started getting dark I got enough to rig all five of my poles , Planned on getting the Gills then doing some scouting, But ended up just sitting up on the first Area that looked decent. Never got a hit, then the winds picked up and I threw the towel in....

[85Dave]

We put in at Richardson landing yesterday. Fishing was slow. We got checked by the TWRA. I asked the officer if anyone was catching anything. He said 1 or 2 fish here and there, but generally slow. We must be fishing in the wrong part of the river.

[ChrisC.729]

i posted a fishing rod and reel combo that i'd like to buy in the fishing rod section

i need your help

[turtle1173]

Today was a rather disappointing day.

Met my fishing partner at 5am to get an early start. The game plan was to first catch some skips and then go get some big cats, then come in around noon.

The water has come up 1 1/2 feet since I went out on Wednesday. I had no trouble getting skips then. Today they were no where to be found. We tried 6 different dikes, 4 of which are "normal" producers. After no skips, we decided to try and get a few shad. No shad to be found. We finally managed to net 2 shad and a couple small drum. In one last desperate attempt, we went back to where we started the morning for skips. Ended up finally catching ONE. Used the cast net some and ended up catching a skip in it. So 4 hours from when we started, we were able to fish for cats :sad2:

I think we managed 4 spots in the time we had left. Caught 4 and 15 lb Blues.

Anybody do any good today?

[dudlbugr]

So much for an early start, huh Shane? :0a24:
Joe and Coach and I are doing a similar thing tomorrow, except that we're all, more or less, meeting on the river. We'll see! I'm taking me and Coach some 3 week old frozen (freshish) skips, and me a couple or 3 li'l green sunfish. Did some good last time we were there, and hopefully there will be small amounts of trash compared to what must be coming from the Arkies right thru Greenville!:0a32:

[dudlbugr]

Well... we fished. I caught a 12# and a 4#. Both in the same hole, within 20 minutes of one another (consecutive towboats!). Fished the rest of the morning, more or less, with nothing but little bumps. Had 1 skipjack head come back up looking like a skull... there wasn't a shred of meat left on it! The rod had done nothing but quiver and shiver!
Anyone else do any good?

[crane]

:ooooh:Hey Reb, We had the same thing happen to us this year earlier. Just the shell of the head was all that was left. We're betting that it was an eel. We hate them bait stealing eel's.

[CatMaster of the Mis]

My fishing buddy and I went to Mempho Sat night. We got on the water about 7:45 PM and called it quits about 3:00 AM with out a single bite or nibble. I don't know what was up with the fish we tried every trick : Peeing out of the boat, eatin at the same time, forgot the camera, left the dip-net in the truck, ETC..... We used shad someone gave us at the ramp, so we blamed the bait, musta been contaminated or hexed or something:wink:. We will go back with the old faithfull carp next time. I should have my boat back on it's wheels by this weekend, but I have to take the wife and baby to the lake this weekend:cool2:

[85Dave]

Dad and I went to Pickwick yesterday to get some skippies. Loaded with fresh skips, we headed out this morning. We ended up with 4 catfish. 3 blues (7#, 15#, and 18#) and a 8# catfish that had lumps and bumps on its head. It wasn't a Channel, Blue, or Flathead, but it was the ugliest catfish I've ever seen. Anyone have a clue what it was?

The 2 smaller catfish were hooked in the mouth. The other 2 were lassoed :ooooh:. The 18# didn't have a hook anywhere in it. The line was wrapped around his body and fins. The 15# was skin-hooked behind his pectoral fin, but mostly wrapped up with line. Maybe they weren't hitting the bait hard, and just playing with it.

[gofish]

Like Reb said....we fished. I caught one about 3-4 pounds and that was it. I had a couple of taps here and there and pulled in bare hooks a few times but no good solid hits. I didn't even know I had the fish I caught until I went to check the bait. It came from a seam in heavy current, just below the White River.

I gotta get a new skipjack rod. I noticed that my rod was broken about midway up. The top to the livewell/drybox is the culprit.

[droptines]

no good news to reprt on our trip.we camped and got pounded with storms about 4am sat morning.we caught about ten fish the biggest being around 4 lbs.still had fun though.i cannot find skipjack to catch!!!!

