After last night’s round with the catfish, fellow staffer Andy Craig and I decided to hit it again, to see if we could pattern these catfish.
We didn’t do exceptionally well, but we had a great time on the ice tonight!
Last night I was searching for walleyes- and again I came up empty handed. I have continued with my theory, that the predator fish will stay with the roaming schools of shad. I believe that the predator fish in this lake, mainly feed on the shad, rather than the abundant small crappie/bluegill population. Last month I found the hybrids with the shad, this month it has been the catfish following the shad.
To find the shad, I would like to stress the importance of drilling many holes, and remaining mobile. The shad never stay in one tight area for long, so you have to be able to move with them, if you want to stay on the fish. The schools of shad move, and the predator fish follow. If you don’t move with the shad, you aren’t going to hear your drag sing!!
Staying mobile and keeping your body warm go hand in hand. If you can’t stay warm, you can not fish outside effectively. There is where the new Snosuit comes into play- It was around five degrees tonight, with a 15-20 mph west wind. It was blowing right up the lake and hitting us hard. Most of the ice houses were in the protected areas of the lake out of the wind. And those anglers were fishing inside of their ice houses. With the Snosuit, Andy and I were able to stay out of the otter, and stay on the fish. And it was COLD, it took about ten seconds of cold on exposed skin, to make you start worrying about frostbite. I would have never believed anybody if they told me I could fish comfortably in these type of conditions…I am now a firm believer in the snosuit, as is Andy-
Andy I were concentrating our efforts in depths of 12-15 FOW. We were continually bouncing from hole to hole checking for shad. If you found shad in a hole, then you dropped down and fished that hole. Usually a cat would show his face. Most weren’t in a feeding mood tonight- but the ones that were, hit our baits extremely hard. We were using jigging raps, and CJ&S slender spoons. I also caught one cat on a chubby darter. Even while we were fishing in 12-15 FOW, the majority of the cats were suspended at the five foot mark on the marcums- Sometimes they would be on the bottom, but it held true that the active fish were up and off the bottom. The suspenders didn’t hesitate to hit our lures. When I marked shad, I would begin to jig right in the middle of them, and you could feel your lure bumping them. After they would flee, I would try to make my bait look like a struggling/dieing shad- The catfish thought they were getting a easy meal of a dying shad.
A major cold front is moving into our area. The fore-casted temp for Saturday is a high of negative three, with WIND. Normally I would stay home or fish in an ice house when it gets that cold- But you can bet, that Andy and I will be on the ice somewhere, with our snosuits on!
I would imagine these catfish can be caught in quite a few areas on the lake. If you like catfishing, get out there and try it- and take along the kids, they will have a blast fighting these fish. Andy and I sure did!!
Good luck, stay safe- and we’ll see you on the hard water!
One more of that beautiful sunset…
Here is a link to Snosuit if you want to check them out!
here kitty kitty kitty
Hey Luke, Looks like a great time. Really like my snow suit too!! See ya at LOTW 
Thanks for the report and pics bud. Don’t be surprised if Briank calls you for a need of getting a badly needed fix for his catfishing withdrawls now that he sees you are catching nice cats through the ice. And by the way, very sharp looking suit you have on.
Thanks, Bill
Very cool,great pics as always Luke
$600 total for the Jacket and Bibs?
WOW they sure are proud of those things!
Iowa sunsets….thanks!
Nice report & pics Luke!
Boog
Nice kats…we’ve scored a good load before
on those mud humps southeast side.
Walleyes were out deeper.
Stay tuned for an IDA special on these!
Nice pics luke. Sorry about the cats!
Great report and pics Luke
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Luke,
It sure looks like you are having a good time out there. I wish i had the money for a snosuit. next years thing to buy
How do you keep your hands warm when you are hole hoppin in that wind?
Do you fish with gloves on?
I hate fishing with gloves on
Well, 480 for anybody on IDO…
I have paid that much twice for guidewear. I love my guidewear- but this suit is CUSTOM made to be the ultimate cold weather suit!- In my opinion it is well worth the 600 price tag-
Benny- yes, if the temp drops below 10- I fish with gloves on. In my opinion you have to.. Any exposed skin will get frostbite in a hurry. I have many different gloves that I wear. My main pair for staying warm is a big pair of north face gloves. Then I have a pair of “liners” underneath of those…so I can slip the big warm gloves off and feel the bite.
I don’t like wearing gloves, but sometimes the conditions call for them!
I paid $75 from Reeds for the Vex cold snap bibs they seem to work well for me so far in higher altitude. But your not a VEX guy so…
Not knocking the SNOSUIT at all, haven’t been around them yet. I just can’t justify the price tag. Besides I enjoy fishing in my tshirt inside the shack and with a little one man quickflip you are fairly mobile
If its that cold out your hands are going to get cold then your done. Or at least I am. I dont like to fish with gloves on either. I hate fighting the elements outside. Guides freezing up, your reel, line, wind etc..
Where do you fish around Denver? Ever trout fished Dillon Lake? What about Pueblo or Cherry Glen or whatever for eyes?
Andy sounds like you are familiar with the area? I mostly fish the front range area and target warm water species. I live in between Chatfield and Cherry Creek but don’t fish the creek that much. Caught some smallies at Chatty tonight before work. Aurora Res is a nice place that has some jumbos and nice eyes in it. Eyes have been a little tough but been getting some decent pech around the metro. Dillon is really only good at that snake inlet area from what I have heard for kokes, at times you will catch 100 of them in a outing. Good place to take the kids. I don’t target kokes,trout, or lakers so I don’t put in much time in those waters. Every now and then though its fun to catch some 5 lb trout or some nice lakers. I absolutley love it out there. Not the best fishing for warm water species but the mountains are beautiful.
Always enjoy you and Luke’s posts and pics from Iowa!
Nice jumbo! Man they got some neat colors!
Cool. I will get a hold of you next time I’m out there. I’ve got a few freinds that live out that way and I used to snowboard out there about 2 weeks a year when i was in school. Haven’t done that for a while now but my girlfriend and i usually make it out there once every year or two.