Catfishing from the bank

[bates19]

Hey y'all, fairly new the forum. Moved to Goodlettsville from NY about a month ago. Since my girlfriend and I came here for her fancy job, I've taken the time to enjoy a nice long vacation with a whole lot of fishing. Recently I've been catching a ton of 1.5 lb and 2 lb bass on Old Hickory. With the exception of the occasional invite from some local guys, I'm usually stuck to the bank (Just starting to wade as well). The one thing I'm having trouble catching are catfish. I've been trying to find spots on the Cumberland that I can fish from the bank but haven't had any real luck yet. Any information on where/how is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[Alphahawk]

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of guys on here who I am sure will give you some good info on cat fishing.


Regards

[Halli]

Fish with crappie minnows like you are looking for crappie and you will find the catfish.

Old Hickory has plenty of cat so just remember they like live fish first then the smelly stuff second.

The end of june has a mayfly hatch on OH and that is also when they hit the spawn so you will be able to find Big ones then close to bank.

[XxthejuicexX]

Welcome sir! I can't help you with old hickory but Priest I could put you on catfish from the bank.

[creekcrappie]

Welcome. I think I remember meeting you at Walkers. I have a spot where I smoked them a few times back in the early fall on Priest. Like 10 cats in an hour. I am not an expert at catfishing but I like catch them when they are stacked like that. I might try this summer for some. If you want the spot on JPP pm me. It is a little out of the way and I haven't checked it a whole bunch.

[Jim]

Welcome!

Old Hickory is a great catfish lake. I typically fish from a boat, but when my son was too young to go out on a boat we shore fished for cats a lot and did very well.

My number one key to catfish is finding shad. It does not matter if it is shallow or deep or in the middle of a sunny day, if you have schools of shad around you will find cats in the area. The shad are my preferred bait also. Live or cut doesn't really matter, but they must be fresh.

Get a cheap 6ft 3/8 inch mesh cast net and use it to catch the shad. If you can't catch any shad in an area, don't waste your time fishing it. Once you find shad, then fish the whole area. The cats can be very shallow all day long if there is food around, but sometimes they are deeper. All most all of my catfishing is in 8ft of water or less with most in 3ft deep or so.

It is amazing how many 2 to 15lb catfish are shallow and eating in the middle of the day. I rarely fish for catfish at night anymore as it is totally not necessary to catch a bunch.

The tip to fish around crappie is also a great tip. Again, if there is food, there will be catfish in the area.

As for the current pattern, the catfish are biting well in the muddy flats in the back half of the creek arms on Old Hickory. Just look for shad in those same areas and you should do fine.

Good Luck,
Jim

[FlipaYak]

Originally Posted by Jim

My number one key to catfish is finding shad. It does not matter if it is shallow or deep or in the middle of a sunny day, if you have schools of shad around you will find cats in the area. The shad are my preferred bait also. Live or cut doesn't really matter, but they must be fresh.

...

As for the current pattern, the catfish are biting well in the muddy flats in the back half of the creek arms on Old Hickory. Just look for shad in those same areas and you should do fine.

Good Luck,
Jim

Jim,

Tell me a little about finding the shad from a kayak without electronics. I think I know, but I want to hear your thoughts.

[Jim]

The only electronics that really help to find shallow water shad is side-scan. I have one and it works great, but 90% of the time I just use my eyes. Just watch for them flicking on the surface. You can see that from a good distance if it is not windy. Then move in and watch for a school (threadfin shad) or muddy clouds (gizzard shad) and toss your net.

Blind casting is a tiring way of getting shad. If at all possible, find them first before you try to net them.

Protected shallow bays with muddy bottoms usually hold some shad and are a good place to start. If the shad are deep in or near the channel, it can be difficult to net them and I usually just fish with lures for bass.

Hope that helps,
Jim

[Reel Tune]

I found them on a shallow flat this evening in a creek arm (wind blown bank) next to the channel. I saw some bigger hooks on the FF and they were laying low, I figured they were cats. There was no larger fish activity on the surface, and I was looking for bass.

[Tennoutdrsman]

as MOST know,I fish strictly for Cats on Old Hickory as I have 2 HUGE catfish fry's a year with LOTS of Hungry folks coming back year after year..Shrimp with Strawberry koolaid(unsweetened) poured on it is my FAV OR chicken Breast make it Blood Red...The last week of May til july 4th you can catch the mess out of them at lock 3 OR sander's ferry Boat ramp throwing as far as you can with slip floats keeping it about a foot off the bottom..I am going to try the shad this year as well (Thanks Jim for info!)..