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SKIPJACKS AT MELDHAL My brother drove us up to Meldhal dam to get some Skipjacks for catfish bait. It took about 40 minutes to reach the Kentucky side of the dam. There were a number of guys already fishing for skipjacks as we walked down the hill. Some of them were up on top the dead wall. Four or five were at the corner of the bank and wall. It was too crowded there so we walked down to the rocky area to try our luck.
The back eddy current from the dam had that area all messed up with drift material. We tried fishing at that spot for around 30 minutes. I then noticed some of the guys on the dead wall were leaving.. The guys in the corner area had been catching some skipjacks as I was watching them. The schools of skipjacks would come in and jump all over for about 10 to 15 minutes, then move out. During the lull, I moved up to the top of the dead wall. On top of the dead wall you get a great view of the fish moving around chasing the Shad. The water was much clearer in the corner section than down by the rocks.
Right next to the dam gate wall a guy by the name of Dennis was fishing from his chair. I kept casting time after time with no hits. Dennis was catching a skipjack or 2 about every third cast whenever the schools of fish were in that area. He gave me his catch instead of throwing them backing the river. I was amazed by the size of those fish. They were averaging over 12 inches. The longer ones went 14 1/2 to 15 inches long.
I noticed my brother had moved closer to the wall. He did finally catch a few skipjacks. I did NOT catch one fish with all my efforts of trying all different lures and rigging. In the mean time Dennis just kept on pulling them in. His rig was a string of 4-5 1/8 oz. jigs with white grub tail. I did not have such a rig in my fishing bag.
My brother finally came up by us and he did catch a few skipjacks. Then we finally packed it in for the day. When we got home, the total was around 30 fish. I would say Dennis gave us over 20 of them. I cleaned 6 of them in to chunks for catfish bait. I only had space in my freezer for that much bait.
I did use a small package of the skipjacks the next morning. Caught one blue cat that weighed in at 5.4 pounds. Also had 2 very hard bait clicking runs, one got my line wrapped around a snag and lost him. The second dropped the bait and just did not come back for it.
Odds are once the Ohio River settles back down, my brother & I will be back at Meldahl. I will also get those rigs that Dennis had in my fishing bag when I cast my line up there again. Tight lines to all.
nlcatfish@fuse.net webmaster for Cincinnati Catfishing www.cincinnaticatfishing.com AND SHOP WITHOUT DROPPING www.cincinnaticatfishing.com/Shop1.html Over700Bargings4YOU www.bargins4tightbudgets.com
My Biggest Catfish
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Bank Fishing 4 Cincinnati Catfish
Here are some of the few places for bank fishing around downtown Cincinnati. On the Cincinnati side of the Ohio River the Public Landing & Serpentine Wall are the spots to fish. You can drive your car right down to the river's edge at the Public Landing. When it is cold or wet you can watch your poles from the comfort of your car. I have talked with some guys that have caught fish right below the big red paddlewheel monument. I did have some hard bites there but never hooked the fish. The problem is my sinkers seem to find the snags too many times.
FISHING WITH VELCRO
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