Speaking of Catfishing........

[Rick N Bama1]

I normally use Chicken Livers from Walmart when I set out limb lines to attempt catching a few Cats.  My luck is just so-so with perhaps getting one or two for the 10 lines I set out.  The Lake where I fish is very clear with visibility down to 8ft being common.  I set my lines about a foot from the bottom in the small sloughs off the main channel of the river and hope for the best.   I make a "bag" from medical gauze to contain the Liver to keep it on the hook.  Walmart Livers are good and bloody which help draw the Cats in, but they just won't stay on a hook by themselves.

How do you guys fish for Catfish?  Any ideas of how I can have more success?  FWIW many of those that fish the lake call it the "Dead Sea" :x   At times is sure seems to be.  When I spend a day Bass fishing I might catch 2 or 3 Spots. 

The Lake I fish is the Lewis Smith Lake operated by Alabama Power.  It has some 521 miles of shoreline in 3 counties of north Alabama.

 

[patocazador]

My buddy got an 8 lb. spotted bass (Kentucky) out of Smith Lake back in  the '70s.

I like liver too for catfish trot lines but deer liver works better than pork or beef liver because it stays on the hook. It's quite a bit "tougher" than store-bought liver as far as staying on the hook.
Save the liver out of the next deer you kill.

 

[Rick N Bama1]

I have my doubts of an 8lb Spot being found in the whole of Smith now.  I can't remember exactly when but the powers that be decided the thing to do was to stock the lake with Hybrid Striped Bass.  They grow big, but they eat tons of other fish while they're putting on the pounds.  More of the Stripes are stocked every year. 

Creek Chubs?  Now that's a new one on me!  I've tried Tuffy minnows and cut up Bream with limited success.

 

[Buck Conner1]

I'll dig out a picture of a cat I hooked on the Missouri River at Bonnett's Mill's boat ram a few years back. An old boy traded us a half dozen catfish fried along with bacon and eggs (and just cooked hot for the one I got). 

My goofy catch was a breeder fish we were told - they loaded her in a livestock tank filled with river water and took the fish to his farm pond for just that reason - breeding. 

That was the biggest fresh water fish I've hooked on to at 55 lbs we were told by Fish & Game Warden (that warden didn't ask to see my fishing lic. I didn't have one, lucky).

I'll go get that picture for you Rick.

 

[Rick N Bama1]

I'm going to the lake late Wednesday to check on things and get a bit of fishing in Thursday morning.

 

[oneshot1]

Ok when I put out Set Lines I used Live Creek Chubs that I got out of a Creek close by. Set Lines I like Live Bait.

Rod and Reel have used Liver and Shrimp but Rod and Reel numbers like Sonny's Blood Dip Bait.

oneshot

 

[Buck Conner1]

The Lake I fish is the Lewis Smith Lake operated by Alabama Power.  It has some 521 miles of shoreline in 3 counties of north Alabama.

Rick How did you do :Questuon: ???   You shoot your target yet???  :Questuon:

 

[strong eagle]

i like to look to the science of every thing. it has been figured out by the guys with degrees and studying fish for a living that cat fish are attracted to arginine, the protein that is found in chicken. it is also found in chocolate. why dont you get chicken livers or gizzards and try those. see if they are right. then let us know? also make some dough balls with wheat flour and ground chicken and chocolate and see if it works? they could be right on paper but wrong in real use. however they may be 100 perecent right. try these things and let us know the results.

 

[strong eagle]

P.S. T REX was discovered with meat and skin attached in n.dak. they found out the meat of T REX was arginine also. maybe they were just a big chicken.

 

[mark1945]

Strong Eagle,
Years ago when i was stationed at Ft Leonard Wood in Missouri, my platoon Sgt was a dedicated fisherman . i used to go with him most every day after work. He had a doughball recipe that always seemed to work no matter what .A box of Wheaties , a box of strawberry Jello , and 1 can of the cheapest beer you could find at the store .He used to mix it up and then refrigerate it for 4 or 5 days till it ripened . The big cats just loved it .
Mark

 

[strong eagle]

thanks

 

[Rick N Bama1]

The Lake I fish is the Lewis Smith Lake operated by Alabama Power.  It has some 521 miles of shoreline in 3 counties of north Alabama.

Rick How did you do :Questuon: ???   You shoot your target yet???  :Questuon:

No sir for it's way too hot to do anything related to shooting.  It's all I can do right now to keep the lawn mowed.  It's even too hot to go fishing which I was planning on doing tonight.

 

[Buck Conner1]

Hey I thought you were one of those tuff old boys being from Alabama ....  :slaps:  :Questuon:

 

[Rick N Bama1]

Hey I thought you were one of those tuff old boys being from Alabama ....  :slaps:  :Questuon:

I used to be as I worked outdoors for the Phone Co for 31 years.  Heck I can remember a couple summers when I would empty a 3gal water jug by lunch and another by the time I got off.  I kept powdered Gator Aid and mixed it up by the quart to have.  Drinking all of that and still my urine would look like motor oil!  Now that I've  been retired for 16 years plus having a heart attack I just can't handle the heat. 

I'll try my dead level best to get a target shot before the contest is over, but this heat wave we're having is going to have to get the heck out of Dodge before I can.

