snag piles

just wondering how you guy’s set up on a snag pile{below,above,ect}i’ve been fishing pool 8 and haven’t had the best of luck this year,only 1 30 pounder and a few little ones.i’ve been fishing snag piles i’ve caught them at before but the bites have been slow.i’m wondering if maybe it’s the positioning of the boat,weather,higher water,etc.?just thought you guy,s might have a opinion that might spark an idea.i wonder what the catfish king himself thinks? {dirk w}

Smokey, I could get into the finer points of what makes snags different from one another, but since you said you have caught fish there before I won’t get into that. I will say that if at all possible have a “milk run” of snags or other fish holding structure to fish in an evening. In my experience (and Dirk’s too…we’ve talked about this) Certain spots are hotter than others on given nights. I won’t spend more than an hour on a spot…unless it’s “hot” and you’ll know! I like to move quite a bit and take the active Flatheads from each spot. I have had spots give up 4-5 flatheads….once in a blue moon even more, but 1-2 is the rule if you are selecting decent spots to fish. Having said that, I’ve had bonafide, proven spots be dead on some nights…so I just keep moving. If you only have one or two spots slated to fish and they’re not producing that night…well, you’re in for a boring night. I also will come back to a spot later if I have confidence in that spot…I definitely have preferences based on time of night. I’m not sure if any of this helps, but it has worked well enough for me and my friends.

Jason.

I’m not sure I can add a whole lot. I was out a few days ago and caught a bunch of fish that didn’t look like they had spawned. I didn’t see any dripping eggs, etc. and they were very fat. I say this because they will spawn soon and they are now in the areas they will spawn in.

As far as snags go. With this normal-low water I’d start in front of the snag or work the current funnels or seems around the snags. If you arent catching them keep moving.

D

The fish are finished with the spawn down here. I caught a few last weekend that were spawned out females. I can’t seem to get a big fish this year no matter what I do. 18 pounds is my biggest so far.

Whiskerkev, what waters do you fish?

I usually fish Pool nine but sometimes I go and hook jetcat’s fish on the lower Wisconsin river.

The females may be finished with the spawn, but the males will still be guarding the nest for another couple of weeks. I’m getting only smaller fish at the moment. Last night we had ten hits – fished four spots. We only landed three 7’s and a 5. The others hit and dropped.

I like to set up above snags and have lines going about everywhere. Right up next to the snag, up along the dropoff in front of it, along the bank upstream from the snag, and definitely out on the end of the snag where the current pushes around. I fish in WI (3 lines) and also usually have my son or a nephew along, so we get quite a few lines involved. If I had to narrow the presentation to two, I’d fish the outer edge, and one on the dropoff in front.

I usually pick snags that are the furthest upstream in a series, and often spend half the night there. I know many advocate making moves, and I do plenty of it, but I’ve never caught a 30+ pound cat at a secondary spot. My biggest cat (47) came from two feet in front of a snag at midnight – it came after four hours without a hit. Just a counterpoint to the “milk run” approach. It’s a tossup for me, I stick when I feel confident, and move when I don’t. I like to look for snags and channels that have obvious travel corridors.

Happy Hunting,

Matt