Ledge Lunker Blue Catfish

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While Jeff targets cats in a variety of situations during the summer period, he reports that during the warm-water post-spawn period, drift fishing is in his most productive pattern for most days on both lakes for numbers of fish. He looks for areas where the bottom has subtle rises and drops going from just below and well above the thermocline. "During the hotter water period, the thermocline is everything." Jeff uses his locator to mark fish on gently sloping ledges with the right depth before he deploys his baits and begins a drift. "You can find fish holding on steep ledges in the summer but steep ledges are difficult to get the right drift to stay in contact with numbers of fish. I prefer gentle rises and drops in a long diverse bottom contour area. Once you catch a few fish, make a note at what depth you're catching them in. If you're catchin' fish in 16 foot of water around a 12 foot hump - you'd better find some more 16 foot of water to drift around in."

Jeff anchor fishes ledges, flats, trenches, wood cover, and steep drops during most of the year except during the hot-water post-spawn period. Big blues will hold on specific cover part of the time and roam around in tight areas looking for food before relocating during the cooler months which allows him to set up on a good number of fish. He still has to look for fish with his finder during the colder water periods but once he finds them, he can anchor up and fish a specific area. Jeff's theory about blue cat metabolism may hold the key to understanding why he does better while drift fishing during summer and the opposite during the cooler water period.

"I think as the water gets hotter, their metabolism rises with it and the blues need to roam around searching for food a lot more. It seems that I have to move around a lot more as well so I drift over areas targeting the active fish and don't worry about fish holding in one area. In hot water, when the fish are active - I can set up on them and by the time I've caught a few fish they've moved. When the fish are acting this way I feel like I've made the right choice by drifting."

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