Need some Sinclair night fishing tips!

My son finally decided he wants to give fishing a try rather than playing on that damn xbox. I really want to make his first time fishing a good experience. I've been sneaking out to Sinclair putting in at twin bridges the past few nights with zero luck on crappie and very little luck with cat fish either. Tried tight lining at the bridge, and shooting dock lights on the main and in coves. I'm fairly new to fishing myself and really don't want my son to get bored with fishing his first time out. So any spots, tips, tricks etc.. would be greatly appreciated.

What a bad time of year to go fishing. I remember when I was a kid, my dad and I bottle fished for catfish. Think about it. You and your son could spend time together making Noodle Jugs or just go to the recycle center an get some 2 liter coke bottles. Then you could get some cricket, worms or white bread, and catch some brim in the middle of the day on the rip rap(if you don't know how to throw a cast net for shad). You can even buy stink bait or preserved shad from Walmart. At dusk bait up the jugs and come back a daylight. I guarentee every jug will have a cat on it if you fish Oconee. Sinclair is also pretty good. You could even shoot dock lights for whatever until day break. The main thing is you want that first trip to be action packed to keep his interest. Good luck and let us know how you did.

Sounds like a great plan River Hawk. In these times of instant gratification it is hard to keep adults focused and ten times harder with younger folks. I want it now just isn't quick enough!!!

Yeah its hard to keep a young teenager interested in anything other than girls and video games. It shocked the hell out of me when he asked me the other day if I would take him fishing. I've asked him 100 times in the cooler months to go and his answer was always no. So hopefully he will enjoy jugging. I've always enjoyed it, granted I myself could never wait till morning to see what I caught . I would fly around spot lighting them and chase em down like a little kid. So hell if I have a blast doing that maybe the kid will too.

Try and make it as fun as possible. Please be safe out on the water at night. A good spotlight is a must when jug fishing. I like to put reflective tape on the jugs. It helps my old eyes see them better.

Thanks for the tips, will be going sometime this week before his school starts back

A graph with a GPS is almost a MUST out there at night too. You can get turned around quite easily chasing a jug around. Good luck to you guys.Thumbs Up



BTW, make sure your hooks are sharp.;)

Don't have a gps. Don't plan on getting too far out from twin bridges . Gonna stay out on the main water as well. I'm familiar enough with the docks I've fished to get me back.

Have plenty of his favorite foods and drinks. I also used a homemade gaff or catch pole. I screwed a hook (from hardware store) in the end of a broom handle. By using this devise, you can get under docks and pull them out of the weeds. Nothing will make a man pee in his pants worse than pulling a jug with a water mocisin on the hook. The pole is long enough to keep them at a safe length.

Whelp didn't turn out quite like I hoped. Tossed 50 noodles out and caught only 2 cats... 6 hours later pulled 48 noodles out with bait fully in tact. 25 with shad, 25 with liver. We luckily were able to catch a few cats shooting dock lights. Hopefully the kid had enough fun to want to go back when its cooler.

Try Oconee next time. There is a cove with a boat ramp/marina in the same cove. Start out in the bottom and the water will pull and push them all night. I once crappie fished that cove, watched the guys throw out the noodles at 8pm, and by dark everyone had a 2-5 cat on it. It was amazing. Sorry the action was slow, but there is always next time. GOOD LUCK.

You recommend jugging the coves over the main body? Last cove I jugged in I kept losing jugs under big docks

The guy I saw jug fishing, was fishing the main channel of the cove. The water was moving and those jugs were running to deeper water in the main channel.