# Colorado river yellow cats



## Born and Raised Fisherman (Mar 29, 2010)

Had a camping/fishing trip over the weekend. Caught these nice eating yellow cats and a few channel cats in the colorado river just south of Columbus. The big ones stayed away from are hooks this time. Just means we have to go again!! All were caught on perch. Good time had by all.


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## Blastn & Castn (Mar 11, 2010)

Nice yellows.... A 51 was caught above LaGrange on Tues.... U fish with any Leopolds


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## snapper (Aug 22, 2005)

VERY VERY NICE MESS OF FISH, GOTTA LOVE THOSE YELLOW CATS THEY ARE MY FAVORITE.


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## workorfish (Sep 5, 2007)

*Fish Fry*

That will be some fine eating. Get every speck of red off the fillets and you can't hardly tell it from white perch.


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## Born and Raised Fisherman (Mar 29, 2010)

Blastn & Castn said:


> Nice yellows.... A 51 was caught above LaGrange on Tues.... U fish with any Leopolds


 No just in-laws 2 40# yellows were caught by other fishermen on same weekend


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## johnmyjohn (Aug 6, 2006)

Ole Yellow is the best looking cat to me, and eating too. Good catch guy.


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## Figfarmer (Nov 25, 2007)

Having never caught a yellow cat (flathead), I was wondering if they will hit any kind of non-living bait. According to most that I've read about flatheads, they will only eat live bait. Is that true? Also, will they hit crawdads? If so, I was thinking that if they would hit crawdads they might also hit large hermit crabs, which I can gather a bunch of in short order.


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## Blastn & Castn (Mar 11, 2010)

Live bait only! Pearch, bass , channel cats , & even other yellow cats are all good bait... but pearch are the only legal bait. Yes when they are biting u can catch them on crawfish but more so on the channel cats that u catch while fishing with crawfish. When we clean yellow cats u do alot of the times find the big red river crawfish in their stomach's


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## FISHROADIE (Apr 2, 2010)

Nice report, I drove over the Colorado river the other day the water looked good.


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## Slime Time (Jun 29, 2007)

*Live bait*

Yellows can be finicky and prefer live bait over dead, but I have caught many on hand sized dead gizzard shad too..


FISHROADIE said:


> Nice report, I drove over the Colorado river the other day the water looked good.


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## Born and Raised Fisherman (Mar 29, 2010)

Figfarmer said:


> I've read about flatheads, they will only eat live bait. Is that true? Also, will they hit crawdads?


 Live bait is all I've caught them on. perch, shad, and crawdads. But they seem to not like goldfish or thats what I've seem to find out


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## seattleman1969 (Jul 17, 2008)

Perch are what I've always caught them on and they work great and are much easier to get, but the absolute best bait when you can find 'em are 4-8" shad. they stay alive on the hook longer than small shad and the yellows (And large blues) can't resist 'em!

What I want to learn is how to catch yellows on rod n reel though. I do occasionally but it's usually more an accident than a plan! What are your tricks guys? Not asking for locations, I know where they live..... to me yellows on a rod seem nearly as difficult as catching that first steelhead!


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## 1CHANCE (Jan 25, 2006)

We do catch yellas on rod n reel at times, I dont know of any "tricks" Just bait up at night with perch, strong line, rod holders and fish next to the bank. oh yeah cold beer helps this out a lot. good luck!


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## Figfarmer (Nov 25, 2007)

Will they (yellows) hit piggy perch (saltwater perch)? I don't have access to freshwater perch here in Aransas Pass but I want to try fishing the Guadalupe river along state hwy 35, which is not too far from me (40 miles). I can catch small pig perch and keep them alive.


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## Blastn & Castn (Mar 11, 2010)

I think that they would "F Farmer" can piggy pearch live in fresh water???


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## chase'n tail (Apr 29, 2010)

*very nice*

those are some really nice yellows.....were was thats 51lb caught at and by who i aint heard about that one yet until i read it on here..


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## Blastn & Castn (Mar 11, 2010)

Macklin Lehmann. Rabb's creek area.


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## Bozo (Jun 16, 2004)

The only yellow cat I ever caught was on an artificial bait. I had a 1/8oz white maribou crappie jig on and caught about a 10pound sized one. I had put some shad smell on the jig. So, they will hit artificial but, it probably isn't nearly as effective as live bait.


