Catfish below G dam

Still great fishing below G dam on Saturday. I made another convert on using raw chicken breast as bait. Loaded up on eater sized blues and channels. Made the mistake of fishing with a "garage sale" rod. I hooked one that snapped that rod like it was a matchstick. I continued to try and reel it in, but the 10lb mono was no match. Earlier I tried using a sabiki rig to catch skipjack. Nada. I guess one of these days I need to hire a skipjack guide! By the end of the trip, large schools of sand bass were tearing up the southern shoreline, past the end of the parking lot. I need to keep some white rooster tails in my tackle box. We were tired of catching catfish and would have enjoyed fishing for SB's to end the day.

We call that the Sand Bar. When stripe are schooling it's a real good place to wear 'em out.

This ain't Tejas, we have White Bass and Stripe, not no dad gum Sand Bass.

Congrats on the squealers.

Set your drag on your reels. I’ve brought in 20plus lb flatheads on 6lb test line. And crappie rods. Good deal on catching some catfish. Not sure what u call them other fish. Lol

I knew if I threw out the bait, someone would bite!

Haha nice.

We went today, caught a few catfish and a bunch of those "sandbass". I dont know how many for sure but a bunch. My arms are hurting.

jwalker check your blindly envelope

We used to run jugs up there at night till the vehicle break ins got so bad we were afraid to park there. Caught some good cats though.

Check out Chatt Cats on YouTube. Dead wears them out on chicken breast. Also uses 10lb line and no weight.

That is how I got started using it. But below G Dam, you need some weight to get it down. Otherwise the current keeps it just below the surface. I use a 1oz sinker. Plus he has a trolling motor to slow his drift, which I don't have. After fishing with me, The Boss said I need a TM, I told her it's not possible unless I get a new-to-me boat to mount it on.

Ya'll using organic, skinless, boneless chicken breast, or regular chicken breast full of them hormones?

Cheap bone in and shin on cut up and marinated in garlic powder.

I got a friend that fishes on the Warrior. All his cut bait is coated in pool salt right before he casts it. Swears by it.

Fresh cut bait for me here on the Tennessee. In the fall I’ll fish with live bluegill for big flatheads at night. Any other time it’s fresh shad. I prefer the heads when using small pieces up to the size of my hand. I don’t fish with any smelly baits cause the channel cats wear that out. I usually fish for big blues or flatheads.

I’m bout to get me a cast net and learn how to use it. I’m going to try using live shad and shiners for bass and crappie. Thinking about going this evening and dropping a minnow in front of the bridge columns at Stevenson.

Asking out of pure curiosity and a total lack of knowledge cause I've never had either. What Flat heads and Blues but no Channel cats?

You got plenty of power to throw one. Lol

I stopped and got one this evening. Going to see if I can find some shad in the morning. See if I can hook up with a whisker fish.

Small Blues taste better than channels IMO. Blue ares game fish just like crappie and bass. Can you catch them on stink baits? Sure, but you’ll catch more channels than blues. Blues follow shad all day long, eat mussels, etc. to me a blue has a brighter white colored fillet and is easier to get a cleaner tasting fillet than a channel. I don’t eat flatheads but dang they fight hard! A 40lb flathead is all you’ll want on a medium heavy 7 1/2’ rod with a ambassador 6500.

There’s a couple of really good you tube videos that will teach you how to throw one. I can throw a 8 or 10 footer pretty decent and I’m short at 5’9”. Go to the boat ramps on the river at night under the lights. IF you do find the shad, you’ll find a pile of em.

Cast net = Tacos for me. I need to pull mine out and practice in the backyard.

I like fresh shad the best. I use a cast net to get them but i wont share my honey holes.

To me the blues taste too gamey.
Flatheads taste too gamey.
Channels have tender white meat thats not as fishy tasting. I can see a huge difference in taste compared to channels from the tenn river and channels i catch from a spring fed lake.
The river channels are yellow looking compared to the solid white meat from the spring fed clear lake.

If i target big cats i use live bluegill.

Night crawlers work great for channels too.