[austin "catfish" J.]

Im 16 and new to blue catfishing but love it and was hopeing for some advice on how to catch the big ones at lake of the ozarks? My best is a 11lb blue and have caught sevral 5lb blue by just drifting down the lake with fresh cut or whole live shad.
Thanks.

 

[benwebber]

hey welcome man, i started targeting blues when i was sixteen as well... obviously it depends where on the lake you are fishing, but i mostly fish around warsaw where there is current coming out of truman. you can never go wrong with shad being that it is the most abundant bait around. for your bigger fish, live shad is always best.... i usually try to find breaks in the current... are you fishing from a boat or the bank? i also recommend rigging up with your weight below the hook. keeps the bait off the bottom. If im not using live shad, i like to use the heads... they seem to work the best and stay on the hook best. i hook my shad in one eye and out the other thattaway the fish has to break the hook through the skull to get your bait off. Drum seem to work well too. I would recommend fishing around the dam if you are fishing from the bank... you can learn a lot from the guys that fish in that area but you need to have the gear for it. From the bank i would have a rod that is at least ten foot and can reach the current breaks. Welcome to the site and you will learn a lot from the guys that post on here!

 

[Mi11er]

Welcome to the BOC Austin!! Nice to meet ya

 

[spoonfish]

Your on the right track with drifting Austin but try spider rigging, aka bottom bouncing. Use enough weight to keep your lines straight down, 8 oz. or so depinding on the current and use live shad. A 3 way swivel rig or a drop loop to your hook above the weight. If all else fails try lil smokies and jugs, J/K. Welcome to the site and good luck out there....

 

[bluejay]

Welcome to the board Austin. Good info above.

 

[spoonfish]

Normally June is about the slowest month here as you can see from lack of posts lately because of the spawn. You can still catch them as they dont all go at once but a lot of them are stacked up at the dam now and other areas spawning Any time after the 4th of July they will pick back up and thats a good time to use big cut baits as well as shad and FISH AT NIGHT. With the water discharge we have coming thru the dam from Truman july and august will be very good here. Carp fillets and bluegill heads are my two favorites and even drum fillets work in the summer months. You wont catch as many useing these big cut baits as you will with shad but the ones you do will normally be good fish so try a rod or two with cut bait as well as some with shad. If you spend enough time the next month or two anchored below the dam AT NIGHT or spider rigging below the dam at night useing cut and live baits I bet we see you with a new PB or two. Good luck out there....

 

[big cat matt]

good post troy,its been slow for me on the upper end.Went to today had lil ones and a few hybird bass.I should have went after the crappie!!

 

[austin "catfish" J.]

Thanks for all the help guys, If it helps enyone with advice i am fishing around the 70 mile marker

 

[Kjakubeck3165]

I fish at the lake of the ozarks too. My best blue cat was a 24.4 lbs caught by just using a slip sinker rig at the end of my dock with an 8/0 hook. I catch most of
my blue cats on cut Shad. Not so much on live Shad.good luck!

 

[love2catfish]

Maybe that's why I can't catch anything. I've been trying little smokies. I didn't see the "jk" part of Troy's message! LMAO

 

[Jcharlton]

welcome 2 the site austin. think youll learn a lot hanging out here

 

[Jcharlton]

lot of times ill rig one rod with a big live shad hooked thru the nose and another rod rigged with a shad head. them live shad will get u some big blues or flatheads, gotta be alive tho and i check mine about every thirty minutes.

 

[illinoiscatfish]

i will be down at osage beach in september on a little fishin trip and i would like to do some drift fishing for blues. anyone fish around osage know of some spots u would try?

 

[beeheck]

Hey illinoiscatfish, I'm on the 5MM and know a couple places that might work for you. You would be fishing from the 4MM on the main channel to about the 6MM. If this sounds like the area your thinking about email me at [email protected]. I don't check emails daily but can give you some areas to look for and try. Been slow for us, heat and rain I guess but it's been slow. Just got back Monday 08/02 I think and didn't fish a lot but did catch some 3-6lb blues but the places I can tell you about have produced bigger fish over the years we fished them.