Good fishing spots for Cats at Stockton?

[jammer_smith]

Any good fishing spots on Stockton for Cats?

Spent about 5 hours at Stockton near one of the bridges. Tossed out two rods, one with worm and the other with chicken liver and let them sit the whole time with no action.

I have no luck catching cats, I find a liklt spot, I've used every bait in the book, let my hooks sit for dozens of hours and caught bupkis, I must be missing the jist in some way but I can't figure it out.

[lolabelle]

try the dam

[RedRook]

Why not try Fellows. They have a good Muskie and Catfish population. Foot long fish are actually on the small side. The bigger fish need a lot of action in my opinion though. It's more about how the bait moves for them than what it is.

[jammer_smith]

Now, it's been two years, so maybe things have changed in the last two years, but I can't tell you how many hours I've sat on that dock at Fellows with three rods at different depths cast out waiting for cats without catching anything. Also, back when i used to try Fellows a lot, there would almost always be other fishermen there as well, and I don't think I ever saw one of them pull a fish in either except maybe little perch from right off the dock.

So i gave up on Fellows.

[RedRook]

Hmm, I've got Muskies and catfish there before. I was looking up the conditions, and the first thing was from two years ago.

http://archive.news-leader.com/article/ ... llows-lake

Every time I've caught something there has been early in the morning. You do catch everything less frequently there. At Roaring Rivers you'll catch 5 fish in an hour by just using stinky bait. Out at Fellows you do seem to have to try harder. I think they are smarter fish, I'm wanting to try out Phenix this year with the water being so high.

[RedRook]

Hmm, I've got Muskies and catfish there before. I was looking up the conditions, and the first thing was from two years ago.

http://archive.news-leader.com/article/ ... llows-lake

Every time I've caught something there has been early in the morning. You do catch everything less frequently there. At Roaring Rivers you'll catch 5 fish in an hour by just using stinky bait. Out at Fellows you do seem to have to try harder. I think they are smarter fish, I'm wanting to try out Phenix this year with the water being so high.

[jammer_smith]

Yeah man, I dunno if I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time or what, but I think the only thing I've ever seen come out of Fellows on my line or the lines of any of the other fishermen around has been small perch, a snake, and a turtle. Maybe the fishing dock is just over fished? I dunno.

[lolabelle]

go limb lining instead

[BROUSER]

Jug fishing...boat would make it easier, but canoe works.

[sulfurburner]

If you're after flathead, catch a few perch/bluegill for bait. find a good looking spot with structure or a rocky shore and toss it out. Flatheads are predatory fish. They're enticed by lively bait.

I mainly fish the river for blue cats but when I'm at the lake I'll take my cast net and throw until I get some fresh shad. if you can't get shad, cut perch/bluegill will work also. Key here is to make sure it's fresh bait.

What kind of tackle are you using?

[jammer_smith]

So I went out to Jame River for about 2 hours last night, under the bridge next to Winoka. I used two lines, one with a bobber tossed out to about the middle of the river to float gently along the current, and the other weighted to rest on the bottom and tossed right under the bridge. Bait was Worm and McNugget.

No bites. I didn't really even see that many surface disturbances, it just seemed dead.

Now two weeks ago I went up to Stockton and fished this exact spot: 37.531739, -93.602448

I loaded up a hook with worm and used a weight maybe a foot and a half above the hook and tossed it out into the middle of the channel and let it sit on the bottom. I was out there for maybe 4 hours and got nothing on the catfish rig. Although while waiting on the catfish rig I was tossing out a crank bait and got a couple of smallies, a crappie, and a walleye.

[sulfurburner]

I usually don't let bait sit on the bottom more than 30 minutes. If I'm not getting any action I'll switch bait and/or location. try deep, shallow, in the current, close to a tree etc.

I'm not sure about MO laws but in ks you can use crappie and other game fish for bait as long as you catch it with a hook through the lip (not sure exactly how it's worded but something like that).

[BROUSER]

Game fish and game fish parts may not be used for bait.