On The Search For River Monsters
 

Been going all over the place this year to catch some big catfish.
It gets a little confusing taking many trips and remembering exactly which month had the most bites or fish landed, so I'll organize my results in this thread.

The Goal - To catch at least a 30lb catfish this year.

Trips
August Schuylkill River PA
Result - No Bites, No Fish.

August Delaware River NJ
Result - One bite, one 6.5 lb Flathead Catfish.

August Schuylkill River PA
Result - One Bite, No Fish

September Delaware River NJ
Result - Few bites, one 25.5 lb Flathead Catfish

September Schuylkill River PA
Result - One Bite, No Fish

September Delaware River NJ
Result - Two Bites, one shoe, No Fish


I try to take one catfish trip a week from now until sometime in November before it gets too cold.
Will post photos of any larger fish.
I'll keep updating this thread and hopefully by the end of the year I'll come across that thirty pounder haha!

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

For the best chance at a 30lb flattie I highly recommend keep heading to the Schuylkill and bring bigger baits. 12" suckers, trout, big perch, bullheads, biggest bluegills you can get. No such thing as too big of a bait. I would try some new spots down there as well. I don't ever remember getting skunked Down there as most trips I would average 5-10 flats with some trips producing 20 fish. I also typically moved around to two or three spots each night I fished down there

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

Thanks man, I usually try to get the biggest sunfish i can if I'm going to the Schuylkill R. With all the great tips on this site, I'm sure that goal will be reached this year!

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

Last couple of tries have not been good for any of us that I know of. Something has them turned down it seems.

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

Hmmmmmmmm! I just lost my motivation to head out there tonight! Nothing at the funnel? Bites? Fish? Signs of life?

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

everything felt right at the spot, my baits were landing in a depth of like 5-8' panfish were eating bugs off the surface all night so i knew the food was in the area. rocks, weeds a nice slow back current. air pressure was super low (which never really helps i guess). i guess maybe that turned them off, the water was low in other spots we've tried idk.

if anyone can get them it's you, if i was you i'd still go! I only fished 8-11 (at 11, I got poured on and couldn't even barely see to get back up the path). good luck, the air pressure is back in your favor and maybe the water came up a little with the rain burst. Yesterday night wouldn't have been the night i chose to go but it was my only option. tonight and tomorrow probably better!

Getting Closer!
 

We went last night to the Delaware river and a buddy hooked up with this little beast. Getting closer to that 30lb goal!
Fish was 25.5 pounds.

We also met a guy at the spot, who was fishing for channels - was wondering if that was Eddie, or someone else on here? He gave us some awesome tips, so thank you whoever you were!

Next week - back to the Schuylkill River.

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

any of you suggest a starting out point on the Schuylkill please pm me I am not looking for a gps coordinate but would love to catch a flathead & even though I have lived in philly 32yrs I have never fished the schuylkill

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

Doesn't really seem like you can find a bad spot on the schukyl honestly.

Did you find my red Rod holder at the deleware? I left it as I scrambled out of there when it poured wednesday haha.

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

Yep never fished a spot on the skuke that I didn't catch flats. I will say any where along Kelly drive has treated guys well but it does get hit hard

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

A big thanks to all those here who gave tips and helped make the flatheads happen!

Didn't see the red rod holder there, but I'll check the next time I'm at the spot. We'll return it to you if we find it haha!

What i did see was that someone dropped a flashlight deep underwater so a small area was illuminated at night. was really cool to see the flathead swim back and forth in that "pool light"!
I wonder if that scared some of the catfish away from us though.

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

It's a cheap one. I've got 2 on the way with line alarms anyway. I don't think I was in the same spot as you anyway. Were you fishing deep? I've been trying to stay less than 10'. Air pressure may effect them it was super low when I went it's back up now so should be good. unfortunately I won't make it back out til the weekend.

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

It may not be the same spot. We were trying to stay shallow but in that spot that's tough. Everything seems to be more than 10 foot deep there! We were either casting toward PA side or just casting right along the shore.

I think what helped last night was no moon. Darker night may mean more catfish activity than usual.

Weekend is supposed to be very windy and maybe some rain with the storm headed over here. I'll be out looking for more catfish sometime next week after the stormy weather stops.
Good luck if you go!

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

No moon and 100% cloud cover bait rampant...this was Wednesday...the only thing that was off was the very low air pressure. Either that or just a very unlucky night I guess

Re: Getting Closer!
 

Hey dude! It was me, the one and only, lol! Glad to see you stuck it out! Congrats on the BIG FLATHEAD! Patience is key when fishing for these river monsters! Lots of NJFers frequent certain areas of the river! See you out there man! I had a Channel cat festival that evening up to 32 inches! No matter where I went I ran into Channels! Better than nothing! TIGHT LINEZ!!!

Re: Getting Closer!
 

Those are some huge channel cats, 32" must have been over 10 pounds!
We have actually been on a channel cat dry spell this whole year. Only catching tiny one or none at all everywhere we go lol.

Thanks! We got very lucky with that fish haha.
Like you were saying that day - there was no sign of bait most of the night. The catfish bit around 9:30pm and then bait started to splash only around midnight when we were leaving. When bait started to jump, the bites stopped.

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

Very nice! Glad you finally got a fatty!

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

Thanks JD! Very excited to catch it!
The last trip to PA was a skunk once again. I think I'll stick to Delaware for now. Seem to be getting one catfish per night there so it's better than nothing!

In PA we got one weak run but no hook-up. Just that one bite the entire night too.

Hopefully we'll get them on the Delaware this week.

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

Didn't get any on the Delaware. Had two runoffs. On the second runoff I caught a shoe...should have taken a trophy photo. I catch some random stuff sometimes but never a shoe.
The moon was full and bright so i am guessing not much was biting.

Going back this week of course, hoping to get luckier.

Re: On The Search For River Monsters
 

certain species of fish love eating at night with the full moon. flatheads don't appear to be one of them.