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CATFISH!!


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Well, all you catfish lovers should be hitting the Horseshoe Chain this weekend. I put my boat in this evening to make sure everything was working for my big trip to SD this weekend. But, I could not resist trying for cats. To make a long story short I fished for and hour and boated 17 cats. The biggest was 8.9 lbs. Nothing huge but great fun. They are really wild right now in the shallows. Come and get em!! Oh, I was suprised at the temperature in the bays, awfully cold yet, it is going to take a day or two to bring the panfish in, in good numbers that is. Good luck to all and use the 71 access, the 22 access is flooded.ScottS

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ScottS
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Scotts
Any place in paticlar you caught those cats I would like to get a few to try smokeing them.what seem to work the best for bait
jimBo

[This message has been edited by jimBo (edited 04-27-2001).]

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Jimbo- Sorry it took my so long to resond, I was out in SD fishing. I did check a few spots from shore last night and they were still there. The best bet for shore fishing would be along Hwy 22, on the left side of the Road, after you turn off Hwy 23 by the River Roost. That area is called the flats.ScottS

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ScottS
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My friend and I also caught a bunch of cats from shore yesterday. The action was pretty consistant. The size of the cats were mostly in the 1-2 lb. range with a few pushing 4 lbs. I would like to find some spots that hold some bigger cats.
ScottS, When you said that you were fishing along Hwy 22 on the left side of the road do you mean the shallow bay on the left side of the road across the road from boat access?

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Jimbo,
For bait we were using nightcrawlers and piecies of minnows on the bottom. Good to talk to you the other day. Let me know how you do if you go out again. AJ

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Yes, I am talking about that shallow bay East of the 22 access. It is referred to as the Flats. That area is full of cats right now, but they will not be in there long, the water is warming up fast in there. It also is one of the best spots on the Chain to find huge carp. They are in there all summer and they spawn in there.ScottS

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ScottS
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I have found that the bigger cats are usually in the River potions of the Chain. I have done especially well in areas "up" the river, that are very hard to get to by boat. For this type of catfishing, I prefer a Jig and minnow. However, there are other options, fishing late in the evening, bigger baits. You have to remember that the cats in the Chain are relatively new and the bulk of the population is of the smaller size, less than 4 pounds. ScottS

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ScottS
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I wanted to thank you for your tip about the Horse Shoe Chain. I went there Sat. morning. Started fishing at 7:00 and was packing up at 8:00 a.m. with 5 three pounders. I really appreciate the info.

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