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## catman6 (Mar 16, 2009)

Fished the Trinity river north of Liberty on Saturday and caught a 5lb yellow cat in a horseshoe lake. The ol' yeller was under a fallen tree that was out in the water and bit on a dead shrimp under a cork about 2 feet deep. The bite in the river was not good. Only caught one other cat (channel) that very skinny. Talked to another cat man at the boat ramp and he caught 12 small channels in long day of fishing.


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## seattleman1969 (Jul 17, 2008)

A buddy of mine says he trolls the rocks of Livingston Dam (Lake Side) with deep running shad crankbaits in the summer and catches yellows up to 20 Lb. that way regularly....

Never heard of that but he swears by it. I am going to challenge him to give me a Missouri showdown later this summer....

"SHOW ME"


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## Wedge (Apr 29, 2005)

Mud cats with their fins clipped also work pretty well. The mud cats will live a long time on the hook. But.....bream are the overall best bait that I have found. Uncle used to fish with Gold fish because they were easy to get. I did not like their longevity on the hook though.


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## Bowhntr (Aug 7, 2006)

Having never targeted the yellow cats before? when fishing for them what water type show I focus on? moving, slack water cove and just how deep must a person fish for them and last can it be done frm bank of creeks? I have caught many blues/channel using stink/liver bait. But this is a different ballgame for me-looking to expand my knowledge from the PRO here


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## Blastn & Castn (Mar 11, 2010)

No pro, but have good luck trying.. GOOD LIVE PERCH! Yellows come out of their holes & feed mainly at night rare to catch many during the day... Gravel bottoms & muddy water or better yet rising from a rain is great. Water depth to me is not that big of a deal.... but Dad likes deep & I like shallow even around 1.5' deep... so we cover a little of both.. We catch big ones in this shallow water also.. Old logs, log jambs,or brush piles produce well. Grandpa loved to stick the 1 & 2 hook drop lines right in & around them.. Normally an old yellow will not get tangled like u would think.. Calm or light current for the most part because it's easy on the perch & they can work all night till a yellow comes by.. U can catch them in clear water but if the gar are around good luck keeping your perch on for 5 minutes after u put it out.. Shallow,muddy bottom, soft slopping bank not good.. If the yellows aren't bitting u will know it. If they are u can make it look easy... Many of morning running the lines did we come home with the big goose egg. Not bitting. If the creek has yellows in it u can catch them... Last thing if your are checking lines look for it to be moved but not pulling most yellows even the big ones will let u pull them all the way to the top of the water & u will see him then all hell will break loose .So hold on & get him into the boat or bank as fast as you can . Don't let go & watch the other hooks. GOOD LUCK. HOPE THIS MIGHT HELP A LITTLE Let us here how it goes


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## El Ahogo (Mar 14, 2010)

Hey, Blast & cast. I went to Subway for lunch today and it reminded me of that time you went there and they put all that extra LETTUCE on you r sandwich....... and didnt even charge you for it!!!:rotfl:


Blastn & Castn said:


> No pro, but have good luck trying.. GOOD LIVE PERCH! Yellows come out of their holes & feed mainly at night rare to catch many during the day... Gravel bottoms & muddy water or better yet rising from a rain is great. Water depth to me is not that big of a deal.... but Dad likes deep & I like shallow even around 1.5' deep... so we cover a little of both.. We catch big ones in this shallow water also.. Old logs, log jambs,or brush piles produce well. Grandpa loved to stick the 1 & 2 hook drop lines right in & around them.. Normally an old yellow will not get tangled like u would think.. Calm or light current for the most part because it's easy on the perch & they can work all night till a yellow comes by.. U can catch them in clear water but if the gar are around good luck keeping your perch on for 5 minutes after u put it out.. Shallow,muddy bottom, soft slopping bank not good.. If the yellows aren't bitting u will know it. If they are u can make it look easy... Many of morning running the lines did we come home with the big goose egg. Not bitting. If the creek has yellows in it u can catch them... Last thing if your are checking lines look for it to be moved but not pulling most yellows even the big ones will let u pull them all the way to the top of the water & u will see him then all hell will break loose .So hold on & get him into the boat or bank as fast as you can . Don't let go & watch the other hooks. GOOD LUCK. HOPE THIS MIGHT HELP A LITTLE Let us here how it goes


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