It looks like a major change in cat tactics is upon us. Normal summertime pool elevation is about 675′ which is about where it was before this latest bout of heavy rain. Today the pool elevation is 677.7′ and forecasted to be 678.9′ by Thursday. That is almost a 4 foot rise in water levels and you know that will change almost everything. It looks like this higher water will last a good week or more. What that means to us cat fishermen is that the flow or current will increase significantly and we can expect a lot of debris in the water.
Most of the cats are now in postspawn mode and starting to feed aggressively. The cats are hungry and looking for baitfish to feed on. The key to finding fish is to find bait that they will be eating. My experience with rising water is that it will move most fish out of the direct current. I look for areas with current seams or eddys adjacent to current areas. The backsides of islands and long sandbars on an inside river bend with less current that are holding bait are good spots. To find these areas just watch upstream and down right about dusk when the water gets flat calm. You can see the baitfish dimpling the water and the occasional fish chasing bait. Those are the areas I target and hope the cats are in the mix of fish using those locations.
I also like to fish right up tight against main channel shorelines dropping baits along shoreline current breaks. My low water scouting now pays big dividends because I know where rocks, sunken trees, shoreline washout humps are located and those spots should be holding bait and fish.
My normal spring backwater spots that almost dried up during the low water spell will probably pick up a good current flow again and I plan on hitting those spots in the next couple of days to see if they are holding fish again.
You have to work a little harder now to keep your lines clear – they will be picking up a lot of grass and crud riding in the current. This is a good enough reason to reposition your bait anyway so about every 5 to 10 minutes reel up your line and clear the debris, check your bait and then reposition your bait a few feet left or right of your last spot. I also like to fish more cut bait now since the scent trail will help fish find my bait. Postspawn flatheads this time of year don’t seem real picky about bait and will readily grab a hunk of cutbait. I try to fish a big hunk of cut bait on one rod just for those hungry flatheads.
Some of my biggest fish have come in August and early September so we have some good fishing yet to come. We just need to adapt to the conditions, the fish are still there and hungry.
