Blue Marsh catfish bite
turned on at the dam breast

Billy Bassman and I went night fishing at Blue Marsh Lake on Friday night, July 11.  On a hot humid night we arrived at the lower end of the reservoir around 8:30 p.m.   Immediately, the Blue Marsh catfish bite was turned on, with the cats hitting just about anything we threw in the water -- nightcrawlers, leeches, minnows.  The Bassman had the biggest cat, over 20 inches, which thankfully self-released.  

We don’t like catfish that much, but they are fun to catch until you have to unhooked them, then the barbs and slimy skin come into play.  You do not ever want one of those barbs to penetrate your hand or arm,  lest you experience a painful bite.

No offense to the Blue Marsh catfish, but we were on the lake at night to try to hook a striped bass or walleye, our Blue Marsh fish of choice.   No such luck topside on the lake for those fish, so we decided after catching around five to 10 catfish, to try our luck bottomside, at the Stilling Basin.

We dropped our lines around midnight at the Stilling Basin, still baiting our hooks with leeches or nightcrawlers.  The fishing there was slow on the east side of the spillway.   A couple anglers on the rocks departed after a short time, and we were left there on the east side not having any/many bites.

However, Billy Bassman did hook into a walleye short.  "I hope that's not the biggest walleye I catch this year," he muttered as he tossed it back.

But some dude on the west side was having a grand old time.  He netted three or four keepers while we were there.  Limited by darkness, it looked like he’d landed a couple walleye and one striper, but that was not verified.   His luck and our unluck soon collapsed our night to thoughts of heading home.  I should have walked across to the other side and took a look to see what this angler was using and catching, but my bed was calling me.   It was now around 1:45 a.m. and I was too tired to inquire as to his methods and results.

Four days later, I was back on the lower part of the lake, this time during the day, back at the spot near the dam where we had caught all the Blue Marsh catfish. 

Using a silvery hair jig tipped with a nightcrawler, I landed a 24-inch cattie.  Nice fish. 

So, if you like to catch cats, try to Blue Marsh dam at the breast, night of day, with your favorite catfish bait.