anyone catfish at night?

viettony · 08-03-2009, 09:46 PM

I live in the beaverton area and i love to catfish but all i catch is bullheads.I go to sauvies all the time and i recently tried st louis pond and still nothing but bullhead catfish.I want to catch a channel catfish for once.I try every bait and rig you can think of.I catch tons of bullheads left and right, but no channels.Anybody else have this problem or is there someone out there who has a secret fishing hole and catches them all the time.I go fishing alone at night all the time and would love some help on this subject,would be willing to go with someone if they can really get my line wet with some channels.

FelonFinder · 08-03-2009, 11:39 PM

Are you familiar with Kress Lake in Kalama, WA? I know the state used to stock it with cats. I've got a few of them out the lake, but not for some years now, as I've been all over the country. I feel what you are saying. I hate that I have to go to E. Oregon to get into good catfish, or feel good about eating them, since the Willamette is nasty.

viettony · 08-04-2009, 06:43 AM

My sister just built a huge house in kalama, but i haven't fished that lake yet.A lot of people tell me theres catfish in this lake and that pond but they haven't fished it in awhile and they don't know if they still have catfish.Then i come along and find out there is only bullhead catfish.Those catfish over populate to fast and they are not that good eating.I have fished every pond and lake in and around portland oregon with no luck,i think somebody out there has a secret hole but they are not willing to give it up.

FelonFinder · 08-04-2009, 06:47 AM

raptorschild · 08-04-2009, 09:41 AM

In my experience.....which is a fair amount I would say....Channel cats don't hang out in the same area's as bullhead catfish.

If you are getting torn up by those little buggers, the chances of catching a good cat are minimal.

The Snake river has lots of catfish if you want to make that drive, or try the Columbia. Sounds like the St. Louis Ponds have some reportedly. Ponds are different than rivers in that Catfish can certainly be in with bullheads....try throwing a bigger stinkier bait. Let some shrimp marinate in a bag and see what happens....or just throw on a huge glob of worms.

FelonFinder · 08-04-2009, 11:45 AM

St. Louis ponds close at sundown.

viettony · 08-04-2009, 01:03 PM

Thats the thing, i don't want to drive six hours to catfish.I do that about twice a year and its hard on my little kids.Thats why i need to find somewhere thats close by, the farthest i will go is probably and hour or two away, but its got to be worth it for me. I fished pond six and seven at st louis pond, not a single bite in pond six, pond seven, i catch bullhead after bullhead, sometimes crappie on accident.Then i heard a rumor about pond 2, i will probably try that next time.

FelonFinder · 08-04-2009, 03:04 PM

There are no secret channel catfish spots in the west side of Oregon, except maybe some dude's farm pond somewhere. There are some cats around, but nothing worthy of a discussion lasting more than ten or twenty seconds. The subject has been covered on this site and it's always the same. A few here, a few there, and when you do find them, you can't eat them due to pollution.

codeman · 08-04-2009, 03:50 PM

The john day is only a couple of hours away. I have caught alot of nice channels there. also try the tualitin. State record white catfish came out of there (practically identical to the channel cat) and was 15#. Go up above the falls on the willamette. We used to catch a lot of them up there on the east side of the river. Remember that channels like current and bull head really don't. In the lower willamette we used to catch bullheads while the water was slack, but once the current started ripping in either direction we would catch almost exclusively channels. Good luck.

baltz526 · 08-04-2009, 06:01 PM

boat is needed to get on channel cats, normally. then cruise around the river looking for schools on the fish finder. best place to fish is the down river flat below a big hole.

viettony · 08-04-2009, 08:24 PM

hey codeman, i thought the john day was like six hours away.I fish only from the bank, i don't have a boat, so i am alway out there at night with a latern catfishing by myself.If john day is only two or three hours away, i would go then.But i would like some good directions and good spots on where to go, like i said, i fish from the bank.My first trip to idaho, i took a friend who said he new all the good spots, we ended up getting lost for two hours and ended up in hells canyon by accident.We only caught three channel catfish that was decent enough to keep.I just don't want to get disappointed again.if you have any good spots and want to share that information, i would really appreciate it.I am going to newport this weekend for crabbing, so i will try catfishing maybe next month.

FelonFinder · 08-04-2009, 10:54 PM

Last month some dude left a post on here with a load of catfish he caught off the bank at the John Day park. Still, you can go there and miss them, which people also post about.

bassmaster · 08-04-2009, 11:13 PM

I read that post about john day from a while ago he fished where the john day comes out of the columbia so not to far from portland im thinking about making a trip there myself i love channel cat. go to odfw and get a list of pond and lakes and whats in them my grandpa got one i cant find it but i remeber woodburn pond saying it had channels havent been there yet im guessing its full of vegation though. adair in corvallis has channels but cant fish it at night

raptorschild · 08-05-2009, 08:24 AM

Viettony:

A great tool on this site is the "Search" feature on the upper right of the screen. Type in "Catfish", and you will get some good info, and can read all the other discussions on this topic. Catfish can be hit and miss no matter where you are.