 

[Buck Conner1]

Hey I thought you were one of those tuff old boys being from Alabama ....  :slaps:  :Questuon:

I used to be as I worked outdoors for the Phone Co for 31 years.  Heck I can remember a couple summers when I would empty a 3gal water jug by lunch and another by the time I got off.  I kept powdered Gator Aid and mixed it up by the quart to have.  Drinking all of that and still my urine would look like motor oil!  Now that I've  been retired for 16 years plus having a heart attack I just can't handle the heat. 

I'll try my dead level best to get a target shot before the contest is over, but this heat wave we're having is going to have to get the heck out of Dodge before I can.

Rick, that's funny. Between my grandfather, father, myself and the wife we have over 130 years service with the phone companies. I know what your talking about.

Go shoot bud ...   :Hide:

 

[Rick N Bama1]

Hey I thought you were one of those tuff old boys being from Alabama ....  :slaps:  :Questuon:

I used to be as I worked outdoors for the Phone Co for 31 years.  Heck I can remember a couple summers when I would empty a 3gal water jug by lunch and another by the time I got off.  I kept powdered Gator Aid and mixed it up by the quart to have.  Drinking all of that and still my urine would look like motor oil!  Now that I've  been retired for 16 years plus having a heart attack I just can't handle the heat. 

I'll try my dead level best to get a target shot before the contest is over, but this heat wave we're having is going to have to get the heck out of Dodge before I can.

Rick, that's funny. Between my grandfather, father, myself and the wife we have over 130 years service with the phone companies. I know what your talking about.

Go shoot bud ...   :Hide:

I spent my years as a Service Tech with Bellsouth before it was bought by the "New" AT&T.  I also did phone work in the USAF prior to Bellsouth.  My last years with Bell were spent in a business crew doing DSL installs and repairs.

 

[Buck Conner1]

Worked for Bell of PA, move to Denver and went to work for Mountain Bell-US West- Quest- now CenturyLink (many take overs). I have worked the construction side of the house in repair, design and staff, setup maintenance on vehicles as well as buildings for a four state area, and finally end up in Detail Engineering as a IOF  Senior Design Engineer. Last four years as an instructor for detail engineering covering our 14 (then it grew to 36 states) area. Had some exciting times, got shot at several times while on the job (was given a S&W Model 66 for protection while on the job), designed the phone system for the  communications for the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake with Mitt Romney's group. Good, Bad and Ugly times.... 

 

[Rick N Bama1]

was given a S&W Model 66 for protection while on the job 

We had more than one employee who was fired for having a firearm on them.  Heck we had one guy that Security investigated for having a box of ammo in his truck.  He had stopped in a store out in the stick and bought a box of 38s.  His supervisor spotted them and turned him in.  That Supervisor was never trusted by anyone after that!

That was quite a career Buck!  I was offered a job as a 1st level I&R Supervisor in a town about 200 miles from me, I turned it down as it was just too far to commute   With Bell once an offer is turned down another is never made.

 

[Buck Conner1]

You name it Rick and I probably had a little experience in that job (enough to be dangerous).    I moved to Denver and started out rebuilding Telsa (splicer's trailer/truck and bucket truck engines) until I got rehired by the Bell System. Started with welding up mechanic cages (only Certified Welder they had out of 52,000 employees in this region) then was asked to go to Motor Vehicle Department as a lead mechanic, then moved to Building Maintenance Department (until got hurt with broken back), then went inside in Detailed Engineering (designed and engineered company office equipment as a Senior IOF Design Engineer until I retired).

"With Bell once an offer is turned down another is never made." My dad and grandfather said the same thing. When I was 1st level management I worked directly for a director in engineering. When someone (another manager) needed to have something explained to them in a language they could understand (rough construction talk). He would always say I'll have Conner explain it to you (I had no problem using a few !@#$%^ words to get their attention   knowing the director had my back covered).

In our Bell System (Mountain Bell) there were very few allowed to carry a firearm (Pres., V. Pres., their body guards  and a few top security guys). After being shot at a few time when at wave guide buildings in WY our department V. Pres. had HR put a letter in my file that I was allowed to carry a provided firearm for protection on company property - concealed of coarse). I don't know why a handgun when a rifle would have had been a better choice in that country? They ran an FBI check on me for firearms (had already been checked/cleared by them for going into different company building in different states). Fun times at Mamma Bell... 

 

[Rick N Bama1]

Bellsouth slowly eliminated our mechanics with the last two I knew of having about 35 years each and worked out of a center about 40 miles away.  Heck we used to have a man at the Decatur AL WC that fueled the trucks and gave them a bath once a week.  When I moved to a smaller work center we bought our gas at a local station with a company CC.  Finally our fuel was bought using a Wright Express CC and we had a contractor that came around to wash the trucks.  Speaking of trucks, in my 31 years with Bell I had exactly one truck with A/C.  That was a '98 Chevy Express Van and as of 3 or 4 years ago it was still on the road.  I had retired in early '02 so I didn't get to drive cool for long at all!

By & large I enjoyed my work, but by the time I retired the customer had drastically changed for the worse and the company had as well.  I sure was glad to get out and when my 2nd level called with an offer I couldn't refuse I told him to bring the papers with him   He called around Feb 15 and I was gone Mar 15.