Today's fishing trip

Went to Vicksburg today for a little fishing and it turned into a good day.
Started out catching 5 skipjack off'n the end of a dike. Next stop was a cut bank where I know of a mussel bed. Caught 3 blues - 9 lbs, 11 lbs and 33 lbs. Next stop was another cut bank where I know of a mussel bed. Caught 2 blues - 32 lbs and 47 lbs. All these fish were weighed with my spring scale and their weight was not guessed at. All the fish had big ole bellies and you could feel the mussels in them. Just wondering what I could have caught is'n I was using mussels for bait instead of skipjacks. Damn shells on dem mussels is just too hard to get a hook in.


Nelacatman

you da man nela!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good goin Nela!!, we started out saturday mornin and caught 10 or 12 skips before 10am and fished all day saturday till dark and caught one blue about 5lbs,about 15 minutes before dark,, we also fished a couple of mussel beds but with no luck,,,,just couldnt get on any fish

What type of an area where you phishing? How deep was you phishing?
I got 6 good hard bites and caught 5. I was way out from shore anchored on a ridge in 24' of water, fishing 55' to 65' of water. Saw the fish on my graph prior to anchoring above them. Last Monday I was at V'burg and caught 6 - all were in the 10 to 12 lbs range, but I did have a big'un on that I would guess was 50+ lbs. If the river holds kinda steady I'ma gonna catch some large big-lipped catfish real soon. Hmmmm, looks like a long weekend coming up.

Nela

Man o man, sounds like you had an excellent day Nela, Muscle beds, how you locate those? Ive caught cats just plum full of muscles, would I look for sandy bottoms I recon......? Mac

Nela, the 2 spots im talkin about are muddy flats with no ridges or ledges and are from 25 to 30 feet deep,, we also fished outside bends on ledges and in straight line current and below dikes and above dikes,, we were all over the river,LOL! had a few tap taps,,but just didnt see any fish anywhere, but the 5lbs blue came from a hole below a point in 65 feet of water in about 12oz current,,

Mac, im no mussel expert and i mite be wrong, but i have always thot mussels made their home in mud flats, because thats where we catch the most fish to have their belly's full of the mussels,,

Mud flats are good for mussels but are not the only areas to fing them. I have several beds that I have located over the years and most are either on or near revetment banks. The easiest way to find mussel beds is to check a phishes belly when you catch one - then remember the spot. Another way is to let the 'coons find them for you. Have you ever been on a river and seen a section of bank covered in broken mussel beds? You can bet good back pocket money that a mussel bed is near and a family of 'coons is getting fat on them.

I been noticing that a lotta the mussels in some of the smaller fish I keep to eat do not appear to be the same type mussels we are used too. These mussels are kinda round, about the size of a quarter up to a 50 cent piece and not the long football shaped mussels you used to see all the time. The fish I'm catching is coming from DEEP water and off'n rock / concrete / gunnite revetment banks. Steve - you know the types of area's I'm typing about - think about my 445.2 hole where you rubbed that big blues head just before it let you go. Same area.

I been keeping some fish so I can have a fish fry and most have been full of mussels. One phish, that was about 10 lbs, had 17 mussels in it's belly that it had done swallered.


nela

Thanks Nela, I filed that away in my brain locker. Dont know if I will ever get it out again, but might. LMAO.

Nela, Thanks for the info !!

Caught some fresh skips today, kinda on the small side like those cactus bob catches, but I like em small. Gonna hit the arkansas Tonight here in a couple hours, fresh skips, bluegills, shad. I think Im set. I just hope the fish are hungry. I cant seem to catch anything outa that damn lake so to hell with it. Fellas at the dam today said they been catchin a few decent blues. Mac

good luck to ya , Mac,,, post us up some pix so I can see how it feels to go fishin again