# Yellow River 09/14/10



## -WiRtH-

Me and a buddy of mine put in at guest lake this afternoon and headed up river. I heard the river was low, but didn't expect it to be as low as it was. We caught a few small bream and probably 15-20 little yearling bass. You wouldn't know I was bream fishing! Well long story short we only ended up keeping 3 fish. a 13.5 inch bass, an 11 3/4 inch crappie, and a fat 8 1/2 inch goggle eye (warhead). We ran bush hooks for a little while and all we ended up with was a few small butter cats (bullheads, pollywags, mudcat, or whatever else you want to call em). I would have pulled an all nighter, but seeing as how I forgot the spotlight and both flashlights we decided to call it an early night to come from hitting any trees or anything thats now high enough to be hit... It was a fun time on the water nonetheless. I would like to have got a few more large fish to keep, but I can just open up a bag of bream from the freezer  Well I'm tired. Peace...

Oh by the way... With the exception of a 3.5 inch blue gill and a 6 inch bass everything was caught on worms. Those were the only two fish in the river interested in eating crickets. Makes me glad I chose to start with worms and him crickets. :thumbup:


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## CatHunter

I hear u on that i just took my new boat up to Escambia river and put in at sandy s landing, and my god was the water low, i had my depth alarm set at 3 feet and it was going off every where i went, holes i know that where 15 feet where at about 5 to 7 feet i had 4 powerful spot lights on the boat with us, and we still managed to get struck by submerged logs, talk about nerve rattling it was around midnight (we where catfishing) then the damn fog rolls in so think every thing on the boat was soaked, iam 4 miles down the river and i couldn't go any faster then idle speed on the way down there to began with, very scary situation, when u cant see 10 feet in front of u and u keep running aground with a good size boat.. i fish a good bit on yellow river for flatheads i know how skinny them water levels get...Nice crappie by the way didn't really know ol yeller had crappie


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## FishWalton

WiRtH: I see you made the trip you were talking about. My friend Joe and I went to the Yellow yesterday morning. We used his bass boat which was almost too much boat for the water level. From Guest Landing we went upriver at not much more than idle speed. Hit a few snags but not bad since we were going so slow. Not many boats on the river at all. I think we saw 2, maybe 3 others. One guy in a jon boat with 50hp Merc obviously knew where the snaps were. He was flying!!!!

I just got word last night my favorite landing on the Choctawhatchee just reopened. That's Comanders Landing near Red Bay on hwy 81. 

I want to have another go at the Yellow but we sure need a bit more water.

Incidentally, we ended up with I think 4 warmouth and 1 nice red breast for about 5 hours fishing.


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## -WiRtH-

Thanks CatHunter, that was actually the second biggest crappie I have caught because I normally don't fish rivers that have them! (or at least didn't know I did) lol My biggest was earlier this year on the Choctawhatchee River. But I feel you on the holes drying up. I really wanted some catfish last night, but oh well. Maybe this weekend I'll give it another go. 
Ya fishwalton I made the trip and was definitely glad I was on a 12 ft jon boat with a 6 hp evinrude for sure! After I went into the first slew I watched another boat not able to get in. Heck I barely made it in myself! Sounds like you guys had a decent trip though seeing as how not too many fish have been coming out lately. You'll have to let me know how it is over there on the Choctawhatchee next time you go, I might have to head over that way and give it a try.


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## FishWalton

If nothing happens I/mgoing to the Choctawhatchee about 3 this afternoon and fish til dark. Want to try out that new landing at Comanders. River is low and clear but there should be more water than Yellow. Will tight line the deep holes and bruch piles, I hope. 

Will let you know what happens.


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## CatHunter

iam head up to my 40 foot hole on Escambia tonight, iam gonna wear them flatheads out, maby even a big blue or 2


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## FishWalton

You guys are something else over there. Have been following your adventures and photos. We have some holes here in the Choctawhatchee but I don't know where they are. The regulars do well from what I hear.


