January 2014 – CatsandCarp.com

A lot of cat fisherman make serious mistakes when baiting their hooks. How you bait a hook can effect whether a nibble becomes a bite and whether or not you can release your catch alive. How you hook your bait also affects whether it will still be on the hook after you cast. So here are some tips:

This is a great example of how to hook a hard bait like this cut piece of shad.

1) Hard Baits: Leave as much of the hook exposed as possible.

When you are fishing with tough or hard baits such as cut shad, live fish, crawdads ect. you want as much of the hook point exposed as possible. Have the point of the hook buried in the bait will prevent the point from digging in a catching the fish when it is in the fishes mouth.

Having the hook point hidden can also increase the chances that a fish swallows the hook and gets gut-hooked. This will likely kill the fish even if you can get the hook out.

Ideally, find a tough part of the bait (such as the shads belly or the through the eye). You don’t want the bait to tear free easily. Push the hook point all the way through and clear.

2) Soft Baits: Get as much on the shank as possible.

Here is a great example of soft bait on a hook. Notice the hook pierces the bait multiple times but the point is still exposed.

Soft gooey baits such as clams, chicken livers, fish guts, salmon eggs, ect. tend to fly off the hook when casting. The key to keeping them on the hook is to thread the hook through them as many times as possible to increase contact with the hook. Using an egg loop knot can help for really soft baits.

3) Toughen up your bait when necessary

You can toughen up soft baits by drying them in the sun. Chicken liver, clams and even worms will become much more durable after they have dried in the sun a little. This is often all you need to keep them from flying off the hook when casting.

4) Using Bait Elastic, Egg Loop Knots and Mesh

If your bait is having a hard time staying on the hook, you can use several tricks to keep it on the hook longer. Bait Elastics is basically stretch string that you use to tie your bait to the shank of the hook after piercing it several times with the hook.

Egg loop knots are a special knot that has a noose along the shank. You pierce the bait and then slip it into the noose and pull. The noose tightens and pins your bait to the shank, giving it a little extra support when casting.

Bait mesh can be old cut up pieces of nylons or any other fine mesh, but you wrap it around your bait to create a little sack of bait that you then pierce through with the hook. The mesh gives your bait that extra added support.

Finding and hitting features is the key to knowing where to cast when fishing for catfish

You pull up to a beautiful spot. You have your gear and bait ready to catch catfish. You set everything up and then you have to decide where to cast. Where to cast when fishing for catfish is a daunting questions.

Most people who are fishing in a lake or large river, can’t tell the difference between one spot from the other so they cast as far out into the middle as they can reach. This is the least effective way to catch catfish. So here are some  tips to finding where to cast when cat fishing from shore.

1: Deeper does not mean better

The biggest catfish I ever caught (69 lb blue catfish) was caught in 4 feet of water. The third biggest catfish I ever caught (53 lb flathead) was caught  in 4 feet of water, 10 feet from shore. Often when I fish lakes I am fishing feet from the bank. Deeper is not always better.

2. Start close and work your way out

If you want to catch more than one or two fish don’t cast far out first. If you hook a fish out far from shore, you must reel in a thrashing freaked out fish past every other fish in that hole. The biggest smartest catfish, won’t stay around if a thrashing 3 pounder is dragged across the top of the head. If you catch all the close fish first, then you are less likely to disturb the remaining fish.

3: Focus on structures and features

Structures are submerged items like trees, sunken culverts, big rocks ect. These are great places for catfish to hide and hunt. Features are where two types of environments meet. Some common features are where a fast current meets a slow current. Or the border of a reed bed or the slope in between deep and shallow water. Humps and holes can be awesome features when fishing a wide expansive flat. Features are another great place to find catfish.

4. Use a Marker Float

When you look out across a large lake you can not tell where the humps, holes, weed beds, drop off and sunken logs are by looking at the surface. A marker float solves that problem. A marker float is basically a buoy that is tied onto the end of your mainline with a sliding sinker running along your mainline above the buoy.

You cast the mark float and lead out into the lake and drag the lead and buoy along the bottoms feeling the bottom. When you find an interesting feature, you let out some line until the buoy pops to the surface. You then know that feature is directly underneath the float and you know where to cast.

By measuring the amount of line it takes for the marker float to break the surface you also know the depth. This is key if you are fishing with bobbers or if you are trying to find depth changes.

5. Move around

If you want to find the best place to cast, you have to cast to a lot of places. In the day time catfish tend to stay in around certain features and then rove around at night. So if you are fishing in the day time (especially in the winter), and you don’t get a bite within 15 minutes of casting then dont wait for a fish to come to you. After you have landed a couple fish if you don’t get another bite within about 15 minutes then move.

6. Keep a journal.

If you fish the same place a lot then keep a journal. Write down the features you find and the spots you’ve tried. Each time you catch a fish, write down what you caught him on and the conditions: water temperatures, time of day, time of year ect. Not only does preserving this data help you analyze your favorite cat fishing holes, the effort of recording this data forces you to pay attention to these factors and you will see patterns.

