Stacking them in the boat at Willard

[obifishkenobi]

Great day fishing for cats. Strted about 6:30 just outside the north Marina with Corbin and Mike. Got off to a steady pace fishing whirly fligs tipped with fresh chub from a bait run yesterday to Lost Creek. 10’ of water going .5-.8. Had two limits just after 8am and reached out to Elayo to come get in on the cat action. We finished our three man limit just as Shawn arrived with his kids. His kids got a few tugs in before we called the fishing and switched to pulling kids including Shawn on the tube at noon. Ended the day with 32 cats, great average size filled two coolers.

[Jig-fisher]

Great report Obi, way to put the hurt on the cats! Looks like a really fun day.

[BURLEY]

Wow! Nice job. Glad that the cleaning station was working.

[oldguy]

Great day fishing for cats. Strted about 6:30 just outside the north Marina with Corbin and Mike. Got of to a steady pace fishing whirly fligs tipped with fresh chub from a bait run yesterday to Lost Creek. 10’ of water going .5-.8. Had two limits just after 8am and reached out to Elayo to come get in on the cat action. We finished our three man limit just as Shawn arrived with his kids. His kids got a few tugs in before we called the fishing and switched to pulling kids including Shawn on the tube at noon. Ended the day with 32 cats, great average size filled two coolers.

Nice Shawn good to see the s on the kids face makes it all worth it.

[MWScott72]

It was a really fun morning. I think the best part was seeing Shawn’s boy on the tube. He had been hesitant to get on it (maybe Obi’s reputation as a tube driver proceeds him?), but he finally got on once Shawn got on with his daughter. Once he did get on though, his was a mile wide! It’s super fun to see kids have a good time…especially when they are a little bit sure about things in the beginning.

Unfortunately, while the water worked at the cleaning station, the grinder would not grab the fish and pull them down. We tried several times, but couldn’t get it to work ?

[Troutster]

Great post! I bought some VMC floating jigs to try and catch some cats. First attempt last week was skunksville. Maybe wrong spot or my leader is too long, (3 feet)? I tried NW corner and SE corner. I even hit Lost Creek 2 days earlier so I would have the right bait. I fished from about 5:50 pm to almost dark. Any suggestions?

[TubeDude]

Great post! I bought some VMC floating jigs to try and catch some cats. First attempt last week was skunksville.  Maybe wrong spot or my leader is too long, (3 feet)? I tried NW corner and SE corner.  I even hit Lost Creek 2 days earlier so I would have the right bait. I fished from about 5:50 pm to almost dark.  Any suggestions?

What's in a name?  The cats will hit the right kind of bait...pulled at the right depth and speed...on either "fligs" or floating jigs.  Sometimes the colors will make a difference...depending on water clarity.  And sometimes the length of leader can be adjusted longer or shorter to find a preference.  But, as I have proven to myself over the years, simply having a toothsome morsel floated a bit off the bottom....on something colorful and attractive...will usually get some attention if there are ACTIVE fish in the area.  

Unfortunately, while we can measure depth and speed we can't predetermine a fish's activity or receptivity.  That's the one part that usually takes some changing of location...along with speed, color, baits, etc.  

Do you have any pictures of the floating jigs you got?  For additional input you might hitch a ride with one of the dedicated and experienced fligsters.

[obifishkenobi]

Great post! I bought some VMC floating jigs to try and catch some cats. First attempt last week was skunksville.  Maybe wrong spot or my leader is too long, (3 feet)? I tried NW corner and SE corner.  I even hit Lost Creek 2 days earlier so I would have the right bait. I fished from about 5:50 pm to almost dark.  Any suggestions?

My flig setup is a 3/8-1/2 sliding bullet weight then a barrel swivel to a 18-30" leader to the flig tipped with a half inch strip of chub meat. The water is really dirty right now, so I am running several variations of chartreuse colored whirly fligs on 30" leaders.

Speed is important, I try to maintain .5 mph. Making slow S turns. If the wind is blowing I work into the wind or tack back and forth across it, so I can maintain my speed, staying under .8mph. 

