Hey I've seen that fish before, good going mike.

pm sent

Went back to the Lewisvill barge last night to fish just for buffalo. Invited a couple of friends that wanted to crappie fish. I get all set up, chum with range cubes, bait up with three different bait mixtures, rods all balanced on the rail. I am cocked, locked, and ready to rock. 10 minutes into the session, my friend is reeling in his minnow,foul hooks and lands a 7.87 pound buffalo. I am in shock. Friends leave about 11:00 and I fish on till 1:00 AM without a hook up. Lots of what I think are bites, and missing bait.
Go back to the barge this morning about 10:00, determined to catch a buff. Get set up, same scenario as last night, except now I am using lighter rods, hoping to detect bites better.
Fifteen minutes late a gentlemen fishishing close to me catchs about a 2 lb buff. I think not to worry, my turn is coming up. The fish didn't get the memo. Had one brief hook up and that was it. I am obviously missing something (besideds fish) in this process. I moved down in hook size from a #6, tried multiple baits, and switched to more sensitive rods. Any suggestions? I am not going to give up, even if they make me cry.

Thanks
Mike

Buffalo can be very tough to catch with freelining and traditional methods. Lots of swings and misses is par for the course. Sounds like you're doing it right to me.

If you ever want to make the jump to a more "Euro" style, try using a bolt rig, which is a heavy (at least 2 ounces) semi-fixed lead coupled with a hair rig. The buffalo will basically hook itself due to the weight. This said, even then they usually won't give you a bona fide run. They will just slowly move the rod tip up and down. When that happens, pick the rod up, pull it to the side and parallel with the water and carefully reel down until you can feel the weight. When the fish gives a tug, set the hook and it's on. I don't give it the typical freelining whiplash hook set when I'm fishing like this, just a quick lift on the rod to about 60 degrees.

I'm not too sure how this would work in a vertical fishing situation like barge fishing. I've never fished the L'ville barge, there may be too many snags to consider a heavy lead like that.

http://s1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg525/mikesaxon/?action=view&current=IMAG0077.jpg

Went back to the Lewisville Barge this morning,strictly to fish for buffalo. Using lighter equipment made bite detection simpler,but wasn't a cure all. Fish bite steadly thru the morning, I had two solid hook ups, but lost them both before I could even verify they were buffs. Decided that due to the limber rods I was using, I need to put more snap in my hook set. Several bites and misses. Then I hooked into this fish. Put on show for a few minutes with my rod bent almost double before I got him to the surface and in the net. He was foul hooked in the side, but I was still excited. He wouldn't have gotten hooked at all if he wasn't messing with my bait. I am begining to enjoy this more and more.

Thanks again for all the tips and help.

Do buffs like fishmeal or is there a certain item they really like? I'm experimenting with my own baits this year and wondered what specific ingredient they really like.

Bream Bum, In my very limited experience, there appears to be almost as many buff baits as there are buff fisherman. However several of the recipes that people have shared with me, all start out with some form of white bread/buns. Then they get as exotic as you want. I bought cottonseed meal to mix with the bread, and added cinnamon, or chili powder, or garlic to make three differnt flavors. Apparently a can of whole kernel corn can be effective as chum and bait. Late this week I have the opportunity to fish with a gentlemen from the forum that I am sure will not only be fun but informative. Careful with this buff fishing, it can become compulsive. Besides I have talked to a lot of very friendly people about it.

Mike

Because it's simply the binder? white? the yeast?
all the above?

I really want to up my buff pb to something over 20# this year.

I suspect it is all of the above. Need someone that knows more about buffalo than I do, to get a definative answer. I also want to continue to increase the size of the buffs I catch, but first I need to concentrate on on the fundimentals.
I am moveing back to Leander about this time next month, and will be fishing Lakes Georgetown and Travis by early April. Maybe we can plan a trip later in the spring.

I am a firm believer it is much harder to hook a 5lb buff than a 15lb buff. Seems like the smaller they are, the more missed bites you'll have in my experience anyways.

i can help with that
just have to wait for the right time. (spawn time) for me has been the best with plenty of buffs caught in the double digits per session

Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to doing alot more carp and buff fishing this year. PMs sent.

Maybe someday my signature can be like buffaloman chris'.