# Frisky blue cats below the Livingston dam



## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

We were the only boat on the water today, and the reason is that is was a cold bear on the river banks!
It felt like Siberia it was so cold, it was colder than the day I fished with Matt'sfishn last winter and it it was 16 degrees, we had to swoosh the rods in the water to clear the ice off the guides.
Today the air temperature was about 34 degrees and the with the mist coming from the gates and the slight but steady North wind, it made it cold.
We gave up trying for crappie, our original target and put our backs to the wind to cat fish.
The only bait we had was minnows in an ice cold bucket with no dip net, but luckily Lee caught a 6 pound drum pretty quick and we cut it up for bait.
So we decided to catch a limit of blue cat fish and started about 9:30.

The frisky blue cats loved it and would get right on it, all we had to do was cast out, set the rod in a holder, and wait 30 seconds for it to go down with a nice cat 17 to 23" long.
We had to rig just right, the right hook size, bait size, weight size, leader length, and then it worked every time, if it was off anywhere you would not get a bite.
After we got our limit of 20 the fun stopped (about 11:30) and it was cold, so we went in and got warm!

SS


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## wshniwasfshn (Oct 14, 2010)

Great report SS! you guys sure are lucky to fish any day you want. I cant wait to get out there this weekend and hopefully tear em up for the first time this year! Great Catch!


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## catslayer (Dec 12, 2010)

it was cold but at least you guys caught some fish. Great story and pics


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## texasGG (Mar 12, 2007)

Loy you and Lee are certifiable now... I always sort of suspected it but yep....NUTS! Good job!


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## FISHROADIE (Apr 2, 2010)

Nice Catch you guys must realy wanted to fish today, it was cold. Nice pictures.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

FISHROADIE said:


> Nice Catch you guys must realy wanted to fish today, it was cold. Nice pictures.


It has not been a matter of want to for a long time now.


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## Gator gar (Sep 21, 2007)

Nice catch Loy. Thanks for the pics and story.


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## RAYSOR (Apr 26, 2007)

Thanks SS, for the story and pics, enjoyed


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## willlof (Oct 15, 2005)

good eaten right there


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## obiewan57 (Sep 14, 2005)

good fishing there Loy, ya'll did real good. Wish I had been sitting beside you reeling em in.


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## HGX_Fisherman (Feb 26, 2009)

Nice cooler full Loy!

It always works out, the worse the weather gets for us above the water, the more the fish seem to like it below the water.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Catching cats in the river is really fun, they fight really hard. I hope to talk my friend, Zach, into going tomorrow.


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## slippindrag (Sep 21, 2010)

Nice goin SS, and some great pictures. I bet that was cold with the wind carrying the mist across you guys.


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

Loy, It was nice of you to brave the weather and give us a report. I might try to go this weekend. I really need to run my boat. It has not seen water since October.


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## 2catsfishin (Jun 27, 2010)

nice cats.....


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Sounds like someone is gettin kinda soft in their old age!! LOL. It sure was cold down there last year. Glad to see ya caught some nice blues.

Matt


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Matt, looks like being afraid of a little chill made me miss the chance. They dropped the flow back to below 2,000cfs, so the Mighty Red-Fin stays away!
It was good fun the day we went, but I have cabin fever now. 
I might have to leave warm ole SS manor and wet a line.
If only I was a youngster like Megafish,....


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

SS, did TRA do an OOOPS? The flow stated back up this morning. I was wondering why they closed two gates when the inflow exceeded 2000 cfs.
If you go by the dam take a look see.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Fishinganimal called me yesterday and was asking about how i thought it might be this week end since they reopened the 2 gates, at the time I thought I was headed drifting, but now, dbullard, BEc and I are going to see what we can catch there.


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## RodBender54 (Aug 27, 2010)

Good luck today SS. I hope you have a productive day. I am out for a while. I had hand surgery Thurday and will be in a cast for up to six weeks. Worn out thumb. maybe from reeling in too many fish...lol.


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## aluminum (Nov 30, 2010)

The best two days I had under the dam last year were days that were below freezing in December. We were having to swoosh our rods in the water too but the fish were hungry. Good job.


