Northwest Fishing Reports

I am working in Saint Louis Missouri this week and had an opportunity to look at the Mississippi River. Not exactly the Skagit. It has about 3” of visibility and looks like a milkshake. From what I hear it looks this way year around. I haven’t found anybody who is anything more than a casual fisherman just yet so I haven’t got the skinny on fishing the river. I did get in a great conversation about “Noodling” It is not just an odd way to catch catfish, it is more of a culture or way of life for people.

Catfish is one species of fish I have always wanted to fish for, but never have gotten a real opportunity. I would like to do it the hook and line way though, NTY to sticking my hand/arm/shoulder into holes that also hold predators, turtles, and snakes.... yikes!

Matt when your ready to hit vegas up let me Know I will go with you and show you cat fishing lol thats my stomping grounds

if legal livers chicken beef work great for catfish anything real smelly as they are bottom fish and will eat just about anything put infront of them. I always like the fight of catfish catching them in the Local Lake mead in Nv,

I am not a fan of sticking my arm or foot in a fishes mouth so noodling is out for me lol

structures are great hidding places and along steep banks where holes are in the bank I guess nesting areas so to say.

Matt wrote:Catfish is one species of fish I have always wanted to fish for, but never have gotten a real opportunity. I would like to do it the hook and line way though, NTY to sticking my hand/arm/shoulder into holes that also hold predators, turtles, and snakes.... yikes!

Matt, come down to Phoenix this summer and hit up lake pleasant with my uncle and I.
Just a few days, my mom caught a catfish (channel) that didnt fit in our bath tub!
We took a measurement, and threw it back to grow some more.
We could hook you into some BIG cats.

southwest has some nice cats lake mead reports having cats over 6 foot long reports by divers I still doubt the reports as none have been pulled out yet that I heard of anyways.

Yeah, big cats are fun (the one on my avatar is just a baby). ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!! reel reel reel reel ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ reel reel reel reel..

I took a friend night cat fishing in Nebraska once. We were on the bank, we had a campfire going, he walked about 20' away, cast his line out, propped his pole into a aluminum/web folding chair. I warned him to keep a hand on his pole and he said no problem, he put the chair way back on the bank. So we are sitting there at the camp fire and start hearing this "clank clank clunk clunk splash" yep the chair, his pole all in the lake. He was able to wade in a get it before it got too far. Pulled in a little 10# channel. We also ran across a snapping turtle as big as a garbage can lid that night. Kept putting sticks in front of it to see how big a stick it could break Ahh to be a kid again!

If you're fishing a river for cats, a tip
is take a can of tuna.. Put some tiny holes in
it...Just a few....then throw it out in the river
and the current will carry along the scent of
the tuna. Ive never done it, but my uncle has,
and he said it works great.

Fish_Bait111397 wrote:If you're fishing a river for cats, a tip is take a can of tuna.. Put some tiny holes in it...Just a few....then throw it out in the river and the current will carry along the scent of the tuna. Ive never done it, but my uncle has, and he said it works great.

And I am sure you tie a line to it so you can retrieve the can and not leave more garbage on the riverbed...right...

Gringo Pescador wrote:

Fish_Bait111397 wrote:If you're fishing a river for cats, a tip is take a can of tuna.. Put some tiny holes in it...Just a few....then throw it out in the river and the current will carry along the scent of the tuna. Ive never done it, but my uncle has, and he said it works great.

And I am sure you tie a line to it so you can retrieve the can and not leave more garbage on the riverbed...right...

Of course !
Theres enough polution in our world
as there is, we dont need to add more,
keep our fisheries clean !

Gringo Pescador wrote: Kept putting sticks in front of it to see how big a stick it could break Ahh to be a kid again!

I guarantee if I ran across a snapping turtle that size I would do the EXACT SAME THING, lol. That sounds like fun.

I think i would try to ride the thing!
I went night fishing for cats a couple years back, its so much fun. Only caught 15 inchers but on the ultra light it was alot of funn

I'm from Missouri and have fished the rivers some. This time of the year the catfish are sluggish water is still alittle cool for them. But you can get into some good walleye and white bass. Fish rip-rap and below the locks.