Ohio River Cats

August 22, 2008 by admin

Armed with stout conventional tackle and baited up with one-pound gizzard shad, Bruce Midkiff obviously had big cats in mind. An Ohio River cat fanatic who has since passed away, Midkiff found exactly what he was looking for that day in 1999. Fishing alone, he managed to land a 104-pound blue catfish, which stands as the state-record blue for Kentucky and Indiana.

Midkiff lived in Owensboro, so he did the bulk of his catfishing in the nearby Cannelton and Newberg lock-and-dam tailwaters and the Cannelton pool of the river. That said, great catfishing spots are spread along the entire Kentucky portion of the Ohio River, which extends more than 700 miles and forms the state’s entire northern border Most blue catfish are caught down- stream of Cincinnati, with the highest densities through the lower reaches of the river. Channels and flatheads abound throughout the river.

Large lock-and-dam structures break up the Ohio River, creating a string of 20 tailwaters and pools. The best catfishing overall occurs in the tailwaters and through the upper portions of the pools, where currents are generally the strongest. Cats put up in the immediate tailwaters, using current breaks of various sorts, and in deep river holes within the first several miles downstream of each dam.

Anglers fishing the tailwaters often fish vertically with three-way rigs, using enough weight to bounce their rigs along the bottom in the sometimes-strong currents. They commonly fish “gaps,” where turbines are off between others that are on, keeping the motor running to hold the boat in place and putting their lines straight down. Flathead anglers sometimes set up in slack areas, especially over deep waters beside rock or concrete structure associated with the locks and dams.

Downstream of the immediate tailwaters, most catfish specialists key on outside bends in the main river, where deep holes are well defined and easy to locate. Rockpiles and creek mouths also hold a lot of cats. By day, anglers fish the deepest parts of river holes, putting baits right on the bottom. For night fishing, most anglers set up on the holes’ upper-end slopes or even on flats immediately upstream of them.

For blue catfish, which are the most abundant large fish in the river, serious catfishermen almost all favor big chunks of cut bait- fish, with skipjack, gizzard shad and threadfin shad all being popular choices. Some anglers will fish whole baitfish; most will cut strips that are an inch or two wide.

As Midkiff was doing when he hooked up with the state-record blue, some anglers also will put at least one large live baitfish down, knowing that blues and flatheads will both take Eve shad or herring. Anglers who specifically break strength with a small diameter, which is beneficial in strong currents.

Because of the immense sizes that Ohio River catfish can grow to and the amount of current that often flows in the upper ends of pools, big-cat anglers use seriously stout gear. Most use fairly large conventional reels, stout fiberglass or E-glass rods, and a heavy line. A lot of fisherman favor 50- to 100-pound-test braided line. With braid, they get a very high break strength with a small diameter, which is beneficial in strong currents.

Except in the rockiest parts of tailwaters, where three-way rigs work best, most anglers use basic Carolina rigs with anywhere from an ounce of lead or 6 or 7 ounces, depending on the depths they are fishing and the amount of current that is flowing. They lay lines downstream, usually staggering cast lengths to cover more area, put the rods in holders and wait for the rods to surge down.

Hook sizes used for trophy cats range from 4/0 to about 10/0, with the larger- sized hooks usually being circle hooks. Circle hooks have gotten quite popular in recent years because anglers don’t need to know when to set the hook or how hard to yank They just leave reels engaged and the fish hook themselves. As importantly circle hooks usually hook cats in the corner of the mouth, which is extra significant as catch-and-release catfishing continues to gain popularity.

Of course, for every giant catfish in the Ohio River, there are loads of smaller blues and channel catfish, and they use a lot of the same types of areas. Therefore, anglers who want to go after big cats without forsaking likely action can put out a line or two rigged with a big chunk of bait and bait others with much smaller pieces of cut bait, chick- en fivers or commercial dip baits.

Whatever they bait up with, however, anglers must remain ready for anything. Any rod that rod goes down on the Ohio River could be bowing to the tug of a 5- pound catfish or a 50-pounder.

The Ohio River Fishing Guide, published by the Ohio River Fisheries Management Team and available through Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources offices, provides good information on access to all parts of the Ohio River. For more information, log onto www.kyafield.com.

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