New Fisherman - Lake Lavon

Our family got a Bass tracker. Taken my 9 and 6 year old boys out several times to Lavon to catch bass. Been skunked 3 trips in a row.

Want to try catfishing just to catch something, so they can reel something in, and heck we may like it better.

Lavon is our home lake. What's the best chance for us to catch a catfish this weekend? I've never thrown a cast net... do I need to get one and try to catch a shad? Or is there an easier way to get started?

Take some nightcrawlers and catch some bluegills. Use them as cut bait to catch blues. If you anchor, don't spend more than 15 or 20 minutes in a single spot.

And get on YouTube and watch how others do it. Catfish & Carp and Richard Gene are two of my favorites.

Solid advice right there!

Another option is to buy a few dozen minnows and drift around the timber and hook up with some bass or crappie.

Thanks for this help. I watched some Catfish & Carp videos, great info. I already watch Richard Gene, really enjoy those.

Alot of what I see, people drive around checking sonar for bait. We don't have any electronics on our boat yet. So do we just drive around look for creek openings? Or over by the dam? We put in at Lavonia south.

Wish you had posted this earlier. I gave away two Lowrance units with 5" screens. Older yes, but both still worked. They were on the boat I just bought but I had two Helix's sitting in my garage.

I would find some standing timber to tie up to. Get some nightcrawlers or minnows or both and fish them straight down next to the timber. Move to the next tree if you don't catch anything in 10 minutes. Your kids will have fun playing with the minnows and nightcrawlers while waiting for a bite. Good Luck!

Yes I need to do something. We've been using all the fancy lures trying to bass fish, and keep getting skunked. Not fun for kids if you're not catching anything...

I saw I can get minnows at a place in Wylie next to the lake. Also going to try to catch some bluegill for cutbait. Catching the bluegill will be as fun as anything for them.

I'm 69 yrs. old and perch jerking is still close to top of the list for fun.

Worst case scenario buy frozen shad and fish timber north of tickey boat ramp on West Bank

I forgot about "splat" fishing in the winter. In the evening look for roosting water turkeys. Get there early the next day and have a 1/4 piece of bacon on a hook. Attach a large float about two feet up from the hook. Quietly approach one of the roosting trees and lob the bait underneath it. The float goes "splat" and the catfish think it is bird poop hitting the water.

Years ago I saw a guy catching them under the trees because of the bird poop. He didn't have any sort of catfish bait so he used a piece of his white t-shirt and was catching them

Blue Catn ain’t easy and there are a million ways to skin a cat! You can drift fish, power drift, vertical fish, anchor fish, splat fish, you name it. Save yourself a ton of time and heartache and hire you a good guide...they can show you the lake and teach you some proven techniques and different patterns to fish. Will also give you a better understanding of what it takes to be a successful catfisherman. It doesn’t take much to get started but there is a ton of knowledge, experience, and equipment needed to be consistently successful. Be forewarned, Once you get into them blue kitties real good the first time, you and your boys will be messed up good for life! Bluecat fever is nearly impossible to get rid of once you catch it. It’ll burn y’all up and the only remedy is a healthy dose of Blue Slime!

Thank you for advice.

Is it ok to launch at Tickey Creek? Is there a courtesy dock we can use? It shows yes on google maps, but didn't know if enough water to use.

Drift fish with a slip sinker setup looks to be what we're gonna try. Try to have fresh bluegill, bring frozen shad just in case.

El Gato is Mr. Blue Cat

But, I have Bass Tracker 17 pro. Drifting is better in the wind. I just want to warn you that Bass Trackers are terrible in the wind. They are light and don't handle wind very well..For you and your kids safety you might want to check with maybe El Gato on just using the trolling motor to drift on a calm day. I am no expert, but I went to Lavon awhile back on a windy day (11 mph)and I put in at Mallard Park. All was good until I got to the main lake and the trees weren't blocking the wind . I was getting tossed around enough to scare me into heading back the other way to get protection from the trees

I have had pretty good luck using chicken breast for bait.

do you use a wind sock ?

Bentman is right, I’m sick with the fever and I can’t fish for 10 more days! Safety is always number one when kids are on the boat. Winter fishing is a-lot more dangerous due to the cold water. With a smaller boat I would only take them when the weather is really nice and the wind is under 10mph. Don’t even chance it. Stay out of the chop for goodness sake! If you plan on drifting then you’ll want to stay out of the timber and probably focus on the main channel, secondary creeks and any structure next to it. Some guys catch in 2 ft of water but this time of year we usually catch our best fish in 20-50ft of water on any given day on any given lake. Make sure you get the navionics app for your phone and use it at home to build your game plan and pick 3 or 4 different areas to try. . since you don’t have a graph, use navionics app to help you maneuver over bottom structure and line your drifts up with the channel. Throw out a drift sock and stick the rods in the rod holders. This time of year make sure to throw a few big baits and see if y’all can hang some toads. If you see some guys drift fishing an area then try drifting a similar drift path. Just make sure your friendly, respectful, keep your distance. I have guys set up next to me all the time and I don’t mind. One thing that will get me hot is when a guy pulls up and sets up in front of my drift line. If your boys decide they want to be bluecatrs then let me know. I got a barn full of gear that I can give y’all to help y’all get going.

Gato knows what he's talking about

My #1 summer bait. Perfect for catching the "eaters". I don't have as much luck with it during colder temps.

I prefer nightcrawlers and frozen shrimp over frozen shad. Try timber at different depths and look for comrant nests and white trees. bring a bag of cat food and sink it in a minnow bucket to the bottom with a rock.

What is a good budget setup for Rod Holders on a bass tracker? Not the V style tracker, the one that is setup as a bass boat. We really want to try catfishing. We think it might suit our family better than bass fishing for now. We were ready to go last weekend, but were stopped by not having any catfish gear or rod holders. So we went out for bass and got skunked again.

Will we be successful if we just throw out 2 rods and have 2 people hold them the whole time? Or do we need 4 rods out setup in holders?

iFloat . If you want to try fresh shad without hunting for them , call or text Carey Thorn . He has been selling fresh shad for awhile now and is real good at finding them . Lavon is his home lake also . https://www.facebook.com/texasoklahomafishingguide

Go here with night crawlers or minnows. Fish on!

Can it be fished from the bank?

El Gato
I bought an old 14' aluminum boat last yr and got the [censored] scared out of me last June on Ray Rob when that storm blew in and had waves coming over the boat. Needless to say I was doing some heavy duty praying trying to get back to the Jordan boat ramp and decided if there is more than 10mph wind then I'm fishing from the bank until I get a bigger boat. I am trying to learn how to catfish to teach my 12 yr old grandson. I don't have a long enough line to cast deep so is frozen perch ok to use for cut bait? Thanks for for any advice.
Papa Stan

either. Rod holders will allow you to fish more rods:

https://beereadys.com/

http://fishbiterodholders.com/index.php?id_category=6&controller=category

Google images may give you ideas too........

Perch(Sunfish), Store bought Buffalo (Fiesta Food mart), Cut carp, Chicken breast chunks soaked in Dead Red or Cat Juice, Chicken livers, Gizzards,

NO, but Several of the Parks have plenty of Bank access

http://www.lake-lavon.com/parks/

I have a boat. I will give it a try. Thx

Drifting with current in the summer time is usually pretty good but lots of snags so get ready to lose lots of tackle!? Few brush piles in and around that area thatHold some fish.

Thanks BigPoppa & good luck next week.

Ok I agree with not sitting on a spot too long but in the winter time I might wait an hour before moving. The fish are slower to react to the chum in cold water.