Stuck on the bank in the Mid-South

[iceTrey81]

Ok, I have been searching and searching for places to fish around here. It's frustrating enough being stuck on the bank with no boat but add bad luck on top of it.. wow! We fish the spillways a good bit but not much luck. Seems like if I ever catch 1 good fish, that's it, no more for the rest of the night. Places we have already tried are: Sardis, Enid, Arkabutla & Horn Lake Boat landing (on the Mississippi).
I have tried every rig, hook and bait imaginable.

We usually go down during weeknights and do late fishing to beat the heat and crowd. If anyone else on here lives in or around the Mid-South and wants to share some locations and tips for them, I would be forever grateful!

I've been searching for a nice place on the Mississippi to do some night bank fishing but to no avail. I figured there would have to be some places around here that's not all "snakey" and grown up. Ok, I'm finished rambling. Any help is appreciated! :big_smile:

-Trey

[bluejay]

Welcome to the BOC. Wrong area for me to comment on but I'm sure someone will be along to help you soon. Good luck.

[patrickgd]

Trey, I wish I could offer some solid help but I'm pretty much in the same boat (or lack of) that you are. I live in Memphis and have been searching for a good spot to land the big'uns from the bank and so far they have eluded me. I've found a few descent spots on the MS River in Memphis and North of and even caught a couple of nice 5-6lbers but the getting hung up situatioon is brutally tough fishing along the rocky banks. I'm headed North near Covington tonight to try and relocate a spot I used to know of. I'll keep you updated on the luck. If all goes well I'll be fishing on a smooth sand bar tonight.

[iceTrey81]

bluejay: thanks, I appreciate the welcome!

patrick: Best of luck and definitely let me know how you do and how the spot is. We're going to try the spillway at Sardis again next week but we're going to attempt to use 3-6" bluegills and see if that changes our luck. My buddy got a $300+ fine for using a 3/0 hook for cats instead of the legal #2 so we probably won't be going to the state places much more. Hard to use large live bait on a #2 I would think.

Oh, and how do you find spots on the river? I am always worried I'm going to end up getting shot on private property. haha Also I heard about a place down in Tunica called Mhoon Landing (It's part of the Mississippi) that was supposedly good for cats. Ever heard of it?

-Trey

[ChrisC.729]

there is big sand bar that comes out in the summer at shelby forest state park in millington on the river, that is only when the water is low tho, i cant believe its the middle of june and the water is still as high as it was in the winter.

[patrickgd]

Well I found the sand bar I was looking for tonight but it was covered in river except about 15 feet of standing ground (10 when a barge came by) :smile2:. anyway I made it out the spot right by Duvall Landing off HWY 59 in Covington. I got a late start and the only bait I got my hands on were worms and they proved useless. I did see some locals fishing the sand bar with minnows. One guy even caught a nice 5 or 6 lb. Flathead. It was just nice to fish without getting hung up all the time. The next time I go there I'll be taking a bucket of live Bream or Jumbo Goldfish.
Anyway Trey- I fished at Sardis about a month ago and I could'nt buy a fish. I was surprised at how downhill that spillway has gone. It used to be the Crappie fishing capital and last time I fished there it was so stagnant and junky I was expecting to reel in a dirty diaper. I think the stocking and maintenance of that place is way under what it should be.
Enid however was pretty good. That place has really become a nice place to fish since they added that hatchery. Only thing about Enid is all the Cats I caught there were small.
Arkabutla is pretty descent. I always have fun catching big Gar there and you get the hope of a nice Flathead.
I've heard the same thing about Moon Landing but never been there I'd like to check it out. Like Chris said Shelby Forrest has a nice sand bar but right now the river is up way to high. Theres also a nice place to fish the River by Downtown Memphis called Harbor Town or Greenbelt Park only problem there is lots on snags in the water like rocks and stuff. And if you don't mind climb steep rocky banks I saw a guy pull in a 10 pounder out the other at Tom Lee park right on Riverside drive. and I have yet to explore the possibilities on the Arkansas side around the bridges. Some say it's good fishing there and some say it's posted no tresspassing since the 911 thing. Hope some of this helps.

