Report: Black Dog.

[River Runner Z]

nice looking fish I was out there for a little bit last night and caught a decent 7 to 8 lb channel

[wastewaterguru]

What time were you out there??

LFC and I were downriver and came back to the ramp around 12 or 12:30

Just one channel for us last night.

[River Runner Z]

me and flaco where only there till about 1130 1200

[Ouchless]

I was there twice this week and I saw some lights. I knew that these could be fellow FM'ers. I was down by about 1/4 mile. Both nights channels were biting and we managed to land 11, 17 and 18 pounders along with 5-8 smaller ones. I kind of missing a nice flathead. Well, maybe tonight. I am going there in an hour or so. You can recognize me by my head light. I bought it at Moore's and it is one of these 3-in-1 (red, halogen and spot). So if you see a disco ball - it's me

P.S. The foggy night was just surreal, I could see thick fog rolling up the river from around the corner, as if someone turned a giant fog mashine on.

[Ouchless]

We saw you flashing a spotlight on the opposite bank as you approached the landing, like you were looking for something. Am I right?

[Scott M]

Is Black Dog the same spot (Black Dog Road) as the Lyndale (end of Lyndale) Launch?

[Larry FlatCaster]

Quote:

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We saw you flashing a spotlight on the opposite bank as you approached the landing, like you were looking for something. Am I right?

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Ouchless,

I think that you saw me and WWG

We saw you guys sitting on the bank.

We were checking out some of the different structures on the banks.

the fog was pretty thick that night.

Hope we weren't too annoying with the spot.

thanks

LFC

[Ouchless]

Quote:

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Hope we weren't too annoying with the spot.

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Not at all

Here's the biggest I caught that night - 18lb.. And exactly same the night before. Note the beer belly on that one

But no cats this morning - I will go back to the night fishing...

[PierBridge]

OMG...nice Kittie Ouchless what did you catch it on?

[Ouchless]

Bleeding shad There is plenty of shad right there, just scoop 'em from the river. I'm sure going to freeze some for later...

Here is the picture of the one I caught the night before. SHe rolled herself in the send as I was digging for the camera, But I washed her down before releasing:

[Larry FlatCaster]

Nice fish Mate!!!!!

I might have to take you out on the boat one of these days and see what we can do out in the current.

thanks for sharing

LFC

[Ouchless]

I'd love to join you! There are some spots I was eyeing for a while, thinking "if only I was in the boat..."

[Ouchless]

Wednesday night I was using #7/0 gamakatsu octopus circle hooks ($13 for a 25 pack - could I get it cheaper?), and closed my drag to see how fish is going to hook itself. My friend landed 11 lb. channel, I landed two 4 lb sheepsheads, two flats (4 1/2 and 14 pounder) and one 13 pound channel. All but the last channel were hooked in the corner of the mouth, but I think in the future I'll leave a drag open and clicker on, because if the line loads too fast, than the hook penetrates the lip very close to the outside. One 10-15 pounder escaped after 10-20 seconds of fight and I think it was because the fish did not have time to get the shad deep enough. You can see what I'm talking about on the pictures. Also, note how the channel got hooked - from the outside. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is because she grabbed the part of the shad without the hook and poked herself while running away. Great job by the circle hook!

P.S. Racoons are getting more and more obnoxious. If this continues the way it is heading, then they just going to chase us away from our bait bucket and have themself a feast, with us watching them from the bushes, meekly wating for their meal to be over I'm gonna get myself a slingshot or a bb.

[aanderud]

Nice job with the smorgasboard. Sheepies, channels, flats, and nice size on all of em! Those fish sound pretty nice! By the looks of it, seems like you were lucky to get a couple of those in. Barely hooked, as you said.

[avidfisher]

Hi everyone. I have not went fishing for catfish since i lived in oklahoma 15 years ago. I will see if i can tranfer a picture of my grandfathers 86 pound catfish that he caought noodeling in the arkansa. Anyway my question is where and what time and kind of set up and bait would one use now days, back then we used or own dough bait which i don,t remember how to make. I am not looking for primo spots that would enjoy catching a few and also is the rivers catch and release? Thanks for any help. Is this area off of 35w and blackdog?

[Ouchless]

Last night I regained confidence in circle hooks - one flathead=25 Lb and one channel=8 Lb. And all hooked just right, deep in the corner of the mouth.

[erickol]

Hello,

I just read the string of posts from the beginning of the thread to the end (even though I've been following along real time too).

