Northwest Fishing Reports

I've been trying for the better part of three years to figure out the channel cat run on the Yakima, in particular the region immediately below Horn Rapids Dam. The last two years, I've hit it hard, trying to figure out what the trick is. I've got several friends who go up there and basically state that they "can catch catfish after catfish until they are bored and their arms are sore". My problem is the exact opposite - I've tried everything, and have yet to catch even *one* catfish in that river. Given the supposed density of fish in that area in May/June, it is **extremely** frustrating..

What in the world are you guys doing? I've tried bouncing the bottom with a slinky drop rig and a three-way swivel/leader above, carolina slip rig, and just about every other catfish rig there is. The biggest problem I have is that I lose a *ton* of gear - I bet I've lost $100+ of gear on that bottom in the last couple years. Admittedly, I never grew up fishing salmon, steelhead, or whitefish in the rivers, so I'm not good at bottom bouncing and figuring out bites. However, catfish tend to nail the crap out of things, so I don't buy that as an explanation.

The current is a huge, *huge* problem for me - that water below the dam is running very fast, and even bottom bouncing from an upstream cast, the rig is whizzing by you in a flash. If I try to hold a bait on the bottom, the weights get snagged on the rocks and break off. If I try spinners, they get caught on the rocks and break off.

So, my meandering aside, any advice or suggestions on how to fish catfish in quite heavy current would be gratefully appreciated. I'm completely baffled, frustrated, and lost...

Just some catfish basics:

Catfish won't be in the fast water, but just off the edge of it looking for easy prey coming down the river. I usually look for a sandbar that extends into the river diagonally and fish the slower water right on the edge of the main current. Catfish like a smooth bottom usually. Look for baitfish to be close by. This strategy will work for both channels and flatheads. Use the closest thing to live fish as possible (cut bait).

tluedeke,

From past experience trying to catch springers, I wanted to let you know that I DO catch catfish from time to time with my salmon rig. Relatively speaking in that area, I have hooked on some BIG and I mean BIG cats on a herring with corkies and smile blade. I thought I would have a springer hooked and get a tubby cat in its place. So not to give you false hope, it is true you should be in slack water, but it is a possibility to get those in the current if you can get your bait to stay put.