Trying for a BigUn

[canepole]

Well I'm sitting here waiting on the clock, I got to bed around five o'Clock and got some sleep, and I plan on being on the river at four o'Clock, I found a place where a great big cat lives and I have tried for several weeks to interest him in a big skipjack head, and I have fished for him in the evening all the way up till around midnight or 0100, and have planned to be out there when the sun comes up, But have thrown in the towel and went home,
I talked to my good friend and catter wild Bill from alabama about the bigun and he agreed that the morning bite would be the time to try for him, And I am hoping he is right, I will leave another post on here when I get back and let you feller's know how I did.

[yellowcat]

Canepole, I hope the big one bites for you this morning, Good luck. Sounds like you know where he lives and it's just a matter of time before you're there when he's hungry. Again Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[canepole]

Well I got out there and sit up around four O"clock and fished the hole till around fifteen to five and never got a bite, then we moved to another area and I had a decent run, But lost him., I sure will be glad when fall comes back in, The commercial fisherman were out there today and I don't think they were doing to good either.

[ka_c4_boom]

hey canepole; have you tried other bait ?maybe the bigun wants live bait or take the big skippy lay down on his side stick yer knife in behind his head and split him open half way thru (sort of like fellette him) but dont cut thru the belly skin turn him inside out . i have seen this work.good luck

[canepole]

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to try that the next time I'm out there.

[skip_jack]

Tom, just got around to checking out the new site here. Let me know when you want to get together. I left you a post on the other site on when I'll be available. Hopefully we run into that biggun.... ;) . Anyone having any luck catchin skipjask? If so, where and what on?

[Jamey]

Jason, have you tried for the skippies at Cheatham Dam? I caught about ten or so for the freezer in a fairly short period of time a couple of weeks ago. I was using my standard rig for big skippies: two 1/8oz white curly-tailed crappie jigs, about 12" apart (sometimes with a 1/2 oz bank singer tied another 12" up the line, depending on the direction/speed of the current and distance I need to cast). The skippy action died down pretty quickly when they shut down the generators, but that doesn't happen very often. Good luck!

[Nobody Special]

My son has been up at Cheatham a few times lately. Sometimes he comes home empty handed and sometimes he has a bucket full.

[canepole]

I wished cheatham dam was closer, its about a 35 mile drive for me, I need to go over and try to get some bait I've got about six frozen skips left....

[visualtec]

I am fishing this weekend in the New Johnsonville area of Kentucky lake. Can anyone give me some spots to fish for a monster? I catch and release. I would appreciate any help.

[canepole]

Hey Don, I was sitting here wondering how you did at N.Johnsonville, I would have been glad to help you, But I never have fished that area,

[canepole]

Me and John are heading out on the Cumberland next weekend, I am not sure of where we will be fishing or the details, I sure am in bad need of hanging into another bigun, its about to kill me, hahaha Been along time and I'm ready for the big fight, if any of you all are fishing next w/end let me know and we will keep a eye out for you, I'll let you all know where and when,

When I find out,,,,,,,,, :rolleyes:

[canepole]

We will be putting in a The Steam Plant and heading down river if any of you all are out give us a shout. We will launch at 0700 sharp,,,,, :)

[ShilohRed]

Good luck Tom hope you catch a big one.
May be around cumberland city my self in a few days.
PEte

[canepole]

Pete I will be looking forward to seeing you out yonder....

[canepole]

I caught one little one and had several good hits,And one good run on a gutt pocket, The one that ran with the gutt pocket got all of the G/Pocket, but didn't get any hook,,,,,,There's alway's next w/end,,,,,,

[canepole]

Here's a picture of John Stevens driving his boat down the cumberland , The big boat is the delta Queen.

[BIG-G]

One thing we can count on Tom is that you will keep on swingin the bat. LOL!

[canepole]

Yep Big George, sooner or later one of those big blues will mess up and get his Picture taken, With Me..

[canepole]

Well, Its 0458 here in Woodlawn Tennessee and I got the boat all hooked up and got everything just about ready for a good day of catting, I'm going to a Area on the river Where I am sure with out a doubt there will be a bigun just waiting on my hook, I just got to find him, the place is along ways from a boat ramp and I'm probably going to freeze my a$$ off, I just hope the trip pay's off,I think they are running one generater at the dam, and I hope there's alittle current. If I get lucky and find a bigun I will let you feller's know and will post a picture.

