CATFISH-DAYTIME ONLY

Fished the Goose Island, La Crosse, Wi., area yesterday afternoon, 4 pm to 830 pm. Do not want to contend with the bugs, fishing for catfish at night. Had water depths ranging from 4 to 18 feet, fast current, slow current, no current. Plenty of trees, logjams to be found. Used cutbait, stinkbait, crawlers, and leeches. Caught 2, 5-8 lbs. flatheads in front of a logjam, in about 8 feet of water. on cutbait. Does the time of day equate to the depth of water, or the location of catfish? Fished some pretty good looking areas yesterday, thought we should have seen more action.

Heck YES!! The time of day is everything for catfishin… flatheads and channels… fish deeper during the day for both species…. and fish heavy cover in the middle of the day… I mean rite smack dab in the cover….

Hoosier – There is an interesting In-Fisherman article in the March 2003 magazine, titled ” Breaking the Rules for Big Flatheads – Catch More Fish and Get more Sleep”. You may find that article interesting and informative. I think you are missing the boat though on the night time fishing. You can’t beat the fun of biting mosquitoes, tangled lines in the bottom of the boat, getting a big fish up to the side of the boat and staring at a 10 lb snapping turtle with your circle hook in his mouth and a bad attitude towards you personally. You are missing out on a lot of fun.

Night fishing… bugs are the least of your worries.. If you do not have the light on all the time you don; have to worry about them … and use bug spray

hey
would you tell me where some big flatheads are in pool 4????

Well Mavzer fishes the bend right by the….oh wait. Nevermind! I wouldn’t give your spots away Mavz!

The flatheads that I have been hearing about lately have been coming from the backwaters. Don’t be afraid to get up in the backwaters a ways. You don’t need to be on the main channel or by really deep water. 4-10 feet of water is plenty deep for nighttime flatheads. Here is what I’ve noticed about the spots the fish are being caught:

1. There is “deeper” water close by….meaning deeper than the average depth in the area you’re at.
2. A muddy/cut bank is a good thing to have close by.
3. A large “snag”….fallen tree in the water is good.
4. A nice shallow bar next to deeper water for the flatheads to come up on to feed.
5. A current break along that bar.

I would also not be afraid to try a few spots. They seem to be biting fairly well right now, so don’t sit for hours in one spot if you’re not getting bit.

I haven’t personally been out lately, but Mavzer has been kicking butt on the flatheads and I know these are the types of areas he fishes. Maybe he can add a little more. Hope that gets ya started.

I think that you covered it pretty much! One thing that has been consistent is that there is always a lot of timber near by and cutbanks!! We pounded them the other night and then it was o.k one night and poor the next….. but that is cattin!! good luck