fishing in wisconsin river
Question
hi, i fish in the wisconsin river in central wisconsin and i generally catch walleye. i usually use a bucktail (roostertail) and on that i sometimes also catch gillies and crappies. i know there are a lot of carp and channel catfish on the river where i fish, i also have seen people catch smallies . i just go right offshore and lately i have been using crawlers and letting them sink to the bottom trying to catch a carp or catfish so far my only luck was a crappie i snagged by the tail. am i doing everything rite and using the rite bait. i also cant use a boat
Answer
Hi Jace,
You will definitely want to be on the bottom for cats and carp. A slip sinker rig is very simple and lets the fish take some line before you set the hook.
A ball of crawlers may work for both cats and carp, but there may be a few better choices. My two favorite catfish baits are chicken livers or cut-bait. By cutbait I mean a chunk of a fish. I would have the bait shop save me dead chubs or suckers and then I'd cut them into chunks. You can do this right at the stream if you can catch a bluegill, crappie, or perch. Catch a little one and sacrifice it for bait (Note: to be legal, you must count that one you use for bait in your 25 daily bag limit). For carp I really like corn. Regular old frozen corn from the supermarket. Put about six pieces on a hook and put it out on the bottom. I'm guessing that you are dealing with channel cats. But, for flatheads a live bluegill is a great bait.
Both of these fish feed by smell, it is important to leave the bait alone when you have it in a good location. Let them hone in on the scent.
Both cats and Carp can really pull hard! Be ready with stout tackle.
Good fishing,
Marc
heddon expert 125 fly rod
Two Rods I Have