02-01-2018, 06:18 PM
I had heard from a reliable source that the ice in the Lincoln channel was only about an inch thick Tuesday morning. I had gotten skunked twice trying to catch a catfish in January and the weather had been warm Tuesday so I took half a day off work and headed out Wednesday 1/31/2018.
When I got to the ramp at about 2:15 P.M. I saw 2 encouraging sights, an empty boat trailer in the parking lot and no ice in the channel! The only downside was a northwesterly “walleye chop,” of about 10 MPH. The channel was 3-3.5 feet deep and the water temp was a balmy 42 degrees.
I wanted some fresh bait to I headed over by the springs and tossed a bobber and jigs all over. After almost an hour without so much as a bump I headed for the island. I started dragging baits in about 8’ FOW heading for the south facing “V” of the island. I had one chunk of frozen white bass and a crawler rig in the water. 30 minutes into it I was in 4.5 FOW and the walleye chop was more like 15 MPH and getting too rough and windy to drag baits. Between the jaws and the Island, the water temp dropped gradually from 41 to 38 degrees.
The forecast called for the winds to diminish toward evening so I pulled in close to the island to shield the waves, dropped the anchors and threw out two bobber rigs. An hour later I had no hits and the wind had not diminished, forecasts! I decided to get closer to home before dark.
I was thinking the slough mouth but once I got out in the open water I realized the waves were 1.5 to 2’ tall. Not good for fishing in 1.5 FOW in January, so I shut down just east of the jaws and tried to troll the sheltered area south of the jetties. I didn’t have a lot of hope there with only 1.8 FOW, but I was still fishing. Well, it was just a boat ride, so I eased up against the frags on the south side of the south dike and anchored. The wind was still howling. I had one little tap on the bobber with the jigs and that was it.
When dusk arrived the wind died down enough to venture out again. I had only an hour until time to head home and still no January cat. I remembered a spot where I had caught a few that seemed to be transitioning from deep water to shallow feeding areas and I thought it was worth a shot. I anchored at the spot and it was now fully dark. I set out one bobber and one bait on the bottom, both white bass. 20 minutes later the still bait rod twitched slightly, then moved slowly an inch or so. In picked up the rod and gave it slack for a few seconds then gently took out the slack. Something was there moving very slowly. I set hook and fish on!
It had plenty of weight to be a cat and didn’t run all over the lake like a carp. Within 10 seconds it was rolling on the surface and I knew it was a cat. In the net went a 23-inch channel and January was checked off. A cat in every month of the year! While I was getting the fish untangled and in the basket the other rod twitched. Same slow movement, same result. This one was much less lethargic than the first but it was a cat about an inch shorter.
I gave it another 15 minutes and another twitch. I tightened, set and pow, the line broke! The fish had weight, but I guess in the dark I must have tangled the line on something. 15 more minutes and no more hits so I called it a night. My new i-pilot had worked great and January ended in a tie, Catfish 2 and Pisco 2. A lot better than me getting skunked all three tries.
Do we have to wait till March for the catfish contest?
[signature]
When I got to the ramp at about 2:15 P.M. I saw 2 encouraging sights, an empty boat trailer in the parking lot and no ice in the channel! The only downside was a northwesterly “walleye chop,” of about 10 MPH. The channel was 3-3.5 feet deep and the water temp was a balmy 42 degrees.
I wanted some fresh bait to I headed over by the springs and tossed a bobber and jigs all over. After almost an hour without so much as a bump I headed for the island. I started dragging baits in about 8’ FOW heading for the south facing “V” of the island. I had one chunk of frozen white bass and a crawler rig in the water. 30 minutes into it I was in 4.5 FOW and the walleye chop was more like 15 MPH and getting too rough and windy to drag baits. Between the jaws and the Island, the water temp dropped gradually from 41 to 38 degrees.
The forecast called for the winds to diminish toward evening so I pulled in close to the island to shield the waves, dropped the anchors and threw out two bobber rigs. An hour later I had no hits and the wind had not diminished, forecasts! I decided to get closer to home before dark.
I was thinking the slough mouth but once I got out in the open water I realized the waves were 1.5 to 2’ tall. Not good for fishing in 1.5 FOW in January, so I shut down just east of the jaws and tried to troll the sheltered area south of the jetties. I didn’t have a lot of hope there with only 1.8 FOW, but I was still fishing. Well, it was just a boat ride, so I eased up against the frags on the south side of the south dike and anchored. The wind was still howling. I had one little tap on the bobber with the jigs and that was it.
When dusk arrived the wind died down enough to venture out again. I had only an hour until time to head home and still no January cat. I remembered a spot where I had caught a few that seemed to be transitioning from deep water to shallow feeding areas and I thought it was worth a shot. I anchored at the spot and it was now fully dark. I set out one bobber and one bait on the bottom, both white bass. 20 minutes later the still bait rod twitched slightly, then moved slowly an inch or so. In picked up the rod and gave it slack for a few seconds then gently took out the slack. Something was there moving very slowly. I set hook and fish on!
It had plenty of weight to be a cat and didn’t run all over the lake like a carp. Within 10 seconds it was rolling on the surface and I knew it was a cat. In the net went a 23-inch channel and January was checked off. A cat in every month of the year! While I was getting the fish untangled and in the basket the other rod twitched. Same slow movement, same result. This one was much less lethargic than the first but it was a cat about an inch shorter.
I gave it another 15 minutes and another twitch. I tightened, set and pow, the line broke! The fish had weight, but I guess in the dark I must have tangled the line on something. 15 more minutes and no more hits so I called it a night. My new i-pilot had worked great and January ended in a tie, Catfish 2 and Pisco 2. A lot better than me getting skunked all three tries.
Do we have to wait till March for the catfish contest?
[signature]
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