[ShilohRed]

Tom good luck and hope you catch a big one..
WE camped at pickwick and only caught one fish.
PEte

[canepole]

Pete, If you caught one fish, You caught one more then I got,I had several hits, But they would hit then leave, they wouldn't commit to the bait, No current and the river is lower then I think I have ever seen it, I guess we will give another try in a few weeks. We sure need a bunch of Rain..

[ShilohRed]

Marilyn caught the fish. I did not catch a thing..LOL
Yes we need rain bad. The water at pickwick was so low when your boat hit the water, The trailer was off the end of the ramp.
Would like to see some rain for a few days. Its been over a month without rain here.
PEte

Pete, If you caught one fish, You caught one more then I got,I had several hits, But they would hit then leave, they wouldn't commit to the bait, No current and the river is lower then I think I have ever seen it, I guess we will give another try in a few weeks. We sure need a bunch of Rain..

[canepole]

I thought I was going to be able to do some fishing this morning, then watch a football game, But my company had other plans for me, I had to work,
I checked the river flow,and it don't look good, but I'm going out tomorrow and give it another try. one of these day's I hope to hang into another bigun..

[ShilohRed]

We need a lot more rain and water. Cold water. then fishing time in Tn.
PEte

[bluecatnut]

tom here is what icaufgt yesterday at the steamplant where the hot water hit the main channel

dusty

[boogie]

thats a nice lookin cat ya go there :)

[ShilohRed]

Nice looking cats. Was that the only 2 fish caught? Or only the best ones?
Also what bait were you useing?
PEte

[Catwagon]

Fine cats there bluecatnut. Did you get the weights on them?

Steve

[canepole]

BCN, Nice looking fish you got there, What did they weigh, congrats..
I went out this morning with Steve and his son bubba, Steve got four bites and caught a 41 and a 33, Me and bubba both got skunked, One of these day's I'll get me another big un, "I HOPE" hahahhahah.

[BAM]

Nice fish guys, looks like yall had fun.

[bluecatnut]

it was only 1 fish it weighed 35lbs i lost a bigger 1

dusty

[ShilohRed]

Tom at least you got to see 2 good fish in your boat.. Now for you to get a good one.
Buck are you about ready for a trip to the Coumberland.? LOL
PEte

[canepole]

Yes it was a good day even though I didn't catch nothing I am realy proud of Steve he has turned into a darn good catter, I reckon I can take the credit of putting him on top of those two biguns, I told him the last time we fished that this place looked good and today proved it, I was using heads and only got two small bumps,and he caught the two hogs on small pieces of side meat..

[BIG-G]

Nice fish men. I agree with ya Tom. When ya take someone out and put em on some fish and you get skunked it still makes ya feel real good.

[canepole]

Big George we had a great time, and if all goes as planned we will be back out yonder looking for another big un in a few day's, I'm going to go out tomorrow after the big turkey meal and try and get me some fresh skips, Then friday go and do some catting, There's another area, That I want to try ....

[canepole]

I goofed up and re hit the send button on the message before this and couldn't delete

[ShilohRed]

Good luck Tom, WE are going fishing in the Am. It will be sauger . no current and no skipjack. so fish for some good eating fish.
If the skipjack are hitting there I may have to make a trip up there in a week or so to catch bait and fish.
Pete

[canepole]

hey Pete those fish steve caught were caught on the first ledge, they weren't in the deep water and that realy surprised me, But because of us not having any current they must have been scavaging for anything, he got them on small cuts of side meat,,,,,,

[Nobody Special]

My son went to the steam plant a few days ago and caught a bunch of skipjack. He said he was catching one about every cast.

[bluecatnut]

the skipjack have been going crazy down their grumpy

i would really enjoy meeting you and learn some of the tricks about the cumberland grumpy

[canepole]

Well, I made a post some where on here that I missed what seemed to be a bigun the other day,
Here's the rest of the story, It has been along time since I hung into a bigun, I think the last bigun I got was back in febuary, and I must admit I am ready to have my picture taken with a bigun several years ago I would post about wanting to go out and get Grandpa Whisker's. this past weekend I think I had him on my line,
I fished with Whister a year or so ago and I noticed that he would take the helmet off the s/Jack heads, Well saturday we were getting bites on gutts, thats the only think they would hit,
I cut up a big old skip jack and noticed that all the blood was in the head , and remembered the way whistler did that head, So I got to thinking, I'm going to give it a try, I threw several of them out and I got a good hit and I sit the hook, and I knew I had a good one, it was like I had hit a wall,
Boy's I am a big feller and I couldn't move this fish the only thing I could do was hang on to the rod, I told Steve, I got the one I have been looking for, and was about to tell him to throw the anchor rope, When the line went limp, I was so disappointed.
I want to blame this on my line it has been on about three years and last year I took it off and put it on backwards.
as soon as I send this out I'm going to place a order for some brand new line,
I got the hole "G.P.S"ed and this weekend I plan on fishing that whole bank, I most likely will never have another incounter with him, But I hope I do......