[PDR]

Trey
Where is Horn Lake boat landing??

As can be seen, this is my 1st. post on the "Brotherhood", but will add my small bit of information. Your ? was about bank fishing the old Miss and I have never fished the Miss. so no help there. However, all may not be lost, as I have recently moved to the Hernando area and being retired I have the opportunity to fish/hunt 3-4 times a week. As it is getting hot I usually make a short early morning run to fish below the Arkabutla Outlet. The Spawn is about to get in gear for the cats so the hookup's are few now but will be good again in a couple of weeks. However, there is a boat ramp below the outlet on the south side. Park in the lot at the ramp and walk west along the river and there are several really good spots where you can get down to the water and get some hookup's. The property is all Corps of E. (Federal) and or State land so open to all. I have had fairly good luck there and also in the riprap on the North side. A warning thought, take lots of extra equipment as every time I have fished there the gross national product of china goes up with the replacing of lost weights/hooks/leaders and line. Not a complaint, just a fact, as I dearly love the opportunity to loose all the equuipment I can.
May see you down there some time.

Phil
AIRBORNE

[patrickgd]

Haha if you love the opportunity to lose equipment you should come fishing with me. If theres rocks around and a current and I have a fishing pole in my hand the losing of equipment is own like a pot of neck bones. I can show you some places where you can do that til your hearts content. :smile2: And to add even more flavor to the boil try going at night. I will typically rig up about 5 or 6 back up 3-way swivel, hook and weight rigs and use them all fishing on the Ms River bank. but I did here Bill Dance say once "if you ain't snaggin you ain't fishin". I suppose an attitude of gratitude can be found in between you and that 150 lb. log somewhere. I keep working and hope to get there someday. :big_smile:

[dinger66]

welcome to the boc

[iceTrey81]

PDR: The Horn Lake Boat Launch is off of Old 61 on Bass Landing Road. It's a decent spot, didn't snag the first time but there is only about a 10' stretch of clear standing room. A ton more if you don't mind standing in weeds.

Thanks for the Arkabutla Tips! I'll have to give those spots a try. I usually just fish at the spillway and I know what you mean about lost equipment. I go through at least $15 a night in sinkers, hooks and rigs.

____________

Chris: Thanks for the tip, if the water ever goes back down some I will give that a shot too!

____________

Patrick: Sucks you didn't have any luck but saving equipment is always a plus! haha Sardis has gone down a lot. I have been going down there at least once a week for the past 4 months. The bite isn't bad when the spillway is open under 2' but when they opened it up to 6' it was really tough to fish without a snag on every cast. The fish are definitely still there though, just about a week ago a guy hooked a 57lb flathead off the top of the spillway with live bait.

I used to enjoy bass fishing and the bite is really good for 5+lbers right against the rocks this time of year with dark spinnerbaits.


Since they legalized snagging year round we have had some luck (Ok everyone, don't hate me cuz I snag!!):embarassed: haha. I snagged an 80+lb bighead carp. Junk fish but was a fun fight. Plenty of spoonbills up to 65lbs. As far as tightlining the biggest I have hooked at Sardis this year was a 12lb blue.

My buddy and I have been "carpooling" since gas is so high when we go fish but if anyone who bank fishes around here wants to get in on the action (or lack of) just let me know. Share a ride and share what knowledge we may have. haha

Anyone that has a boat and has a couple of seats open and knows how to find the big ones, let me know. I'll be more than happy to buy the gas!

-Trey

[PDR]

The BOC seem like a great resource of information and a group of like minded people to chat with. Hey guys, thanks for the welcome aboard.
TO ALL OF YOU DAD'S OUT THERE, HAVE A HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!


