The Ups and Downs of Fall Catfishing with David Magness

October 17, 2024

The Ups and Downs of Fall Catfishing with David Magness

Phillip Gentry

 

B’n’M Catfish pro-staffer David Magness from Hernando, Mississippi looks forward to fishing for catfish on the Mississippi River as the late summer season rolls over to early fall. It’s not that there’s a big change in the catfish pattern, but it’s definitely more comfortable for the guide and his clients to be on the water. He’s even going to stay with the same tactic he’s been using since the beginning of summer which is backtrolling a big piece of cut skipjack herring along the bottom, a tactic better known as bumping.

“As the water cools off in the fall, catfish tend to move shallower and two of my favorite places to catch them are long flats that have wood cover scattered along them or at the base of a steep revetment bank that lines the river,” he said.

The key to fishing both places is finding big blue catfish holding in current breaks. Wood structure blocks the river current as it passes along the flat and the “corner” where the concrete reinforcement meets the river bottom creates another slowdown.

Magness has designed a bumping rig that excels at getting trophy catfish in the boat.

“The revetment sticks out into the river at a sharp angle, which is why you can find 35 feet of water right next to the bank,” he said. The water hydraulics creates the current break and catfish will use this to move along the river bank.”

He said his Navionics mapping card will actually show the seam where the concrete meets the bottom. Some days the catfish will hug the corner and others they may stray out as far as 50 feet from the edge. On the days the catfish are on the edge of the rocks, he can expect to lose a few rigs bumping along the bottom, so he loves cutting on his side imaging sonar and seeing fish out away from it.

“Bumping is a really natural presentation. It mimics food washing down current where catfish will lay facing upstream, waiting for something to come by,” said Magness. “To imitate this, what you do is nose your boat into the current and let the current drift you back, then using the trolling motor, you troll into the current, enough to cut your drift speed in half. The boat is going slower than the current, so the bait is also going slower down river.”

Like most successful fishing tactics, it takes some experience to get the feel of bumping where the bait is at the correct angle to bump along the bottom. Magness said two things that really make the tactic more productive is having the right rod and having the right rig.

A big chunk of cut skipjack herring is always on a big catfish’s menu.

“B’n’M’s ProStaff Bumping Rod is the hands down best on the market,” said Magness. “It went through a lot of testing from some of the best catfish anglers in the country. One of the aspects I like, and lobbied for during the testing phase, was a really stiff tip. When you’re bumping a 6 oz weight along the bottom, you don’t want the tip bending 4 – 5 inches on each up and down each way. Over time, that’s enough extra effort to wear you out in a day’s fishing.”

As for his bumping rig, that has been a labor of love.

“I prefer a round cannonball over any other type of weight because there is more surface area on the ball. When it makes contact with the bottom, there is only one bump,” he said. “A pyramid or bank sinker falls over when it hits the bottom, creating a false “double tap” when it hits the bottom.”

He said the weight rule of thumb is more weight for faster current and/or slower boat speed and less weight for slower current or faster speed.

While some anglers prefer a three-way swivel for bumping, Magness uses an interlocked barrel swivel.

“The interlocked swivel is preferred over a 3-way swivel because it provides the main fishing line with direct inline contact with the weight,” he said. “The most important aspect in bumping is feeling the bottom.” 

B’n’M’s Prostaff Bumping rod didn’t become the best bumping rod on the market by accident, many man hours spent testing and renovating went into this rod

Magness has more experience on the section of river near Memphis, but said the bumping pattern would produce similar results up and down the river, although he has a theory about the long season of dry weather the area has experienced.

My wife and I recently fished the Mississippi right above New Orleans and absolutely slayed them,” he said. “We caught over one thousand pounds of catfish in three days – all 30-to-60-pound fish.”

His theory is the low water pushed better size and numbers of catfish down the river, along with a lot of bait.

“The catfish simply haven’t seen a reason to work their way north yet,” he said, “but it won’t be long.”

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To book a guided catfishing trip on the Mississippi River with Cat’n’Aroun guide service, contact David Magness by phone at (901) 356-1008.

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No matter where fishing takes you, B’n’M has been there. Check out our catalog of fishing rods and tackle at bnmpoles.com

 

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