Fishing Forum

i caught a freshwater drum, i think....thats what it matched u closest with on the page i was lookin at. the cats just dont seem to be biting anymore. i need to try chicken liver again, but i have to be able to cast it out. also, would spraying some store bought "catfish attractant" on the nightcrawlers maybe increase the chances of a bite?
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That's a very nice Black Drum. Way to go. I hope you are keeping track of the species that you catch and the method of catching them.

Then when you go back you will remember the technique that you used the previous time. You will also be able to note if one particular setup is good for more than one species.[cool]
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right now, ive caught bluegill, brim, shad, blue cats, white bass and the drum all on nightcrawlers.if i could catch more shad i'd use them for cut bait or something to try and catch some really big cats, but i never catch any. all i catch are brim and bluegill--are they good to use as cutbait?
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The Blue Gills and Bream aren't bad for cut bait but the Shad would be more desireable. The Shad give off a little bit more odor and are one of the more common food items for the bigger Cats.[cool]
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Nice catch man
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well next time i catch a lil bluegill im gonna cut it up, because it can't hurt to use it. if i could catch a shad i'd use that in a heartbeat. but like i said, they just dont bite lol
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thanks...there is an area kinda like where i fish at on the opposite side of the docks, but i got hung up there almost every cast last time i fished there, which was a long time ago.
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Hey Simp, where are you located?
I ask because in the Illinois River that is the fish I used to catch all the time, I got them on nightcrawlers off the bottom.
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im in north alabama fishin in the tennessee river
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Nice drum,

flesh is a little soft but not all that bad to eat.

I catch whites up here in the great lakes, they get up to about 20 lbs here.

If you click on the photo album link in the gray box above you will find that you already have a photo gallery that all you need do is up load your pic's to. it is one of my favorite features of this site cause I can copy thumbnails with links and paist them in the forums and use them over and over again. There you can keep a gallery of all the species you have caught, then you can keep albums of cirtain topics like fish that have won awards or special fishing trips ect....
[center] [url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/1346/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url][/center] [center]You have seen this one already I think,[/center] [center]it is a 4lb white drum caught out of the st clair river[/center] [center] [/center] [left]I use the spray on cat fish stink on my worms spicificly for bluegills. who would have thunk? [][/left] [left] [/left] [left]here is something you might want to try. Make a catfish dogh ball. you can buy them, I have a pack some where if the mice havent eaten them this summer. "I havent gone cat fishing all year"[pirate][/left] [left] [/left] [left]you can make a simple one with sherdded wheat cerial and a little of your catfish spray.[/left] [left] [/left] [left]buy full size shreaded wheat biscuts, post or nabisco dosnt matter. take one third of a biscut and give it a couple shots of the spray. crumble it up in the palm of your hand till all the spray is soaked up by the cerial. then add a few drops of water and continue mashing and the cerial will turn in to a clay like material, you then from this around a treble hook, it will look like a sinker when it is done. [/left] [left] [/left] [left]the shreaded wheat will release the sent for a long time. You can make up more if you like and keep it in a zip lock bag.[/left] [left] [/left] [left]dont wory about the sent getting on your hands. you can take a bar of soap made from oatmeal (best) or even dove to wash your hands. dont use any sanitizer soap or handy wipes or greese cutting soaps, they add the wrong sent in to the water.[/left] [left] [/left] [left]to find the oatmeal sope go to the mall, find the womans shop, you can tell them you are looking for a soap you know your mom or sister likes. that usualy saves on embarising encounters should any one see you in a gurly shop.[laugh] (no offence intended ladies) I am going to have to make that venture again my self here some time soon, I am all out of oatmeal soap. [/left] [left] [/left] [left]I like it especialy when I am the one who turn it is to gass up the boat on the way to the lake or river. It makes a differance, some times the guys want to throw me out of the boat because I hookem left and right after handling the gass when they handle it they cant catch zebra mussles.[/left] [left] [/left] [left]My unkle who also lived in big cat territory like you swears by spitting on his crawler before casting it in to the river or lake.[] Kind of grose, but even his daughter will spit on the worm when she goes fishing. LOL....[/left]
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first off, nice fish. cant wait to catch fish that big. 2nd, awesome beard. i would love to grow a big beard like that (thought it might as well be said lol).

