One of the few catfish caught in cold, wet conditions (50° F Water Temp).
It was tough fishing this past weekend (May 3rd and 4th) on a recent trip for channel catfish on the Grand River out of Dunnville, Ontario. Recent heavy and continuing rains and a cold spring had left us with high, muddy and cold (50° F) water to deal with. On our first day in nearly continuous rain we managed to pick up four smaller fish. The sun came out for us the second day but the fish were even more tight lipped with no takers for the boat and very few for anyone I talked to. This just once again shows the perils of
timing when it comes to river fishing.
Old line and weights pulled up with a snagged anchor.
Though hardly a fair sampling, two cats were taken on Parmesan cheese flavoured cutbait and two on coffee and garlic flavoured cutbait. No action on either raw shrimp or garlic flavoured cutbait. We’ll have to try these recipes again next year and see if we can get enough of a sampling to say if one or another works better.
The most interesting catch of the trip was pulled up with a snagged anchor. A large ball of line, weights and hooks attached to an old anchor line was pulled up. It appears that this line has been collecting snagged gear for quite some time at this popular spot. Most of the lead went back into our tackle boxes. This is also a good reminder that fishing line remains in our environment for a long time – recycle and/or dispose of properly as best you can.
