Arkansas River

[arkrivercatman]

Hit the river pretty hard today. Fished this morning with no luck. Rained almost the whole time.:angry:Oh well, it was still nice to go. On the way home I stopped to get some shad. I havent been able to catch any this year on the river. Im glad I stopped. I netted about 6 or 7 gizzard shad that were almost 10 inches long.I was a happy camper.:big_smile: Nothin beats fresh shad around here. Anyways when the wife got home from work we went fishin!The river was up some with all the rain. We fished the little Arkansas for a couple of hours with no luck so we moved to the big river. Within 20 minutes I hooked a 4 lb 11 oz channel on a shad head. It was a really good looking healthy channel. We took a picture and put him back. About an hour later my wifes rod starts dancin.She hooked into a 5 lb 9 ozs channel on cut shad.She caught hers as it was gettin dark and the flash on the camera wasnt workin so the picture kinda sucks.:angry: A few more good bites but no takers. She beat me again.:smile2::big_smile:Anyways it turned out to be a great day on the river.Nothin huge but very refreshing to get some fish after a couple of days with none. We are getting a new camera tomorrow.:big_smile:

[KC Jayhawk 78]

Nice fish Kyle, congrats. :big_smile:

[uttatoo]

good job i also caught shad yesterday they are probably spawning in your area too

[n2fishn]

Good cats Kyle.

Nothing beats fresh shad.

The wife is just wopping your butt.Your a very lucky man!!

Keep up the catching,,just be safe and watch the high water in your area.

Cant wait to see yall at milford..

[Mo.Hick]

Nice fish. Sounds like you had a great day. I really enjoy it when my wife goes with me and that is most of the time and yes she usually beats me also.

Tom

[Storm27m]

I see how it is. I spend all morning fishing with you in the rain, then when I leave, you go hit your bait spots and go catch fish.:wink:

[Storm27m]

oh yeah, nice fish!

[arkrivercatman]

I wouldnt do that to you. Believe me I was shocked. I told ya it was gettin close, who would have thought it would have only been a couple of hours.:big_smile: Next time you can get away let me know and we will probably have better luck.The river is about to come WAY up. Things will get interesting.

[Catfish Fever]

Kyle, I lightened'em up as much as I could without distorting them. Hoping they'll show up a little better.

[slabmaster]

nice fish. thanks for the report

[n2fishn]

Good job Jim.. you are a man of many talents....NOW if you can just get Yeppa to catch a fish, you will be the KING of us all!!!!!

[arkrivercatman]

Kyle, I lightened'em up as much as I could without distorting them. Hoping they'll show up a little better.

Jim, You know more than me about photo editing.:smile2:Thanks for doing that.Im sure Ashley will be thankful.Thats what she gets for catchin the bigger fish.:smile2:Needless to say we bought another camera yesterday.

[uttatoo]

THE FISH ARE RUNNING I WENT TO THE DIVERSION DAM AT THE WET WALNUT WHERE IT DUMPS INTO THE ARKANSAS RIVER AND CAUGHT 5 CHANNELS THIS MORNING IN ABOUT 1 HR NOT BAD BIGGEST WAS 3LBS JUST EATERS BUT STILL ALL GOT RELEASED

[uttatoo]

my son went with me while i was trying to catch carp he told me let me have a small carp for bait i said ok he casted into a eddy next to me and within a minute his pole bent over and he landed this nice channel 5lbs wow what a fight he had fighting it in the current the river is high and from bank to bank here in great bend

[n2fishn]

Congrat to your son Gus...The fish are biting and its that time of yr we all been waiting on..Keep posting your pic we all enjoy them.

[Catfish Fever]

Gus, congratulations to the little man, this oughta keep him "hooked on fishing":smile2:

[uttatoo]

went today to the wet walnut dam again two eater cats come out of there today all released and still waiting on the big hogs to come around maybe after this cold spell goes by the fish will start biting hard again
boy we are getting alot of rain and just flooded over here the river is up and so are the creeks

[kmcalester]

Looks like keeping at it paid off in the end.

