Blue Catfishing Lake Tawakoni made easy with Guide Tony Pennebaker!  If you want to know how to catch Blue Catfish on Lake Tawakoni this winter, please read this blog post from Guide Tony Pennebaker.  Tony sold his dairy farm business in 2012 and has been a full-time Catfish Guide on Lake Tawakoni ever since.  Tony grew up on Lake Tawakoni and has chased Trophy Blue Catfish for over 30 years and now it is his full-time business!  We share a lot of Lake Tawakoni fishing information, subscribe to our RSS Feed and stay up to date!

How to Catch Blue Catfish on Lake Tawakoni

If you are looking for an easy way to catch Trophy Blue Catfish on Lake Tawakoni, you will not find it on this blog!  There is no easy way to catch Trophy Blue Catfish!  Catfish Guides work their tails off to make sure clients get that once of a lifetime trophy blue catfish in the net!  Here are the keys to catching Blue Catfish on Lake Tawakoni!

Find the Schools of Shad on the Main Lake:  Big Blue Catfish will follow huge schools of shad on Lake Tawakoni ALL winter long.  If you can locate those big bait balls, you will find Blue Catfish!

Catch Big Gizzard Shad:  We do not use frozen bait!  Fresh Cut BIG Gizzard Shad put Trophy Blue Catfish in the net on Lake Tawakoni!  Get up early, go hunt that bait, and cast a big heavy wet net until you get some big gizzard shad!  This is not easy and very hard work!  The best catfish bait on Lake Tawakoni is fresh Gizzard Shad.

Blue Catfishing Lake Tawakoni-Big Gizzard Shad

Put up the little light net you use during the summer!  Use the largest legal size cast net allowed on Lake Tawakoni!  A larger mesh size will help your net sink faster and capture large bait!  Heavy is better, we like a 1.5 pound per foot net!  Please visit Legal Cast Net Size in Texas for more information!  Make sure you understand winter shad behavior!  Winter Shad will NOT be spread out, but stacked up in large schools.  You will have to get on top of these schools to catch big numbers!  Winter Shad will be in deeper water due to temperatures.  Look for warmer water by Marina Lights and check out rocks and concrete!  The Sun warms rocks and concrete which attract Shad.

Fine Tune Your Sonar

Make sure your electronics are dialed in properly.  Make sure you are marking baitfish not static from your fishfinder.  Don’t be lazy, plan ahead, and understand catching winter shad is hard work.  Lake Tawakoni Fishing Guides catch more Blue Catfish because they work hard for Fresh Cut Gizzard Shad!  If you are waiting for a Guide to tell you where the Gizzard Shad are hanging out, it will not happen!  

Finding Gizzard Shad on Main Lake Tawakoni

Now that we have fresh cut bait, let’s find the bait balls on the main lake!  Once again learning how shad behave will increase your success on Lake Tawakoni.  Shad will be schooled together looking for warmer water and food!  Gizzard Shad eat algae and will follow this food source all winter.  If you want to learn how to catch Blue Catfish on Lake Tawakoni, book a trip with me today!

Lake Tawakoni Blue Catfishing Gear

We don’t recommend stressing over rods and reels for Blue Catfishing Lake Tawakoni, but the proper gear will make your trip more successful!  Leave your crappie poles at home.  You will need a big boy rod and reel to bring a 50-pound blue catfish to the net!  Speaking of nets, leave your trout net at home too!  Here are our recommendations:

Cabela’s Kast Kat Rod 8′ medium heavy
Abu Garcia C3 Catfish Special
Cabela’s Rip Cord Pro 80 lb
SPRO Power Swivels Size 4
Berkley Big Game Leader 50 lb
Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp L702 size 3/0

Thanks for reading our blog post Blue Catfishing Lake Tawakoni, we hope this article makes you a better angler.  For more information visit Lake Tawakoni Fishing Guide

Meet Lake Tawakoni Fishing Guide Tony Pennebaker!  Tony is the owner-operator of laketawakonicatfishguide.com and Thunder Cove Guide Service.  JTony targets trophy blue catfish from November to March and puts big fish in the net!  Spring and summer you will find Tony chasing Channel Catfish!  Lake Tawakoni Fishing Guide Tony Pennebaker has over 30 years experience fishing Lake Tawakoni and now is a full-time guide! Tony loves to show clients why Lake Tawakoni is the Catfish Capital of Texas!

Source: Lake Tawakoni Fishing Guide-Tony Pennebaker

Lake Tawakoni Fishing Guide Tony Pennebaker Contact Information 

Corporate Headquarters
2201 E Rabbit Cove Rd.
West Tawakoni, TX 75474
903-474-3078
[email protected]