Phil
AIRBORNE

[patrickgd]

Hey Trey,
If you like snaggin, the Reelfoot spillway is amazing. You can snag giant Bigheads and Buffalo til your arms fall off or break your reel whichever comes first. I went there a couple of weeks ago. I actually caught some good sized Buffalo and Bowfin fishing on the bottom with worms too. about a hundred to 200 hundred yards below the spillway there the water gets really shallow and you can latch onto some real giants. Theres actually a large group of guys who Bowfish there because the fish are so big and easy to see swimming around. Heres a couple of pics from my last trip there a few weeks ago.

[iceTrey81]

Patrick,

Where is the Reelfoot? Never heard of it.

I can't respond to your PM yet b/c I haven't posted 10 posts but to answer a couple of your questions..

It is illegal to fish with anything larger than a #2 hook (#2, not a 2/0) in Arkabutla or Sardis (not sure if this applies to the upper lakes but definitely the spillways). This includes all types of fishing involving hooks, not just snagging. It's an automatic $300+ fine if caught.

Having said that, I can understand a lot of restrictions on snagging. But seriously, if you are using a large bluegill to tightline.. how in the heck are you supposed to hook him where he'll stay on a #2 hook?!?!

We did a lot of checking and according to the MDWFP this is fact and enforceable. So if you plan on fishing on Corp. maintained spillways.. BE AWARE!! You can go to the corps web site at MDWFP.com to read all the restrictions and rules for lakes and spillways if you didn't already know. Also they offer some really good fishing reports posted weekly for all/most of MS's lakes, spillways and I believe the MS river too.

For anyone that might find this useful, I have also heard a lot of reports of fisherpeople catching bad cats. A lot of mercury tainted meat. I'm not an expert but something about yellow meat? Just thought I'd share that with all my fellow MS fisherpeople.

-Trey

[patrickgd]

Reelfoot is a lake that was created way back in the 1800's by an earthquake that caused the MS River to flow backwards temporarily. It's a historical event. The lake is huge, it's located about 125 miles north of Memphis. Just take HWY 51 North all the way to 78 take a left and then its about 25 more miles.

Perhaps sometime we could carpool up to Reelfoot on a weekend. I've been wanting to do some nightfishing at the lake. I've got a feeling you might could catch some big flatheads fishing the shallows there at night with Live Bluegill.

Heres a link to some Reelfoot Lake fishing info.
http://www.tennesseesportsmanmag.com/fishing/catfish-fishing/tn_aa065003a/index.html

[PDR]

Just for clarification;

As has been mentioned above the use of LARGER than #2 single hooks at the Corps lakes is a NO NO. However, this reg. only applies during the period of Dec. through the last day of Feb., the rest of the year, any sized single hook or hooks is a go! ( 1 rod, no more than 2 hooks spaced at least 1 inch apart, which means no Colorado rigs)
However, this limitation only applies to the area from the outlet to the end of the riprap.

Phil
AIRBORNE

[iceTrey81]

Patrick: We can all get together and do that sometime soon. Would be fun.

_____________________________

PDR: I checked back on the web site again and unless there is a typo the #2 hook limit on the spillway lasts the entire year. Here is the exact words from the regulations....

Also anglers fishing the waters listed in A-H may use no more than one (1) pole or rod per person with no more than two (2) single hooks, single hooks must be at least one inch apart or use one artificial lure with no more than two (2) treble hooks no larger than # 2. No treble hooks larger than #2 are allowed.

Anglers fishing the waters listed in I-J may use no more than one (1) pole or rod per person with no more than (2) single hooks, single hooks must be at least one inch apart and must be no larger than a #2 or use one artificial lure with no more than two (2) treble hooks no larger than #2 from December 1 until the last day of February. Anglers may use any size single hook or treble hooks no larger than #2 the remaining days of the year.


So unless they did a typo there where it says no larger than #2 for the remaining days of the year, that would read that no larger than a #2 period. Right?

When talking to the wardens face to face and going through the ordeal or appealing the ticket, they told my buddy that a #2 was the limit and went on to say they are cracking down heavy on all violations this year. Obviously from the tickets he got they are cracking down so much that they are giving out tickets for offenses that aren't even ticketable. lol Must have a batch of rookies hired on or something.