[uttatoo]

dam the river is high hard to target the cats thought i had them figured out till today just got skunked tonight not even a nibble

[arkrivercatman]

Im goin to the Big River tomorrow morning. Hopefully I will have some pics to post. Gonna try those perch I got yesterday and hopefully I can net some shad. Im needing a bigger fish already.:smile2: Im also goin tomorrow night and have another Walnut trip planned for Sunday. I love this time of the year.:big_smile:

[n2fishn]

Kyle good luck hope you catch a biggin.

I'm heading to the lake this morning will report on how we do when i get back.

[arkrivercatman]

Went to the Little Arkansas this afternoon. Wasnt there but ten minutes and caught a 10.5 pound flathead.finally pulled him out of a jog jam after he snagged me twice.For a minute I thought I was going to have to break my line but I waited until he moved and horsed him out.Caught him on a live 4" bluegill.Released him back into the water. The river I caught him in is maybe only 20' across.It would probably be considered a big creek to most.I have caught some nices ones in there, some up to 15 pounds.Hopefully it stays that way.I know there are bigger ones, I just havent got one yet.A few more bites but none good enough so I came home to rest up for tonight.:smile2:

The second picture sucks because I was by myself. I just use the video recorder on the camera and take pictures from that. Saves alot of time that way.:wink:

[n2fishn]

Cograts Kyle...your getting real close to a Bigin. I can fill it.

Keep sending them pic and good luck tonight.

[uttatoo]

good fish bet you had fun

[Storm27m]

I'm starting to see a pattern here Kyle. Whenever I'm fishing with you, we catch no fish. When I'm not fishing with you, you catch 10-25lb flatheads. Sounds like he put up a good struggle though. Congrats on another nice fish.

I did manage to catch a small channel after you left the other morning. He put up a heck of a 10 second fight!

[yeppa]

Nice fish Kyle. You've been takin' lessons from Ashley---ain't ya'??

[uttatoo]

i am going to fish the river tuesday night wish me luck

[KC Jayhawk 78]

Nice flathead Kyle. :smile2:

[uttatoo]

went fishing with my friend cj and after half an hour i got a bite and my pole bent over and i caught this little flatie about 8-10lbs didnt have my scales with me but here are the pics after the pictures we turned her loose as i noticed she had a big belly thought maybe she was full of eggs
maybe next year she will be bigger and let me tell you she put up a hell of a fight in the current and took about five minutes to get in because it kept making runs down steam

[arkrivercatman]

Nice flathead Gus! Is that the Arkansas River? I didnt get a chance to go today but hopefully I can tomorrow. I need to get some more bait.

[uttatoo]

Nice flathead Gus! Is that the Arkansas River? I didnt get a chance to go today but hopefully I can tomorrow. I need to get some more bait.
yup it was and i hope to get out there thursday again if i get a chance

[arkrivercatman]

The river looks nice.You have to get out of the city limits here to find any snags. Seems that all of the banks here are man made and you are hard pressed to find a tree.It is wider here but not much deeper. Thats why I head south as much as possible. Only 10 miles from the city makes a world of difference.

[Storm27m]

Got out for a few hours tonight on the Little Arkansas in N. Wichita. I ended up catching my first flathead ever at about 8:30pm tonight on a cut bluegill head. It was a whopping 1.5lb'er! I guess it's a start. Here's crappy cell phone proof:

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg46/Storm27m/firstflathead.jpg

[arkrivercatman]

Congratulations! Atleast he is healthy looking.:smile2: The first one is the hardest one.

[KC Jayhawk 78]

Nice flathead Gus. Looks like a great spot there on the Ark. :big_smile:

[KC Jayhawk 78]

Josh , congrats on your first flathead. May you have many more to come. Hopefully bigger. :smile2:

[uttatoo]

josh next time the flaties grandpa will come out to play hopefully:cool2:

[arkrivercatman]

Went fishin for awhile tonight. Didnt get any hogs but I did get three fish and lost one. 2 flatheads and 1 channel, all under 5 lbs but were caught on nice sized bluegill.It was windy but the trees provided a nice wind break.Not a bad evenin but tomorrow I am after the big ones again.Its already time to stock back up on bait.

[n2fishn]

Kyle your getting close to that Hog.

But its also nice to see them little cats in the rivers also.

Good luck!