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## -WiRtH-

I have never in my life fished on Escambia River, but I would like to check it out sometime. We have decent catfish on Yellow River and thats where I do most of my catfishing. Channel cats are about my favorite fish to eat. It's betweem that and redfish. Good luck to both of you today. I'd go out if I didn't have to work in a few hours. I hope you load up on em tonight because I plan to load up on em this weekend!


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## CatHunter

well i guess ill be playing poker tonight instead boats at the doctors getting its voltage regulator replaced, maby later this week ill go to work on them cats


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## SLICK75

I like what Im seeing here. Coming home Sunday for 5 weeks off. I see quite a few trips to Choctawhatchee and Escambia among other places.


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## -WiRtH-

Oh I forgot to add that the sturgeon are still jumping in the late afternoon (I love watching them jump out of the water) and the mullet were jumping nonstop in both of the slews I fished. I kinda hoped that they would jump in the boat... But they never did :-(


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## Travis Gill

We fished yellow saturday night and caught 2 or 3 flatheads biggest about 12lbs and 6 or 8 channel cats. It was definitely slow compared to earlier this summer


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## FishWalton

I hit the Choctawhatche at 3:30 this afternoon at the new Commanders Landing. Very pleased with the refurb job just completed a few days ago. There is much more water than in the Yellow River but there are still plenty of snags you don't normally see. Water is low. I ran aground on a shallow bar with snags everywhere and the boat got crossways with bow out of the water on snag. Thank goodness the bottom was hard sand that supported my weight. Since I had not yet wet a hook I wasn't about to sit and wait for someone to come along and help. Had to abandon ship and push it off the snag and against the current. Water was about a foot deep. Tough on an old man.

Anyway. just about everywhere I dropped a line along the deeper banks the fish were biting. Only thing is I never did find a good spot with good size bream, shellcracker,etc. Ended up with 5 hand size bream, 2 small channel cat about 9 or 10 inches, and one 12.5 inch bass, all on worm with size 8 hook. 

I know the fish are there in the river. There are no lakes or backwater to get into.All the water is in the main river. Fishing should be good once that special hole is found. Have never fished the river with such low water so will take a few trips to get the hang of it


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## CatHunter

Them sturgeon are hook-able, right place and the right bait with the right gear and u could boat one, we have been fishing for them 4 times this year and have hooked several, but yet to get one boat side, let me tell u there some bad mofos, even on my gangster catfish sticks spooled with 60lb test,they still manage to elude me, my girl friend has been fascinated with catching one ever since i took her a few weeks ago, and she hook about a 150+lber and he jump 10 feet from the boat like a behemoth tarpon, awesome sight a even better one would be us holding that thing..


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## -WiRtH-

Freespool that is good news to ears. I would love a mess of catfish and I'm glad to know they are still hungry. River roaches or liver if you don't mind me asking?

fishwalton that number 8 hook and a worm is deadly. It's what I use 99% of the time freshwater fishing! Glad to hear you caught a few, but feel bad about you getting snagged before you even got to start fishing! I forgot to tell yall that we did stop at one hole on the river to fish. When we went to move to the next spot my buddy pulled the anchor up and the anchor rope came off the daggum anchor. So we didn't stop again except for the slews. Teach me to not check the knots for a few months I guess...

Cathunter I read your posts abotu catching those sturgeon before... I might have to try it out sometime. I bet it's pretty fun!


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## FishWalton

WiRtH: "River Roaches" - you got to be a native!~ LOL They are thick over here in the river and backwater sometimes. - No one but an 'ol timer or native will know what they are. I didn't catch a one yesterday but felt their bit here and there. They can be a real pest.

We have sturgeon here as well. Big darn things and will startle you when they jump near the boat. Recently I had one jump about 15 feet from the boat just as I was pulling away from a landing. He was about a 4 footer. Just caught the jump out of the corner of my eye and when he hit the water I darn near jumped out of the boat myself. Man, what a racket!


