CATFISHING BLUES
ON THE OHIO
by Don Mulligan for A.C.A.T.S. Catfish Now
Legend has it that man-sized catfish prowl the scoured out deep holes of the Ohio River. Those legends are likely rooted in sightings and catches of over-sized blue catfish, the Ohio's biggest catfish and hands-down ruler of the river's murky depths.
The Indiana state record blue catfish was caught in the Ohio River in 1999 and weighed 104 pounds. Big blue cat fishermen think there are bigger ones down there, and some of them have taken the hunt for a new state record quite seriously.
Todd Arbuckle of Carmel, Indiana is one of those fishermen. In his opinion, an old blue cat is the meanest, toughest fighting freshwater fish in the United States. After catching an 82 pound blue last year in the Ohio River, he all but abandoned fishing for every other specie of freshwater fish. Now, he spends every free minute he has hunting for a triple digit cat.
Last week, on a high, muddy stretch of the Ohio River near Cannelton, Indiana he made a convert out of me. After a lengthy search of several deep water outside turns of the river, Arbuckle finally picked a spot to set the lines. The dual Lowrance color screens clearly showed a bunch of structure in 40 feet of water, but also some massive fish piled up on the backside of one particular mound. "I only fish a spot if I mark what I believe are big catfish on it," he said. The spot he chose looked like all the rest to me, until he explained how he knew those big arches marking on the fish finder were catfish, and not any one of a dozen other big fish that inhabit the Ohio River.
"Since we are in some of the fastest current on this bend, I am confident we are not marking big gar or carp, which prefer eddies and slack water," Arbuckle said. "At the same time, blue catfish love the current, and will sit right in the middle of it all day long."
The only other big fish he catches in the Ohio River in the heavy current is an occasional striper. They will often inhabit the same areas as a big blue, and hit the same bait. That's fine with Arbuckle, since even a small striper gives a big fight. And by small, he means fish up to 40 pounds, which he has caught incidentally on more than one occasion.
Big Bait, Big Fish
When it came time to finally bait his oversized musky rigs, Arbuckle opened a cooler full of vacuum packed, frozen skip jacks, which he had caught last fall for winter blue cat fishing. The only time he uses dead bait is in the winter, when fish are still aggressive, but not as willing to chase their food. The rest of the year, he only uses live bait sets. "It is one of the biggest myths in catfishing that they prefer stinky bait," Arbuckle said. "Big fish want big, lively bait. Even when I use dead bait in the winter, I make sure it is fresh."
After cutting an 18 inch skip jack in half, he then scraped some scales from its side and scored it several times with the knife. This would distribute the smell of the oily fish more efficiently throughout the area we were fishing. His stout musky rods and baitcasting reels were spooled with 40 pound monofilament which was tipped with a 60 pound mono leader. At the end, he snelled a massive number 9 octopus hook and a smaller stinger hook a foot down from there. Both hooks were buried into the skip jack, and heaved down current from the anchored boat with an eight ounce weight to hold the presentation down.
Pick A Bend
Although Arbuckle primarily fishes the same five-mile stretch of the Ohio
River south of Louisville, Kentucky, he doesn't consider it a secret spot. "This
just happens to be the closest public boat ramp to my home," he said. "Honestly,
anywhere between Louisville and Cairo, Illinois on the Ohio River has the
potential to give up a 100 pound blue catfish." Already this winter, a friend
sent him a picture of a 75 pound fish that was taken in Illinois water.
It is no secret that river bends hold the deepest water, and that deep water
attracts big fish, but on the Ohio, there are probably hundreds of deep
bends between Louisville and the Mississippi River. It is necessary to narrow
down the search and target only the best river bends. "Fish are more concentrated
around deep holes from November to February, especially the very deep ones
that are isolated from other deep holes," Arbuckle said.
