Day Before The Blizzard On Oologah

Hey All,

Didn't know where else to post this, sorry if this is the wrong spot. Went out on Oologah at first light on Jan 31st to check and pick up 8 jugs that I had out before the weather hit, baited with crappie chunks, and was only able to find 5 of them in the short amount of time I had before the weather started to rough the lake up that I didn't want to be out there anymore.

Of the 5 jugs I found, I had one fish on, here's a photo. He's a Blue Cat, 40 1/2 inches long, 27 inches in girth, and weighed in right at 34 pounds. Caught on Crappie in 60 FOW, 40 foot deep, in between skull hollow and Dog Iron coves.

Nice

Nice blue cat. You posted in the right place also.

Odie

those blue cats taste just as good as crappie in my opinion.

Ya'know I have to agree. Personally, I've had crappie and catfish on the same plate, cooked in the same pan, breaded with the same seasoning, and I can't tell one from the other. That being said, I get about 8 (give or take) pounds of crappie fillets when I have a 37 fish limit, I got almost 15 pounds of catfish fillet off of this one catfish and that was after I cut all the red meat and fat off. The stakes are big and I had to cut them thinner, in some places the slab of fillet came off almost 2 inches thick.

G3 - Your point? Catch crappie for bait and get some more jugs. The big O has a bunch a big blues and now until late March is the time to harvest those bad boys. Time to stock up on cold water cats. WWWWOOOOOOOOHHHHHHOOOOOOO.:)

Gee, I thought my point was pretty clear in that I get more meat from one large catfish than I do from a full limit of crappie and it all tastes the same to me. That was my point anyway.

I have 20 jugs, only had 8 out on this day because bait was in short supply. I made my jugs out of 3/4 inch PVC and swim noodles, they all have my name, address, and phone number on the PVC end, here's a pic. If anyone on Oologah sees one of my 3 missing jugs, probably halled away by large catfish, you can have the fish but I would like to have the jug back.

G3 - I was pulling your leg. Yes, you were quite clear. I suspect a cat may have dragged your jug until it hung up on a limb or something. I use the same set up as you do. I put a 12" piece of 3/8th rebar in the pvc which when the jug is set and I get a hit the rebar slides down and the noodle sits at a 45 deg angle. This tells me I have a fish or a hit. I know instantly which jug needs to be checked first. I use 4/0 circle hooks and I rarely lose a fish. The biggest problem I have is finding the largest noodles that accept the 3/4 " pipe.

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Originally Posted by cricket george

G3 - I was pulling your leg. Yes, you were quite clear. I suspect a cat may have dragged your jug until it hung up on a limb or something. I use the same set up as you do. I put a 12" piece of 3/8th rebar in the pvc which when the jug is set and I get a hit the rebar slides down and the noodle sits at a 45 deg angle. This tells me I have a fish or a hit. I know instantly which jug needs to be checked first. I use 4/0 circle hooks and I rarely lose a fish. The biggest problem I have is finding the largest noodles that accept the 3/4 " pipe.

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I had a heck of hard time finding noodles that would work with 3/4" pipe as well, in fact I didn't, the noodles I used have the standard 1/2" hole. What I did was, after cutting the PVC I sanded one end smooth then forced them through the noodle with a twisting action, worked fine. The fit is tight enough that I don't worry about the noodle slipping off if a big cat hits it hard, plus the PVC end caps add a little more stopping power.

I searched everywhere in Claremore for 5/8th's smooth sided metal rod to use inside the PVC as a hit weight but couldn't find any here, so I'm using 1/2 inch that I found at Attwoods. I cut the PVC 2 foot long, the noodle is 1 foot long. With a large (heavy) enough weight inside the PVC tube the jug will stand straight up when it takes a hit. You can see in the photo that I put reflective tape around the top, the idea being that I would be able to see them better, standing up or laying down. Didn't work out so well, should have used bright white tape. Noticed that I could see white birds on the water from very far away, so I'm changing the tape to white.

I'm using 90# test cord for line and L197 circle hooks. Have you tried any of the TeamCatfish double action circle hooks?

G3 - I think I use either 150 or 250 # test main line and 50# test berkley big game mono for the droppers. The droppers are double strands and I tie the circle hooks with a palomar knot. I attach a cross lok swivel to the dropper with a palomar knot and the main line has approx 3/0 barrel swivel tied on with a palomar knot too. The main line has a swivel to attach it to the noodle and the weight is clipped on with a large snap swivel. I use a 1# concrete weight that I make out of 20 oz plastic drink cups. I insert a "T" clip into the wet concrete and let the crete set up for a couple of days to cure. I get the T clips from Home Depot in the fence dept for like 85 cents for 25. I do not remember if I am using Daachii sport circle hooks or another brand. Those circles just dont miss a fish. We use cut shad for bait. I am trying garlic weinnies because a friend has been killin em on the wiennies on Kerr for years. I tried the wiennies this fall against fresh shad and the wiennies took 80% of the fish. Go figger. I am going to test them again on Kaw shortly. If the wiennies are as effective as the first test then acquiring bait got a WHOLE lot simpler. Being assured of bait is the biggest concern when juggin IMO. Your thoughts?
Oh, no I have not tried the TeamCAtfish stuff.

Oh, and I ONLY use braided nylon main line because it is so much better than the twisted nylon line. Now until late March will be the premier time to fill your freezer. We release all fish over 20# because the fish have a certain amount of toxins built up in their flesh which is acquired thru the shad and the fish are so old at 20+#s. Cold water blues and flatties are superb eating as are crappie and bluegills.

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Originally Posted by G3Jockey

Ya'know I have to agree. Personally, I've had crappie and catfish on the same plate, cooked in the same pan, breaded with the same seasoning, and I can't tell one from the other. That being said, I get about 8 (give or take) pounds of crappie fillets when I have a 37 fish limit, I got almost 15 pounds of catfish fillet off of this one catfish and that was after I cut all the red meat and fat off. The stakes are big and I had to cut them thinner, in some places the slab of fillet came off almost 2 inches thick.

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If you're only going after the meat...then blue cats are definately more bang for the buck. I don't know that I can tell the difference most of the time in the taste and texture. However, I like Crappie fishing better just because, to me- it's funner. Alot like bass fishing in some respects.

It's funny G3. The reason you like to catch catfish is the same reason I like to catch Crappie. You see, we don't eat a ton of fish at my house. I can go catch 37 fish and not worry about where I'm gonna put the meat. If I went and cleaned 37 big blues like the one you caught, I'd have 400 pounds of meat! Also, I can totally taste the difference between the two. Crappie is way better to me. For that matter, I can taste the difference between a 14 inch blue and a 20 inch blue. To me, the bigger they get, the fishier they taste. When cat fishing, I like to keep the little ones and throw back the big ones. That's just me though. I know alot of people like catfish better. Not nocking your preferences though. We all enjoy different things, how boring would life be if we didn't?!

I'm the same way dragger, I can taste the difference in large cats and the smaller ones. I'm leary of eating the meat of the large fish also because of the higher mercury levels associated with being higher on the food chain and extended lives.

Crappie meat doesn't last long around here but I've got several quart bags full of catfish filets in the freezer just waiting on some friend or relative to take them home.