Hey guys, I just recently got back into fishing after buying a kayak. I'm looking into getting into some channels or blues but have no idea on what type of structure, bait this time of year or the habits of the cats this time of year. I've always ran jugs for cats and hoped for the best but would like to give it a shot with rod and reel out of my kayak. I'll be fishing Lake Travis. Thanks in advance and I really appreciate it.

You'll need to decided which one you want to target.
To target the channels and some eater blues you can chum some spots around timber, rip rap, or any other structure in 10 to 30ft and fish with small pieces of fresh shad or a punch bait, Stubby makes a cheese bait that get good reviews. Even gobs of worms will work. Chumming isn't a must, you can find structure and usually find fish, but it increases your chances.
To target blues drifting in 25 to 30ft with chunks of fresh shad or bluegill under the schools of hybrid and whites is hard to beat. You'll need a graph to stay with the schools though and a way to get fresh bait.

For eater channels find any sort of cover, especially wood and fish right on it. Cats love wood to rest under and when bait goes near them they will bite right away. If you have some heavier gear find some big nasty gnarled wood piles in 10+ feet and fish pieces of shad about 3 inches long in the thick of it. Big blues love the nasty and you can pull some monsters off of them, will lose some line with snags but will catch big fish too.

Eric

Read In-Fisherman's Critical Concepts Catfish series. The series consists of three books. Read each book at least three times each.

Ahhhh, The Journey begins!!! Catfish edge is a good place to start. TFF also has all the info you could ever need on cats (just gotta be able to differentiate from the BullSitters and the guys that are actually out there consistently putting fish in the boat) ...read guys trip reports and most will give you the general info like depth, bait , and type of structure without actually giving you their pins. Find the guys on your lake that chase cats weekly and start building bridges. Having guys to bounce ideas of every week will up your game about as fast as anything. Lastly and most important of all, get out there and chase them every week cause consistent time on water trumps all.

Listen to El Gato Azul he gives great advise on blues. I kayak as well and am more focused on channels for the summer. In the fall and winter it's game on for blues. You will love catching them out of your kayak! I have set 3 pb out of mine after years of boat ownership.

Where do I find that at? The infisherman book you're talking about WillieRip.

DON'T do this:

oh Lord!

Good idea. I think you are on Lewisville a lot. I live next to it. What kind of bridge do I need to build to fish off your boat?

The friendly kind Captain Yakker! I've fished with lots of guys off TFF. It usually starts with a hey, how's it going?my names Chris. I'm a catfisherman and just wanted to introduce myself