[dudlbugr]

...and a 8# catfish that had lumps and bumps on its head. It wasn't a Channel, Blue, or Flathead, but it was the ugliest catfish I've ever seen. Anyone have a clue what it was?



It wasn't a Mississippi State Bulldog - Catfish was it? I bet one of those would be U-G-L-Y, you ain't got no alibi! :wink:
Seriously, though, maybe it was a Blue-Channel? I've heard of them, but never seen one.... Are you certain it was uglier than a channel?

[coach]

had to be one of them C.R.C. fish ............... no doubt about it !!!!!

[Rbms]

Now there is nothing wrong with a Mississippi State Bulldog fish. They probably taste better than any of them. :smile2:

[ArkansasCat]

Well this weekend I finally got to take a couple of buddys I’ve known all my life and went to school with. We have been trying to line this trip up for 3 years now. So they were really pumped-up to finally get out on the Mighty Missippy for their first time. They fish around home (on the Black River) where a 10 lber is a big fish.

Well our first setup was on a rip-rap bank and we put 3 rods out. Within 10 minutes one went down with a hard fighting 19lber. Them boys were really excited by now but the best was yet to come. We made several more set-ups and caught some others in the teens. By now these boys had the system down and were able to cast the big rods just fine. I was setting back taking it easy under the umbrella.

Well we motored up a revetment bank that had some good looking stuff on the depth finder so we throwed anchor. Cast 4 rods out and kicked-back in the shade. Then rod #2 started a slow pull down and Adam grabbed the rod. He couldn’t hardly get the pole out of the rod holder but when he did the fight was on. He fought the fish for a few minutes and said he thought he was starting to bring him in. Brian was standing beside him looking at the reel and noticed the spool was steady losing line. So we hurried up and got the other rods in and throwed the bouy. The fish still was pulling hard and Adam was complaing about his arm getting tired but he hung in there. After we got the fish near the boat he made a few drag squealing power runs before we netted him. These fellers were so pumped-up and it was great to see them get to experience catching one of those big Mississippi blues on a pole. He weighed 44lbs.

We snapped some pics and turned him back.

Had another real "slow bender" on a different spot. He held the rod down good with lots of pressure for a few seconds but never hooked-up. No doubt it was another goodun.

Here's a few action shots and the fish.

[ArkansasCat]

One more picture.

Here's the release.

[rwilley3]

Good going there Brad. I hope that is a sign of good things to come. I have been gone for two Sat's now and am about to die to get out there and tie into something. Hope my next trip isn't like like my last few trips and more like your trip or Matt or Shane's 4th of July trips or Dave's trip on Saturday. Heck even one of those teenager would be welcome in my boat right now to beat out these microfish I have caught lately(not many of them even). I think that 60# fish in May put a hex on me or something cause he is the last decent one I have caught I think.

[85Dave]

Way to go, Brad! The water temps around Mempho have been dropping the last couple of weeks. Sunday the temp was 81.

[three_rivers]

Great job at being a good host! Thas what i call catchin..:ooooh: Make a man hook to his boat and run off after seeing a pic like that........ By the way, where would you guys happen to be feeshin? What was the conditions, if you don't mind me asking........ looks good from the photos and would sure like to get out there if its not trashy this week...... Was you guys using fresh or frozen? I know, i ask to many questions.......MAN we gotta know!!!!:big_smile:

[ChrisC.729]

Way to go, Brad! The water temps around Mempho have been dropping the last couple of weeks. Sunday the temp was 81.


Dave, is this a good or bad thing?

I'm planning on fishing downtown Thursday.

[ChrisC.729]

Nice fish Brad!!!

[TNVOLCAT]

Very nice looking fish and thanks for sharing pics!

[ArkansasCat]

Hey Danny I looked for you when I came back through Sunday evening. If you had been outside I was going to stop and give you the report to get ya all fired up.

We launched at Helena and fished up river to about the Tunica area.The river was in great shape. Just an occasional stick came floating by and the water has cleared up alot since I was there last during the tourny. Started out fishing with fresh skips but we ran out. The big fish was caught on frozen and the other good pull down we had was also on frozen.

