[mokwepa]

Hi guys
First post for me.
I need some help with catching cats here in sa. Our winter is a bit different to most of yours. Below 0 at night, mid 20 celcius during the day, no rain or snow throught our winter.

I've been fishing every evening for about 6 days now with no reel success, 2 cats only. I've tried a few dip baits (sponge and worm), sardines, dough baits, sausages and nothing seems to bring them in.

Are there any tips for winter cats? Baits, size, presentation etc?

Any help will be appreciated.

Dylan

 

[wabah58]

Not sure if it's the same as far as winter fishing, from here to there, but here is what helps me. When it's real cold water in the winter here, on the river, I don't fish my summer spots. In the winter I fish a deeper hole that they hold in. They don't seem to move much from the hole, cold water wise. Bait: I like to use cut bait, (cut carp, or cut skip jack herrings) Use what ever smaller fish that is native in your waters. Cold water I down size my baits a bit, and the bite is real lite compared to the summer bite. I only use stink baits if I want smaller fish to eat, almost always use cut bait, or live blue gills if fishing for flathead cats. Goldfish will work too and you probably have those.

Summer we try and fish the current seems. Im not a pro fisherman, but thats what I do fishing on the Mississippi River in the winter.

Welcome to the site, lot of good info here.

 

[mintaka]

Also try menhaden and shad(if obtainable). During winter here , we fish discharges from powerplants and hydroelectric stations. The warmer water attracts baitfish...and so on. Are you near Drakenburg or Pallmere? If you are able to access the tailwaters , you may have a chance at landing monsters. At least the crocs are not a threat , but if there are discharges , then they may be around.
Good luck!!

 

[mokwepa]

Thanks guys for a quick response. So you recon, small baits in deaper water? The river I fish is natural and clean, no overflows of warm water.

I live on a game reserve on the botswana border (I'm a game ranger by trade)

 

[wabah58]

Can you give us the river and closest town, so we can look on Google earth? Maybe gps?

 

[BIG GEORGE]

Welcome. Whats the time difference there so we know when to catch ya? LOL! What kind of cats are ya after? Gotta be different than what we have.

 

[mokwepa]

The lodge where I work is
S 24' 39' 59"
E 26' 25' 38"

I fish a bit further NW of the lodge, about 2km. You will see where the road crosses the river, I fish off the bridge.

How do you establish where holes are?

 

[m slayton]

and what baits are you using at the moment? and what kind of cat fish are you trying to get and what 2 did you catch already ? and wow are you the one fishin/hunting or are you the fished / hunted one LOL< gl and be safe my friend

 

[m slayton]

you can cast to a spot and notice how much line goes out or reel it slowly accrost the bottom and as you hit a hole the line will fall closer to you ,, or river bends the out side edges often have a deep hole...

also a slip bobber can give you a rough estament on how deep it is

 

[mokwepa]

What I have tried is:
_Sardines
_Sausages
_ a dipbait made from sardine, chicken livers, garlic, tabasco, sherry, and kudu blood, I've used this on dip worms and sponges.
_ I've tried sausage and sardines in the dipbait aswell.

I will try salted and slightly dried chicken livers tonight.
We have some cats that we feed at the lodge and they are feeding very well on anything, no fishing allowed though.

Would the cats be more active mid day, when its not so cold?

 

[mokwepa]

Oh yes, the cats are "sharp toothed catfish", commonly known here as barbel (not the UK barbel though).

 

[Blacky]

Catch a small indigenous fish and put it on the hook.

 

[mokwepa]

Caught a african mottled eel tonight at about 18:45. He was 87cm, still no cats.

Caught the eel on garlic salted chicken livers hung in a biltong dryer for a day.

 

[m slayton]

take that eel and cut down to 2-3 peices and toss in your chicken liver container also ,

Sharptooth Catfish Information And Pictures (Clarias gariepinus)

that should help ya a bit

 

[tricitycatter]

BEHAVIOR
Widely resistant to challenging environmental conditions; the accessory labyrinthic organ allows clariid catfishes to breathe air under dry conditions. Favors shallow marginal areas, but may appear in the open; nocturnal. Capable of walking through dry land using tough pectoral fin spines. May also discharge electricity during intraspecific agonistic behavior.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Omnivorous bottom feeder, feeds on insects, fishes, crustaceans, mollusks, plankton, fruits, plants, small birds, and carrion. Occasionally feeds at the surface.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Migrates upstream or to lakeshores in large numbers to spawn immediately after the first heavy showers of the rainy season. Sexually dimorphic, both males and females have elongated sexual organs, but male organ has cone-shaped tip. Spawning is nocturnal in shallow waters; eggs, which have an adhesive disk and are less than 0.10 in (0.25 cm) long, are not protected. Eggs hatch in one or two days. Juveniles stay in shallow, protected waters for about six months, migrating downstream before their nursery area dries up.

 

[tricitycatter]

I would try natural baits, that is smaller fish & crustations found in the same waters, either whole or cut. I have no Idea what the water conditions are like but if the current is slow you might want to try using a bobber to float the bait eitrher just off the bottom or 3'-5' (feet) below the surface. one other idea would be to set up a trout line with various baits to see what they actually hit, then fish with those baits.

 

[mokwepa]

THanks for that info.

The eel was released unharmed. I have fished this river (in summer) for 8 years and have only started catching eels since march this year, so I'm quite keen on releasing them as I don't think there are many arround.

Fishing tonight again, going to try the livers again. I did downsize my bait last night when I caught the eel, that might be the trick. I was abnormally cold lastnight, but the cats were more active. I could hear them feeding but caught none. Now I'm really confused!

 

[m slayton]

the eel is GREAT cut bait ..... it was caught there along with any other bait you catch there try and use it as bait ... or rather what are you looking for ??? are you just wanting to catch any thing? or are you targeting big fish? all this info helps us help you.

store bought baits tend to get the small guys bitting, wile natural bait as in fish crustations and eel stuff like that will get the bigger fish .. that being said you have better luck chasing the small ones seems how there are many more small fish then big fish.

but i asure you that big fish is well worth the wait ,once you hook one i am gona bet you'll be the one hooked gl and fish how U wanna . i just send ideas

 

[mokwepa]

Thanks slayton,

I would like to target big cats, but not even the small guys are biting. Catching the eels, for me, is a bonus. I'm experimenting with different baits to try see what works. All that I have tried would have worked well in summer, I think that these cats are just not biting in this cold weather, I'm not sure? We have had some very cold weather over the last few days.

 

[m slayton]

here in florida our lake fishing in winter time is always better then fishing the summer so heres what you can try, smaller baits often are the best for winter time and you can target shallow water as they are trying to find warmer water and daytime fishing might actualy be worth the trip or 2... summer time the lake fishing turns to crap to ht a water and low oxeygen..

so if your looking for big ones then try some live bait 1-3 inch smaller bait fishes or even cut bait 1-2 inches and focus on the head/ brain peices or the gut sections and even the poor eel LOL don't limit yor self on what bait you try since rite now your just trying to identafy the bait they are wanting.. so try all the bait fish you can catch . and when you find one that produces cats use it more lol.

also what rig are you using? as in carolina rig or 3 way swivel, is the river bottom full of grass or snags? what kinda or how biga hook are you using and how heavy of line ?