Livescoping Catfish
With crappie being one of the hardest freshwater fish to locate, much less catch, Live-Imaging Sonar is becoming more popular with fisherman who are targeting these fish. Ray Miller of Madisonville has been using Garmin Livescope for three years now and he said he’s noticing something interesting happening in the fishing community. “Guys seem to have blinders on when it comes to using LiveScope to target sac-a-lait,” he said. “There are other fish that show up on the screen and I have no problem putting them in the ice chest right along with the sac-a-lait I catch.”
Miller has been primarily focused on sac-a-lait this summer but said the large schools of catfish are becoming more and more common. So much so, that he has started making catfishing trips specifically targeting catfish.
I had the opportunity to make a trip with Miller to experience deep jigging for catfish using LiveScope. We started our day early because of the forecast high of 100 degrees. Miller put in at Madisonville Bridge and by 6:30 we were pulling up on our first spot. It was in a bend in the main river with 40 feet of water. “The bends are where you’re going to find the deeper water and that’s usually where these fish are,” he said. Miller’s set-up is a medium action rod with 12-pound monofilament line. He uses 1/2oz. egg sinker that’s pegged about two feet above a #3 circle hook. On the hook he threads on a piece of chicken liver. However, like most baits that he uses, Miller adds an extra ingredient. “I take the container of chicken hearts and livers and pour a pack of strawberry Kool-Aid in it and let it soak overnight,” he said.
As we lowered out lines down to the catfish that we could clearly see on the screen, we quickly learned that it wasn’t going to be as easy catching them as I thought. The tide was slack, and the river wasn’t moving at all, which is rare for the Tchefuncte River. “These fish are just like sac-a-lait, if there’s no water movement, they’re just not going to eat,” he said. We then moved and found another bend with deep water, but like the last spot, the catfish would turn up and look at the bait, and then turn away. We continued to try different spots when Miller came upon a signature on his screen. It was a large school of shad swimming along a thermocline that was about 20 feet down. Then Miller pointed something out. “Watch the catfish underneath those shad! He pointed to the screen and followed numerous catfish charge up in the water column, smash the shad, then return to the location that was beneath them. It was about 10:00 and the water was just starting to move on an incoming tide. We lowered down our lines beneath the line of shad and finally one jumped on Miller’s line. It was a 14-inch catfish and as Miller was unhooking it, he said, “This is what we want right here. These are the perfect sized catfish for eating,” he said. The reason being is that catfish, much like other fish, begin to develop blood lines in the meat as they age. Usually, you’ll start seeing blood in the meat when they hit 20 inches.
As we continued to catch the fish, the bite got more intense, and we were putting catfish in the ice chest at a faster pace. Unfortunately, the sun was beating down on us and it was already 98 degrees by 11:00 so we called it a day. We ended the day with 17 catfish measuring between 14 and 24 inches. Miller said there’s a ton of catfish in the river right now and LiveScope is an excellent way to target these fish and jokes, “Shhhh…don’t tell anyone you can catch catfish using Live Scope!”
Tournament Results
The Double Nickel Bass Club fished their classic on Tuesday morning with 26 boats showing up to claim the title. During the weigh-in everyone enjoyed cold drinks and sandwiches under the bridge. In the end it was Ralph Dunn who took home the plaque for classic champion with a 3-fish limit weighing 6.878 pounds. Jerry Bullock came in second place with a limit that weighed 6.063 pounds. In third place was Brian Sollberger who brought in a 5.159-pound limit. Roger Mitchell won the big bass division with a lunker that weighed 4.685 pounds. John Pichou had second place big bass with 3.505 pounds. The club presented the Angler of the Year Award to Bob Perry while the largest stringer and biggest bass of the year went to David Purrdy.
Upcoming Tournaments
Pearl River Team Trails is holding its next tournament at Crawford’s Landing on July 8. For more information, please contact Charles Dauzat at 985-960-3260.
The Lock One Thursday evening tournaments are back! It’s only $21 per boat with an optional $2 trash fish pot. Blast-off will be at 5 PM. There is a 3-bass limit. There is a free kids division for those who are 12 and under. For more information, please contact Chad Hartzog at 985-502-3217.
The Bayou Lacombe Big Bass Tournament is holding their next tournament at Bayou Lacombe on July 7. The biggest bass wins the pot. For more information, please contact Robbie Racuggulia at 985-377-4975.
(Keith Lusher Jr. writes a weekly column. For more info, visit NorthshoreFishingReport.com. Contact Keith at keith@northshorefishingreport.com.)