By the way, I heard "through the grapevine" that your not the only one on here that likes to jump in the Missippy. :big_smile:

[guthook]

well guys i been i the process of moving and have not been able to log on. i'm really disappointed that matt did not tell the story but i'm sure he didn't want to hurt the brother's feelings.

the story begins 2 weekends ago with matt and the brother and i going fishing. like matt posted before we caught a couple of fish in the 20's and they were smaller from there.

we were doing a little drifting which was going pretty slow and we had not gotten a bit for a long time. daryl was in the front of the boat when out of the corner of my eye i see the rod go flying out of his hand into the air and in the water. i gave it a half hearted grab but got nowhere close. as soon as the rod hit the water it disappeared and was gone. but suddenly out of nowhere there goes daryl in head first!!!!! about that time matt was heard saying "what the .......!"

then here comes daryl back into the boat with rod in hand. i grab the rod from him thinking its hung on the bottom and start to try to break the line when i feel a tug on the end. i said i think there's a fish on here then daryl grabs the rod saying "hell yeah there's a fish on here".

now i'm sure that many of you are wondering just how true this story is. also exactly how big is this fish gonna be. well this hog weighed all of eighty-----um, eight-----ty plus ummm, acutally eight whole pounds:ooooh:

now i'm not sure some how that eighty pounder that ripped the rod out of his hand some how got off and the eight pounder got on. but everyone knows how that goes. i just wonder how big it would of been if we would not of caught him.

now matt i know you been waiting to post this story but it's not too often i can bust the big brother out.

[ole blue]

Just trying to get all this stuff figured out. I got to go with ole three rivers a couple months ago and he was kind enough to show me the ropes. I had the opportunity to land a 30 pounder and I aint been quite the same since:big_smile:.Me and my wife are expecting our second child and shes had a pretty rough time. Looking foreward to get back on the river but have to take care of #1.The oppurtunity will come soon enough as I can go fishing any ole time. Heard alot about all u guys and I look foreward to meeting yall.Still pretty green on all this pole fishin and will gladly accept any advice

[three_rivers]

Yo wes, glad to see ya posting! Tell that wife of yours we wish her all the best.... You've met our swimmer daryl (its to much to resist) i think...:big_smile: Wasn't all that long ago you guys thought someone was a big fish.... :embarassed:

[solomon]

well guys i been i the process of moving and have not been able to log on. i'm really disappointed that matt did not tell the story but i'm sure he didn't want to hurt the brother's feelings.

the story begins 2 weekends ago with matt and the brother and i going fishing. like matt posted before we caught a couple of fish in the 20's and they were smaller from there.

we were doing a little drifting which was going pretty slow and we had not gotten a bit for a long time. daryl was in the front of the boat when out of the corner of my eye i see the rod go flying out of his hand into the air and in the water. i gave it a half hearted grab but got nowhere close. as soon as the rod hit the water it disappeared and was gone. but suddenly out of nowhere there goes daryl in head first!!!!! about that time matt was heard saying "what the .......!"



then here comes daryl back into the boat with rod in hand. i grab the rod from him thinking its hung on the bottom and start to try to break the line when i feel a tug on the end. i said i think there's a fish on here then daryl grabs the rod saying "hell yeah there's a fish on here".

now i'm sure that many of you are wondering just how true this story is. also exactly how big is this fish gonna be. well this hog weighed all of eighty-----um, eight-----ty plus ummm, acutally eight whole pounds:ooooh:

now i'm not sure some how that eighty pounder that ripped the rod out of his hand some how got off and the eight pounder got on. but everyone knows how that goes. i just wonder how big it would of been if we would not of caught him.

now matt i know you been waiting to post this story but it's not too often i can bust the big brother out.

:smile2::smile2::smile2:

[turtle1173]

Well I imagine when you see the rod going over, you have a nano-second to decide what you are going to do. Daryl was just committed to getting that rod! You're right though Jason, that would have been SOME fish had it got off, LOL.

My parents are visiting me this week. I've been trying to get my Dad to show me how to catch a 71 lber, LOL. With this heat, we've been going early and coming in between 10am-noon. Much of our effort has been in trying to get skips, which has basically been a waste of time. We caught a 15lber on Monday morning and only a 3lber this morning. We do have a "one that got away" story. It might have been another 70+ fish. Well we never saw him, so I'm guessing at least 85 lbs. Dave, don't you agree with that assessment?? :wink:

Anyway, "experimental" circle hook rig tapped a few times, then headed for the water. My Dad about fell down 3 times getting to the rod, LOL. It was one of those slow, strong, steady, "heading for the channel" type fight. He never gained a bit of line on him. The fish kept going. Unfortunately the fight didn't last long enough to do something drastic. If only Daryl would have been there to go in after him <sigh> Fight only lasted a minute and then he just got off.

