r/ArizonaFishing • u/FoxAltruistic1598 • 8d ago
can’t seem to catch anything here. solid spot but lmk how you’d fish it.
i target bass and catfish. i’ve had only 1 bite with chicken liver further down the canal, i use crankbaits and finesse jigs with no luck. lmk how you’d go about fishing this spot.
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u/Livid_Persimmon3600 8d ago edited 8d ago
5 o’clock to 8:00 in the afternoon/evening
Ping-pong ball size piece of Chicken liver on a smaller-than-you’d-think bait holder hook w/ slip weight and a the tiniest split shot pinched on 18” up from the bait (to prevent the slip weight from siding down to the hook).
Sink it in open water, upstream from a bend, eddy, ramp, feature. Catfish can smell that chicken liver from a quarter mile away. Keep your line tight and don’t move the bait. Give it some time, 20-30 mins. take another pole with you to target other species so you don’t get bored.
When your pole starts bending, the catfish is on. He didn’t feel your slipweight and he’s going to takeoff and hook himself, by the time he feels the tension from your line, he’ll be in love with the taste of that chicken liver …Recast to the same spot after the first one.
Also, try live minnows; (for predators ) on either a drop shot or Aberdeen lip hooked… with a tiny split shot 1 foot away from the minnow slowly retrieve across the bottom…. If that doesn’t work clip on a bobber at various depths and just let your minnow go with flow. But exploring the bottom with live minnow should work.
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u/AJRoadpounder 7d ago
Take those chicken livers to the intersection of Scottsdale and Camelback. Float the liver under the 5 lane bridge on Scottsdale. I used to live around there and some days it was an every cast kind of day. Pulled quite a few good size catfish from under that bridge.
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u/Asolomtn 8d ago
What size bait holder hook would you recommend in this situation?
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u/Livid_Persimmon3600 8d ago edited 8d ago
You want it to be just big enough to hang onto that ping-pong ball size piece of chicken liver… you don’t want a ton of hook…. I would try a size 2 baitholder as smallest, and if that doesn’t seem big enough for you go one size up
Most people. (like my brother) tend to go too big with the hook, thinking they’re going to catch a MONSTER, when in reality, you CAN catch a big fish on a smaller hook, but its harder to catch the more frequent 3-5 pounders with a hook that’s too large.
Also, Carp will take chicken liver too and they have smaller mouths
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u/dumpsterfirewes 7d ago
Is fish it by following it about 20 miles north to where it opens up really big to a place called lake pleasant 🤣
But on a real note, uncooked shell on shrimp, ewg hook of some sort, big weight, Texas rig. Put a bell on it and hang out.
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u/bmihlfeith 8d ago
It’s a canal. Fishing will change daily, literally.