[rmcavay]

Hi all,

I am posting this because I am in serious need of some help/advice/direction!! I recently picked up catfishing and an really struggling. I have been out about 6 times at the local ponds/lakes in wichita and have a single 15" channel to show for it. Does anyone on this site have any info as to where i can go and catch some good cats? I was advised NOT to eat fish from the Arkansas river....PLEASE HELP A GUY OUT!!!

Thanks in advance for your time and help!!

Ryan

 

[bigd4xman]

Didn't know you can't eat the fish out of the Arkansas:question:. I'm really no help if you can't fish the river, never been much of a pond fisherman unless its for bass or bait fish.

 

[rmcavay]

yeah I know you cant eat Arkansas fish. I would fish in rivers but am so new to the area that i wouldnt even know where to begin. Are there any good public rivers around wichita that is safe to keep fish from?

 

[kansasoutdoors]

Ryan,

Welcome to the site. I sent you a pm. There is a gentlemen from the site that was offerring to let people fish his pond to get some of the channels out. I can't remember where he was located (Mulvane?), but I know you're closer than I am. Rummage through the threads and you should be able to find it. If not, surely someone else remembers who that was.......

 

[bigd4xman]

I'm pretty sure fish from the Ninescah are safe to eat but don't know what the public fishing situation is like on it. Maybe some more of the Wichita guys will jump in and let you know. Arkrivercatman especially. Good luck to ya, my dad used to catch some nice eating size channel out of the KDOT ponds.

 

[TonyInKS]

Around here (Lawrence) the channels are just now starting to bite pretty good, if you're after channels, I'd suggest using chicken livers on a treble hook, if you're after flatheads, then fish the river's and use large live bait, flathead fishing is EXTREMELY frustrating though, just so ya know,lol, channels are usually pretty easy to catch, and they're good eating too, so I'd say go with either livers, or dough bait or spunge/punch bait, they seem to produce pretty well, but from my experience it's hard to beat chicken livers for channels, hope this helped ya a little, and hope you start catching when you go fishing! Just keep going man, sooner or later you'll figure it out, and or get lucky,lol.

 

[Matt77]

best advice is don't worry about eating them... do it for the sport. You need to get away from them ponds and lakes and fish the river. Get some heavy pyramid/ bank sinkers prob 2 to 4 ounces. Make ya some sort of carolina rig with a 4/0 J bait holder hook and a good size gill head.

 

[leatherpuke]

If you're just after eater size channels, try some secret 7 dip bait or sonny's on a dip tube. There are also about 10 million different recipes for bait on the internet, some work, some just stink up your truck. Try them out and see what works in the water you're fishing.

If you want some bigger fish, like big blues, get yourself a cast net and start catching your own shad. With smaller shad, like 2-4 inches, just cut them in half and stick them on a big 5/0 hook. I like using just the heads but some guys like using the tail ends too.

If you get the bigger shad, like 10 inches, cut them into steaks and use LARGE pieces on a big hook.

The best thing you can do though, is hook up with some of the guys on here and fish with them. I've learned everything I know about catfishing by going out and spending time with the people from this forum. There is alot more to catfishing than just throwing something stinky in the water and waiting.

Be patient, do your research, and don't be afraid to experiment. Most of all, spend as much time learning your home water as you can. A little bit of studying will pay big dividends in the long run.

Good luck and tight lines!

 

[KS_catwoman]

I'm pretty sure fish from the Ninescah are safe to eat but don't know what the public fishing situation is like on it. Maybe some more of the Wichita guys will jump in and let you know. Arkrivercatman especially. Good luck to ya, my dad used to catch some nice eating size channel out of the KDOT ponds.

The Ninnescah is a good river to fish, but it's entirely private property and pretty much no one (at least not around here) allows access anymore. Sadly, too many idiots have peed in the pool & spoiled things for everyone else.

rmcavay, send me a PM. I know several decent spots in the Wichita area, and can probably help you out.

 

[smhmc6]

I am from Andover and used to fish the community lakes around Wichita alot. Used to fish KDOT east and the one at woodlawn and K96. I don't fish there much anymore, but when I fished KDOT east the best spot there was the northwest corner of the pond. Couple years ago it was pretty easy to catch a limit of eaters using nightcrawlers. I'm not sure they stock those ponds as heavily as they used to though and they get alot of pressure. I have nothing to prove that, but if I go back and fish those same spots I usually don't catch as many fish.