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## -WiRtH-

You can call me a native. :laughing: I am 23 years old so not too much of an old timer just yet! And those river roaches were thick everywhere the other day. Heck my buddy that went with me even caught one with a number 8 gold hook and a worm. :thumbup:


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## SLICK75

LMAO River roaches... DO they have another name??? I had quite a few people give me funny looks over the years with that term. It was even better back when my boy was 5 or 6 and would tell people about catching river roaches. Theyd always play it off like it was his imagination until I would tell them he knew more about fishing than most adults. As a matter of fact, thats HIS rubber frog laying on that gators head in that picture over there<----


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## FishWalton

Me too LMAO!!!! We are having fun with this one.

I believe it's actually a "shad" but I'm not sure which one. Gizzard shad have a black spot on the head and they can grow big. Our "river roach" has the spot on the tail and I have never seen one over maybe 4 to 5 inches. 

Now that the subject has come up I'll see about identifyng our beloved " river roach". LMAO!


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## FishWalton

FL Fish and Wildlife responded and will ID the "roach" if I send them a picture. Next time I catch one will get a photo and send to them


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## SLICK75

Hit Shoal, if you can afford to keep feeding them you can load the boat with them. I have actually just always told anybody who asks that theyre minnows. I figure if they havent heard of a river roach then they probably couldnt tell the difference between a warmouth and a sunbelly and probably wouldnt care.


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## CatHunter

there not shad u guys are right they are roaches there a type of minnow some of them get pretty large, heres 4 that u might catch in yellow river i catch them as well for live bait


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## -WiRtH-

I'm with you if someone doesn't know I just say it's a daggum minnow then I call the person a daggum yankee and go back to fishin. lol They look similar to the chub I guess, but there is a black spot too. I might have to look tomorrow when I have some time and see what the proper name would be. If you can keep them alive long enough to get them on a hook and back into the water you can catch just about anything on them. Although worms will probably always be my primary bait for bream and bass and liver for cstfish, I am a firm believer that the best bait you can use is whatever is natural to the area. What could be a better bait than what the fish hunt every single day? Now if the damn roaches would quit eatin my worms and let me catch some bream every now and then I'd be happy :whistling:


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## -WiRtH-

And the shoal river is slap full of about 10 million different types of minnows! Right there at the boat ramp on 85 (aka pickle park) you can even catch shiners. Or something that looks damn close to them anyway. There are different types of shad you can catch regular there. Just figre out how to keep them live long enough to find some actual fish ;-)


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## flounder1156

hey guys the minnow you are refering to as being river roaches are a shiner.....Blacktail shiner. They are excellent bait for a wide variety of river fish from pickeral,catfish and members of the sunfish family...goggle-eye aka warmouth sunfish; stumpknocker aka spotted sunfish and calico bream.. aka shadow bass and of course LMB or large mouth bass.


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## FishWalton

Trip to Choctawhatchee yesterday afternoon did not produce much. Water really low with bars on some of the inside bends. Ran aground on snag and had a time. Lucky water was only a foot deep but current sideways on the boat created a real problem. Oh well, finally got to wet a hook but the take was small. No backwater anywhere. Water is all in the river. Plenty of holes to fish, just have to find the right one.


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## FishWalton

Well, one thing we can all agree on is a roach is a bait stealer. Black tail shiner - sounds plausable.


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## FishWalton

flounder 1156, I believe you got it right - black tail shiner 
Pictures of exactly what I'm talking about
*black tail shiner - Google Search *


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## CatHunter

yep that is a bait stealer, i catch the heck outta them in perdido river, while iam catfishing and waiting, i use my tiny little ice fishing rod with 4lb test on it and the ol #8 blue hook and where there butts out, FREE BAIT!!


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## -WiRtH-

The first time someone told me they caught a big fish on a roach when I was younger I was like what? I don't like looking at roaches and even less to touch them, which would be a big part of using them for bait! Boy was I relieved to find out it was a minnow. lol


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## -WiRtH-

So you all feel this to be our beloved river roach?


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## -WiRtH-

just pictures I found online...


