Kaskaskia River .

[catfisherman369]

The Kaskaskia seems to be an over looked river . I hardly see or hear alot about catfishing the Kaskaskia river . Actually I am talking about the lower Kaskaskia which consists of the river from below Carlyle to the Mississippi near Chester Illinois .

Many nights we are the only boat on the river for miles . Now I am not complaining , having the river to myself is awesome . I see alot of Striper fisherman or Walleye & Sauger , but not alot of catfisherman . Is it because of the Asian Carp problem ?

Man there are huge Flatheads in that river , big enough to bust the state and world record . It also wouldn't suprise me if the record Channel Cat isnt in there also . I dont see monster Blue Cats being caught , but I am sure they are in there , for sure near the mouth of the Mississippi .

Anyone else fish the Kaskaskia on a regular basis ?

[riverrat85]

I love fishing the kaskaskia. I spend many hours on it from new athens to the Mississippi. Is quickly becoming my favorite water to fish. I agree there are very nice channel cat in there. 10-20lbers are common. Big flattys too. I do disagree though there are very big blues in there. I cannot wait until that water warms up a tad more and I can start targeting them big pregnant females. One thing I've learned is certain spots I will almost always catch fish while others are a complete dead zone. Favorite method is control drifting the holes.

[catfisherman369]

Back in the 70's when the only bridge in New Athens was the old bridge downtown , we used to fish from the bank on the west side of the bridge and catch awesome flatheads and a lot of river eels . We would cath the eels on gobs of nightcrawlers and use the eels as cut bait to catch the flatties .

I actually tried the same spot a couple years ago from the boat and caught a few drum and a gar . We have great luck north a Fayetteville in the log jams and a little north of Oakwaville on the sand bars . One of my favorite spots is below the train bridge at Carlyle around the first bend . Man that spot holds some serious flatheads and monster channels .

[riverrat85]

I've never fished that far north...I typically fish the stretch between Baldwin and Evansville or north or south of the locks. I really cannot believe the size of the channels in the river. Ive been targeting big blues and flattys on resivoirs for the last 5 years and never gave channels a thought. Until I started fishing it heavily last year did I find out just how many big channels are in there. One thing that is tough for me...I've always been successful targeting ledges or major drop offs and the kaskaskia doesn't have any other than right off the banks where they dredged...I'd like to spend some time north of new athens this year and venture out a little more on the Mississippi. But all in all I agree the kaskaskia is a great fishery

[slimy]

I live 15 miles from the start of the Kaskia and its real shallow up here but there is some huge flatheads I just bought a canoe to fish it this spring hopeing to get on some of these monster flatheads

[Grebnaws]

I work with someone whose family owned a house between champaign and bondville, right next to the tressle bridge covering the kaskaskia ditch near route 10. They told me that back in the 60s and 70s that it would rise up during floods and they would catch white bass and crappie just a hundred yards from their door. No mention of catfish that far up but I have crossed that kaskaskia ditch thousands of times and find it hard to believe. Maybe those were the good old days I jeep hearing about?

[psychomekanik]

There's no fish in that river !!!

[riverrat85]

Hit the kasky for the first time this year. Man did i miss it. Caught a few small channels and this 26lb bluecat. Fun day on the water even though it was slow.

[catfisherman369]

Hit the kasky for the first time this year. Man did i miss it. Caught a few small channels and this 26lb bluecat. Fun day on the water even though it was slow.

Awesome ! I aint been yet this year . Thinking about uncovering the boat and putting it all together this coming week .

There's no fish in that river !!!

I hear that ....... lol
You still got a picture of that little flatty you yanked out of there last Aug . ?

[psychomekanik]

Awesome ! I aint been yet this year . Thinking about uncovering the boat and putting it all together this coming week .




I hear that ....... lol
You still got a picture of that little flatty you yanked out of there last Aug . ?

That was a blue! My buddy caught that one, and the year before I caught 2 of them back to back the same size. It's just a dink...