If you're looking for bigger fish close to Wichita, I would suggest the river. Live bluegills or green sunfish and shad will be your best baits most of the time. Shad will catch channels, but I also catch alot of channels on live gills/sunfish while waiting on flatheads to bite. You are right about not eating the fish though. I think theres something on the KDWP website somewhere called "are my fish safe to eat" or something like that if you are interested in what waters you shouldn't eat fish from. I was going to post a link, but can't access their website for some reason. Hope this helps.

 

[rwg]

Welcome to the usca/boc, Ryan, I live in Wichita, also. There are lots of good small lake that are close to Wichita that are good fishing. Butler County, is a good one, I caught the fish in my avitar there on Memorial day, some of the city parks are good also. Hang around here and get to know some of these folks and you'll be catching more fish than you can clean

 

[rmcavay]

Thanks everyone for your help! I will certianly take all the advice I can get! I did have a bit of luck this weekend. Went to Marion and hammered the walleye, the biggest being 25in. he is back in the lake tho. Also landed a 6lb channel.

 

[Katatonik]

Good luck to ya, brother and may the cats find your bait more often in the future!
I am in a slump myself. The good news is that eventually it will be your night and
you will be gone from your house but 2 hrs and come back with a limit to dress!
Keep your fillet knife sharp and your face in the wind!

 

[bluejay]

Welcome to the USCA Ryan.

 

[arkrivercatman]

I wouldnt reccomend eating fish from the river around Wichita, atleast not alot of it. Good fishin for fun, just not for food.
If you want to go fishin sometime just let me know. Not sure if I can help you much, but it will be fun tryin.:laugh:

 

[m slayton]

also find the clsest river to you and catch some blue gillswith bread moistened and kneed the bread n the hook's barb smaller bread - smaller bream or gill also cut any bait over 3 inches in to 2 peices if targeting channels any thing bigger then 3inches they have a hard time gettin the bait in there cake hole.

also try skip jacks, shad and shinners whole or cut down if to big eveen gold fish or carp pretty much any thing thats not store bought will provide bigger cats.

liver is the key to planty of eater sized cats and bull heads love it, so i use only fish for bait since i want bigger cats.

also contact you local game warden and ask him for a contact card then do some phone tag and get the bio. department and ask if the fish are safe to eat the fish in that spot .[some one could me pulling you leg] .

wile your on the phone with the bio. department ask them wheres a good starting point for the cats your wanting to target, the bio. department is the people who stock lakes or ponds and also they take samples of fish from the rivers and will have a god idea where you should start gl bud... if your using livers then try fresh or frozen live or dead cut baits that should cut out the lil guys or bait stealers

 

[257bob]

also find the clsest river to you and catch some blue gillswith bread moistened and kneed the bread n the hook's barb smaller bread - smaller bream or gill also cut any bait over 3 inches in to 2 peices if targeting channels any thing bigger then 3inches they have a hard time gettin the bait in there cake hole.

also try skip jacks, shad and shinners whole or cut down if to big eveen gold fish or carp pretty much any thing thats not store bought will provide bigger cats.

liver is the key to planty of eater sized cats and bull heads love it, so i use only fish for bait since i want bigger cats.

also contact you local game warden and ask him for a contact card then do some phone tag and get the bio. department and ask if the fish are safe to eat the fish in that spot .[some one could me pulling you leg] .

wile your on the phone with the bio. department ask them wheres a good starting point for the cats your wanting to target, the bio. department is the people who stock lakes or ponds and also they take samples of fish from the rivers and will have a god idea where you should start gl bud... if your using livers then try fresh or frozen live or dead cut baits that should cut out the lil guys or bait stealers

Good advice, but you don't need to go any further than your computer to get all the information. The KS Biologists put all that information right on the KDWP website. Fishing forcasts for every body of water and species and there is a section about unsafe fish to eat. Kansas has a pretty good website....fishing forecast, reports, where to fish, and stocking reports. If you dig around on their website and this one you will catch fish, all the information is there.

 

[Gatr]

Hi all,

I am posting this because I am in serious need of some help/advice/direction!! I recently picked up catfishing and an really struggling. I have been out about 6 times at the local ponds/lakes in wichita and have a single 15" channel to show for it. Does anyone on this site have any info as to where i can go and catch some good cats? I was advised NOT to eat fish from the Arkansas river....PLEASE HELP A GUY OUT!!!

Thanks in advance for your time and help!!

Ryan

You can try Cheney Reservoir west of Wichita. I used to fish the small coves on the northeast side and the Ninescah river that feeds in from the north (entrance across from Fred's bait shop). Caught several double digit channels in those areas.