[uttatoo]

good luck to you and congrats on the 3fish you did catch

[uttatoo]

kyle watch out the river is rising again last night i watched as it rose 2 ft. only caught 3 eaters and went home went this morning and the river is to the top of it banks again so be carefull down there in wichita fishing

[uttatoo]

here are some cats we caught this morning and as i spaeak i am eating them
1bullhead was 3lbs and a few where at 2lb channel was about5 or7lbs did not wiegh and a few that where 1 lb to 2lbs each

[arkrivercatman]

Not bad Gus! I gettin ready to try an get some bait.Hopefully we are going to the river tonight.I went this mornin for awhile but it wouldnt stop rainin. I am anxious to see how much she comes up this time.

[uttatoo]

its 8ft above normal over here right now

[arkrivercatman]

This is what we have been waitin for. As soon as all of the trash is done comin down the fishin should be real good. Its always fun to watch the river rise. Last year I watched it come up over 3 or 4 feet in less than 45 minutes. I bet she is alot higher than she was this mornin.

[uttatoo]

here you go a few pics i had on my phone if you want to look at more go to flicker and look under uttatoo pictures

[arkrivercatman]

Those are pretty good. I tried flickr and nothin comes up. Hopefully I can get everything figured out soon and get in touch with ya.

[uttatoo]

by tommorrow i will post more on here if you want

[n2fishn]

Them are some real nice bullheads.Biggest I have seen in a long time.And some mighty fine eating to.

I just had a fish fry of cats and hushpuppys and coleslaw tonight also,nothing better.

[arkrivercatman]

We hit the little river tonight for 45 minutes and I got 2 flatheads and the wife and I each lost one. One was 3 pounds on a 4 inch greenie and the other was 12 pounds on a 3 inch greenie. The river is still way up. It was fun while it lasted but we had other plans. I may go again later if I can, if not I will definately be there tomorrow.

[channelkatman]

are you fishing in the main river channel or you got some slack water your fishing in?

[uttatoo]

nice flaties there hope you catch more i went out today and only caught a channel actually my son caught the fish he was 4 lbs and will be great table fare

[arkrivercatman]

are you fishing in the main river channel or you got some slack water your fishing in?


The river is up so high that I could only fish 5 or 10 feet from the bank. At this particular spot there is a bridge and the water is so high that I had to fish from directly under the bridge. Everywhere else is flooded. That prevented me from throwing out too far. They were caught in less than 2 feet of water and didnt hesitate to take the bait. They would hit it once and then run off with it. I caught them on a light/medium action rod that my Dad made and that made it fun! That 12# was the biggest I have caught on that little rod and it held up great. I have been wanting to catch a nice one on it because of how sensitive it is and now I finally have. Hopefully I can get a bigger one tomorrow. You fish the Little Arkansas, right?

[channelkatman]

The river is up so high that I could only fish 5 or 10 feet from the bank. At this particular spot there is a bridge and the water is so high that I had to fish from directly under the bridge. Everywhere else is flooded. That prevented me from throwing out too far. They were caught in less than 2 feet of water and didnt hesitate to take the bait. They would hit it once and then run off with it. I caught them on a light/medium action rod that my Dad made and that made it fun! That 12# was the biggest I have caught on that little rod and it held up great. I have been wanting to catch a nice one on it because of how sensitive it is and now I finally have. Hopefully I can get a bigger one tomorrow. You fish the Little Arkansas, right?
yea. im up here by gus. as a matter a fact ive fished with him a time or too. i think i might call him up tonight and see if he wants to go.

[uttatoo]

get your gear and head this way we can catch bait then head out

[uttatoo]

well we started the night wrong by getting our bait about 15minutes before dark the bugs where bad and boy i just felt like telling donnie and chubs ok boys lets scratch this trip and start over
well i didnt want to disapoint them so off we went to a hole that has produced alot of flatties in the past for me
now the water is still up and i wasnt sure what kind of action i would get so we took toads ,shad,greenies,sunfish,for bait
at the start of the night chubs got 4-5 bites on his toad and shad but missed his fish every time
donnie got a nice bite on shad that bent his pole over but never did get the hook set
as for me at midnight i was ready to go home but the boys just kept wishing to see a flathead on rod and reel
so i stayed
and about 12:30 my pole started to move and i watched as inch by inch my pole loaded up then bam FISH ON
nice 5lbflatie on a sunfish
about 1:15 my pole bent again but just bounced then looked over at my second pole and wow it was bent over and tangled with my first
it was a whopper about 2-3lbs
after waiting about another hour we left
before it was all said and done i told the boys what you have seen me do today take to your favorite hole and do it there and have alot of patience because thats what it takes to be a flathead fisherperson
donnie hope you had fun

