Possible a Miracle?

[Gigmaster]

I can only advise as to what works down here, South. I usually go behind the spillway and tailraces. I use an 9-1/2' 8 wt. rod with a butt extension, with a Shooting Head and line (like for Tarpon and Bonefish) and a 6' 2X or 1X tippet. You don't need long tippets because catfish are not particularly line-shy.

I used to use a size 6 black clouser-style minnow, tied with ostritch herl instead of bucktail. But I have since made my own fly (I think) that resembles a shad. It's sort of like a Polor Minnow, but I use Angel Hair, or Puglisi Fibers, or whatever is on sale. I weight it with wire on the hook shank. I think any minnow imitaion that mimics the local forage fish will work. Crawfish patterns should work as well.


I fish in the evening, night or early morning before daylight. Double-Haul casting is very helpful here. I spray my fly very liberally with either Shad or Baitfish Smelly Jelly (whichever is appropriate), and cast upstream towards the turbines/locks. I allow it to drift, twitching it frequently to imitate a wounded fish just comming through the machinery. About every other drift, I will usually nail a cat, or sometimes a striper. Either way, it's pretty much 'hang on and pray'! They hit viciously and fast.

Here is the fun part. You must be able to move downstream when necesary. You cannot let the fish get downstream of you, because you can't pull against the weight of the fish and the current without damaging your rod and/or tippet. Usually, if you exert pressure to the upstream side, the fish will turn that way and stay upstream of you. You need to maneuver the fish to the shore where you can beach it, or net it. That's all there is to it. It's sort of like flats fishing on a budget!

One safety tip: You need to pay close attention to the sounds of the water. Some places open the gates with no warning. The sound level will go up, and next thing you know, you're knee-deep in fast water! Be prepared to move quickly.

If you go in, do not try to fight the current. ( I am an expert at this) Just ride it until you can get out. Almost every spillway I have ever seen has shoals 1/8-1/4 mile downstream where you can pull yourself out. I have been dunked over a dozen times, and have never even lost my fly rod, or fish. If worse comes to worse though, lose the rod as a last resort. You can always buy another rod, but if you drown, your loved ones are going to be real mad at you.

The same techniques work for freshwater stripers. Just go in the daytime. I usually catch a mixture of both.

This is probably not for everyone. It is very intense living in a short time period.

Next month, I am going Shark-Fishing with my fly rod from my Kayak down in Fla. That's gonna be fun! I'll submit a report and pictures when I get back.

Semper Fi!

[Mark k]

Gigmaster, That sounds like a winner. All I have to do is tye up flashy minnow patterns and wait for the Mississippi to get low enough to fish from the dikes.

[Gigmaster]

I've never fished the Mississippi, but if it has catfish, it'll work. Anywhere you can find cats in the shallows, you can nail them on a fly.

Semper Fi!

[white43]

Farm ponds? Compared to tailrace fishing . . . but have you tried the fly in farm ponds with the same success? JGW

[dudley]

I got the 2007 Madison river Fishing Company catalogue in today.
On page 46 of the catalogue, in their flies section, they have 12 carp flies for sale. I had to look twice to make sure.

I saw this as well. I had to see what they looked like

[Gigmaster]

Farm ponds? Compared to tailrace fishing . . . but have you tried the fly in farm ponds with the same success? JGW

I haven't fished any farm ponds for decades. I wouldn't use that particular pattern in a farm pond (unless it had a healthy population of Threadfin Shad). I'd tie a minnow that imitates the local forage fish, or I'd go back to my black Ostrich Clouser.

I have also thought of just dubbing a large amount of absorbant dubbing on a hook, sort of like a large egg pattern, and spraying it with Berkley Catfish scent, or Catfish Smelly Jelly, and just doing a dead drift. I will try that this week and let you know how it worked.

I got the idea for these techniques from the Strike King, and Little Stinker Catfish Lures. If it works for them, It should work just as good on a fly rod.

Semper Fi!

[Gigmaster]

I was on a another post for a fly swap with the Mara Blonde Patterns. It's sort of a hobby of mine. Just for beans, this afternoon, I tried my Mara Blonde color pattern for catfish, and to be fair, I did not go to the tail races, but in the lake proper. And I used the same one pictured that has already caught more than 20 fish.



All I did was spray it with Shad Smelly Jelly and twitch it slowly along the bottom in <10' of water, along the rip raps. This is what happened in 10 minutes.



It took me about 4 minutes to get him in, at which time I had a small crowd of spectators. I had an Army Corps of Engineers Officer, take this picture with my camera (he knows how to use it much better than I). He wants to submit it for a State Line Class Record. I don't think fly lines qualify for this, but I guess we'll see. In 2 hours of fishing, I caught 7 more catfish and 3 stripers. All were smaller than this one. And the fly is still fishable!

Anyway, I believe I've stumbled on another 'can't fail' pattern!

Semper Fi!

[DShock]

That's a nice channel cat! Thanks for posting the photo!
Doug

[Gigmaster]

It sure boosted my confidence in that color pattern. The only thing I haven't caught on it so far has been crappie and bluegill, and that's because I think it's too big for them. I'm gonna try to tie one down to a size 12 and go to my crappie spot tomorrow. I will post the results.

I still say that, at least in freshwater, any species can be targeted with a fly-rod, at least sometimes during the year.

Maybe I'll try this one on Snakeheads in the next few days. They tear up Clousers.

Semper Fi!