BassBware · 08-05-2009, 08:16 PM

i've seen some pictures of some big channel cats from lacamas lake. what are you using for bait? when i was down in san diego, the guys were catching them on mackerels. i haven't really tried catching catfish much but i know theres some in lacamas for sure. last year we thought there was some lil tadpoles swimming around the flats by the dam. i looked closer and there was a school of easily over a couple hundred baby catfish. i managed to scoop up 12 with a pop can and put them in my uncles fish tank.

FelonFinder · 08-05-2009, 10:12 PM

And of course you can just go fish around Felida moorage north of Vancouver. Tons of pictures of very large cats there. But years ago I tried there too, and again, no luck. I think most of the pictures there are from residents or boaters, but that Felida is like the South when it comes to warm water species. It has some nice fish in it, if you can find them. Bring a couple dollars for dock access.

jdhogg · 08-07-2009, 07:00 AM

we use to catfish the snake river west of payette idaho at nite,always got a few.i use chicken guts set out in the sun for a few daze and put them ina womens nylon tie off and bait the area.also down here by umatilla theres been some brought in.

codeman · 08-07-2009, 08:02 AM

We used to do alot of bird hunting just north of rufus. I can't really remember the exact roads, but if you had a good map of the area you could find the way down to the john day. We were only like 5 miles up from the mouth. We would usually camp out for a night or two, and would always throw our lines in at night for a few hours before bed. Generally we would catch a few nice channels each night, without even trying to hard. Also, I caught 7 channels, two of them around 7 pounds, the one time i fished at willow creek. I think it is at about exit 147 on I 84. Probably about 2 1/2 hours from portland. Everytime i go to the snake I drive over this little impoundment, and it just looks so good, i finally had to stop and fish it earlier this summer (it was in mid may). I tried from the bank to catch some crappie and bass. I had planned on taking my float tube out there, but the wind was blowing about 50. It also made casting a crappie jig about impossible, so i decided to dunk a night crawler for awhile. Middle of the day with the wind blowing i still managed 7 channels in an hour and a half, then i couldn't take the wind anymore. I can only imagine now at the end of summer with the water all warmed up, how good you could do at night. The only problem is parking. they don't like you to park along the side of the highway (there is a huge open spot in the median right there) unless your broke down. A state trooper stopped and talked to me when i just got back to my car. He told me i could get a ticket for just parking there. He also told me that a lot a farm hands fish there at night and catch some real monsters, he has seen several. Anyways, i bet a lot of back waters off of the columbia hold some nice cats.

viettony · 08-07-2009, 10:00 AM

hey felonfinder, at the felida moorage, is that by vancouver lake?And can you fish there at night?Did you also mention that you have to pay a fee to fish there or what?I would like to try to fish there one night.Is it pretty easy to get to?

viettony · 08-07-2009, 10:04 AM

Hey codeman, you were talking about willow creek right.Are you sure its just two in a half hours away?Is there signs pointing to willow creek once you take the exit?Is it like a shallow creek or is it a actual lake or pond?I don't mind driving two to three hours for some good catfishing.Is there a place to park and are you allowed to fish there at night?

codeman · 08-07-2009, 05:17 PM

Not really sure about a place to park. Right around exit 147 you cross over the creek near the mouth. It is pretty good sized and really rocky. It looks like awesome panfish and bass territory, I'm still ganna hit it one of these days in my float tube. Not too far from arlington, so maybe someone on ifish is from there and could let you park at thier house and drop you off?? maybe a taxi from town?? I bet with a good map you could find a rural road that hit it somewhere?? I guess you could park in the median (and you really are way off the road) and just jack up you car and pull of a tire so it looks like you are broke down?? I'm sure there is no restriction on night fishing there. Most restrictions are for protecting trout and not non game fish. The officer i talked too also told me to take the next exit, which i believe is 152 and you can drive right down to the columbia. He said he fishes there himself alot and does really well on warm water fish. It is 147 miles from I-5, so at the speed limit that should be about 2 1/2 hours. I tend to drive a little faster. I also stopped and fished in the marina right there in arlington and caught a bunch of smallies off of a crawdad crankbait. There should be lots of cats in there too. You could probably catch them right off of the docks there at night. The sign only said no fishing while boats are underway, otherwise its no problem. The only thing that would make fishing hard out there is that wind. You never know when its going to be blowing.

FelonFinder · 08-07-2009, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by viettony

hey felonfinder, at the felida moorage, is that by vancouver lake?And can you fish there at night?Did you also mention that you have to pay a fee to fish there or what?I would like to try to fish there one night.Is it pretty easy to get to?

