I am determined to catch a catfish from this lake. I have seen one coming up from the deeper water and then left when it saw me.and I have also seen a 12inch one caught 4 years ago. I plan on pursuing the cats by yak as I can cover a lot more water that way.


KEY:
Green 5-7 feet
Red 8-10 feet
Blue 2-4 feet
White arrows catfish spotting
Rest of lake is 2to 5ft deep. only the deeper parts are marked.

Aquatic species:
Large Mouth Bass
Perch(blue gill)
Tilapia
Grass Carp
Catfish(unknown species)

Questions
what type of rigs should i try?

What baits should i try? maybe tilapia as cutbait?

Since I am in the kayak should i troll my baits or just sit and wait?

Should I try the deeper areas first or work the shorelines?

I will catch the catfish out of here!!!!
and of course release him to fight another day

Use sour milo to chum up a few spots the. Go back with some sure shot. If there are any kitties in that pond u will find them

Try it all. Anchor up. Drift. Try small live tilapia and fresh cut. Good luck down there.

I am not really sure how it works but I think you are required to immediately gut any tilapia that you catch:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations/fish_hunt/fish/exotic.phtml

I think their must be some exception because I am pretty sure that the use of live talipia for redfish bait is common on Lake Fairfield.

You have to kill and gut them before leaving the body of water Brian.

heck....I'd target the talapia. Their a lot better tasting than catfish

Ive eaten a lot of tilapia and prefer catfish.

cut tilapia should be good, but like other have said try some sure shot or dany kings as well. Most likely it is channel cats in there.

Now Chuck that is just blasphemy

Don't forget to use some grasshoppers! It won't be long!

Okay thanks for the tips. The tilapia were purposely put there for weed control. Was I happy with this? No. But the HOA obtained permission to legally stock the lake. If you catch one from a lake that does not have that permission(i think its a liscense) you have to kill it on site.
I am surprised that they didnt sterilize them like they did with the grass carp.
Will report back soon!

I would say chum with sour milo or range cubes, and fish with punch bait. Based on the water depths I would venture that there are no Blues, just channel cats. Also, since it is not feed by a river or major stream I would also guess there are no flatheads. So you are likely targeting channel cats and a good punch bait will catch them. Now, if the lake has been stocked, there may be other spiece, but still I dont think they would survive the summer heat in those depths (Blues). Good luck!

If blues can survive the temps in Calaveras they would surely survive in that pond!

There are several ponds in south texas stocked with blues that do well. Channels are most common to be stocked for sure though.

Calaveras is 40 or more feet deep in areas and fresh water is brought in. That pond appears to be 10 feet max and no inflow of fresh water. so I do not agree with you.

I agree with chumming an area and use some punch bait