November 2007

Fishing in Fall weather with water temperatures around 57 degrees. The catfish are hitting hard and have alot of fight, even the smaller ones. They are not real active right now, because of unusually low water. I have not seen the water levels this low before. But when you do find them they are full of fight. Battling a big catfish in colder water is awesome. The photo on the left shows the catch my son Brian had earlier this fall.

On the River I'm mostly fishing deeper water 30 to 50 feet. I have switch from night fishing  to afternoon to evening, Time zones 1pm to 11pm. I'm catching most my fish right now on the outside of L shaped dikes, and at the end of the L dikes. If you have no dikes on your stretch of river fish the deeper holes.  

Good luck fishing and be safe always.

Tim Pruitt.

Saturday 25 June - A mistake I see anglers make is not retying their lines after catching a big fish or several fish. You should retie after breaking a line free from being stuck. The line might not be broke but it has been stressed. It only takes a minute to tie a new knot. When you're sitting waiting for a nice fish you don't want to loose it over a knot.

Fishing has been a little slow this week the water is about 81 degrees. The river is starting to drop down.The fish always bit on the rise. It's harder to catch them on the drop.

The catfish are getting ready to go on nest. Summer is a tough time but the weather is awesome. You can't catchem sitting at home so anytime is a good time to grab your poles and go fishing. The fish are starting to move down river finding spots to nest. Usually a structure close to deep water, sand bars,behind wing dams, and cut outs in the banks.

Please book mark my website and contact me with questions. I'll select the most popular ones and talk about them. I will be using some in my next DVD. Check back and I'll keep everybody informed on how fishing is going with me and my friends. I have some nice affordable poles thru PENN. They are the Power stick rods they have a nice selection. I'll be trying some other Brands by DIAWA rods also.

Good luck fishing and be safe always.

Tim Pruitt.

There has always been a big bait debate for catching catfish. I've lost count of the times individuals have asked me what I use to catch fish. I think the bait you use, whether it is shad, herring, live or cut is not as important as the presentation. The big key is being in the right spot at the right time and finding the fish. I believe fresh bait is important. If you are fishing to catch allot of catfish I think you need to move around to different spots every 30-40 minutes. But if it is the trophy blues you are after, you should try to fish about 4 spots in a 6 to 8 hour trip. I've had trouble-getting bait in late fall and have actually used stripes of carp and caught 65-pound fish. I believe these big fish will eat just about any thing that is in their natural environment. I stress on location in my DVD. I hope you will find it helpful. I believe their big fish in every body's river. I always read of 100 lb fish coming from reservoirs in Texas, Santee Cooper, and other big rivers. But I try to stay true to my own backyard river knowing there were big catfish and it paid off. Nobody knows your water the way you do. I'll cover more fishing tips for you every couple of weeks. Till then have fun fishing and be safe. Your fishing friend

Tim Pruitt

Tid-Bits

• Suggest fishing with a buddy
• Be safe at all times and wear life jackets
• Believe in catch and release
  • Last year Tim caught a 95 pound catfish that would have qualified as an Illinois state record but didn't have a live well on his boat. He gave up the record and returned the catfish to the river after taking some pictures.