Ohio River 11/7/09

Thomas and I launched out of Tanners Creek Saturday evening for an overnight catfishing trip. Bait was easy...about 4 throws of the cast net and we had about 5 dozen nice big shad. Headed upriver to the area in front of the casino and after trying a few different holes there and not catching anything, we moved down in front of the power plant. After about 5 minutes there, Thomas ended up catching biggest fish of the night with a 26lb blue. We ended up catching about 5 fish at this spot. Sometime around midnight a HUGE flow of debris came downstream and we stayed anchored at this spot to stay out of it. At sunup, we decided to drift back to the boat ramp and ended up catching 4 fish in the first 15 minutes! It was great...perfect current for drifting. To make a long story short, we caught 22 fish altogether. 3 flatheads, 16 blues, and 3 channel cats. Excellent time with my son. Here are the particulars and some cell phone pics (I really need a new camera..haha).
Where: Ohio River near Lawrenceburg
Water Temps: 56-58 degrees
Conditions: Falling river with some debris (Heavy debris from 12AM-4AM)
Bait: Shad
Structures fished: Dropoffs, holes and flats

Wabash River - Sept. 26, 2009

Fished the Wabash River last night with my friend Robert and my son Thomas. Launched at Fairbanks Park in Terre Haute and went south from the ramp. The water south of I-70 was almost impassable, but we found a channel and made it through. Set up on the first hole and immediately Thomas caught a 10lb blue cat and then about 10 minutes later he caught a 15lb blue cat. Thought that it was gonna be a good night but we didnt catch another fish until 4AM....but boy was it worth waiting!! Thomas's rod bent double in the holder and I knew immediately that it was a good fish. The fish wrapped up on a log, but Thomas was able to pull it out. It ended up weighing 43lbs!!! It was his personal best!! WOO HOO!!! It is so exciting to see your kids catch a nice fish!! I didnt even care after that that I didnt catch squat!. Good night on the 'Bash!
Particulars:
Water Temp: 74 degrees
Bait: Live bluegills, live creek chubs, and cut skipjack
Water depths: 8-15ft of water near structure in bends
Water Level: 1.2Ft

Wabash River - sept. 11, 2009

Fished with JetDoc (Roy) Friday night on the Wabash River south of Terre Haute. The ride downstream is hairy at best. Seemed like I spent a lot of time in water that was about 1' deep and the whole area around the I-70 bridge is almost non-navigable. BUT...after we got past that stretch, we found some of the best looking catfish water that I have ever seen. Lots of bends, deep holes, and structure. We fished just about all of it, but only managed 4 fish all night. We really need some rain to get things going for the fall bite. Roy started things off with a nice double (2 fish at once). He caught a flathead and a channel....and then I caught a small flathead and an 11lb blue cat. That would be it for the night. Water temp was still 80.2 on the surface and we only saw 2 asian carp jump. East wind proved deadly once again...haha.

Wabash River - August 8th 2009

Fished the Wabash River on Saturday night with Andy (Afishpatrol). Fishing was tough, but we managed a few. Fished a lot of deep holes, but the fish we caught were all in very shallow water. All in all it was great trip with great company. All fish came on cut shad and cut skipjack. the blue I caught was 28lbs. I am surprised he could swim as shallow as the water was where I caught him.

Ohio River - March 7, 2009

Roy and I went down to the Ohio River today to do some blue cat fishing. Launched the boat, went down to the marina and caught a few nice shad and then headed to our spot. As we were going under the 421 bridge (not far from the launch ramp) the motor on Roy's boat sputtered and died. We made our way back to the ramp with the trolling motor, put the boat on the trailer and decided it was too nice of a day to quit fishing so we went in search of a bank spot. Well...we found one...and it payed off. Soon after arriving, Roy hooked into a 13lb blue. I quickly followed with a 25lb blue. We had alot of runs, but those were the only two fish we caught. We also got checked by 2 different CO's, one of which sat and talked to us for about half an hour and answered alot of questions for me concerning Ohio River fishing. Aside from the boat motor dying, it was a good day and nice weather...despite the wind.

Ohio River - Madison - 1/23/09

Myself, Roy and Andy went down to the Ohio River near Madison to do some catfishing. Bait was kinda tough as the usual hole was ICED OVER!!! Ugh....but we ended up getting enough for the day and got some nice cutter shad. Fished deep holes near current and ledges and we ended up with a few nice fish. The biggest fish were around 23lbs. All fish were caught on shad. Weather was nice too and the company was excellent.
Water Level: 421ft (Clifty Creek Gage)
Water Temp: 35-38 degrees
Bait: Cut shad and drum
Air Temp: 31 at start to 61 in the afternoon. Sunny
Here are some pics:

Ohio River - Madison Indiana

Fished the Ohio river yesterday near Madison Indiana with Roy and and Kevin, a fella from another board. Launched about 8AM or so, cast netted some nice shad and headed off. Fished about 4 different areas before we found the fish. Where we finally found then was a deep hole fed by a creek that offered them some slack water as the river was up and crankin. Kevin started off the day with an 18lb blue, then Jetdoc caught a 33lb (his new Ohio River personal best), and then he caught a fish that went around 15lbs or so. All fish were released. I was skunked, but didnt care...good day to be out. We DID get to see a 12 year boy reel in a 65 - 70lb blue cat. They were fishing out of a boat on the other side of the hole from us. You should have seen the little guy going nuts!!!! I wish I would have had a video camera to catch that reaction. Here are the particulars:
Where: Ohio River - Madison
When: 8AM-4PM
River Level: 24foot and falling (Muddy and lots of debris)
Bait: Fresh shad and frozen skipjack
Water Temp: 39-41 degrees
Areas fished: Deep holes out of the current and drop offs and ledges

Here are a few pics:
[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p9/IndianaCatfish/P1030149.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p9/IndianaCatfish/P1030150.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p9/IndianaCatfish/P1030152.jpg[/IMG]

Peace y'all...