Thread: Bustin Whites

Originally Posted by CrappieKillerJigs

shild i havent heard nothing from tyler as of late....i hope you are letting the young man get in some prime fishing and arnt working him to hard

He's been fishin some and workin some. He took 10 days off to go to Canada, so I think that filled his fishing tank for a while... We might have to start building ponds with all the rain we've had! Makes it hard to put in patios and plants when you have to swim to the customer's backyard!

Originally Posted by shild

He's been fishin some and workin some. He took 10 days off to go to Canada, so I think that filled his fishing tank for a while... We might have to start building ponds with all the rain we've had! Makes it hard to put in patios and plants when you have to swim to the customer's backyard!

glad to hear you guys still got work...alot of the people i know around here that do that type of work are slow...the people rather do it them selfs and not spend the money

I would bet there are several of these bad boys under those whites just waiting for a white to make a mistake. He was caught at Shelbyville.



I reckon the channels would be cleaning up the shad the whites knock down.

Are there hybrids and/or stripers at Shelbyville? I never caught any over there. I have certainly caught a lot of bad boys like the one in the picture.

By the way, my beard is much whiter these days and I have certainly put on a few pounds. LOL.

Last week I caught 5 catfish, while I was fishing for walleye. I don't think that the catfish would be eating what these whites are eating, since they are about half the size of a very thin toothpick.

Obviously, you don't know much about big cats. The catfish in that picture and the following picture doesn't eat what the white bass are eating, they eat the white bass. LOL.



I used to sometimes come in with 200 pound stringers back when I fished for flatheads. The cat in the picture in this message weighed over 60 pounds. Shelbyville is full of big flatheads. I have caught some 20 pound channels at Shelbyville also.

I don't fish for flatheads these days, it is too much work. I did catch a 14 pound flathead on my crappie rig last summer.

There are little cats in all of the lakes in Illinois. But, there are some BIG cats at Shelbyville if you know how to catch them. I would guess LSG catches his by accident. I seem to catch more channels with crankbaits trolling for crappie than I catch crappie.

I thought I might add that with due respects to muskie, flathead catfish are the supreme predator species at Shelbyville and most other lakes and rivers. They are difficult to catch with a rod and reel, some skill is required and a lot of time.

Unlike some other catfish, flatheads only eat live fish or live bait. The love crappie. Any brush that has crappie on it may have a flathead under it.

The live bait only is not entirely true.From June 2nd thru the 9th on Lake Decatur,my son and I,as well as a friend caught 17 flatheads ranging from 9lbs,to 41lbs on jigs.I was fishing bridge pilings for crappie and the flatheads were just whackin the jigs.When i caught the 41lber,lake patrol just happened to be present.They were in shock that i caught it on a 12 foot crappie rod,with 6lb test line.

Like i showed them,ya keep the drag loose and then tighten it when the fish is coming up so you can reel a bit and just repeat until fish has worn itself out.Caught 9 of em myself with that rod and never lost a one,B&M,can't beat em..Some say it's a fluke,but i've caught em on little jigs for 30 years.My boy caught 1 and it went 27lbs.He had a blast with that one.

Told a buddy of mine about it and he said that there is no way and i bet him a $50.00 bill.I gave him some jigs,let him use my boat,and he called me up 3 hours after i told him where to go and he said he had 3 flathead in the boat.Weights were,15lbs,23lbs,and 1 just shy of 34lbs.He was amazed.Got my $50.00 and used it to help pay for my family camping trip.

I know live bait works,but there is no need for it,at least for a few of us..Granted,that is lake decatur,i know that lake so well,it's like second nature.I've caught a few like that in clinton lake,but i have not done it at shelbyville,except at the spillway.All fish were released and in good health

Some are caught on crankbaits and other lures by accident. I caught a 14 pound flathead on my crappie pole last year, I know it can be done. As for targeting them with jigs, I would have to see it to believe it. I have caught 100s of flatheads and all were on live bait. If they were that easy to catch, they would soon be over harvested. I am sure your buddy would be telling his buddy who would tell his buddy. If you had something like that working, it wouldn't work long if the word got out.