[luv2fish]

Hello all,
I am new to this site and I have been reading the members reports. This site is good.
I am going to Jackson tonight after work with my son. My son keeps wanting to go there to catch some carp! We went there last year around this time and had a blast catching carp that were avaraging 10#.
Then on Saturday evening we are going to Big MAC. Report says the Small Mouth Bass are hitting well at the dam during the day and the white bass and wipers are hitting at night. So we are going to give it a try to see if the reports are true.
I will post how well we did after the weekend.

I went to Big MAC 2 times already this year. We were targeting Catfish. We went to the inlet area in April and again in June. 4 of us in the boat and the fishing was great. Both trips we caught our limit of catfish in less than 4 hours. Fish went from 2 1/2 pounds to 7 pounds. It was awesome.  And the catfish from Lake Mac are very good eating.

 

[epic]

Welcome to the site, good luck with both Jackson and Big Mac. Thanks for the information about the reports. I was suppose to go to Lake McConaughy this weekend, but plans were canceled. I then made new plans and they too were canceled, so maybe I'll head back to Lake McConaughy.

 

[roadkill]

Mmmm..... catfish my taste buds are watering havent had any for a bit

good luck on your trip hope to see pics of the big ones

glad to have ya here

 

[Guest]

...and the white bass and wipers are hitting at night. So we are going to give it a try to see if the reports are true.

One evening last weekend I was talking to a few local guys cleaning their fish at Samuelsons and they had about 20 white bass in the 2 pound range. They indicated that "speed trolling" will get the white bass going. They were trolling Shad Raps and other shad looking cranks and purposely targeting the whites by getting the speed up to around 2.7 mph. In the tournament we duplicated that, at times by accident. We were not white bass fishing but they sure kept the day interesting by mixing in with the walleye. We were trolling the south shore over by Vans in 15-25 FOW.

 

[gotmusky?]

Luv2Fish,

Good luck on those carp. Do you mind sharing how you caught the cats? (rigs, bait, etc..)

Thanks
aaron

 

[JohnnyO19]

I've never eaten a catfish that I've caught. Do you clean and fillet them just like other fish?

 

[roadkill]

here's a link to a way to clean the smaller cats and bullheads

http://www.munising.com/upfishing/cleaning_catfish.html

another more wordy discription that works for larger fish

http://bayoubill.com/archives/2003/040703column.html

before cleaning the big boys some like to hang the fish head up tail down and then cut the tail off to bleed the fish i saw this on a fishing show and was suprized how much blood came out and the fish were dead but probly fresh dead

after i skin my cats i then fillet them and end up with nice boneless fillets ready to cook

hope this helps

 

[luv2fish]

Well, I did not end up at Lake MAC. I did go to Jackson after work on Friday. I caught 1 carp 26 inches. I lost 4 other ones. Those carp are tough to catch. A 10# carp bites like a 2 inch minnow. I fished for 2 hours and missed about 20 bites. They would pick up the bate and spit it back out and not come back.
Then I figured it out! I took all the weights off my line and just casted the hook with the bate. Then the Carp would pick up the bate and not feel any weight at all and then I started hooking them. They are great fun to catch but I have never eaten one.
I went back on Saturday and it was crazy out there with all the people. I didn'e even get a bite on Saturday.

About the catfish. When we went to Lake MAC in June we were fishing in about 5ft of water back where the river comes into the lake. We were fishing Shrimp on the bottom. But there are a lot of weeds back there and we were getting a lot of snags. So I started using a bobber fishing about 3 feet down. Bobber fishing for cats is fun. Those cats grab the shrimp and you can watch your bobber start streeking across the water like a torpedo! We were fishing in the middle of the day and had our limit by 1pm.
I fillet all my catfish, I had blackened Catfish on the grill last night for the 4th. It was awesome.

I am not sure where I am going this weekend. I might try Sterling.
Good fishing to you all.