well its back to the not so normal schedule for me and ill be starting midnight shift again soon…so me being me to prepare for it im considering catfishing overnight in the tailrace when the time comes. im well aware i cant fish past the rail bridge at night but have a couple ideas where i may want to try. ill probably give the shad/herring/catfish a go by the dam when the sun comes up as well. anyone do any good at night yet or have any advice to offer? needless to say ill be using shad/herring chunks for bait.
If you anchor up leave plenty of rope out in case they open the gates or release water while your sleeping!
hahahaha surely nobodys EVER seen me take my feet out of my kayak, lay em across the front, and take a nap while waiting for sunrise so i can start fishing right???
Watch out for the alligators! They probably won’t eat you, but I’ve had them scare the crap out of me when they creep past the boat. You’ll hear something gently swimming a few feet away, turn on a light expecting to see a bird or turtle, and it’s a 10’+ gator. Good stuff!
I’ve had good luck on the left side (to the left if you’re facing the dam) under the rail bridge on a few occasions. I once had something spool my reel and take every bit of 200 yards of 30# line with it there. That night I watched a guy in a bass boat pull 20 lb + blue after blue until he didn’t have any more room in the boat. I haven’t ever had any luck over there, though, so I always stick to the left or the middle.
If you can find a deep hole in the river, it will usually hold catfish. The bends that have deep spots are excellent too. The Tailrace is a fun place to fish for me. There’s lots of history, it’s pretty at night, and there are almost always nice people around.
Good luck!
Semper Fi
18’ Sterling
115 Yamaha
Big Ugly Homemade Blue Push Pole
sounds good thanks! last i saw the weather its supposed to be 40 overnight monday night so i doubt gators will be much trouble but i always keep my eye out for em. i have about 400 yards of 65lb braid on my shark (now catfish) rod so if something spools that ill be very impressed! honestly if i can get anything…esp even a 20lb to tow back ill be happy.
Did you do any good with the cats ?
A spoiled rotten BOYKIN SPANIEL lives with me
got there at about 5am and nothing when it was still dark but had the usual constant herring, shad here and there, and 1 more blue once i moved to the dam at sunup. 8lbs on the boga and had quite the full belly so i decided to see what it was eating when i was cleaning it and wadda ya know it ate the piece of rinsed out frozen shad i threw out and replaced with a fresh herring chunk it hit on. not a huge fish but great eating size and very fun to fight from the yak!