Well after telling that story, I'm thinking 100+ lbs now, LOL. Regardless, it was a good one. We're going out tomorrow morning before my parents leave later on in the afternoon for one last outing.

[coach]

jason , that brother of urs is a sho nuff, bonifide riverrat now ....... the word wickumbill comes to mind ,as a matter of fact ... good story!!!:smile2:

[dudlbugr]

Just trying to get all this stuff figured out. I got to go with ole three rivers a couple months ago and he was kind enough to show me the ropes. I had the opportunity to land a 30 pounder and I aint been quite the same since:big_smile:.Me and my wife are expecting our second child and shes had a pretty rough time. Looking foreward to get back on the river but have to take care of #1.The oppurtunity will come soon enough as I can go fishing any ole time. Heard alot about all u guys and I look foreward to meeting yall.Still pretty green on all this pole fishin and will gladly accept any advice

Welcome to the BOC, Wes. Hope you don't pick up too many of Danny "No-Show" Neldon's habits!

[gofish]

well guys i been i the process of moving and have not been able to log on. i'm really disappointed that matt did not tell the story but i'm sure he didn't want to hurt the brother's feelings.

the story begins 2 weekends ago with matt and the brother and i going fishing. like matt posted before we caught a couple of fish in the 20's and they were smaller from there.

we were doing a little drifting which was going pretty slow and we had not gotten a bit for a long time. daryl was in the front of the boat when out of the corner of my eye i see the rod go flying out of his hand into the air and in the water. i gave it a half hearted grab but got nowhere close. as soon as the rod hit the water it disappeared and was gone. but suddenly out of nowhere there goes daryl in head first!!!!! about that time matt was heard saying "what the .......!"

then here comes daryl back into the boat with rod in hand. i grab the rod from him thinking its hung on the bottom and start to try to break the line when i feel a tug on the end. i said i think there's a fish on here then daryl grabs the rod saying "hell yeah there's a fish on here".

now i'm sure that many of you are wondering just how true this story is. also exactly how big is this fish gonna be. well this hog weighed all of eighty-----um, eight-----ty plus ummm, acutally eight whole pounds:ooooh:

now i'm not sure some how that eighty pounder that ripped the rod out of his hand some how got off and the eight pounder got on. but everyone knows how that goes. i just wonder how big it would of been if we would not of caught him.

now matt i know you been waiting to post this story but it's not too often i can bust the big brother out.


LMAO....excellent!

I think that's why we keep going out there. I think...........:tounge_out:


Danny, don't let 'em do ya like that. Wait, it's true.......scratch that. :wink:

I'm ready to hit the ol' Muddy again. And catch nuthin. :too_sad:

Anybody got a Jeep for sale? Or wanna buy a truck?

[three_rivers]

Aw man reb dat hurt!.........thought i shook that name last time ya'll got together. Ya know i'f i'd quit fishin i might not be so poor and have to work all weekend.........theres no fun in that tho.....:wink: When you guys c'mon up anyway?????

[jtrew]

Great trip, Brad! Thanks for the pics.

[crane]

Well guys, I can't deny it, it's the truth but I could have swore that fish weighed at leat 9 pounds.:confused2: Jason told the truth even down to where after diving in and retrieving the rod I handed it to him only to find when I climbed back into the boat that he was trying to break the line. Talk about kicking a man while he is down, i go through all that trouble to catch a fish and he is trying to let it go. Thanks for nothing little bro.

One bright side to that story was that I was as cool as a cucumber for the next hour after going for the little swim. I might have to start throwing the rod in more often to cool off.:wink:

Brad, I'm glad to hear someone is catching some bigguns. So when you going to show us them honeyholes so all of us can get in on some of the action.:cool2:

[rwilley3]

Matt can't hardly believe you didn't spill something that good. Jason how would you rate his "dive":smile2: Daryl love that all out dedication for sure. I got "yanked" off a boat in FL several years ago by a 15# grouper. My father-in-law and a deckhand caught me by the ankles with both rod and my hands down in water off the back of the boat. The deckhand was fussing at me that losing the rod was gonna cost me $200. I told him I hadn't even lost fish much less the rod and to get me back on the boat so I could land him.

