FAQ'S
About Us.Show Me Catfishing is a partnership between Rick Bracken and Ryan Casey. Rick is an avid Mississippi River catfisherman and a Mississippi River Barge Line Pilot. He transports barges from St Louis to New Orleans for a living. This gives him a distinct knowledge of the river currents, depth, stages, structure, velocity and navigation rules. Ryan is a very successful river fisherman, multiple tournament winner and holds a bachelors degree in wildlife conservation management. They are both licensed by the United States Coast Guard and insured for your protection. This combination is very rare in the world of fishing and they are offering you the opportunity to let them Show You Catfishing! Between the two of them they can provide you with the most satisfying and informative fishing trip you have ever had. Show Me Catfishing only uses top notch equipment and abides by all laws and safety regulations. Whether you are a beginner wanting to come out and learn how to fish the river or an experienced fisherman looking for the fish of a lifetime or just wanting to learn new techniques, Show Me Catfishing can get the job done on all levels. This is a service and We are here to serve you. Remember to bring a kid fishing!
Why should I use Show Me Catfishing?
St Louis has proven twice in the last 5 years that we have a world class catfishery. Both the current 130lb record and the previous 124lb record came from the St Louis area. The Mississippi River is abundant with trophy class blue catfish. Successfully fishing the Mighty Mississippi takes years of experience and trial and error. To be able to consistently catch trophy blue catfish takes a lot of practice and time on the water.
Both Ryan and Rick have put their time in and can save you the hassle of the trial and error part of river catfishing. All the rods, reels and terminal tackle we use is top of the line and maintained everyday for when you hook your fish of a lifetime.
There is a lot of time, effort and money involved in this sport. We have put it all in so you don't have to. All you have to do is reel 'em in!
When is the best time to go?
That is a great question, the short answer is ANY TIME! The long answer is that it just depends on you. We can catch fish all year long. The only month we try to shy away from is June because the catfish are spawning at this time. They can be caught but are unreliable and have lockjaw most of the time. Spring is an excellent trophy fish time. The catfish are coming out of their wintering holes and are hungry! They gorge all the way to the June spawn. Summer is the best time for numbers. At this time they are scattered and wondering. They feed indiscriminatley at different times of the day. Fall is another trophy fish time. The river is cooling down and the catfish know its time to gorge again before they go back to their winter holes. Now...Winter time. Winter is a very productive time for Blues. They are holed up in big numbers in deep slack water somewhere out of the current. They are cold and slow moving but they still have to eat! When you do find a school of wintering catfish, Hang On! Here is an example of a wintering hole. Notice the water temp...
MOUSE OVER TO ENLARGE
How do you fish on the river?
Well that actually depends on the time of year. From around the middle of November to the end of March the preferred method is locating a school of catfish in a particular "hole" and anchoring the boat above them. We then cast all the rods out the back of the boat put them in the rod holders and wait for one to bend in half!
The second method is one that we use during the summer months when the catfish aren't so much "holed" up but are scattered and wandering. It is called drifting and can be very exciting. We will drift down the river with the current, controlling our speed and direction with a trolling motor, bumping your bait up and down on the bottom. You might want to hold on tight because they hit like a freight train! We can do this right in front of the arch all summer long.
What should I bring?
All you need to bring is a lunch or something to snack on and a current Missouri or Illinois fishing license. There is a cooler with bottled water and room for your food. We have life vests in L and XL adult sizes. If you bring a child with you, you will need to bring the appropriate size life vest for them. Please remember to dress appropriately for the weather. The temperature on the water will be a few degrees higher or lower than stated on forecast.
Where do we meet for the trip?
Here is a list of the ramps we use with a link on each one to area info.
One of us will be at the ramp with boat in water ready to go when you arrive.
- Columbia Bottoms ramp near Spanish Lake, MO for Alton area and the lower Missouri river
- Downtown ramp near the Arch. On S Wharf St directly under Macarthur Railroad Bridge
- Flamm City Access at Arnold, MO
- Rush Island Access near Crystal City, MO
What will we use for bait?
Well, you have heard stories of people catching catfish on things like bubble gum, beef jerky, hot dogs, bare hooks, etc... If it were only that easy! Truth be told you can catch small channel cats on that type of bait but we are targeting Trophy Blue Catfish. the bait of choice is cut skipjack herring. We have skipjack in our area but they tend to be smaller than we like. We travel down south to KY or TN at certain times of the year to catch the 1-2lb skipjacks that are better suited to use for big fish. We also use fresh shad or mooneye that are caught here on the river in a cast net. Depending on the size of the shad or mooneye we use them whole. You wont find any liver or hot dogs in the boat!
Skipjack Shad Mooneye
Even though I do most of my fishing during the day I do go out at night when the weather is hot. I have caught fish in all moon phases and cant really say from experience which one was the best. I know it is nice to go out on a full moon because of the light advantage. The river stage and time of year always plays a major role in how the fish act too. Night trips will be available with Show Me Catfishing but we will limit the trip to two passengers for safety reasons. Rick
CURRENT MOON