_______________________


We went to a local private lake last night to just relax and catch some cats. Well we succeeded but the problem was everything that came out of there smelled horrible. I wondered what would cause this? Any ideas? The lake itself doesn't smell at all but I hooked a soft-shell turtle at the first of night and it smelled like a dirty diaper wrapped in hot garbage!:ooooh::crazy: Then as we caught the cats, they had the same horrible smell. Although the bream didn't have a stench at all? Kinda confused me?

[ChrisC.729]

I thought I should just say that i have the same problem yall do.

Patrick- My profile picture was caught at the greenbel park where the wolf river comes out if you didnt already notice.

[patrickgd]

Trey- So it seems that the size limit is on treble hooks and not single hooks. Thats good for me because I mainly use single hooks anyway. Hard to hook a bream or goldfish with a treble lol.

Chris- I did not realize that your pic was taken at Greenbelt. That place looks like a good place to fish. I went there twice now. The first time I fished on the rocks toward the leftside of the lott or main boat ramp and got hung up constantly (really strong current). The second time I fish on the right boat ramp by the mouth of the wolf. I still got hung up quite a bit and actually had a good one for a sec and then became hung up. It was like the fish swam into some rocks or something. Anyway both times no dice but I do plan to return and try again. My biggest problem with fishing the river is getting hung up. It seems like no matter how much or how little amount of weight I use I get hung pretty much constantly. And it also seems no matter how far out or close to the bank I cast I get hung. This is definitely a problem that I'm hoping I will get better at avoiding. I even try casting up river and down river and still get the same result. :angry: Got any suggestions?

[PDR]

patricgd is right, the limitation of no larger than #2 hook is for treble hooks only.
iceTrey81 sorry but you are wrong! The differance is in a SINGLE hook not a TREBLE hook; "However, this reg. only applies during the period of Dec. through the last day of Feb., the rest of the year, any sized single hook or hooks is a go!"

Phil
AIRBORNE

[iceTrey81]

Wasn't trying to argue. I guess I had just been reading that last sentence wrong for the past year! lol Trust me, I wasn't trying to argue, in fact I am glad you guys cleared that one up for me!! Made my night! We are heading down to Sardis tonight and now I don't have to worry about it anymore.

No need to get snippy with me. lol I'll admit when I am wrong. No worries here. :big_smile:

Patrick: lol I know what you mean. I use singles 99% of the time as well. I just have been misreading that to mean that single hooks had to be #2 or smaller ALL of the year.

I'll be sure to let you guys know if we have any luck at Sardis tonight.

[patrickgd]

Good
Luck to you Trey I hope you hook up with a BIGG'N. Be sure and let us now how it turns out.

[ChrisC.729]

Patrick, I hate to break this to you, but for 2 years ive fished down there and only catch stuff in the spring, thats the big secret. I dont know why you get hung up so much, I use 3 big medium heavy rods with baitcasting reels and 30-50 pound line so when i do get hung up its easy to pull out, also, a 3 way rig is a definate must have down there, that definatly prevents you from getting hung up most of the time. During the summer when water is in the negatives on the Memphis scale a sand bar magically appears down at the greenbelt park, the wolf river gets about 10-15 feet wide and very shallow. I wanna try flathead fishing down there, I think it would be a great spot to fish. When the water gets lower the gar go crazy down there and its annoying to me. Ive only caught a total of 7 fish since ive been going to the green belt park. Hope this helps. Whats your rods and reels and set ups?

[iceTrey81]

Well we got down there about 11 last night fished till 2. Didn't have any luck. The Gar down there are ridiculous. You could rig up a piece of mud and Gar would hit it. It's irritating to say the least. Switched over to snagging just so I could catch something and ended up landing 5 spoonbills ranging from 20-50lbs.

Probably head back down later this week and give it another shot. Last night all we had for bait was cut drum. Usually have decent luck on it but nothing last night!

