It’s that time of year when we’re robbing the bank on a daily basis. The shad spawn on Cedar Creek has made it look like I know what I’m doing as a fishing guide, and the channel cat bite on the west side of Ft Worth is just plain silly right meow. Here’s a quick look at how our customers are filling their freezers:


Blues

The blues are still up on the retaining walls, getting fat and sassy during the shad spawn. If you are throwing fresh shad on a windblown point, and you don’t have cats in the boat within 2 minutes, you need to move. I cannot emphasize this enough. There is absolutely no reason to be patient right meow.

If you’re not seeing shad on the bank, I recommend casting Carolina rigs with fresh shad out in 4-8ft. I prefer to use the lightest barrel weight I can get away with, which is either an 1/8 or 1/4 ounce on most days. Here’s a pic of my favorite rig; whether or not the float stays on depends on fishing conditions.





Channels

For channel cats, they are on riprap. Sprinkle range cubes or soured grain in an area with a lot of rock (like the face of a dam) and toss in some punch bait on #6 treble hooks. I prefer Danny King’s or Stubby’s, although I’m not sure it matters right meow. Channels seem to be a little more “bobber shy”, so I recommend using just enough of a float that you can still see it in the water, but you want if to sink it the cat so much as puts a whisker on it.

We still have a few holes in our schedules if you would like to join us. We can focus strictly on cats, or do a #5 combo basket if that sounds more fun to you. We just want you to leave happy!


Capt. Lane Palmer
817-266-9811

www.dfwoutdoors.com

Days open:

5/15
5/18
5/19
5/24
5/25
6/1
6/2
6/5
6/6

Pics from this past week:

Solid post and fish. Good job.

Awesome!

Great post and awesome pix. The only thing I didn't care for though was that one really nice big large mouth blackbass being in the catch. It's just me, but I release the large mouth always... Now those freaking little spotted bass, you keep every one of those you catch. No size or quantity on the spots... They eat great lol.

Lane,

Nice work as always! Good post - thanks for sharing tips, as you normally do.

Tight lines.

Ken

Nicely done Lane and RD.

I appreciate the support y’all! The TFF has done a lot for me over the years, so I like to give a little back when I can. I made a “name” for myself guiding crappie, but my heart loves catfish, especially big flatheads on the Brazos, but that’s for another thread.

As of this morning, 5/11, they (the blues and a few sandies) were still shallow.

Rowdy, I hear ya buddy. If it’s over three pounds, or obviously full of eggs, we throw them back. I’m a big fan of selective harvest, and as largemouth is a sunfish, they are by nature, delicious. Now that you mention it, I don’t know that I’ve eaten a spotted bass, but if I’m lucky enough to stumble upon one in the 14-16” range, I think I’ll have to take your advice!

Later,

There is no minimum length limit on Alabama, Guadalupe and spotted bass on our lake, Allen Henry. We have these little monsters that never become a trophy size fish and worse yet they have eaten all the bait in the lake. They should have never turned these fish loose in Allen Henry... Might check where you fish, but it would not surprise me if it's not the same there too.