Exploring the Ozarks Outdoors: freshare.net

Love That Muddy Water

By Arkansas Game and Fish

First posted on 04-07-2011


Recent rains have muddied the waters in some Arkansas streams and lakes. While you may have heard that you can’t catch fish in muddy water, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission says that muddy water means good catfish action.

You’ve probably heard, or maybe even experienced, red-hot catfish action just before a storm. The barometer drops, clouds build and catfish go crazy.

If you’re ready to give catfishing a go on muddy waters, here’s some timely advice from veteran catfishing folks:

Tip No. 1: Rising muddy water may provide a bonanza for catfishermen. Channel cats, in particular, feed heavily under such conditions. Channels will bite on a variety of baits, but the two most common are worms and chicken liver.

Tip No. 2: Try to find a place just out of the main current where the water makes a little eddy, and place your bait in the eddy, but right next to swift water. This is where a feeding catfish will wait for the current to bring the next tasty morsel downstream.

Tip No. 3: Channel catfish under these conditions are apt to take your bait very hard and fast and, unless you are paying strict attention, will literally jerk the rod out of your hands. And if you have an unattended pole sitting in a forked stick, you’d better not get too far from it or it’ll be gone before you can reach it.

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