Tips for Dam Catfish

Going fishing with my friend tomorrow, he said we are going below the Gville dam. I've never really fished for catfish, but I got a big ol surf rod I'm not using and I figured I could try to target some catfish. Any tips? Just throw some hot dogs on some hooks and chunk it out there?

The first thing you've got to do is get you some dam bait

Chicken gizzard, cut bait, garlic, anything that smells like we'll you know what. Big Ole sinker big ole hook

If you can catch any skipjack, use it as cut bait. Be prepared to lose lots of sinkers and hooks.

Yeah....kept getting caught on stuff. Gave up after a while. Fishing was way slow today. Didn't catch anything on the catfish rig, and had no luck going after bass either.

Were the turbines running?

When I'm fishing in heavy current with lots to hang up on the trick is to use just enough weight to get the bait down in the water but not so much that it is dragging the bottom. I'll anchor down and let my baits drift in the current behind the boat.

No. Which I realize factors in a great deal for that. Also, my friend (who owns the boat so he calls the shots) didn't want to get super close to the dam for very long. So I tried it other places, but I figure right up or at least pretty close is the best bet.

I only fish Wheeler and Wilson but yea,right on the turbines or just below them. No turbines running = no fish.

Fished below the dam 2 weeks ago, two turbines going, caught nothing. I was very surprised and disappointed, so was my son. If you have a cast net, you can catch plenty of bait. Hope you have better luck than we did.

Use the TVA app or call (800) 238-2264 to see when the turbines are planned to run. Schedules change, so be careful. CD.

FYI, G'ville is #29 so you don't have to listen through the whole menu.

I'm sure its one of those things, just gotta learn how it works and keep trying! Thanks for the tips guys!

Drop-weight at the end of the line and a leader t'd off a foot or two above it. Get some night crawlers and go fish.

Didn't mean to discourage. I've got a friend with a picture album full of giant catfish and stripers he caught there. That's where the big ones are.

Buddy of mine been catching cats regular at dam. Not real sure what he's doing tho. He just sends me a pic or 2 every now and then. I been waiting for him to tell me the hybrids are biting but he hasn't.
I was going to be a smartie and say get a dam pole and some dam bait etc etc. Cat guys I know all swear by skipjack. That's what the 80-pounder bit back in December when cat pro took me out.

I was planning on trying the skip jack, but I couldn't even get a skipjack to bite. Maybe its just because I haven't been fishing the river since it was a lot colder, and everything was biting then...but it was just a rough day for me! Ended it with a nice wade in a creek with my fly rod...just so I could catch some fish.

I run a three way rig and use light line, 8-10lb, for the line going down to my sinker. I drop down till I hit bottom, then reel up a turn. No matter what you do you're going to get hung, and the light line allows your to break off the sinker pretty easily. As for bait, always had best luck on live minnows or shad.

Best catfish I have I I is from the bank get as close to the damage as possible catch you some live shad or big bream,toss a number 2 ounce lead with a nice size hook,hook your bait right behind the dorsal fin.That way your bait lives longer.the trick is throw toward the dam and let it bounce down river.you hold your pole the whole time reading in the slack every time,then repeat this time after time.you should catch some big catfish using this technique.

Frozen Shad cut up...That always gets one or two...

I like shad guts or Skipjack best for bait but I've caught a bunch on frozen raw shrimp. I fish circle hooks with the rods in holders on the boat.

That's the best advice in this whole Dam thread.

For the skipjack, get a Sabiki rig or three and whatever sinker you need for it, and catch some bait. Cut them into chunks or use just the gutsack.

For the cats, you probably can get away with a sturdy surf rod and 30-pound-test line if you're just floating along. I'd probably go with 5/0 or 7/0 Daiichi circle hooks and a 3-way rig -- get a 3-way swivel, tie on a drop line with the sinker, a second line for the hook and tie the swivel to the main line.

Then go catch a dam fish.

And wear a dam PFD near that dam, dammit.

We always had a lot of success using rotten taters.

I wish I'd have seen this earlier. I've lived within 3-4 miles of the dam all my life. I could've put you on some fish.

I would love to take you up on that offer. I've got the boat, ill buy the bait, or catch it or whatever, ill even buy you a coca cola. Just sure would like to see my boy ahold of one of them big catfish. I bet hed give you a big neckhug.

Next time I'll let you know and you come show me how its done!

You get tired of buying lead, go to a mechanic shop & get a sack full of old spark plugs for weight.

"OLD" taters...not rotten!

The best bait to catch a big cat on is the head of whatever fish you're using for bait. I dont know why but for big cats, I catch 4 to 1 on heads as opposed to the rest of the body of the baitfish.