Fishing can be an expensive sport, just ask my wife. But just because some of us go ape crazy and buy every little fishing gadget on the market, doesn’t mean you have to. If you want to take your kid fishing or if you want to get into catfishing it doesn’t have to be expensive.

For $35 you can go to your local sporting good store and get a beginner catfishing rod, reel, rigs, hooks and gear. Enough equipment and gear to spend an weekend fishing for catfish. It won’t be fancy but it will be enough to get the job done.

The most expensive part of fishing is the rod and reel. Luckily there are some really affordable rod and reel combos on the market. For example, the Shakespeare Alpha Big Water 7′ rod combo is just $29. While this is certainly not the only affordable low end beginner catfishing rod and reel on the market it is a good example and a well known brand name.

What ever rod and reel combo you choose here are some things to look for:

• A beginner catfishing rod should be about 6-7 feet long,
• it should be a spinning rod (not a bait casting rod).
• A beginner catfishing rod should be a medium action rod and have a recommended lure weight of approximately 1/2 to 3 ounces.
• The reel should come with line already on it (save you money and assembly)
• be less than $35 for the whole rod and reel combo.

Once you have picked out a beginner rod and reel combo choose your rigs and hooks. Until you get comfortable tying your own rigs buy them pre-made. Pre-made rigs are super cheap and reliable. My favorite beginner catfishing rig are the hi-low rigs. I am no longer a beginner and I still use high-low rigs a lot.

You can buy heavy duty catfishing and surf fishing hi-low rigs or you can buy crappie high-low rigs with the hooks included. If you buy a high-low rig without the hooks included you can buy pre-tied hooks for about a $1 from any sporting good store.

Once you have your hi-low rigs and your pre-tied hooks you just need weights. 1-3 ounce pyramid sinkers go best with hi-low rigs and they cost about $.30 per ounce of lead.

So for $29 you can get a rod and reel with line. For $2.94 you can buy two crappier rigs with hooks. And for $1.20 you can get two 2 ounce pyramid sinkers. That leaves a few bucks for worms or chicken liver and you are ready to fish. For more info on catfish bait check out our website.

So for less than $35 you can get a brand new beginner catfishing rod, reel, rigs, hooks and gear.

For a video about buying a beginner catfishing rod & reel combo check out our Youtube channel.

Hi-low rigs are great for beginners. They make tying on your hooks much easier and cost about $1 to $1.25

Pyramid sinkers can be bought for about $.30 per ounce of lead.

For $29 you can get a beginner catifhsing rod and reel combo with the line already on the reel.

Crappie Hi-low rig for $1.47 includes the hooks.

A beginner catfishing rod should be about 6-7′ and 10-20lb line weight.

I love fishing for blue catfish. The highlight of all my blue catfish trips is fishing for blue catfish on the tidal James River in Virginia. Fishing the tidal James River for trophy blue catfish is unlike anything else. On the James you have a very good chance of catching massive 50+ lb blue catfish. Blue catfish over a 100 lbs are undoubtedly swimming around the James.

However, before you run down to the James River and chuck a line in the water, I would strongly suggest hiring a guide to take you out. In my opinion, the best catfish guide on the James River  is Chris Eberwien. I have been fishing several times with Chris and his son (who is a great guide in his own right) and I have never been disappointment.

The best time of year to target monster blue catfish on the James River is January and February. While great fish are always around, the deep winter is when the big boys can be found in large numbers.

My last trip with Chris Eberwien was an epic day of fishing. 54 degree sunny weather in the middle of January was nice enough, but the fish were the real treat.

In an 8 hour trip I landed an 8 lb catfish, a 10 lb, 24 lb, 25 lb, 30 lb, 30lb, 33 lb, 40lb, 41 lb, 46 lb and the big boy was a 69 lb 49 inches long blue catfish. The action was so hot, I had two sets of doubles on the line (a 30 lb & 33 lb and the 41 lb & 30 lb cats). A total of 356 lbs of catfish in the boat in 8 hours. My arms and back are sore! I don’t know whether its from the reeling or lifting or both.

69 lb Blue Catfish from the Tidal James River

I love using rod quivers. If you are surf fishing, cat fishing or carp fishing you are constantly lugging rods and reels to and from your car. When I go fishing it usually only for a few hours at a time so setting up and taking down puts a real damper on my fishing time.

A good rod quiver allows you to transport all your gear, fully rigged up. The best rod quivers also protects your gear during transportation and storage.

For the last year and a half I have been using the Fox Royale 3-Rod Holdall and it has not disappointment. It carries everything I need: 3-rods (plus my spod and marker rod buckled in), all my bank sticks, my bite alarms, my Fox warrior-s landing net, boilie throwing stick, Fox Eclipse rod pod and some tackle boxes as well. The main pound can fit a broilie if you prefer, but I keep my rod pod there.

For a detailed review check out my video Review of Fox Royale 3-Rod Holdall. To purchase the Fox Royale Rod Sling in the US go to www.bigcarptackles.com

Here are some pics of my Fox Royale 3-Rod Quiver

A close up of the bank stick pouch of the Fox Royale Holdall.

All the webbing on the Fox Royale quiver has this heavy duty nylon webbing with the Fox logo.

