It's always seemed better fishing when the rivers rising but with the water so low here I think they are more concentrated at the head of the holes. Others catching alot also?
I prefer to fish high or rising water conditions for flatheads. My biggest flat was caught in high water conditions. Also caught 4 other descent size flats that same night.
I know you guys are fishing rivers, but I fish a lake and I like to see the water down 10' at times ,just so I can get out there and fish in the old river channels without having to anchor in super deep water.If the water is down 10' or so I can anchor out in the main lake and still fish in 40' of water .She's at full pool now and has been for a year so I'm mainly fishing on the upper arms of the lake.As far as the river goes ,I've always heard fish on the rise
Yes, I mostly fish the Ohio river, dont have to much experiences with the lakes and would agree that low water conditions would narrow it down some.
I dont fish the river too much here .... BUT its at an all time LOW which is scary ... not only for the wildlife but for Firefighters as well they use the river as a water source if they need water for a fire here .... normally the river would be at 12 feet or deeper ... in most spots .... now the deepest spot i found the other day was like 5 to 8 ..... and in some spots it was only inches .... not feet ... INCHES I fish alot of ponds in my area and all but one have dropped in water levels this summer .... im still catching fish mind you but im catching more fish at the pond that hasnt dropped than one that has .... I also noticed that there is more alge in the ponds that have dropped as well .... im sure this is because water is not circulating around like usual ... I hope we do get some rain soon ... if not we could be in trouble mike
When river lever rises thats feeder creek fishing time. fish the mouth of them feeder creeks and if you can get on up into them. catfish will and do head for the feeder creeks when this happens. If you can get up into the feeder creek try to locate the bends init and fish the the bend this will be the deeper area of the bend. if the bend truns to your right fish the left side of that be and the same gos for if the bend gos to your left fish the right side then. Reason for this being as water washes into the bend it washes away mud sand or whatever thats on the bank this cuts a deep area as it pushes it all away. If you can find the areas like this with down trees, brush, large rocks, in them fish them areas using cut shad creek chubs gills if ok by the law. Always keep the bait off bootom a foot or more this lets the catfish swim into the bait and suck it in and hold it longer. that gives you a chance at a better hook set also and helps the fish not to have to stand on it's head to get your bait and get a mouth full of sand. Hope this is to some help.
I'm glad to see you post that,it makes me fill better.I've said it a couple times ,but you're the first to concurr.I agree with ya,although I fish lakes I fish the river runs and the old channel the same as I would a fast river.You can't beat the fast sideof a oxbow or bend.
I fish a smaller creek and prefer low water. This markedly improves accessability and allows good wading.
I fish the Cape Fear river here in NC and i have always had better luck fishing when the river is on the rise.And like VAcatfish siad go to your feeder creeks.That is this best place to go after it rains cuase like he said it washes food off the banks and gets all the food they like to it moveing around in the water.Smaller cats during a fast rise in a river lets say several inches a day will concentrate in areas where they can escape the excessively heavy flow-scour holes, channel edges, and backwaters.Although they will still feed actively.But big cats they will go on feeding sprees as the river starts to rise or fall and they will move upstream and downstream while feeding.
I fish the Mississippi River primarily. I have found that our fishery gets better as the water level drops and the water temp hits 86 degrees or better. I caught this 60 pounder in my profile pic last week on a wing dyke on the Mississippi. I caught a 95 pounder with the same low water conditions back in 2001. I'm really beginning to suscribe to the water temp theory for the big fish aggressively feeding. Good Luck Fishin!!!
Thanks man many of your post has also helped me before. And o yeah i remember stomping mud holes dry as a kid. mom never like to see it rain when i was a kid she knew where i would be and what i would look like when i come to the house.
I did pretty good on the Cumberland today. It's been pretty slow the last week or two, but yesterday we had an evening storm and the water looked almost normal today. I caught close to 30lbs of fish between 1:00pm - 4:00pm, then more storms came, so I got off the water. Hopefully, today's storms will bring the same results tomorrow!
For me fishing is best when the water is on the rise and worst when the water is dropping. When the water is "stable", I usually do pretty well too.
I like high water because it brings the fish shallow into the bushes, though they do spread out. When a lake is low, the fish will be more concentrated in deeper spots.
i like normal or low water because the fish are always in the same spot,i have a hole where i catch them and always do, some days i catch alot some days i dont but there always there as when the water gets higher finding the fish is much harder and when you do it seems you only get a few then your looking again, i think it really depends how adatable you are, and the more experience the beter you do, i have alot more experience fishing low water so naturaly i do better in low water. i love fishing high water for many other species such as trout and bass, i think because you have to cover more water to begin with for the agressive predators like them,
i have a lot of feeder creeks round here if found good fishing at the mouths of them in the middle of the night