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## FishWalton

*That's it*

That's It! That's the dude, black tail shiner, aka "roach" Now we got to find someone willing to eat a few and give us a report.

They sort of look like "smelt" up in the northeast yankee land. Smelt are good.


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## CatHunter

that's defiantly the most common one we catch, i bet with a little hot sauce it might be pretty good too, i caught a 17lb channel cat in perdido river a year or so ago, on one of them guys


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## FishWalton

Nice picture. Have never caught a wild catfish that size. Went to a farm pond in Walnut Hill last week and caught 57 pounds, largest about 12 pounds, but it was like shooting ducks in a pond. Still had some fun though. Was meat fishing for a fish fry this afternoon. I have the bean pot cooking right now. 

I got to get into this catfish thing down on the Choctawhatchee. Need to find someone over here who is in the know.


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## flounder1156

Fishwalton ...thanks,I work for the FWC....27years. All rivers and most streams/creeks of northwest Florida are home to the blacktail shiners. We examine food habits (stomach content) of native fish and you would be suprised at the number of these shiners in the diet of river fish. I have a friend that fishes Yellow River and he now only uses shiners for bait instead of worms and crickets and he absolutely kills the sunfish species,catfish,bass.


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## FishWalton

WOW, thanks a million for the info. Now I have to figure out how to catch enough shiners to go fishing. Will send you a PM.


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## CatHunter

the best way i found to catch them and iam sure every one has there best way, is i like to get to the fishing hole early bring some bread with u, take the bread and roll in in between your hands making little crumbs in the water, them little guys will start swarming, then all u need is light line the smallest hook know to man no weight no float, just take a small piece of worm broken in half and cover the hook point and u will get one after another till you get board..


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## SLICK75

fishwalton said:


> I got to get into this catfish thing down on the Choctawhatchee. Need to find someone over here who is in the know.


Saw an article in a B.A.S.S. magazine back in the mid 90's about an old man in Redbay catching 60 pounders on Choctawhatchee. The guy that wrote the article said when he showed up at the old mans house he was loading surf rods into his boat. Then they went to the river and spent a couple hours catching small BREAM for bait. He said some of the bream were actually big enough to eat. 
I WANT TO MEET THIS OLD MAN!!:notworthy:


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## FishWalton

They still catch the big ones down there we heard about from time to time. In 2008 a blue cat state record was caught, 64.5 pounds in the Choctawhatchee in Washington County. I believe it was near where Holmes Creek comes into the river. Bream are used for the big 'uns. I believe it was caught on a set hook

I suppose real cat fishing is like any specific type fishing. You have to be dedicated and work at it and find those deep holes in the right place. It's well know that night fishing is the order of the day for good cat fishing.


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## SLICK75

Nice nights and stinky bait. 
Wow, done worked myself into a cat frenzy. 18 more hours and a drive home, THEN ITS ON.


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## -WiRtH-

I have a magazine at home talking about catfishing the choctawhatchee you can have if you want. When the water goes back up I plan to try catfishing out there myself. Although I have fished there I don't know the river too well. I go not too far from you fishwalton. My best friends' grandpa has a place on the river there near Bruce and he has a boat ramp there. I wouldn't imagine you could even use it when the river is down


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## -WiRtH-

flounder1156 said:


> Fishwalton ...thanks,I work for the FWC....27years. All rivers and most streams/creeks of northwest Florida are home to the blacktail shiners. We examine food habits (stomach content) of native fish and you would be suprised at the number of these shiners in the diet of river fish. I have a friend that fishes Yellow River and he now only uses shiners for bait instead of worms and crickets and he absolutely kills the sunfish species,catfish,bass.


We thank you for the advice! I meant to take a bucket and aerator last time to try and catch some for bait, but I'l definitely do it this time!


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## FishWalton

If you can send me the magazine name, month of publication, and name I may be able to find the article online. Would like to read it. CatHunter suggested to bait up the roaches just roll bread between hands and as it flakes off they will swarm. The with tiny hook and tiny bate you can catch. He uses them for big catfish bait. He posted photo of 19 pounder caught with blacktail shinner bait.