[Nobody Special]

Bluecatnut, I'm no expert even though I've been floating on the Cumberland most of my life. I really don't get into the fishing for the big 'uns very much. I'd rather catch a livewell full of eaters. My son has been trying to catch a monster for the last couple of years but around 35 lbs. is his biggest. I think I have a picture of it. Yep, here it is.

A couple of years ago, I hooked into a really big one. I was down around Bumpus Mills and had a pontoon boat then. I had it anchored and the back was tied to a buoy to keep the wind from blowing it around. I got the fish almost in and let it get wrapped around the buoy cable and lost it. A couple of nights later another guy caught a 75# one just up from where I hung mine and his had some marks that looked like it had been hung into recently. I thought it may have been the same fish.

[ShilohRed]

Tom I try to change line often. If its mono I change it a few times a year.
If its braid I will keep an eye on it. And never have had to put it on backwards. Break off and retie it so it gets short..

Also does this mean your sending me the Marked spot on the GPs.. LOL That way I can put it in mine. and catch that fish for you. :D
PEte

[canepole]

Pete, I have known for awhile that the line I have is ready for a retiring, But the cash flow hasn't been flowing to good with this new job and well thats about the best excuss I can come up with, hahahah
I placed my order for 500 yards of 80LB powerpro and will soon take care of this problem .. I just hate it that it may have cost me a fish of a life time. I will always wonder . :sad:

[canepole]

My new 80 Lb Power Pro line came in the mail monday and I got all three of my 7000s cleaned and re,Strung. and I can't hardly wait for this weekend, I'm hoping to put another big skipJack head in front of the one I lost. Most likely won't happen, But you can't never tell,,,,,, :)

[metalman]

Tom,
the way you keep on keeping on sooner or later you will be sure to cross paths with the biggun. Good luck this weekend sir, keep us posted...W
PS I haven't forgotten about getting together on the Ohio.

[canepole]

I just woke up and I'm waiting for it to get alittle warmer out then I'm on my way, I think they said it was 18 degrees here and its supposed to get in the 40s, plus 5 to 10 mile per hour winds,
Winston I'm still looking forward to fishing with you on the Ohio one day. Also,When
you get ready to come down here and fish, let me know,

[BIG-G]

Get them nasty old Carharts ya have on and get out on that water. LOL! Knock em dead brother!

[canepole]

Well we got out there and froze our butts off and didn't catch nothing. But I guess thats fishing, the wind was rough and again there wasn't any current and I reckon we were fishing in the wrong spot, I had one hit where the fish ran and he got my bait,
Man it was cold out there.

[canepole]

That old carharte coat is missing plus my old cover alls , I think the wife buried them ..........*

[Catfish_Commando]

Canepole,

If you get a chance, get me some more video like you shot last year. I am hoping to get the video library solidly off the ground in 2006, and you had some great clips last year.

Thanks,
Paul

[canepole]

Paul, I will try and see what I can do, I havn't had much luck latly,I may go back out and try my luck tomorrow, Depending on the weather.

[Catfish_Commando]

Appreciate it Tom!

Hopefully the fishing starts to improve and you land that new world record. ;)

Dont forget to drop the BOC's name on T.V. when it happens! :o

[stephens]

just got back from the tourament at dover and there were some nice big blues weighted in the biggest was 57 lbs.

[canepole]

Paul, I think I would have a better chance of winning the powerball LOL
But if it ever happened I would mention the BOC,

How's everything going for you and when are you coming home.Also don't forget me and you got to go and do some catting one of these day's......

[canepole]

John what tournament was it, Who hosted it and was there a good turn out, I had problems sitting up today, no current and the wind, I had to tie onto tree's on the bank and couldn't fish the area's I wanted to, Did you fish the turn and if you did how did you do.