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## fishinganimal (Mar 30, 2006)

I sure they are tearin em up. I cancelled not takers to split the gas. Post up gents lets hear it.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

Today was a blast FA, dbullard, Nick, blueyescowboy and I went below the dam and had a big time catching blue cat fish.
We caught most of them the first hour we were there, it started slowing down and we were just able to get our limit of 40 before coming in.
We saw Mattsfishing and Gofish2day tearing them up too. They culled for a while and went in with a good catch.
We used minnows for most of them, and then a drum Ken caught for the last few.
A good time was had by all, Nick, of course, took big fish with a 6+lb blue.
I got a pic of him with one back a home, but it was not the big fish of the day.


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## FISHROADIE (Apr 2, 2010)

Nice catch SS I have been thinking about going to the dam soon.


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Glad to see all of ya'll again. You guys had a lot of fish to clean.The blues were really good down there yesterday. I also got to fight a big paddle fish for a while. 

Matt


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

It was a fun day of fishing and it was good to see you and Karl. That paddlefish was putting the zing on the string! They are really powerful.


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## Gator gar (Sep 21, 2007)

Looks like Nick finally got a haircut, I didn't even recognize him.


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## Gofish2day (May 9, 2006)

Great day yesterday! The fish eagles were out for most of the morning which are fun to watch. I found it strange that you could not buy a shad with a cast net. I guess that is why there are no white bass. Will the shad return sometime soon? 

That paddle fish sure could pull. I think we needed a cork on the anchor line and let go to really fish him. He was making Matts drag sing.


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## fishingman c (Jan 9, 2011)

sounds like fun down there. i cant wait to go there for my 2nd time. when should the white bass and crappie kick in?


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## dbullard (Feb 13, 2008)

It was a fun time down there yesterday .I gotta buddy coming after the cooler so no cleaning all catching !!!


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## Mattsfishin (Aug 23, 2009)

Just got back from church and about to start cooking some of those blues from yesterday. I did not mind cleaning the fish because I wanted some fresh blues to eat today. Goin back tomorrow for some more. Yeh that paddle fish had that medium lite rod bent and the shimano reel was singin. Love those blues!!!! Did any of you notice eggs in the blues?

Matt


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## FISHROADIE (Apr 2, 2010)

Mattsfishin said:


> Just got back from church and about to start cooking some of those blues from yesterday. I did not mind cleaning the fish because I wanted some fresh blues to eat today. Goin back tomorrow for some more. Yeh that paddle fish had that medium lite rod bent and the shimano reel was singin. Love those blues!!!! Did any of you notice eggs in the blues?
> 
> Matt


That paddlefish must have been fun on the end of your line. You always seem to hang somthing unusual when you are down there The day you and I were there you caught a 10 or 12 pound flathead on a crappie jig.


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

I did the SS shuffle and don't know if they had eggs, but a lot of the ones I have caught in the lake recently have well developed eggs.
I noticed that many of the cat we caught were lake fish, very pale compared to those that live in the river.


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## dbullard (Feb 13, 2008)

Mattsfishin said:


> Just got back from church and about to start cooking some of those blues from yesterday. I did not mind cleaning the fish because I wanted some fresh blues to eat today. Goin back tomorrow for some more. Yeh that paddle fish had that medium lite rod bent and the shimano reel was singin. Love those blues!!!! Did any of you notice eggs in the blues?
> 
> Matt


I have not noticed any eggs because I have not cut into the guts.
I have plenty of people take fish that I have cleaned and it is nice when someone that wants fish and are willing to clean them . I a learned the shuffle from the best !!!lol


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## Sunbeam (Feb 24, 2009)

All of the female fresh water fish in our region should be carrying eggs at this time.
The whites spawn in mid march and on. The crappie about 1st of April and the blues should finish spawning about !st of May. The Ops are last in late May early June.


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## Aqualung (Jan 13, 2011)

Where do you launch a boat to fish below the Livingston dam?


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## shadslinger (Aug 21, 2005)

You buy a pass at Browder's marina on FM3278, then drive back across the bridge and launch on the East side.


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