[uttatoo]

here is one picture of donnie holding my 5 lbr

[arkrivercatman]

Gus, you are a good man to take the young ones fishin with ya. My night was a lot like yours. I did hook into a nice one that would have gone 12-15 lbs but he got off when he broke water. About an hour after that I got a small flathead(2-3lbs) and then I got a 4 lb channel. This was just at dark. I got one more bite around 11 and we left a little after midnight. All were caught on green sunfish. The channel hit a 5 incher.Nice night to be on the river, there was only a slight breeze. I actually wish it was stronger because it was humid as he!! with all this rain we have been gettin. I am waiting for the rain to stop now and then I will be back out.

[n2fishn]

Hey, at least you guys caught some cats i got skunked last night.

I did have some X-rated campers right beside me or anyhow it sounded X-rated with the sounds coming out of their tent.
Real quite night last night and the sounds were travleing.:cool2:

It's about time to pay these kitty cats back in a few days:wink:

[uttatoo]

kyle that flathead in your hands looks like mine that we didnt take a picture of

[uttatoo]

oh by the way the noodlers are out i think thats why the bite was so late they where being chased by humans during the day seen bare foot prints in the mud and a guy leaving on foot with a burlap bag over shoulder when we pulled up

[arkrivercatman]

Man Tom, I bet that was interesting.:smile2: Gus, do people noodle alot there? Its illegal to do on the Arkansas until you get to south Wichita, all the way to the OK border. I have yet to see any here but hear that people do. Maybe that guy will get bit by a beaver next time.:wink::smile2: I dont see a problem with it if its legal but people dont care either way. It makes it real hard to do everything by the book when you see everybody else making up their own rules. Oh well, I cant afford a big ticket and I did see a game warden down in Winfield last week. I havent seen one on a river here in a LONG time.

[channelkatman]

well we started the night wrong by getting our bait about 15minutes before dark the bugs where bad and boy i just felt like telling donnie and chubs ok boys lets scratch this trip and start over
well i didnt want to disapoint them so off we went to a hole that has produced alot of flatties in the past for me
now the water is still up and i wasnt sure what kind of action i would get so we took toads ,shad,greenies,sunfish,for bait
at the start of the night chubs got 4-5 bites on his toad and shad but missed his fish every time
donnie got a nice bite on shad that bent his pole over but never did get the hook set
as for me at midnight i was ready to go home but the boys just kept wishing to see a flathead on rod and reel
so i stayed
and about 12:30 my pole started to move and i watched as inch by inch my pole loaded up then bam FISH ON
nice 5lbflatie on a sunfish
about 1:15 my pole bent again but just bounced then looked over at my second pole and wow it was bent over and tangled with my first
it was a whopper about 2-3lbs
after waiting about another hour we left
before it was all said and done i told the boys what you have seen me do today take to your favorite hole and do it there and have alot of patience because thats what it takes to be a flathead fisherperson
donnie hope you had fun
gus you are THE MAN!!! i had a blast fishing and so did chubs. if you wanted to go home anytime during the night it wouldent have bothered me. i really apreciate you taking us fishing though. ive learned alot of things from you that will help me alot in my fishing hole. but like i said im really glad i got to go fishing with you, and hopefully next time we will all get ahold of a biggun. THANKS!!!

