Catfishing without Skipjacks during drought | Bluegill & Gizzard Shad as bait

Very low current, little rain, and ongoing drought conditions have been making for some tough fishing lately. In this video I head out catfishing without skipjacks and instead test bluegill and gizzard shad as bait. The fish weren't as cooperative as they were earlier in the day with clients on the boat. Still, it was a good opportunity to experiment with alternative baits and observe how the drought might be affecting the catfish. I'm wondering if these conditions are causing the bigger catfish to spawn earlier than normal. The best action we saw all day happened during a short 10-minute window when water started flowing from the dam into the backwaters, about two hours after the generators started. Thankfully we've started getting more rain recently, and I'm hopeful it helps turn things around. If you're dealing with similar tough conditions or looking for alternative baits when skipjacks aren't available, this video might give you some useful insights.