I think it's on a little river that flows into V. Lake. I fished it at night and they didn't seem to care. They seemed more concerned about getting their two or three bucks so I could fish there. They also had a few worms and hooks and stuff you can buy, and soda, chips, etc. It's worth going down there to just look at the crazy pictures of large cats and other warmwater fish that they have down there. It's like stepping into the bayou down there.

I had some good hits, but didn't stick anything. It's easy to get to, but I can't remember the road names. I think it's close to where they built that new Best Buy, you head west down one of those side roads and there you are, in the parking area at Felida. It's kind of odd down there. Lock your car.

boomguy · 08-09-2009, 06:44 PM

is the tualatin any good

viettony · 08-10-2009, 10:03 PM

i live only ten minutes away from cook park, so i go there once a week.I only caught four sucker fishes, which were over 12 inches long, put up a good fight with my light tackle.I get a lot of crawdads and the catfishing there is alright.I have not had any luck on the channels or the white catfish i keep hearing about.I do catch some pretty good size bullheads, some measuring a little over 12 inches.Nobody has given me good directions to some deeper spots on the tualatin river yet.Especially a place where i can park and fish at night.Every where at cook park is shallow and you can't fish at night.So if anyone has good directions for good fishing on the tualatin river and you can do it at night, i would love to know.So basically, the tualatin river hasen't worked out so great for me so far.

mkwerx · 08-15-2009, 10:40 PM

Most access points on the Tualatin are from city/county parks that are closed at night - but there is one place that you should be OK - it's right under the bridge on Hwy 99 where Tualatin and King City meet. Access via Hazelbrook Rd, about two blocks south of the middle school. Limited space there, but you can cast to waters directly under the overpass, and downstream. Rocky structure, I'd use a dropper w/ cheap split shot if bait fishing, use lighter line on the splitshot dropper than for mainline or leader - and don't crimp the shot down so tight that they won't slide off the line.

The "sucker" fish mentioned above were probably actually Pikeminnows, not suckers. They get big in that stretch - my biggest pikeminnow so far was around 3lbs from that locale. Also carp upto 20lbs live in that area, bull heads, channels, smallies, the odd largemouth bass and yellow perch also live in that area. Lots of crawfish too, tho I don't think I'd eat a crawfish from that river. It isn't that clean yet.

a12seccrx · 08-15-2009, 11:16 PM

Isn't it illegal to fish at night in Oregon?

mkwerx · 08-15-2009, 11:39 PM

No - only illegal to fish for salmon/steelies/trout at night. Warm water fish are a-OK to fish at night, so long as the place you're fishing from is open at night - IE if you're in Cook Park in Tigard, fishing the Tualatin, you cannot legally remain there after dark. You're trespassing. But you CAN fish the Tualatin at night if someplace else that you have a right to be when it's dark.

Some places like Hagg Lake are inside parks that are closed at night - can't night fish there. Aside from the waters posted like that, you're fine to night fish, so long as you're not actively targeting the salmonoids.

boomguy · 08-17-2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkwerx

No - only illegal to fish for salmon/steelies/trout at night. Warm water fish are a-OK to fish at night, so long as the place you're fishing from is open at night - IE if you're in Cook Park in Tigard, fishing the Tualatin, you cannot legally remain there after dark. You're trespassing. But you CAN fish the Tualatin at night if someplace else that you have a right to be when it's dark.

Some places like Hagg Lake are inside parks that are closed at night - can't night fish there. Aside from the waters posted like that, you're fine to night fish, so long as you're not actively targeting the salmonoids.

i thought you cant fish for bass either at night?

viettony · 08-18-2009, 08:43 AM

I fish all the time at night and i have been checked by state troopers and wildlife officers.They are fine if you are fishing for catfish.They only have a problem if you are trying to fish for sturgeon or salmon.

viettony · 08-18-2009, 08:45 AM

Hey mkwerx, that spot you are talking about on the tualatin under the bridge, what is that middle school called.I am bad with direction so if you knew the name of the school, i can look it up and get directions to there.Do you know if its pretty deep over there, or is it like the rest of the river.I will probably check it out during the day time before i hit it up at night.

mkwerx · 08-19-2009, 01:13 AM

Hazelbrook Middle School. It's on Hazelbrook Road, which intersects with 99 at the south end of the bridge.

Not sure how deep the channel is in there - never waded that section

I do know though that even when the water is clearest, you cannot see the bottom in the channel. My guess is 10+ feet in that locale. It's a pretty slow current area. I've watched guys fish that stretch from float tubes and boats while I banked it there and they've all caught fish.

viettony · 08-31-2009, 09:44 PM

Has anyone fished at lepage park at night.I heard there were good catfishing there so i wanted to know if you can park there at night and fish.i know its like an hour and a half away from portland, so if this is true, it would be the perfect spot for catfishing if it is true.