Truman Lake is a catfishing haven

Long before Truman Lake was a reality, monster catfish roamed the Osage River. The monsters now have moved into the reservoir, and many have stayed in the river.

There are many ways to try to hook one of these big fish — by jugging, trotlines and with rod and reels. One angler who has discovered a good way to catch big blues and flatheads is Jeff Faulkenberry of Clinton.

Faulkenberry, 30, has a friend, Chris Jones of Oak Grove, who turned him on to a different way to drift and catch catfish and not get hooked on the brush in the lake.

As a first-year catfish and crappie guide for Truman, he has a special rig that allows him to drift over spots where the fish are. He uses an egg sinker above a small bobber with the hook baited, usually with cut shad, below the bobber, this allows the bait to slip over brush without snagging up.

After about three hours of fishing with Faulkenberry recently, we didn’t have one snag, but did catch a limit of blue catfish.

With six rods in holders, and casting out about 60 yards, Faulkenberry was like a cat watching movement from the rods. If a fish hit the bait and the rod dipped, he moved as fast as a cat after a mouse and had the fish on the way to his boat.

Having moved close to Truman Lake soon after graduating from Pleasant Hill High School, Faulkenberry soon learned where the catfish lived and their feeding habits in the lake as well as the Osage River.

“We catch some really big cats from the river and fishing for them is a challenge, but we have taken some big catfish from both the river and the lake,” he said.

So far this year, many of the cats have weighed around 20 or 30 pounds, but his largest catch weighed in at more than 60 pounds. When a rod dips very fast, Faulkenberry knows it’s a good fish. When the action gets going, he puts away four of the rods and just uses two of them.

His electronics help him find the humps in the lake and when he sees fish on the graph, he gets set to drift over the spot and is ready for action.

“Bait is easy to get,” he said as he tossed a net from the boat at the Bucksaw Marina. In just a few minutes he had all the shad we would need. He believes in using fresh bait and if nothing has hit the line after awhile, he reels it in and freshens it.

When Faulkenberry docks from a day of fishing, there are questions to be answered. How many did you catch? How big are they? Where did you catch them? And what were you using?

People around the area know that Faulkenberry doesn’t hold out on information. He tells it like it was. Visiting with Terry Hopkins of Windsor, who was at the marina, he said, “If you want to know when, where and how to catch catfish and crappie, just ask Jeff.”

With three children of his own, Faulkenberry works with youngsters to help them get started hunting and fishing. He knows they are the future of the sport and wants to get them started right, teaching good sportsmanship and ethics.

Although he loves to catch catfish, he also loves to go after crappie. Recently he won a crappie tournament out of Bucksaw.

After getting a limit of blue cats, we checked on a nearby crappie spot and on the first cast, he brought in a small crappie followed by several keepers.

“I just like fishing, but catfish and crappie are my favorites,” he said.

Not only does he love to fish, he also guides turkey and waterfowl hunters around Truman.

“This area is blessed with fish and game, and I enjoy it all,” he said.

For more information on his services, visit his website at www.feathersandfins.webs.com.