Scooter's Fishing Diary

Ohio River 11/7/09

2009-11-08T16:22:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-01-25T06:20:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

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...

Clearview Lake - May 20th

2008-05-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

Fished Clearview Lake. Water temps in the mid-60's. Small front came through. Total of 11 fish. Largest was 37lbs. Smallest was 12lbs. All fish came on goldfish and bluegill.

White River - Indy - 4/29/08

2008-05-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

Fished at the Tuesday Night Blowout in front of Westside Bait & Tackle. Everyone caught some carp with Roy catching the biggest at 14.5lbs. All came on corn. Also caught a nice crappie, a tint flathead, tons of gills, and some smallmouth bass. Water temps were in the low-mid 60's.

Mill Race Park - Columbus Indiana April 8, 2008

2008-04-10T08:02:00.001-07:00

Fished the back pond at Mill Race Park in Columbus today. Caught 0 carp, but ended up with 6 crappie and 3 bass. The crappie were going nuts.

Conditions - Breezy
Air Temp: 68 degrees
water Temp: Low-mid 50's
Baits used: Corn, dough, and jigs

Summit Lake Carp - April 6, 2008

2008-04-10T07:59:00.000-07:00

Joe and I headed to Summit Lake in eastern Indiana to fish for some monster carp. While we didnt catch any monsters, we landed a few around 14-15 lbs.

Conditions: Night, lake calm
Water depth: 5-10 foot near weeds
Bait: Corn, boilies, doughballs
Water Temp: 46-50 degrees

Santee Cooper, South Carolina Days 1 & 2

2008-03-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

Day 1 at Lake Marion: 60 MPH winds kept us off the boat. We (Doug, Jim, Penny and Tim) fished the banks near John C. LandIII landing. I missed once nice catfish and a couple of small fish on a jig/pig.
Water Temp: 60 degrees
Air Temp: 46 degrees (20MPH wind with gusts to 60)
Water Depths: Shallow - 15 foot
Baits Used: Skipjack, mullet, and jig/pig

Day 2: Fished around Wyboo today in the boat. Weather was much better and Dougs boat ran well. Water Temp: 61-63 degrees
Air temp: Low 60's
Water Depth: 3-22 foot
Fish caught: 3 blues (20, 15, 13) and Jim missed a nice flattie on live bait.
Baits Used: Skipjack, bream, and white perch

Ohio River - March 2, 2008 - Tanner's Creek

2008-03-04T08:09:00.000-08:00

Water Temp: 35F at the ramp, 37 in the river
Air Temp: 45 degrees
Level: 33 Foot (Kinda high)
Water Conditions: Muddy, fast flow on the rise with TONS of debris (Had to dodge TREES and refrigerators)
Structure fished: Deep holes on ledges, submerged wing dams, creek mouths
Bait: Lots of pods on finder, got bait at WW discharge

Fish boated: 2 blues (1-25, 1-7)

Ohio River at Tanners: Jan. 21,2008

2008-01-21T16:32:00.000-08:00

Air Temp: 6 degrees
Water Temp: 35-37 degrees
Bait: Non-Exsistent
Water Level: 29-30 and stable after a long fall the last few days
Debris: Lots of debris
Baits Used: Shad and skipjack

No skipjacks were present at the warm water discharge. Fished ledges, breaks and holes with Doc Lange of hookedoncatfish.com Had to break through 2" of ice at the ramp and on Tanners all the way to the Ohio. Great company today...miserable fishing.

Ohio River - Jan. 7th, 2008

2008-01-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

Air Temp: 65F
Water Temp: 37-41F
Water level: 27.9ft and stable
Place: Aurora Indiana
Water conditions: Good current, stained, some debris
Bait: Shad/skipjack/sucker Bait in creeks was scattered.
Fish caught: 3 blues, 3 channels
Moon Phase: New moon
Fishing Hours: 11AM-11PM Bite was better before dark

Ohio River - 12/31/07

2008-01-01T11:39:00.000-08:00

Place - Tanner's Creek Ramp
Water Temp - 36-40F
Air Temp - 47F
Water Level - 31Ft and stable but falling (Cincinnatti Gauge), lots of debris
Bait - Shad/Skipjack Bait very plentiful in creeks
Fish caught - 2 blues, 2 channels (Biggest 9lbs)
Thats that

Ohio River December 28th, 2007

2008-01-01T11:28:00.000-08:00

Place - Tanner's Creek Ramp
Water Temp - 41F
Air Temp - 45F
Water Level - 33Ft and falling (Cincinnatti Gauge), lots of debris
Bait - Shad/Skipjack Bait very plentiful in creeks
Fish caught - 3 channels (Biggest 6lbs)