[Fargo]

I am the Dad that 85Dave fishes with. Daryl's eighty pound cat that shrunk to 8 pounds in the boat:wink: reminded me of a true story. A couple of years ago, on a slow day, we were fooling around below a wing dam casting with a Sabiki rig and I tied into a torpedo that took the jig 50 yards in 5 seconds:crazy: This was not a cat or a striper but some kind of dyanamite fish that made the spinning reel sizzle. We fought this thing for 10 minutes, following with the electric motor and just couldn't raise it. We were guessing that we had on at least a 20 # something. Then all of a sudden the fish went kind of weak and started coming in and we we landed a 5 # blue!!
We took a close look at the Sabiki and one of the small jig hooks had been straightened out. So we figured the big fish had been hooked on the small jig for 10 minutes and then along came the small blue and took the bigger trailing jig. This gave the big one something to throw against and he straightened the hook. He was saved by his little brother.

[85Dave]

We do have a "one that got away" story. It might have been another 70+ fish. Well we never saw him, so I'm guessing at least 85 lbs. Dave, don't you agree with that assessment?? :wink:

Shane, your statement has to be grounded in fact if you want someone to believe it. For example, you could say that you had a fish on that pulled twice as hard as a 40 pounder. Now you can logically extrapolate that to an 80 pounder. See how that works?:wink:

[ArkansasCat]

Well guys, I can't deny it, it's the truth but I could have swore that fish weighed at leat 9 pounds.:confused2: Jason told the truth even down to where after diving in and retrieving the rod I handed it to him only to find when I climbed back into the boat that he was trying to break the line. Talk about kicking a man while he is down, i go through all that trouble to catch a fish and he is trying to let it go. Thanks for nothing little bro.

One bright side to that story was that I was as cool as a cucumber for the next hour after going for the little swim. I might have to start throwing the rod in more often to cool off.:wink:

Brad, I'm glad to hear someone is catching some bigguns. So when you going to show us them honeyholes so all of us can get in on some of the action.:cool2:


Hey Daryl I'm ready to go whenever yall are. Of coarse for those that go, after the trip I will have to get out my little "Memeory Zapper Tazzer thing". :big_smile:

Man that is one great story about diving in for your rod. Wish that had been caught on camera.

[dudlbugr]

Jason told the truth even down to where after diving in and retrieving the rod I handed it to him only to find when I climbed back into the boat that he was trying to break the line. Talk about kicking a man while he is down, i go through all that trouble to catch a fish and he is trying to let it go. Thanks for nothing little bro.
:

:smile2:
Just about sounds like one of those situations that "you just can't win, for losin'!"

Fargo, I think it's interesting that you refer to your story as a "true story.":wink:

[Rbms]

Hey guys. Looks like I've been missing out on some great action while traveling. The stories are great and thanks for sharing. And just in case y'all didn't notice, Brad used an "ol' faithful" trick to help him have a good day. He took first timers:big_smile: I love taking first timers. They are like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for me. Everytime I have taken anyone on anykind of fishing or hunting activity, we have had good luck. I love the firstimers!!!

[Mississippi Kid]

hey guys. great stories. went bank fishin last night just south of memphis at walls, ms. caught 2 flatheads totaling 17 lbs and 1 blue at 9 lbs. i think all the rain has helped a little. by the way, anyone who fishes this area and needs a fishin partner, gimme a shout.

[rwilley3]

Where's all the reports from yest? I am getting good and steady now at not catching much. About 1 fish every 5 hours or so. Yest since I spent 10+ I was able to get 2. The first came about noon drifting and weighed in at a whopping 3#. The other was later in afternoon and was a 13# flattie. I only had one really other good hard bite and it came drifting. He kind of messed up a little nap I was trying to take(didn't know I was) and about yanked rod out of my hands. The rest of my bites little taps and bait would come back all chewed up.