i will try that doughball recipe, though i'll have to buy more spray. ive never caught a catfish on anything but nightcrawlers, they just dont bite the smelly baits for me...i wonder why...i left the other one at my fishin spot tonight, where no fish were biting, just nibbling the crap out of the bait. i got a lot of strikes, but none of the fish committed. i need to find out if it costs anything to fish over by the dams in the area, or if they're public fishing, no limits or anything like that. they would most definately guarantee a higher yield in fish.

and also, i read somewhere that catfish will avoid the bait if they smell human saliva on it....but if your uncle had great success then i might try it. im up for trying anything lol
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the worst thing that can happen is you dont loose a worm... LOL

one thing i have been wanting to try, but have not, is use tuna fish oil or water form the tuna fish when I make a sandwich. you would have to have a small water tight jar to put it in or make the dogh ball at home. I usualy make mine on the river. I like it freash.

to be honest, I have had better luck with cats using a dab of kodiac catfish paist on my worms, I have even used it on marshmellows and it worked great, but I did find I had to put on new mellow every 10-15 minuts because the mellows desolve.
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Those drums ain't bad eating at all. And I ain't sure about the black drum, but the white drums here get huge. They're fun to catch, and will hit both dead baits and artificials. They're not the best eating fish in the world, however, they're still pretty good. (meat is a little flakey, and tends be a touch greasey).



This is my personal best caught this past June on a piece of perch.

As for cats, I've always had best luck with raw, slightly smelly shrimp.
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well, i havent kept ny of the fish ive caught, though im sure a couple of the cats were big enough to provide a dinner for at least myself.
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If I don't catch enough for a meal on one trip, I just freeze it and pull it out after I come back from the next outing. Don't need to catch an entire meal in one day every time
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To preserve the flavor of the fish you catch and to store a few until you catch more:

Cut the top out of a 1 gal. plastic milk container

Rinse it out well

Fillet your fish out as normal

Drop the clean fillets into the open jug

Fill with cold tap water to a level that just covers the fillets you have

Set it upright in the freezer and let it freeze

Next time you catch a few fish, drop them in on top, add water, and freeze the whole thing

When you get enough, thaw and cook.

Fish will taste almost as good as fresh for about two months.
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I have used those, I have also used any plastic conainer with a lid, ziplock freezer bags and yes even cardboard milk cartons.

for the cardboard milk carton you open the top all the way, rince well, put the fish in fill untill the fish are covered with water, then tape or staple the box shut, you catch more fish you can open the carton back up put the new fish in and cover with water and close again, you can repeat this untill the carton is completely full.

the cardboard is so heavy you can store fresh water fish in water for a year...

In zip lock freezer bags you can store fresh water fish two years with no loss of of flavor or freezer burn because it is air tight and packed in water so the ice dosnt evaporate and expose the fish to the air in the freezer....
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now there a mighty fine specimen, I never caught one that big, thats around 12 14 pounds?

the ones I get here in the mittin state mostly range in the pound to 3 pound and every once in a while I get a 8-10 pounder, I know they get bigger, I have seen them, I will have to take a picture of one streaght on some time to show how the got the nick name sheep head. they almost do look lake a shaved sheeps head with out the ears... LOL

I too have never caught a black drum. and dont know much about them other than they exist, I wonder if they are caught much the same as the white drums.

I cant says that I ever heard of one being called a black sheep either...[laugh]
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I'm not sure on the exact weight, as I still havn't gotten a new scale since the giant carp I caught broke mine...But my best guess is 17-18lbs. Maybe a few more lbs over a couple beers. In that picture, I'm holding the fish almost right against my chest. It was 31" and pretty fat...
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