I have been following you catfish guys for over a year now and y’all have given me
the itch to catch the big blues. I have learned a lot from reading you alls post and from the great El Gato! Well, Saturday I went dragging for my third time. First two times never had a bite. It all changed for me and my little brother on Saturday. We caught these, a 48, 36, 22, 18, and 16! We had a triple and a double take down and managed to land 4 of the five. I am still struggling to catch gizzard shad (not sure what I am doing wrong) but Saturday morning I happened to catch about a 6lb buffalo in the cast net and thought what the heck, so we cut him up and most fish came off of the buffalo. We were dragging 35ft of water, 6 poles and 4 planers. I will do my part to share my experiences on here along with you there who are committed to doing the same. Thank you all! I have caught the fever and am now
addicted to the blue cat game!

Fantastic!!

Welcome to the club addiction!

That's a mighty fine bluecat.

I can't help you with catching bait, as like you I struggle. One thing I do know is you will need a heavy 'taped' net in the winter, as the bait are deep and the tape prevents the net from collapsing as it drops down.

Thanks Bluecat! I do have the taped fitech 1500 that most recommend. I’m not very good at throwing it yet. I can find bait, but they are always threadfins. Have not caught a gizzard yet! What do you use when you don’t find bait?

Congrats Brad!

You are hooked now for sure! I did the same about 3 years ago... and it has not been the same since. Something about a good takedown and feeling the power of these big fish.

Shad are a humbling experience at times, just as the big fish are. The buffalo and carp make great baits. Not sure what lake you are fishing, but in OK - Texoma, white bass make great baits also... but illegal in Texas. The buffalo and carp can be frozen and used later, but most will tell you not to waste time trying to freeze shad... some do it, but most dont.

Keep looking for bait in deeper water when the water is cold. Find holes and drop off's seem to be good starting points for me. Creek channels, etc. Fish will be where you find the shad and the fish feeding on the shad. I have done well with chicken breast also, when no other bait available.

Good luck - tight lines.

Ken

Great pix man, like you I have trolled this forum for years and then the whisker bug got me bad and because of these guys here. I throw the cast net well enough and never catch good shad. So I am no help to you on this. Man in the Gulf the bait is so much easier to catch and I have never lost a net to the trees lol...

You ever catch the drum, I swear the cats love them as cut bait. But cut the rocks out of the head to keep before using for bait. Leave the eyes intact and the head is imo the best piece of any cut bait.

Way to go! Keep up the good work. Lots of good info in here from the trophy guys.

Nice work Brad! You smashed em buddy! Glad to help bro💪

Cut carp or gaspergoo works well in a pinch. It stays on the hook pretty well also.

Hey Brad! Welcome to the addiction! Nice fish there Brother. Seeing you are in PAris, I assume you are following the Beau d arc lake closely. I am sure in time it will hold some good blues. Where were you when you caught those toads last week. Great job!

Thanks Guys! Tim, yes sir, I live in Paris area. I was on Cooper Lake for these. I am excited about getting another lake fairly close to home. I am hearing that when the new lake does get full, it may be close to a year before they open it. I plan on staying at Cooper to try and perfect my drifting game. Have done some striper fishing on Texoma so will probably try to get over there some too. I know that lake can be humbling, but also a chance at a true giant. I look forward to many more big fish pics in my future!

Nice fish Brad. I figured it was cooler with your location and that water color. I have been wanting to try Cooper for blues but just haven’t made it there yet. I used to fish it a lot back several years ago for hybrids and sandies and crappie. It’s a cool lake

Great job,

Beautiful fish. Congratulations.

Brad, check out the thread "the great bait debate" It goes into some detail on what guys use. Shad is a big part of it but there are a lot of other things they guys use. Some really surprised me. You found out the easy way that buffalo makes good bait. Drum (gasper gaux) bream, and carp would be my go to baits when the shad is not cooperating. I scale them big buffs and then fillet and chunk them up. Their skin is so tough they will stay on the hook forever...