[turtle1173]

Nothing to report Roger. I was so excited, I finally found some skipjack. However, it does me little good to have fresh skips if I can't get the cats to bite it :confused2: Armed with fresh skips, I did worse than what I've been doing with shad :crazy:

Had numerous small hits and a couple that looked promising but they failed to come through. No cats for me. I fished till 1pm and came in.

Congrats on the flatty!! Hopefully some others came through with some big fish. Remember though, the tourney is in 2 weeks, so don't expect too much info, LOL.

[bigriver]

Shane, you're right about that! Fishing reports from the Memphis area should be taken with a grain of salt.:wink:

But don't feel too bad. We had fresh bait this weekend too, and it didn't do us very much better. Caught several on Saturday, but fourteen was the biggest. Sunday was a little better with two 17 pounders and a 14 pounder. All but two this weekend were caught while anchored.

I heard through the "grapevine" that them guys from Paragould used up their "tournament luck" this weekend by landing a whopper while pre-fishing on Saturday. They should know better than that!:smile2: I'm sure we'll get a detailed report on the how, when and where they worked their magic.

[crane]

OK, now that the cat's out of the bag I guess we'll have to give the details on the big catch. Me and little brother made it out saturday morning and fished up river from baton rouge and fished that bank where the the revetment was broken up and the corp had put some rip rap on it to keep it from washing, you know which one i'm talking about, it's the only one out there like it. Well anyways we were fishing where the water droped from the bank out to about 40 feet and the current was such that 4 ounces wouldn't hold and 24 ounces was a little much. Now that all the details are out of the way, here is the fish story. After 5 minutes of turd tapping I got tired of watching so I picked up the rod and yanked the bait away from the little fish. Here's where it got interesting, I put the rod back in the rod holder and turned to sit in the seat, when I looked back at the rod it was begining to bend ever so slowly. I said "Dang turd tappers and trash, Let's move", Jason said It's a fish, I said it's trash and picked up the rod. I gave it a small jerk to remove the trash and that's when the trash began peeling off drag at a very quick rate. I told jason to drop the anchor and quick. After a very short fight we boated a 50 pounder. Being that it was the first fish over 30 pounds for us this year we were guessing it to be closer to 60 pounds, but after two scales said 50 we had to adjust our weight approximating skills.

We caught eight other fish than that but they were all much smaller. So with the big fish we called it a good day.

Now if we can just find him again on tournament day everything will be all right.

[rwilley3]

Kind of makes me wonder what part of that wasn't a fish "story". Congrats on a good one anyway.

[three_rivers]

Way to go masingales!!! :ooooh: Maybe we all need to go jump in the riber to wash off all da bad juju!!!! Looks like you guys got your mojo workin!

Looking for a place to go..... choices, choices, choices... :roll_eyes:

[three_rivers]

Well we hit the river yesterday and neither of us could convince each other that we had enough bad juju on us to jump in. We started off by going for bait, hitting 5 or 6 dikes we did find a few white bass. Seems its getting harder and harder to find bait or it may just be me, we finally gave in and decided we'd rather be catfishing. Moving all day trying to find a few fish we lucked up here and there and caught 4 with the biggest around 20.

While sitting in some straightline current we noticed a noodle floating around by the bank in backcurrent. Everyonce in a while it would tip straight up on end and lay back down. With us being the only ones out there, i figured it was a noodle that got away from someone so we decided to check it. Pulling up to it, it went straight up on end. We pulled it up to find a 25pd blue that had a couple spots where it looked like a turtle or something was trying to bite on him. We cut the hook to have him bolt away from us. We spent the last couple hrs of the day to do some drifting and came on in. With the fishing as tough as it was its hard to gripe with as nice as it was yesterday.


Good luck out there this weekend fellas!

[turtle1173]

Great Fish Daryl!! Now you know if you would have let him off before he got in the boat, you could of called him whatever you wanted:roll_eyes: I must admit, you had me wondering for a split-second "where" you were fishing :wink: Then I realized that I'm also fishing up from Baton Rouge, LOL. Yeah, sometimes I can be a little slow on the take.

Great job on the fish Danny! So did you use white bass for bait or did you manage to find a few skips?? Or perhaps you were using "whiting" for bait, as some of these tournament guys use, LOL. I'm still not real sure what that is. Maybe we can get a better look at it next weekend.

The weather sure is nice today. Can't wait to get out there tomorrow!