[PDR]

Fished the back water below the outlet at Ark. and landed 6. Hooked up on 3 more but 1 broke the line (#30lb test) and the other 2 just got off. But a very good morn. Used large night crowlers on 2/0 hook below large boober.

iceTrey81
I did not mean to be snippy ("No need to get snippy with me.") if it seemed that way I am sorry, my apologies. I thought it necessary to make sure the differance was clear.

NUFF said:

Hope to see on the bank some day.

PHIL
AIRBORNE

[patrickgd]

Nice Bills there Trey. I bet they were some fun.

This evening I went back down to Greenbelt Park and caught nothing. I did better on the getting hung situation, I actually only had to re-rig once and that was because my reel backlashed on a cast.
As far as the not catching anything goes I think the problem has been the River being so high. I ran into a guy who came to fish also. He said he caught lots of fish there last year when the water levels were lower. He even showed me a pic of a 45 lb. Flatty that he caught there and told some stories of bigger ones getting away. For some reason though the fish just aren't biting there. I need to try somewhere else at least til that sandbar appears. Most reports from the River seem to be the same at least within 50 miles of Memphis.

Anyway Chris- my current rig consists of 100/20lb. braid power pro line tied to a 3-way crossline swivel. About 8-12 inches of leader tied to an 8/0 circle hook. 5 oz lead bank sinker tied to 6-8 inches of leader at the bottom.

I'm gonna start using 10-12lb. line for the sinker line. That way if the weight gets caught in a rock perhaps the bait will still be available, a fish can hit it and just snap the weight off. I swear the other night I had a fish but the weight got stuck in some rocks because I got a good hit and then it felt like I was immediately hung up.

[ChrisC.729]

dude, me and you need to meet up one day. i need a "bank" fishing partner. do you catch your own bait?

[iceTrey81]

Phil: No worries. I appreciate you clearing that up for me. I was only poking a little fun. :big_smile: Congrats on the good morning of fishing!

________________

Patrick: Well congrats on less snags! haha

I have been hearing mixed reports from the river. Some say they are biting some say they aren't. It's like hit or miss.

I think I am going to stick with the spillways until the water comes down a little and then start trying the river again. Figure I'll just start at Grenada and slowly work my way back up to Arkabutla. Have to catch something somewhere. haha

[patrickgd]

Chris- I have been mainly using jumbo goldfish that I get at Gator Brown's Bait Shop on Summer in Bartlett but I plan to start hitting a local pond and catching Live Bream and using them at least on the weekends when time is not such an issue. Also, forgot to mention I use 2 spinning reels when I go. One is a Penn Captiva 8500 I believe and the other a Cat Maxx which I am really pleased with. The Cat Maxx seems like a darn good replica of the Offshore Penn I have but only cost me $35. I use long Glowsticks which seem pretty good too.

I'd love to meet up with ya and do some fishing. I too have been usually fishing solo and could use some company. Just name the time, I get off work monday-friday at about 4:30pm and weekends are wide open. I'll send you my cell # on a PM.

[patrickgd]

Trey- Thats probablly a good idea about staying off the river right now with it being so high. I ain't catching nothing and am starting to look toward the spillways myself.

[iceTrey81]

Patrick,

Anytime you wanna head down to one of the spillways with us just let me know. We're always down to fish. On weekends I prefer going late where there's not so many people around. We fish clean, no drinking or anything.

[patrickgd]

Sounds good Trey I was thinking about either Friday night or Saturday night.

Tell me, is fishing with Live Bluegill against the law in MS?

[iceTrey81]

To my knowledge the spillway regulations on all that is very tolerant. However if you fish in the upper lakes with live bait. They'll get you. The spillways don't have the size limits on crappie, bream, etc.. as the upper lakes do. I was using a cut crappie (don't laugh, it caught me an 8lb flattie) in the Arkabutla spillway and the wardens came down there. I got nervous but he said as long as the bait fish was caught in the spillway and used in the spillway, it was fine. I typically bring bream/blue-gill/red-ears that I catch at ponds closer to my house to use as bait and have never been questioned about it. Live or cut.

