Post by ADC on May 13, 2005 21:51:27 GMT -5
Anyone else go after the big ones?
We set a few ditty poles last Sunday, caught this 31.5lb. flathead plus a 12.5lb'er and a small channel cat...
Look closly inside his mouth is the tail of a 2lb. sheephead that somehow got caught on our pole then he ate it!
My wife loves this pic. with Ben...
We have our best luck on the big boys with what we call "ditty poles". I have heard them called "bank poles", "set lines", etc... To make our ditty poles, I get a 6-7 foot long piece of a thick walled ½” PVC pipe, drill a ¼” hole in one end 6” from the end. Then I get a 2’ piece of ½” rebar and drill a ¼” hole two inches in from the end of it. Then I slide the rebar into the PVC, line up the holes, and put a ¼” bolt through to fasten the rebar inside the pipe so it protrudes 1 ½’ beyond the bottom of the pole, Loctite a nut on the bolt. (This makes shoving the poles in the riverbank much easier and they hold very solid.) I then drill two 5/32” holes in the opposite end of the pipe one 1” from the end and one 2” from the end. I put a 2” bolt through the hole nearest the end and cinch a nut down against the pipe to hold the bolt, and Loctite it in place. (This is used later to adjust the amount of line you let off the pole.) I then tie a 15-20’ piece of #30 braided nylon line (238# test) to the second hole. I then slide a 4oz. egg sinker on the line and tie on a 2/0 size Berkley McMahan swivel (250# test). To the other side of the swivel, I attach 12” more of the #30 line, and a size 10/0 4X strong Gamakatsu Octopus hook completes the rig. I use trap tags to ID my poles. Wrap the line around the pole.
The whole key to catching big fish is using big bait. Our preferred bait is a very lively 8-10” bullhead hooked through the back behind the dorsal fin and not so deep as to hit the spine.
When we hit the river we look for slack, deep water near heavy cover. (By deep I mean deeper than the average water depth by a couple feet or more.) We find such a spots by maneuvering the boat along the bank and using a long bamboo pole and simply probing the bank line in the slack water. This will become easier as you get an eye for where the “perfect” water is.
Once we find a good location, we simply shove the pole in the bank a foot above water level (more if the water is expected to rise) at a slight upward angle. Then let out line until the sinker hits the bottom of the river then rewrap two wraps of line on the pole, and the little bolt in the end will hold the line so a caught fish or lively bait won’t pull it out farther and possibly into a snag. Hook the bait on and move to the next location.
All the components to make them except the PVC and rebar can be bought at www.catfishconnection.com
We set a few ditty poles last Sunday, caught this 31.5lb. flathead plus a 12.5lb'er and a small channel cat...
Look closly inside his mouth is the tail of a 2lb. sheephead that somehow got caught on our pole then he ate it!
My wife loves this pic. with Ben...
We have our best luck on the big boys with what we call "ditty poles". I have heard them called "bank poles", "set lines", etc... To make our ditty poles, I get a 6-7 foot long piece of a thick walled ½” PVC pipe, drill a ¼” hole in one end 6” from the end. Then I get a 2’ piece of ½” rebar and drill a ¼” hole two inches in from the end of it. Then I slide the rebar into the PVC, line up the holes, and put a ¼” bolt through to fasten the rebar inside the pipe so it protrudes 1 ½’ beyond the bottom of the pole, Loctite a nut on the bolt. (This makes shoving the poles in the riverbank much easier and they hold very solid.) I then drill two 5/32” holes in the opposite end of the pipe one 1” from the end and one 2” from the end. I put a 2” bolt through the hole nearest the end and cinch a nut down against the pipe to hold the bolt, and Loctite it in place. (This is used later to adjust the amount of line you let off the pole.) I then tie a 15-20’ piece of #30 braided nylon line (238# test) to the second hole. I then slide a 4oz. egg sinker on the line and tie on a 2/0 size Berkley McMahan swivel (250# test). To the other side of the swivel, I attach 12” more of the #30 line, and a size 10/0 4X strong Gamakatsu Octopus hook completes the rig. I use trap tags to ID my poles. Wrap the line around the pole.
The whole key to catching big fish is using big bait. Our preferred bait is a very lively 8-10” bullhead hooked through the back behind the dorsal fin and not so deep as to hit the spine.
When we hit the river we look for slack, deep water near heavy cover. (By deep I mean deeper than the average water depth by a couple feet or more.) We find such a spots by maneuvering the boat along the bank and using a long bamboo pole and simply probing the bank line in the slack water. This will become easier as you get an eye for where the “perfect” water is.
Once we find a good location, we simply shove the pole in the bank a foot above water level (more if the water is expected to rise) at a slight upward angle. Then let out line until the sinker hits the bottom of the river then rewrap two wraps of line on the pole, and the little bolt in the end will hold the line so a caught fish or lively bait won’t pull it out farther and possibly into a snag. Hook the bait on and move to the next location.
All the components to make them except the PVC and rebar can be bought at www.catfishconnection.com