[CatMaster of the Mis]

Well fellas I got my trailer back on its wheels, my buddy and I are going to fish the tourney next saturday. This will be a first for us, I don't care so much if we place as long as we fish well. Guess I'll be checking line and such next week. Feel free to PM all coordinates, depths, ETC.... in a printable version starting with the best spot you pre-fished on friday.:big_smile:

[Catter]

Heads up guys, if anyone is out at Osceola from now on be careful of the new dikes they put in. It'd be easy to hit them in the dark if ya was'nt paying attention. There are 3 of them south of the ramp on the Ark side right before the bend.


Catter

[dafin]

I just got a call from coach , he caught a 75#blue fishing out of Port Gibson.

[bigriver]

Dale, you must be mistaken. Maybe he said......" a seven and a five"???? That's sounds more like the Coach I know! :smile2:

[rwilley3]

Hey Coach
If you can give us some details if that 75# story is true. I think everybody around here probably has "lockjaw" with tourney next weekend and we could use some good reading material. I had my usual about 1 fish every 4 hour day. Spent a good deal of day riding and looking as well as getting a little bait here and there. Only caught two fish about 8# or so each. Both on riprap banks in decent current on fresh skipjack heads. Reallt never had any big bites.

[Little Mac]

Dale, you must be mistaken. Maybe he said......" a seven and a five"???? That's sounds more like the Coach I know! :smile2:



Now Matt, Thats aweful close to the truth, but you know what they say, even a squirrel will find a nut every once in a while......... :ooooh: Honestly, Coach is way over due for a gooodun and I congratulate him. :cool2:

[turtle1173]

Coach, give us all the gooey details!!

Me and my partner fished "somewhere between here and there" yesterday in preparation for Saturday's tourney. I figured it would be a tough day with that cold front moving through early Friday morning. We caught 4 fish, all before 10am. Biggest two were 16 & 26 lbs. Lots of "taps" and small hits the rest of the day but no takers.

Guys, I have some questions about the tournament that I hope someone will PM me some details about.

How do I get to the Mud Island Ramp in Memphis coming down I-55?
Am I correct that we can only catch 2 fish over 34" and a total of 5 fish? Is it 34" and over or just over 34"?

My 16lber yesterday was 34" on the nose, so I was curious as to whether he would count towards the "big 2" or the "small 3."

[coach]

just got in from port gibson............ i went down and fished with heavyduty friday and sat....... man , the water is red as v8 juice and full of logs and debris......... i guess it is all coming outa the arkansas river ...... anyway , he had one good bite in two hard days of fishing and i had one bite in two hard days of fishing ................ he missed his , i got mine and it was a 75# blue ......... only fish we caught .................... friday we fished all heavy current........ points and straightline ..... nothing but the one bite scott got ......... sat. we decided to fish some slack water spots.......first place we fished was a little ways above a dike that was way under water ..........6oz current , at the most, 40 ft water , and a soupy, muddy bottom.... i was using some cut up little shad we caught the evening before and froze at the camp over nite......... had 4 of the little things cut in half on the hook.... the fishing only lasted maybe 20 minutes from anchoring till we had the fish in the boat..........we took some pictures, 35mm , so that may take a while to get on here .............. no one down there was catching anything , even the trotliners we talked to......... soooooooooo i guess i was pretty lucky to catch a good fish.......... probably a good thing i caught the fish instead of scott...... i don't think his heart could stand it :smile2:... he'll probably give his version of the catch too, at least i hope he does ... excited doesn't quite describe his condition when we got the fish in the boat!!!!!! :smile2:

[1 cattin dude]

[quote=turtle1173;709008]
How do I get to the Mud Island Ramp in Memphis coming down I-55?

Turtle,
Take I-55 across the I-40 bridge (the one that goes by the Pyrimid). Exit onto Front St. immediately after the bridge. At the stop light on Front St., turn left and go past the Pyrimid. At the Auction St. stop light, turn right and go across the bridge. On the other side of the bridge, there will be a traffic circle. Stay in the right lane and get off on the first street to the north (Island Dr.). Follow it a couple miles until it comes to a sharp right hand 90. Instead of going around the curve, hang a left. You're there!

P.S. There is a boat ramp at Mud Island under the I-40 bridge, but it is for a private yacht club.