Man, you are doing something right down there. I have fished up and down the river along that stretch all summer, off and on, and have NO flats at all! A few small channels, carp, sheeps....but no flats.

I have had some luck way up river, but I live in Minneapolis, so I'm hoping to crack the code just for the sake of gas money.

Have you had much luck with shad as cut bait or do you only use fresh netted?

I'm hoping to get down there at least one night this week. Any other FMers going to be in that neck of the woods? Eric

[Ouchless]

The exact reason to start the thread was to share (some bragging comes alone - hey, this IS fisherman forum). So read on, soak detales, compare what others do to what you are doing in similar settings. At least, that what I do. For example, I'd never gave circle hooks a try before seeng couple fellow FMers discussion on here.

About bait: shad seems to be the hottest ticket in this particular area. Of course, freshly netted and cut shad is the best, but there were many times when i'd cut and cast my last precious biggest live shad just to hook a &^%# sheepshead, and then catch a big flathead with desperately gathered scraps. But shad is not always easy to get. So next time I am going there, I'll catch some and freeze it for later. The problem with frozen ones, beside the obvious, is that they don't hold on the hook as good. I've had luck with suckers too. Also, if you master the art of hooking chicken liver this is the runner up to win you a big channel and, maybe a flathead. When I am out of shad or don't know if I'll catch any I bring liver with.

One thing is 100% sure helps - spend more time fishing for catfish and be prepared every time you cast. This means right line (65lb is the risky minimum), sharp hook (check and re-sharpen if needed every time you cast), correctly set clicker/drag. Also, if I'm out there by myrself, then I try to make the most of one rod allowed - change bait every 20 min or so.

P.S. The prime time for a monster cat is during the first hour after your friends got tired and left The two cats in the last post wire caught 10 and 40 minutes after saying good bye to my guys

[Grant]

as always, awesome report Ouchless.

Can I contact you off-forum? have a question I'd like to run past you. email at [email protected]

Grant

[Ouchless]

email sent.

[Ouchless]

Got 28 pounder flathead and four channels ranging from 8 to 2 pounds. The same deal: shad, circle hook, etc. This one was a fighter!

[erickol]

I was down there from 7:30 to 11:30 last night. One big drum, around ten pounds, and one flathead around 8 pounds, lots of odd nibbles all on shad. Have you been hitting many turtles down there? One big shad was cut cleanly in half. Must have been a turtle.

My buddy had a few decent hits, but nada.

[Ouchless]

We were fishing from 6 till about 2am. You could have txt/call me and I'd meet you. It was kind of weird how it got warm after midnight, I even had to take jacket off and almost got rid of my lucky sweater too. Turtles - I have never hit one down there...

[erickol]

Will do, I might make it out sunday night, if I don't hit the Mississippi. Otherwise next week for sure. Email me.... [email protected].

[Grant]

it's looking like Sunday is a go for me as well.... I can be reached at [email protected]

[erickol]

The storm was coming in tonight. fished from 9-11. One smallish (26") channel and one (10-12lbs?) flathead that spit the hook as I was getting her on shore.

I guess that means I have the skunk off for this part of the river, depending on one's definition of catching a fish. I touched it, so it was good enough for me.

[vikingmeatwad]

Dang Ouchless, you are still kicking some butt down there. I bought a boat since I last talked to you on here and have been chasing lake fish but I still want to come down and try for cats sometime soon. Do you usually fish weeknites or weekends?

later

[Ouchless]

Had a very busy week, so here's last sunday:

I got there at 10.30 pm, caught some shad, chased racoons away and got that channel around midnight, plus 3-5 small channels (around 2 or 3 lb each), two big carps, some sheepsheads. This channel catfish was about 11 pounds and had old hook stuck deep in her guts with a piece of line sticking out, so it took some time and whole set of tools to get it out gently. She can tell that she went to a late night dantist Also a carp had old hook with a leader and weird spring attached to it. So it was busy at the doctor's office...

I am heading down there right now for just a couple of hours to try some new gear. Most likely I'll be there sunday evening and, possibly all night till the morning.

[Ouchless]

Hi! I prefer weekdays because it gets too crowded over there on weekends. If it has to be weekend, than only night fishing. I caught nothing last fri. night - couldn't catch no shad and had no backup bait Right now I'll go and try to catch a bunch wile the sun is up to freeze for later use, bacause it looks like they will be gone soon, if not already.

[erickol]

Got out this morning and fished in the rain. Shad. Lots of debris in the water. Caught three decent channels, all around 26-27 inches, but fat.