[DIGGLER]

Has anyone ever had any sucess using squid for catfish? I had never heard of it used for freshwater fishing until moving to chicago. I am planning on doing some catfishing down at clinton lake here in a week or two and was thinking about bringing some along.

 

[fishfinder]

Never used squid but when I lived in Tennessee we used shrimp or shad cut bait.

 

[Striper01]

It works!!!! I always have it in my arsenal when I fish for cats on the Illinois. Shad, shrimp,squid and dip in that order.

 

[DIGGLER]

Thanks, I will give it a try. Whole shad is my favorite. Shrimp is good also, but a bit pricy for fishing bait. I have to hide it from my fiance or else it ends up on the dinner table instead of the lake. I will let you guys know how the squid works out at clinton when i go.

 

[Guest]

I've heard that when using shrimp....You should soak them in Vanilla extract overnight..
As in trem's of price...If you compare the shrimp to softshell crayfish..You'll find out that the shrimp is cheaper & you get more...

 

[piker12]

another thing that works, Grill some chicken, undercook some, overcook some, and let it sit overnight at room temperature. Hook a nice sized chunk of it on a 2/0 hook. Be sure to leave the point out. Rig this 2 feet above a sinker. If you want, use a slip bobber.

 

[Guest]

Do you salt your squid?

 

[DIGGLER]

I have not been salting the squid. I just started using it, and if I don't have any luck using it for catfish, I will probably just fry the rest of it up and feed it to my fiance. Haven't had any luck with it so far.

 

[Bigguy]

Diggler,

I lived in Decatur from '75 thru '92 & we fished Clinton and Shelbyville. I never knew Clinton to be worth driving a long distance for the catfish. Have they improved the poplulation over the years? Also, keep in mind the lake is only partially re-opened. The hot water discharge area will probably never be opened again.

(edited spelling)

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Bigguy on 2002-03-29 13:33 ]</font>

 

[jason8387]

The area by the hot water discharge where it pumps out water is to be opened april 1st, but the area by the water intake, by the plant, will probabley never be opened agian. Clinton has a great population of catfish! There are some huge flatheads in there as well.

Jason

 

[DIGGLER]

Hey Bigguy you have my sympathy. I grew up in decatur. Jasons8387 has it right in saying that the hot water will open the first of april. I never fished by the water intake. I am disappointed that i cannot be there on midnight on the first as there is some excellent catfishing to be had. Hopefully the following weekend will still be good. Not sure if it is worth a drive from chicago, but I am driving down that way already. Has anyone been doing any good below the spillway at clinton?

 

[Bigguy]

Thanks for correcting me on the hot water discharge. It's been so long since I fished Clinton, I guess I've forgotten the layout.

My boat won't be ready for the water until early May, but I'll have to get re-acquainted with the lake.

 

[orccaa]

Although I haven't used them, it sounds like they would be effective. My favorite for cats are crayfish tails. Pick up a simple box-style crayfish trap, put a few left over hot dogs in it and drop it near any of the dams on the Fox or DesPlaines. You'll have a few dozen pretty quickly. Great bait for cats as well as smallmouth!

 

[Guest]

have been using frozen squid available at vets or fish store on a slip bobber at about 8 to 9 depth and have had good luck at edison plant.

 

[jpollock78]

I've Hit clinton the last 4 yrs. I love it down there. Cats are pretty good. I've caught a few on Night crawlers while crappie/bass fihing. It's one of the few lakes you can bow fish in. I haven't tried it yet though. There are some hug carp or flat heads, I dunno what. but when it's hotter then hell in the summer, just move in to any small wakeless extremly shallow cove and the'll be all up in the weeds. I tried one but they never hit on anything I had, guess I should try the bow. But If I loose it in the lake, what will I do durring deer/turkey season??? hahah

Good Luck @ clinton! Hope to see you down their in a week or two. I'm from Niles (NW Chicago) It's a Long Haul, but not too bad, better then the shellbyville drive. Just take 57 to 72 to 51??? Into clinton and east to the lake. It's the best route for me.

Good Luck, Let us know how ya did.

 

[DIGGLER]

Well, finally got a chance to try squid for catfish. I don't think that I will waste my time with squid for bait anymore. I have not gotten a single bite on squid whether using it for coho or catfish. We killed the cats on shrimp and shad guts at shelbyville this past weekend.

 

[Guest]

I would still use it for Coho...This is my first year using squid while fishing for Coho's & i'm convinced it works...Although the past couple of weeks the fishing has been slow for me...On the year though...i've brang in 11 coho & 4 brown trout on squid ..And lost 6 other fish...I've had more luck using squid than i've had using crawlers..Only caught 3 fish off crawlers so far...

 

[BB]

The hot water area opened a couple days early to allow fisherman to fish before they turned the bomb off. Water temps dropped from 67-48 in 5 days. We were there Saturday morning and only stayed for a couple hours because the fish were in shock due to the drastic change in temps. Good luck!