Fish in areas with bottom contour and composition change, Saturday we fished  off of eagle beach in 10.5' of water encountering humps, bumps and ledges that come up to 6' of water, then I would turn back out into 10' of water. Note in a normal water levels, I am usually in 17'-20' of water for cats at Willard.

I fish 4 rods, one out each side and two facing back on the corners.  The goal is to keep the lines all strait  behind the boat. On the initial drop I cast the back corner rods first straight back 30-40' behind the boat and put them in the rod holders, next I cast the side rods the same distances perpendicular to the boat, those lines will end up behind the boat as the boat moves forward and you will be less likely to cross lines. When we catch a fish on the back corner rods I will move the side rod on that side of the boat to the corner and always reset casting out the side. 

There's a few tips for you, hope that helps. If you would like a demonstration, I'm happy to take you out, I'll be out there most Fridays this fall, send me a PM with your contact info and we will set a date.

[Troutster]

Great post! I bought some VMC floating jigs to try and catch some cats. First attempt last week was skunksville.  Maybe wrong spot or my leader is too long, (3 feet)? I tried NW corner and SE corner.  I even hit Lost Creek 2 days earlier so I would have the right bait. I fished from about 5:50 pm to almost dark.  Any suggestions?

What's in a name?  The cats will hit the right kind of bait...pulled at the right depth and speed...on either "fligs" or floating jigs.  Sometimes the colors will make a difference...depending on water clarity.  And sometimes the length of leader can be adjusted longer or shorter to find a preference.  But, as I have proven to myself over the years, simply having a toothsome morsel floated a bit off the bottom....on something colorful and attractive...will usually get some attention if there are ACTIVE fish in the area.  

Unfortunately, while we can measure depth and speed we can't predetermine a fish's activity or receptivity.  That's the one part that usually takes some changing of location...along with speed, color, baits, etc.  

Do you have any pictures of the floating jigs you got?  For additional input you might hitch a ride with one of the dedicated and experienced fligsters.

Obifishkenobi kindly offered to school me on Willard’s ways.  These are the “fligs” I bought and tried.

[TubeDude]

Obifishkenobi kindly offered to school me on Willard’s ways.  These are the “fligs” I bought and tried.

Those all look like colors the Willard fish will eat.  Now you just gotta get the techniques down "Pat".  There is one thing Obi mentioned that may be a partial factor too.  That is that the water is murky and normal visibility not so good.  He is using the "Whirly Fligs"...with the little propeller blades...to put out some extra vibes too.  Cats have sensitive lateral lines and are good at hunting in poor visibility because of their ability to pick up and zero in on the source of finny vibrations. 



It will definitely help if you get in the boat with Obi.  And there's nothing like catching a few fish on something new to help build your confidence and your future success.

[Muskyon46]

Boy I would say you guys loaded up on the cats and fun times. Great job! Thanks for the report.

[MWScott72]

Both Obi and TubeDude speak truth! I was going to mention that we used the “whirly fligs” for the exact reason that TD stated. One other item that worked for us last Sat was that the fish seemed to really like a bumpier, more gravel or harder substrate bottom. We would go periods with no action, but as soon as our rig started to bounce around on hard bottom or rocks, the fish would show up as opposed to dragging through the softer bottom areas. Who knows though…next week they might like the soft bottom.

That’s a nice offer from Obi. Better take him up on that!

[TubeDude]

You don't have to buy "whirly fligs" already made up.  Just get a few propeller blades...size 2 or 3...and some plastic or metal beads.  Before tying on your "unbladed" flig, run the line through the spinner first and then one or more small beads.  Then tie on your flig.  The bead acts both as a bumper for the bead and a bearing on which to turn more freely.  That can work on a lot of lures, baits and flies.  Those little prop blades spin like crazy at the slightest movement.  I have watched them beside my tube at only .2 mph and they are really working.  

And if you are going to be moving at least 5 mph you can use a larger blade "inline spinner" like on the Panther Martin lures.  Or, if you use a clevice for the blade, you can use Colorado or other blades.  Colorados put out a good "thump" even at .5 mph.

[Dirt Bag]

That is a lot of delicious cats. Nice job.