[stephens]

there were two one at cumberland city and dover . i was going to put in at cumberland city but it was to icy and my pickup wouldnt have pulled it up. the dover tourament was joey halls and he won it with big blue and had a limit of 7 nice cats.

[stephens]

cane pole i didnt fish it just went and watched the weigh in at dover. there were about 15 boats.

[canepole]

Thanks John, Joe halls a darn good fisherman and has won many of those tournaments. Some people think that those tournaments are fixed, But I know better, Joe's just a heck of a fisherman and there's a whole lot of us that would like to be half as good a catter as he is.

[Bubbakat]

canepole don't mean to butt in here but you will like that power pro line.
A buddie of mine from ohio got me to useing that line
about a year ago and it is some good line.

He is an avid musky fisherman and I have been getting him
to do a little catten when he comes down in the spring.

That line is as good as it is said to be.

Tight lines to yea.

[canepole]

I like the hook set you get with P/Pro, Thats the only line I use,

[tncatfishing]

Hey Canepole I hope you hang a biggun real soon. Maybe we can get together some time and try to hang some bigones. Happy fishing to ya.

[boogie]

i wish ya'all the best of luck and hope someone nails a big ole hawg to post a pic of :p i been bout to bust a move ,to get to go fishin but the ole gmc pickup laid down on me this week,blew a right rear seal and bearing ,,,,hope i get it back before Christmas break ....im off monday and would love to go fishin then :P...Merry Christmas everyone :)

[canepole]

I think that they will be some bigun's caught soon, Just hope one finds my hook, hahahahah, There ain't no doubt in my mind that there will be some caught during the fish and camp, When all them hardcore catter's come into town.Man I can't wait....... :)

[ShilohRed]

Well is it time yet for the fish and camp? LOL
WE may plan a trip sometime next month. We are talking about it. have a few more trips planned so Have to work it in.
Pete

I think that they will be some bigun's caught soon, Just hope one finds my hook, hahahahah, There ain't no doubt in my mind that there will be some caught during the fish and camp, When all them hardcore catter's come into town.Man I can't wait....... :)

[tncatfishing]

Atrip sometime next month? When and where?

[canepole]

Pete, Are you heading this way on that trip, If you do give me a hollor....M/Christmas

[canepole]

I was realy wanting to go fishing this morning, But with these high winds
25 to 30 mph. fishing is out, I would love to be able to take about three or four day's off and try my best to fish my self to death {LOL}, Got the fever bad, any of you other feller's got it, bad... :crying:

[ShilohRed]

Don't know if we are going to be able to work a trip in this month or not.
Yelp I have the fishing fever Also. And passed up 2 great days last week. But not this week.
Pete

[Catwagon]

I'd hate to try to fish on a day having winds like this....

[ShilohRed]

Drove by the river on the way to Wal-Mart. River is below low.. LOL And waves looked to be aorund 3ft. Not a boat at 3 ramps I could see. But watch out in the AM I hope. have the rod rack on the back of the boat. And its ready.
Watch out
PEte


I'd hate to try to fish on a day having winds like this....

[bandit06]

Canepole,
You mentioned in an earlier post about a "gut Pocket", what exactlty is that? And where do you get the skipjack from you fish with?

[canepole]

A gutt pocket is the belly of a skipjack and we get them outta the cumberland river, around the dam and at the cumberland City Steam plt, When the weather is hot during the summer time you can find them schooled up just about any where on the river.
There's a good catting area here called Bellwood, and there's a creek there thats called Cub Creek, and I have real good luck in the summer getting them there. I hope this info will help.

[Nobody Special]

Gut Pocket. See attached photo. You just scale the fish and cut out the whole section and leave the guts inside.

[blkhawkdwn]

I'm going to use the gut pocket from shad as well for big cats. freezer is stocked with skips and i'm waiting for a good day to try some big catz

[stephens]

Here is the fish that I caught last week, put in at the steam plant in Cumberland City. It was 47" but don't know exactly how much it weighed because my scale topped out at 50#. I caught it with skipjack in 45' of water. I released it back into the water so that someone else can have the fun of catching that big boy again.

[Dwednuts]

WTG, John That was a beauty. It made a great Profile pic. It is good to see someone is catching fish this time of year!!! Keep up the good work.

[Tellico00]

Excellent John!!! That was a really nice fish. I wonder how much he weighted?

It is good to someone catching fish!

[Tellico00]

Excellent John!!! That was a really nice fish. I wonder how much he weighted?

