Blood river last week march

[umtnman]

We have made plans on camping at wildcat campground the last week of March. We have never fished there before. I have a 14ft older glass boat with a 7hp motor so I planned on staying fairly close the the

camp. I am not setup for spider rigging. Usually fish minnows under a slip bobber. any advice would be mush appreciated. Thanks Chuck

[Old Guide]

Hi Chuck,

You can fish right in Wildcat and within a mile north or south and catch all the fish you want. No need to travel far. Drift around in Wildcat, around the corner to the south up into Crappie Hollow and north towards Sugar and you will do fine. Fish the cut between Wildcat and Sugar as well. Lots of submerged cover you will find if you drift around. Also some stake beds towards the back end.(If we have enough water in the lake to be able to fish around them) I really like early and especially late fishing. The best advise I can give you is don't give up until dark. Even fish after dark if you want. Some days are slow and then an hour before sunset they turn on. You might see the state boat working the shallows after dark shocking fish for study purposes. They usually get going about then.

Good Luck!

Lyndon

[pab1981]

In a 14 foot boat I would watch the wind forecast close before getting out of Wildcat creek, the N/S arm running back into crappie hollow will make for a bad ride in a 14ft on a 15+ North or South wind.

[kyjohn]

As Lyndon suggested; come out of Wildcat and ease your way to the north toward Sugar. I saw some new brush in that stretch when I was fishing this past fall. I'm planning on giving it a try myself. Have fun!

[umtnman]

Is ther a fish cleaning station in or somewhere close to wildcat campground.

[Old Guide]

That's a good question! There is none at the ramp but there may be one inside the campground. I use the ramp a lot but just cart em' home and clean em' there. I am sure people staying there clean fish for a fry so my guess (and it is a guess) there is. You might want to call the campground and ask though. LOL

As a side note several years back I got into a nice mess early during a warm spell. I cleaned them at home and put the guts into a trash can in my garage. My garage was under the house which was a bi-level. I drove truck at the time too and although I hated it cause I wanted to keep fishing I had to earn a living too so I went out on the road for a few days and it stayed warm. I got home and my wife was griping wondering why the house stunk so bad. I walked into the warm garage and it hit me.(In my mind and my nose) Those guts had a few days to ripen and WHEW!!!! I wasn't allowed to clean the fish in the garage anymore. I had to stand at the edge of the woods and pitch the remains to the coons.

Oh, and pab1981 is right. If there is much of a north or south wind I would stay in Wildcat or hug the west shoreline as you go outside the bay if the wind is up. Get caught in the middle and you may end up at the back of Crappie Hollow or heading to the main lake. LOL

[umtnman]

Thanks for all the good advice. Looks like I should be set up to spider rig bu the time I get there. Also just ordered a humminbird598 with side scan. I hope I can get it set up and adjusted early in my trip or before. It is nice to see the weather finally starting to get better. I cant wait to get down there in a couple week. Thanks again

[burrisrog]

Yes, they do have a couple places set up inside the campground to clean your catch, they just ask you not to put your

[burrisrog]

Yes, they do have a couple places set up inside the campground to clean your catch, they just ask you not to put the carcasses in the dumpster. Real nice people to deal with.

[umtnman]

Good on the couple places et the campground. Well got the boat out for the first time ever. This is a backup boat. My main 14ft. is in the middle of being totally redone. Yes, the motor and the boat worked great. Im used to my 25hp and the 7.5hp on this boat is alot slower. I wood put the 25 on the boat Im bringing down but its a long shaft and Im not sure this boat would take it. I deffently dont see getting to far away from the campground. I finished making my tee bar front spider rigging bar and holders this weekend. Still have to finish the 3 rod holder for the back of the boat.. I might spend a good portion of the week trying to figure it out my new HB598. I would like to thank all of you that has replied.