We will probably go either tonight or tomorrow night.
But probably leave out close to 11pm or so. Not 100% sure yet though.. my phone isn't working and have no way to get in touch with anyone.

[catoon]

one of these days we might all hook up and go fishing :smile2:

[iceTrey81]

Sounds good to me, I am always ready to fish. Especially if someone knows where to find the big ones. :big_smile:

[patrickgd]

If anyone happens to see me fishing on the bank at the Ms River anytime soon please shoot me because you can just assume that I'm a crazy person and not fit to be walking around.

Struck out again, hmm thats probably the 8th time in a row :angry:

[Lngbo]

Just found your posts, I live in Marion AR and usually fish the river chutes and Horseshoe lake. Working long hours lately so not much fishing. I have a 16 ft boat with a 25 merc that I have had on the river a couple of times but only if others are there.
Mhoon Landing has some areas that you may be able to get some nice cats from. It is in a bend in the river that is pushing the current to the MS bank. You can loase some rigs there due to the rocks and such. When the river is low, there is a nice sand bar on the Arkansas side across from the landing that may be good for a night out. This can be reached by coming to Arkansas and driving down the Levee a ways.
If any want to hook up some time give me a shout. Let me know and I will PM my cell.

[PDR]

Hey guys
Kinda sounds like you fellows have the makin's for a "Whisker fishin club". The area of Northwest Mississippi is in need of a good old fahion Catfishing Club. If you guys are up for it, post up here so others will know and count me in. I think it would be fun.

Phil
AIRBORNE

[ChrisC.729]

heck yes.........count me in

[iceTrey81]

I am actually working on a name and logo for a club for this area as we speak. I had been thinking about it for a couple of years and now that I have found this site, I'm going to give it a shot.

If anyone is interested in joining let me know and once I get the details and stuff worked out I will send you all the info.


Lngbo: Thanks for the info and invite!

[PDR]

iceTrey
It would seem that ChrisC and I are "in",
perhaps we should move this "Club" post to the Partners posting area and continue it there.
My $.02 worth for a club name "Tri-State Whisker Catchers", but if you have a name in mind lets go for it and plan the first meeting.

iceTrey, take the lead and let us know your plans.

Phil
AIRBORNE

[patrickgd]

:0a27: Definitely a good idea. I'm in for sure!

[iceTrey81]

Ok, I have the logo and all that ready to go. I was going to post in the Partner Forum but can't figure out exactly how to do it? Maybe there is a moderator reading this who can help.

I went with Tri-State Catfish Hunters for the name. For any of you guys on myspace the address is http://www.myspace.com/tristatecatfishhunters

If we can get a sub forum going under Partners, that will be awesome. Would love to get all the fisherpeople around here in it.

[phillipaprice]

Just found your post. Went fishing last week in the River below Natchez. Not an expert, but I'd wait till the river goes down and exposes the sandbars. With as much backwater and catfish spawning, you are probably not going to find many fish along the main channel now. Just a thought.

[jdoyle]

Are ya'll still bank fishing? I have not seen a post in well over a week. Did the mosquitos carry you off:crazy:??

[ChrisC.729]

yea i go at least twice a week.....there is just nothing to write about sadly.

[iceTrey81]

lol Chris said it.. nothing worth typing. We have hit a couple of small ponds here lately and while it was better for catching fish, they are all small. Stripes, Bullheads, Largemouths & Bream.

I haven't even attempted the river in a while because so many people were saying the fishing was slow when the water is this high. Since I don't have a boat or even know anyone with a boat, I am just stuck fishing where the weeds and snakes allow. :ooooh:

My wife and I went to Sardis last night and managed to dodge the rain long enough to not catch squat. I got one good hit but snapped the line before I could set the drag. Other than that my luck has been less than decent for the past 4 months!

If anyone has a boat around here that knows where to find the big ones at, I'll buy the gas if you have an open seat!