[uttatoo]

dont worry about it im just feeling my age and my knee gives me problems
next time i will be ready with my bug spray i hate bugs especially the ones that bite
plus if i would have gone home i would have never caught the twothat i did catch

[arkrivercatman]

Went this afternoon for a couple of hours. The first two I hooked ran into a snag and got off.:angry:I did manage to get 2 more though. A channel and a flat, both weighed about 3 pounds. Both caught on live green sunfish in about 2 feet of water.Nothin too exciting but atleast they were CATS!:wink:

[uttatoo]

thanks to donnie i caught enough bait for our next trip this coming weekend
needed 25 more carp and we got 30 give or take a few so my thanks to the kid
would have took him my honey hole and maybe caught some fish but my truck broke down and by the time i figured it out we went to the dam and there where people there and we fished about 15nminutes then left just felt like the good spots where taken up and i hate sharing ha ha

[channelkatman]

im just glad we did get your truck running. kinda sucks that your pump is only a month old and already broke on you. anyway im going to get some bugspray to. i dont like the little critters at all. anyway we still got all summer to fish so dont worry about going to your honey hole. we can still do that in the future. also glad i could help you catch your carp...next time we will take a better seine though.

[arkrivercatman]

Went to the Big river today and hooked into a channel that would have went 15 or so. Lost him at the bank.:angry: He didnt feel very big but as soon as he got close he went crazy and popped my line. Biggest channel I have "caught" in awhile. Well I had to vent so there it is. Hopefully tonight goes a little better.

[uttatoo]

we feel your pain in my house never easy to loose a fish that size

[arkrivercatman]

It was a BIG channel. I got him to within a foot of the bank and got to see his head. Thats all I needed to see to know that he was a nice one.

[Storm27m]

Man, I gotta get back out and get some fishing in. My schedule has been crap lately. I've gotta get new bait too. The pump on my bait tank quit for no reason (unplugged and replugged and now it works?) and all my bait died off overnight. It was the night that I restocked too. At least it sounds like the bite has picked up lately.

[uttatoo]

im pissed the two flaties i had in my bait tank tore up my bait last night killed 4 carp 3 bullheads and almost all my minnows the reason i know they did it is because they where where all iether cut in half or smooshed

[n2fishn]

Shame on you Gus for turing them poor flatties loose with a bunch of wild crazed carp and bullheads:big_smile:.\

Kyle sounds like you need to beef up the line a little.Hate to have my line break on a big cat.

[uttatoo]

hey donnie the river is going back down and by thursday it will be perfect for us to go to dartmouth
if get around to going to the creek again catch somemore carp for us to use if you want we can go friday night and camp out there and fish off the boat but if not just let me know i am going to leave town for the blue on sat.11:00am and coming home around noon sun. as long as i get home sat before 11:00am i will be ok

[uttatoo]

tom i think they regret it today i ate them for lunch

[n2fishn]

Wicket revenge Gus...I bet they even tasted a little better with the carp/bullhead feeding they did last night.:big_smile:

[uttatoo]

i even saved some for my two new young friends donnie and chubs since they helped land them two monsters that night

[n2fishn]

Your a good guy Gus...Now tell Donnie to go get you some more bait being his fish he helped catch ate all your bait..Hee!Hee!

[uttatoo]

tom you know i make catching bait fun but its hard work as donnie learned but hey when you get on the water and you have good bait and you catch a fish its all wellworth while just he has alot of spunk and reminds me of me when i was his age
in the summer i spent every spare hour on the rivers and streams in california fishing

[Kansas Tree Rat]

Never hurts to let the little lady best you once in awhile.

[channelkatman]

hey donnie the river is going back down and by thursday it will be perfect for us to go to dartmouth
if get around to going to the creek again catch somemore carp for us to use if you want we can go friday night and camp out there and fish off the boat but if not just let me know i am going to leave town for the blue on sat.11:00am and coming home around noon sun. as long as i get home sat before 11:00am i will be ok
ill go a little on thursday night gus and we might spend the night friday if ya want. ill catch some more gills and whatnot. i get paid next monday and when i buy my new subwoofers for my truck with what i got left i might buy some no rolls and a few of them netlights if you would be willin to part with a few. we will just have to see what happens.

[arkrivercatman]

Kyle sounds like you need to beef up the line a little.Hate to have my line break on a big cat.[/quote]

I was using 25 pound test and it was just spooled last week. I was trying a new line. I dont like it and have already bought some new stuff. Hopefully it works out better and I dont lose anymore fish.