It is good to see someone catching fish!

[Bubbakat]

Mike you live in some of the best catfishing country to be had anywhere in tenn.
I need to get over that way again.:)

[canepole]

Way to go John, Great picture I know you had a good fight with him, I wanted to go out today, But my son's car is tore up and has been for awhile and it ain't going to fix its self, and he ain't going to fix it, and I need my pickup truck back.............Maybe I'll get out there tomorrow and give it a try..

[Catwagon]

What a horse John! Fine cat and I'm glad to know I might have a shot at him in Feb.

Steve

[FishMan]

That fish weighted 61 pounds, my guess

[ShilohRed]

Nice fish I hope one of us can catch it agian at the fish & camp. Then get the right weight..:)
Was it at he head of the hole? Along the face of the drop?
Pete

[Tellico00]

Willard, cross the mountain anytime and we will go.

[canepole]

Unless the weather takes a bad turn, I will have my big butt out on the river again tomorrow hunting for a bigun, I will be down in the carbondale area, If any of you feller's are in that area and you see my blue War Eagle, Give me a hollor....Tom:D

[canepole]

I had planned on working on the boy's car yesterday and getting it fixed for him then fishing today, The boy showed up yesterday around 630am after being out all nite partying and said he needed to sleep a couple hour's then he would be ready, Well I know from past experence that when he is tired the only thing we do is argue, so I decided it would be better for me to go fishing and plan on workin on his car today, He was supposed to be here at noon, and hasn't called or nothing and I told the wife the heck with it, If he don't care enough about his transportation to get off his butt and come over and help me work on HIS CAR, He can walk....By the way, I didn't catch no fish yesterday...Ol Well, There will be next weekend...

[slimcat]

John, thats a great cat. Nice to hear from ya man. I can't wait to do some fishing with you. The other day with Warren was great fishing. It was great to fish with two great catmen.

[slimcat]

Here goes I am gonna try to post this pic.

[Whistler]

Found one today on the river before the wind came up. Caught it on a big skipjack gut pocket in about 35 foot of water. Used a 10/0 Kahle to grab this one. Caught it directly across the river from the mouth of Guice Creek. Marked a lot of fish today and got a few hits, but they shut down with the wind today for the most part which started up about 9 or so. This one fought like a bigger fish and took about 20 minutes to get into the boat. Fun one to catch even if it was the only one today. Canepole, we fished by the 55 gallon drum, the hole you and I found a couple of years ago along the stretch of river where mile marker 95.5 is from the boat ramp upstream to about 200 yards up from the beacon on the left side as you're traveling downstream and most all the other spots we fish. They just weren't cooperating much after 9 this morning. Hope you can get out there tomorrow.

[Katmaster Jr.]

Nice fish Bryan.:)

[BAM]

Well done big guy, congratulations.

[canepole]

Way to go Bryan, thats a fine looking blue, I reckon I'm going to make some sinker's today and probably go out next w/end. There's supposed to be thirty mile per hour wind gusts today, and I can hear stuff moving on the porch while I type this so I know its pretty windy out there . Did you by any chance fish our new hole.

[FishMan]

Bryan: Good job, nice fish.

[ShilohRed]

Way to go Bryan, That is going to make the days go by so slow now. LOL Glad you got out and started the year off right with the good fish..

I will not fish that hold by the barrel long.. HEHE Not over 36 hours.. HAHA
Pete

[stephens]

nice fish bryan maybe someone will catch it at the camp. he has a belly to match mine so we could be related.

[metalman]

Nice one Bryan, Getting in the groove for the F+C. Kudos for saying where it was caught, I won't have to buy the GPS numbers on the black market!!!...W

[Whistler]

Hey Winston, not problem with where it was caught. It's a big and long river. Plenty of fish for everyone as long as we put them back. It's an easy river to fish as long as you use your sonar for locating good structure. Anyone want's to come fishing with me is welcome. And I don't charge for the fun either. I'll see if I can find a map of our stretch of the Cumberland and mark some good spots for everyone before Fish and Camp. Hate to see everyone come down and not catch anything at least those of us that live here can share what we know so it's a fun trip for all. Thanks guys, it was a fun fish to catch. Fighting son of a gun too.

[Nobody Special]

I've been telling my son to fish straight across the river from mouth of the creek. I caught some crappie in the treetops along through there earlier and figured it was a good place for catfishing.