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## SLICK75

fishwalton said:


> If you can send me the magazine name, month of publication, and name I may be able to find the article online. Would like to read it. CatHunter suggested to bait up the roaches just roll bread between hands and as it flakes off they will swarm. The with tiny hook and tiny bate you can catch. He uses them for big catfish bait. He posted photo of 19 pounder caught with blacktail shinner bait.


Definitely post that magazine article, Id like to get a look at it too.

What I have seen people on Shoal do to catch the roaches is use a 24"x24" fine mesh net stretched between a pair of crossed wires. Theyd just dip it in the water near the boat ramp and throw a few bread crumbs on the water. When the roaches ran in theyd just lift the net and grab half a dozen or more at the time. Ive seen the nets in Walmart in the past, but havent really noticed them recently. Maybe I will check out Bass Pro when I get in.


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## -WiRtH-

Ok fellas I will look for that magazine when I get up. I looked for a minute and thought I found it, but it was just one that had Escambia River and Appalachicola River. I just got in from a long night of flounder giggin so I'll catch ya on the flip side.


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## -WiRtH-

Oh and on the shoal river. I have seen many people catch them at the boat ramp on 85. Some using a hook and line and some throwing bread crumbs and a cast net or dip net!


Tide yourself over with these...

http://www.floridagameandfish.com/fishing/catfish-fishing/FL_0609_01/

http://www.floridagameandfish.com/fishing/catfish-fishing/fl_aa060904a/


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## CatHunter

From my research and many hours fishing the rivers over here iv found that, Perdido river is bar none for large channel cats, Escambia river is the place to find the biggest blues and Flatheads we got over here in Pensacola, but for catching lots of good eating size flatheads on rod and reel u cant beat good ol yellow river, for some reason there is a really healthy population of them over there, probably getting fat on roaches, i did read about that record blue caught in the Chattahoochee, it was caught on rod and reel, the man says he has gotten many out of the Chattahoochee over 40 on live bream, one day ill make it over there and see what i cant do, but by far the best river we have in Florida for catfishing is the ol Apalachicola River, many tournaments take place there a year with fish some times weighing in over 40lbs and in Florida if you get one over 30 u really did something..


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## FishWalton

Man, you are a wealth of information on catfish. I read the articles WiRtH sendt on the big catch over here. I had some of my info incorrect. I'm going to the Choctawhatchee river this afternoon roach hunting and see if I can catch a few using info from the forum. Have a minnow net on order that should make it easier. I plan to spend some running time next week looking for holes that might be a cat hideout. I have the right gear for heavies, just have to find the holes and learn the technique. 

The record catcher lives in Caryville which is on Hwy 90. There is a good ramp at the river on 90.


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## -WiRtH-

I haven't been able to find that daggum magazine yet, but I know I do have it somewhere because I know I would not have thrown it away! As soon as I do I'll let yall know. 

From what I have seen and experienced a lot big catfish and bass alike will eat a live bream if you throw it out there for them. Too bad you can't use them on bush hooks! Only rod and reel by the angler who caught them... But river roaches do very well, or blacktail shiners if you will


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## FishWalton

That's OK, the other two articles you sent were greatly appreciated. Helped me get some of the facts straight on the big Blue catch. Send the other article if you find it.

Went to the river this afternoon roach hunting with bread in hand and just to get out of the house. Did not take the boat as figured there would be a lot of rigs there. When I got there the launch area was filled with river rats and no roaches. This was the two legged kind of rat and they were swimming all over the place. Seems the new Comanders Landing has turned into a swimming hole. Never had that problem before but I suppose this can be expected on weekends and after school. The river is in really good shape for swimming now. This was about 4PM and there were 8 rigs parked. I bet the lot was full earlier in the day. It's been closed all summer and just opened about a week ago.


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## -WiRtH-

I don't have the magazine with the record blue in it, but I do have the other one. I keep any magazines that have useful tips, especially to area waters!


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