[uttatoo]

ill go a little on thursday night gus and we might spend the night friday if ya want. ill catch some more gills and whatnot. i get paid next monday and when i buy my new subwoofers for my truck with what i got left i might buy some no rolls and a few of them netlights if you would be willin to part with a few. we will just have to see what happens.
i will sell you mine if you want box and speaker for 50bucks

[uttatoo]

Kyle sounds like you need to beef up the line a little.Hate to have my line break on a big cat.

I was using 25 pound test and it was just spooled last week. I was trying a new line. I dont like it and have already bought some new stuff. Hopefully it works out better and I dont lose anymore fish.[/quote]
try spider wire works good for me

[arkrivercatman]

I am a mono man!LOL. I was trying that Eagle Claw premium high vis green crap because it was on sell. I can see why. If I would have had my net I would have had him. Flatheads are easier to pull out with your hands. Channels splash around too much!:smile2:

[uttatoo]

i try to always use the net just have lost somegood ones without it before but i respect the fact you use mono its just my preference to use spider wire and have not lost many fish since i changed over

[Dsage]

Did some one mention subs! Man now your talking my 2 favorite things fishing and stereo systems.

[uttatoo]

Did some one mention subs! Man now your talking my 2 favorite things fishing and stereo systems.
yup i have a 10 in my truck with a amp250 but i am ready for just something different

[uttatoo]

kyle next time take donnie with you he is good at netting fish especially after i told him head first and take the light off the water use the net light ha ha

[arkrivercatman]

I was by myself, that does make it a lil harder.

[Dsage]

Gus I have had more system than I even dare to thing about. I was really in to the sound of shows a few years ago and I went all over hitting show and competing. I still have most of the stuff that I used just laying around the house here and there. The big system was all Fosgate and I was running 16 12's and they were powered by 4 Punch Power 800's. Fosgate kinda hooked me up with some crazy amps that would push out some power.. The system was running 16+ volts to the amps. i was running 2 300plus amp altsand a ton of batteries. It was crazy loud for the time. I had fun doing it but know I look back at all the money I dropped into it and think that I could have nice new big boat with that money. I still tinker with the stereo stuff building custom boxes for show vehicles and the what not but not as much as I did back then.

[n2fishn]

I have a Kick Butt AM/fm raido system that picks up 580 real good if i'm a hill top:smile2::smile2:.

You guys are in to that stuff i did'nt even know what the heck you were talking about there for a min.
I thought you had somekind of new fishing gear:smile2:

[channelkatman]

Gus I have had more system than I even dare to thing about. I was really in to the sound of shows a few years ago and I went all over hitting show and competing. I still have most of the stuff that I used just laying around the house here and there. The big system was all Fosgate and I was running 16 12's and they were powered by 4 Punch Power 800's. Fosgate kinda hooked me up with some crazy amps that would push out some power.. The system was running 16+ volts to the amps. i was running 2 300plus amp altsand a ton of batteries. It was crazy loud for the time. I had fun doing it but know I look back at all the money I dropped into it and think that I could have nice new big boat with that money. I still tinker with the stereo stuff building custom boxes for show vehicles and the what not but not as much as I did back then.

i was going to buy 2 memphis 12''s from a friend but i might just endup buying gus's...hey gus you wanna sell your amp too? ill give ya 125 bucks for the box sub and amp. if you dont wanna sell the amp im not worried about it.

[arkrivercatman]

Yeah, last I checked this was a catfishin forum!

[arkrivercatman]

Went to the little river this mornin for a couple of hours. I caught a 3 lb channel and a 5 lb flathead, both on live perch. I got there at about a quarter to 6 and fished until a little after 8. I also had a good run but no hook-up. I love the river real early in the mornin. Its about as peaceful as you can get.

[uttatoo]

thats a nice flatie thanks for the picture

[n2fishn]

That little guy has his camo pattern going good...Thx for the pic

Kyle i agree there's something about a river early in the morning that can just get to a guy.Very good way to start your day!

[arkrivercatman]

Yeah I try to go in the am atleast twice a week, even if its only for an hour. Im fortunate enough to live within 10 minutes of some decent fishin. I havent caught very many that had the camo pattern like he did.It was a cool lookin flatty.

[yeppa]

When did they put a 6:00 in the morning too??

[arkrivercatman]

When did they put a 6:00 in the morning too??

You didnt get that e-mail?:smile2: