I have changed this post for all nighttime Lake Fork catfishing subjects.

i went earlier today. caught some midday in the creeks. nothing huge though but caught 20 or so in an hour

Cool. I haven't had the greatest luck in the daytime yet, maybe after I get my depth finder back working I will. Until then, I am sticking to nights because I can tear them up usually under the bridges.

I fish Fork alot, but mainly for crappie and bass. Every once in a while I'll catch a cat while jigging for crappie on ultralight--what a hoot! Thinking about targeting cats next time out. Any pointers you'd be willing to share? Last week I saw clouds of bait near Indian Creek over 30' water just outside the timber. Would this be the type of place to start, or is shallow water better? What bait do you use (live, cut, stink bait, etc.) and how do you rig for cats on Fork (under a cork, carolina rig, etc.)? Do you tie up to a tree, cast out and wait for a bite? Does chumming with range cubes really ever work? Most of my local lake knowledge is around the 515 bridge, Indian Creek, and Wolf Branch areas. Appreciate any pointers that can help me get started.

I have literally seen everyone say a certain bait is the best bait. But no matter what, I have seen almost everyone agree that you cant go wrong with fresh shad.

Catching a cat on a ultra light must be so much fun

I am sure the more experienced guys will chime in soon.

-Zach

chumming with range cubes work but soured grain is better IMO chumming will bring in the channelcat use a good punchbait..Using shad, tie on a santee cooper rig and drift where your seeing bait, catfish will hang out under the schooling sandies. drift or anchor up on about any windblown point and flats at creek channels. tie up or anchor in the timber near creek channels and drop offs.remember the more poles you got in the water the better. Good Luck

Sorry for the HIJACK Whitetail--do you mind, or do you prefer I start a new thread? This is all relevant to catfishing at Lake Fork, and I invite you to pm me if you want to meet and hunt some catsfish together sometime at Lake Fork. I am familiar with a small section of the Lake around Big Buck Cove, Indian Creek and the area just north/west of Wolf Point.

Thanks SBTom for the info: 10-4 on the soured grain vs range cubes, on drifting over bait schools, targeting windblown points and using more than one pole.

More questions:
1.) Is catfishing usually better at night than early mornings at first daylight?
2.) Do underwater lights help at night (like when crappie fishing) or do the catfish respond better without a light at night?
3.) Is it better to make long casts with punch bait on a slip weight rig when anchored over 20+ deep water, or to just drop straight down (like when jigging for crappie) to insure the punch bait stays on the hook?
4.) Does live bream work better or not as good as live shad (I have better luck trapping live bream than I do locating and castnetting live shad)?
Thanks to everyone who takes the time to share their valuable catfishing experience with a novice trying to learn how to catfish on Lake Fork!

Chumming for channel catfish with soured wheat works. Chumming for channel catfish with soured corn then sweeten it up with a pound of sugar also works. It takes 2 to 3 warm days with the lid on to sour it.

The most important thing is to chum, chum, chum. I fish Ray Roberts, Lake Fork, Lake Tawakoni, and Amon G. Carter. I fish the same spots on these 4 lakes. I usually chum 3 spots go to the first spot throw chum, go to the 2nd. spot and chum, then go to the third spot and chum. Then I go back to the 1st.spot and start fishing. I fish the 1st. spot till that one slows down. I throw more chum out and leave. I then go to the 2nd. spot and fish there till the cats quit, then I chum out and go to the third spot and fish there till they quit biting. Then I start the whole cycle over again. If a spot conitnually fails to produce, then don't go back. Eventually you will find a pattern of good spots. This time of year at Fork we fish at least 40' deep. At Ray Bob, I fish 15' to 30'. At Tawakoni I fish 30 to 40' deep. At Amen G. Carter I fish 25 - 40'.
I fish in the day and on weekends because I have to work to support my fishing habbit. I use only Mr. Wiskers cheese bait with the lightest weight that I can get by with and I fish straight down right where I throw the chum out. I only use a #8 hook. I believe that catfish have small mouths and don't open them very far. When you are fishing use at least two rods. Fish one or two reels off of the bottom with one rod. Fish the other half way down. I have had times when I catch them half way down. It depends on the oxygen levels in the lake. You just have to experiment. Once you find out if they are all on the bottom then fish strictly on the bottom. I also prefer chumming out on a spot where the chum will drift for several miles of wide open water, because a catfish can smell 1000 times better than a shark. If you chum you will bring them in. On a few occasions I have had some trips where I caught a few or even got skunked. But most of the time I usally catch 10 to 20 fish per person.
And last of all, I do better on a windy day. The wind is my friend. I believe that when either bass fishing or catfishing.

I buy 1000 hooks at a time. When the cat swallows the bait just cut the hook off and slide your slip weight 6 inches farther up the line and tie a new hook on.

I also throw my catfish in a ice chest with ice. They stay fresh that way and you don't have to clog up your live well system with regurgitated chum. Plus the fish will actually live longer out of water on ice than in a crowded livewell.

My dad has a cabin on Lake Fork and he chums everyday at the same tree and catches 10 to 20 fish in one hour or two at max everyday that god allows his Happy Retired ***. His spot is on a flat in 40' of water. His chuming action is what keeps those fish coming to that spot. His only reason for choosing that spot was because it had a big tree that was easy to tie off to.

If you don't go fishing you will never know if the fish are bitting!

+2 on the more Rods Tom made a beliver out of me.

I have done best at nightime, mostly because it is easier to get shad, I let them come to me. I drop my crappie light in the water and about an hour or so later I toss out my cast net when they are surrounding my boat.

I did have a revelation two nights ago for keeping my shad alive. I was able to keep 40 alive for almost 8 hours, they only died because I dropped all my cats in the box with them. I have a medium size storage tub, I think about 40qts or so. I use a dc powered aerator and I grab a long aquarium stone from the pet fish section at Walmart. I then dropped a water conditioning and an oxygen tab in the water. Man, those shad were more lively than in the lake.

At night I fish mostly around the bridges, but plan to expand out into the trees soon. During the day I fish the trees, by tying up to a tree or dropping an anchor (if its not too windy), and then I will drop two or three poles straight done and bring up about a foot, and one or two poles will be cast out from the boat. I have used range cubes before, and they worked good. I haven�t baited any holes this year.

Catching with ultra light is cool as heck when catting. I will cat and crappie fish during the night, and then during the day I will use my ultra light crappie rig to land a big one. The biggest one I have landed with my ultra light was actually the trip that started this thread, about a 4 pound channel. He was a fun fight.

Super Dave - keep posting on this thread. I have changed the title so any info on Lake Fork cats should be put in here. I would like to meet up with you and hunt those biggies sometime. I try to hit the lake at least once a week.
1. I have had good luck throughout the evening, night, early morning, and late mornings. My wife and I starting out at midnight and didn�t leave the water until 1pm. We did good, brought home 14 cats and 3 crappie. We released probably about 10 or more crappie and cats that were legal (just didn�t want to clean that much), and probably about 20 or more sandies. Also released two real good yellow bass.
2. Underwater lights are great because of attracting the shad. I don�t know if they help the cats, but you will have a lot of shad circling the boat that you can cast for and use fresh bait.
3. I cast out and drop straight down, covering all options.
4. I have had the best luck on fresh shad at night and frozen shad (marinated in salt and garlic) during the day.

David, I agree on keeping a lot of hooks. I probably cut 15 or more hooks off each trip.

excellent thread Dean. Lots of good info. here.

I am planning another night fish on Fork this Friday. If anyone wants to bring their boat and drop with us, you are more than welcome.

I replied to your pm Super Dave. I hope to see you out there Friday.

Dean, pm'd you back. Thanks for the invite.