06-07-2013, 12:17 AM
A friend and I started catfishing above Steck yesterday around 9. We tried several spots between the train trestle and far enough up that we could see the freeway. The reservoir is full to the top. The surface water temperature read 67 when we started.
We both made use of our 2-pole permits. My friend caught 2 cats mid-morning, about an hour apart.
We tried lots of things, and it was just dead slow. I thought we'd be in for a great day - stable warm weather, lots of flooded cover, reasonably clean water. We started out with bluegill and worms. He caught the first fish on bluegill so we switched all 4 lines to bluegill baits.
We tried shallow brushy areas, deep channel areas, deep slackwater.
Around 2:00, we sought shelter from the sun by running back downstream below the Spring ramp and anchoring against a cliff face. Over the next few hours, we threw all sorts of jigs and lures, and put out our second rods for catfish. My friend ended up with one tiny crappie and a couple good strikes. I got one little tap. The water temperature reached 73 during this time.
When the sun started getting less intense, we headed back upstream for the cats. Fish were jumping everywhere, and not all were carp. I am fairly certain I saw white bellies on some of them, so maybe some were catfish. Close to sunset, I caught 2 cats within 15 minutes, and thought things were going to turn around. They didn't.
Since I thought I was seeing catfish activity near the surface, I made several casts with the bait hanging about a foot under a float. No luck. We pulled anchor and started drifting back, dragging baits behind. No luck there either, so we wrapped it up and drove back to the ramp. We loaded up at 10:30.
If any of you guys head up there, watch out for debris. There were several big areas of driftwood floating around, and we saw one huge tree floating down.
If anyone has suggestions for what we may have been doing wrong or what weather/water conditions to wait for, I'd appreciate it.
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We both made use of our 2-pole permits. My friend caught 2 cats mid-morning, about an hour apart.
We tried lots of things, and it was just dead slow. I thought we'd be in for a great day - stable warm weather, lots of flooded cover, reasonably clean water. We started out with bluegill and worms. He caught the first fish on bluegill so we switched all 4 lines to bluegill baits.
We tried shallow brushy areas, deep channel areas, deep slackwater.
Around 2:00, we sought shelter from the sun by running back downstream below the Spring ramp and anchoring against a cliff face. Over the next few hours, we threw all sorts of jigs and lures, and put out our second rods for catfish. My friend ended up with one tiny crappie and a couple good strikes. I got one little tap. The water temperature reached 73 during this time.
When the sun started getting less intense, we headed back upstream for the cats. Fish were jumping everywhere, and not all were carp. I am fairly certain I saw white bellies on some of them, so maybe some were catfish. Close to sunset, I caught 2 cats within 15 minutes, and thought things were going to turn around. They didn't.
Since I thought I was seeing catfish activity near the surface, I made several casts with the bait hanging about a foot under a float. No luck. We pulled anchor and started drifting back, dragging baits behind. No luck there either, so we wrapped it up and drove back to the ramp. We loaded up at 10:30.
If any of you guys head up there, watch out for debris. There were several big areas of driftwood floating around, and we saw one huge tree floating down.
If anyone has suggestions for what we may have been doing wrong or what weather/water conditions to wait for, I'd appreciate it.
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