continued. . .
Understanding a lake's currents is an important key to fishing success, and Snyder advises that anglers do some research before launching to better understand the lake you're planning to fish. Underwater topography, teamed with the lake's current, will point you in the right direction.
"Focus on the current paths," Snyder says, "and study the lake's topography to find how the lake is laid out. Once you find the natural channels and understand the water flow, you can pinpoint better catfishing areas and develop your own fishing maps for each lake."
A little time spent cruising around a lake using sonar and a note pad or GPS system will let anglers locate underwater structures like channels, humps and points that will increase odds of catching fish.
Snyder also urges people to go a step further. "Make a calendar and keep track of things like where and when fish were caught, the water temperature, the weather pattern, and other factors," he said. "That way, when you get on the lake, you can assess those things and determine the best places to go and what to do when you get there."
Procell also relies on power plant lakes' warm water currents to put fish in the boat. As a general rule, he suggests fishing just upstream from where the hot water makes its turn back into the main lake. "All along that line is where the shad will be, and that's also where the blue cats will be," said Procell. "Shad don't like the really swift water, but they do like the warmth."
To find where that zone is, Procell says that tying a ½ ounce weight on a line attached to a balloon works just fine. "Just drop it in the water and watch the balloon. When it makes the cut, you've got your area," he said.
Procell says he typically finds fish where winds are blowing into a shoreline. "There will always be shad blown into the bank and if you fish cut shad, you'll usually find some fish."
Chumming
While chumming is common among catfishermen, power plant lake catfish anglers have refined chumming into an art form. Knowing and using the lake's current will turn a chummed area into a chum zone.
"A power plant lake has consistent and predictable water movement," Snyder said, "and when you're chumming a lake that has movement, the scent will move with the current. So instead of your scent area being limited to a few feet, it can become hundreds of yards long."
Just like in lakes without such strong currents, catfish in power plant lakes may be holding in an area one day and be gone the next. Whether they move because oxygen levels or other conditions are better somewhere else or because they took off in pursuit of a school of bait fish, power plant lake catfish can sometimes be hard to find. That's why it's important to chum in a number of areas and also in different types of areas.
What you use is a matter of choice, but the old standard – grain that's been soaked in water with yeast to the point that it ferments and then some – is always popular with the catfish. Other popular chums are cottonseed cake, range cubes, dog or cat food cans with holes poked in them for slow release of the contents.
For a quick and relatively easy chum mixture that produces good results, Snyder says to mix a box of instant rice, macaroni & cheese, and oatmeal in a bucket and add some warm water to blend. All the ingredients will absorb the water to make a pasty mix. Next, he says to stir in a can of the cheapest, smelliest cat food you can find and let the concoction set up overnight. The next day, form the mixture into heavy dough balls and drop the balls into the water you're planning to fish. Parts of the mixture will break away on the way to the bottom, creating a column of fish attractant.
