Anybody that wants to catch catfish nows the time

Fishing for channels is fantastic right now on the Cedar River here. The numbers and size that were catching is really good. Anybody ditty poleing or running lines has to check them atleast 2wice a day or there missing fish and alot of them. Were getting bent and broken hooks and very very few with any bait left on them.

Were ditty poleing shorelines in flooded timber and the bites so good were going bobber fishing tomorrow night with bluegills under the bobbers for bait. Two guys in a boat with 2 poles each and they fish for 4 or 5 hrs and theres a good chance they will get 1/2 dozen nice ones apiece or more. 8/10ths of our fish are between 5 and 9 pounds. We got probably 30 to 40 fish the last two weeks that were from 7 to 10 lbs each.

Last week the male flatheads were biting and smaller, now the bigger hungerier females are starting to go, got one tonight just befor dark that went 15 pounds. We’ve been putting our fish in a big fish cage that we have in the river and this afternoon we pulled it out with the 4 wheeler and put it on the tommy lift on the back of my 1 ton. We then drove it to the cleaning table and it took 7 of us 4 hrs to fillet what we had in the cage. We had 4-5 gallon buckets of guts and we filleted them so close you could read a newspaper through what was left on the bones.

We didn’t have our posession limits for the 3 of us but we were close. We ended up with 4-5 gallon buckets of fillets. The size and the numbers are really good right now for the guys who fish the Cedar, thier getting ready to spawn and are very hungry. Fish flooded backwaters with bluegills about 2″ to 3″ or a little bigger and you’ll catch fish. Pole fishing with bluegills is as about as good as it gets right now. 2 guys fishing all night in flooded timber with poles and you’d have to drag the stringer to your vehicle. Good luck!

Sounds like you have them dialed in. So do you have a fish fry coming up soon, and am I invited?

Ya twister if you feel like driving this far. We are having one later this month but don’t know exactly what date yet but there will be plenty of fish and other eats, com’on up and have a plate.

How do you cook those cats to where a guy can stand to eat them?

Heres the way we cook them. After cleaning we soak in saltwater for atleast 4 or 5 hours, this is to cut the oil which theres very little in them this time of year, I let mine soak overnight. We then cut into strips about 1/2 to 3/4″ wide. I then pat mine dry in a towel then dip in egg and milk mixed together. Then right into a bowl of half yellow cornmeal and flour mixed together. The trick to frying good fish is the oil has to be 350 degrees or hotter. As soon as it turns the color you like your breading to be take them out. I serve with tartar sauce made from miracle whip, onions, a little celery seed and sweet relish. Im not bragging but I think this recepie is about the best Ive tasted but theres others im sure but I just haven’t tasted them yet.

Thanks Mossy. I’m going to try that on some ‘eyes tommorrow.

YW Tacket, it is a good recipe. I think the tartar sauce is about my favorite, if you want to do it up really right use chopped long green onions and slice thin, there I go im hungry again.

Mossy have you been out lately? Are they biting on the drop of the water? I’ve been thinking of trying out the cat’s since I recently moved on the Cedar.

No we haven’t. I’ve been busy with some other things and my old friend George is in the hospital. I looked at the river yesterday early afternoon and the water looks like its stabelized and looks like it should be good. The water has cleared up fair and is now closer to normal and its been that way for the last few days so it should be good. If I didn’t have things to do Id go. With the water lower then it was a week and a half ago Id fish slow no current areas next to a deeper channel. Im a fan of smaller bluegills while pole fishing and thats what Id use if I were to go. The night time bite should be pretty good along the shorelines where they cruise to find food. If you could find some snags in shallower water 3′ to 6′ Id fish the upper side of those snags. I think the pole fishing should be atleast fair right now, let us know if you go and catch anything.