The shoulder strap on the Fox Royale Rod Quiver has these heavy duty swiveling connectors. The shoulder strap connectors are on both sides so the strap can be converted from left handed to right handed.

Fox Royale Rod Quiver straps keep your rods in place and can be used to store more than just the recommended 3 rods.

Fox Royale Rod Holdall Shoulder Strap has ample padding and keeps the strap from digging into your shoulder.

Fox Royale Rod Quiver Velcro straps keep your rods from falling out when you undo the straps and prevent them from knocking together in transport.

The Royale Rod Quiver has these soft ergonomic handles on both sides and on the bottom.

The Fox Royale 3-Rod Holdall Bottom has a handle and these pouches for holding the rod butts.

Fox Royale Rod Sling

Fox makes these awesome rod bans that you can use to keep your rods and leads from banging together in the quiver.

This post is a cautionary tale. Learn from my mistakes. So its January and I am itching to do some winter carp fishing. My saintly wife agrees to spend her Saturday morning watching our boy so that I can accidentally wake her up getting out of bed at 5:45am.

The car was packed the night before and all ready to go, so I put on every layer I own and creep out the front door so as to not wake the baby.

Winter Carp Fishing. 10 degrees before sunrise and 18 degrees after.

The car’s thermometer reads 10 degrees as I pull out of the driveway and make the hour long trip to my new favorite winter carp fishing hole.

I get to the bank in the dark and with numb fingers I set up my rod pod and load my PVA bags. I am sitting in snow and putting my rod holders in ice.

Carp are rolling all over in front of my several yards past the edge of the ice and the sun rises with my lines in the water.

I have literally only two hours before I need to leave and I am watching each second go by. This where my tale turn to one of woe and shame.

I set up the video camera on my rod pod to get a nice shot of a take and me landing a big fat winter carp. Sure enough the alarms go off  and I run to my rod. Just as I reach for my rod I remember the camera and think to myself: “I would really like a wide angle shot of me playing the fish.” so I leave the rod and fiddle with the camera. While I am fiddling with the camera the carp spits the unset hook and gets away.

Now the only thing I have to show for freezing my butt off in the snow and ice before dawn on a Saturday is this cautionary tale and this video:

So learn from my mistake and check out my epic winter carp fishing fail video.

My New Year’s Resolution was to do more winter carp fishing in Virginia, where I live. It 8:30 am, Jan 1st in Northern Virginia and the weather is in the mid 30’s so I decided to get an early jump on my resolution. Mission accomplished! Within 30 minutes I have a 12 lb common on the bank and the bite alarms are going off again while I am unhooking it.

Winter carp fishing in Virginia can be just as fast and furious as spring and fall. Winter carp fishing in Virginia is not tougher, its just different. In the winter time the fish are hungrier, they get fewer disturbances from fisherman and the tend to run in larger schools. This means that is you can find where the fish are holding, then winter carp fishing here in Virginia can be amazing.

This New Year’s Day 12 pounder is why I love winter carp fishing in Virginia.

So as the water temperature drops here are some tips to help encourage you to get out in the cold.

Winter Carp Fishing in Virginia Tip #1: Spend More Time Looking For the Fish Before You Begin.

First, spend more time looking for the fish and less time sitting by your rods waiting. In Va.  if you find the carp in the winter time you will catch them, so worry more about finding the carp than anything else.  To find the carp, look for warmer water. Heat is the scarce commodity in winter time. Anything that raises the water temperature even a single degree can make a difference. For example: A pond aerator, a warmer stream or river dumping into the lake, an underground hot spring, a shallow flat that gets lots of sun on those rare warm days, or even a water treatment plant effluence can make the difference.

If you find something that you believe will attract carp, don’t just cast and hope. Observe the area, spend some time walking around the lake or river watching before you even get your rods out. No matter how good a spot is in theory, cast to the place where you can see the carp before you cast anywhere else.

Winter Carp Fishing in Virginia Tip #2: Use Less Chum.

A second tip for winter carp fishing in Virginia, don’t use as much chum as you would in the summer time. The cold water slows down the carp’s metabolism and makes it harder for them to digest food. Additionally, when your are winter carp fishing in Virginia the carp have much fewer food available so you don’t need huge piles of bait to convince a carp to come and feed.

Winter Carp Fishing in Virginia Tip #3: Keep a Zig Rig Handy.

My third tip for winter carp fishing in Virginia, also keep a zig rig handy. Often, seeking warmer waters means the carp are picking a specific depth not just a specific location. It is not uncommon to find a school of winter carp holding in the middle or just bellow the surface. If that is the cast, pull out the zig rig.

Winter Carp Fishing in Virginia Tip #4: Dress for Success.

My final suggestion for winter carp fishing in Virginia, invest in some decent gear so that you are comfortable in the cold. If you are freezing your butt off it takes a lot more fish to make your trip a success. Having warm gear will get you out then door in the winter and will keep you from packing it in before your time. If you ware going winter carp fishing in Virginia, your trip is more likely to be a success if you succumbing to hypothermia.

To see a short video about winter carp fishing in Virginia check out this Youtube video about my Jan 1 winter carp fishing in Virginia.