Originally posted by: Liljonboat on 10/22/2005 6:28:49 PM

Hello, I'm at WVU and without a car, the only water I can fish is the Monongahela. I don't have my gear down here but was considering bringing it down (I'm from Jersey) after Thanksgiving break. I fish bass, pickerel, and muskie, but I think my best bet from shore on this river would be catfish, which I have not targeted much before. How accessible is the river? I've seen the ramp down on Walnut st, but besides that it looks like slim pickings. Anywhere else to fish within walking distance? Are catfish the best to target from shore? Thanks.

Hey Liljonboat,

I am not too far away, in Fairmont. I started fishing from shore around here, and you can catch just about anything. You can catch bass and panfish by casting spinners parallel to the shore. There are some decent channel cats out there, if you want to baitfish. But the best thing we ever did was to get several flatwater kayaks. They are wider and MUCH more stable than whitewater kayaks. We started out with 3 each 9 footers and have since added 3 each 11.5 footers. We fish streams, rivers, lakes and ponds with them. The 9 footers ran us about $700 each, if I remember correctly (but the price has dropped since then). Check out Whitetail Sporting Goods there in Morgantown, They are down on the river and you can even "test drive" a kayak before you buy one.

Terry