Catfishing

[tomme boy]

So who here likes to catfish? I have been fishing for them all my life. But in the last year or so, I have been getting into it more an more. This year I have been getting rods and reels just for fishing them this year. I have even started to set up my boat just for it.

I am going to try trolling and drifting for cats this summer. Are there others here that have done this? Looking for advice.

[opos]

As a kid I spent many hours fishing for cats in a big old slow moving river in Central Nebraska....an old man that helped Dad on the farm was a great cat fish catcher and I can't explain what the trunk of his old car smelled like with the jars of rotten chicken guts, rotten shrimp, etc..it was not to be believed...but the catfish really ate those stink baits...we always had a cat or two swimming in the stock watering tanks..they kept the tank clean and the water was cleaner than the river and it cleaned up the catfish meat really well...when we wanted a catfish dinner we grabbed one out of the tank and ate it...replaced it the next time we went to the river.

I'm talking a very long time ago...my catfish rod was a steel collapsible rod that extended to about 6'...had an old single stage reel and green braided line from the local "general store" in the little town of 500 people...every one fished it seemed...the old dentist (part time) that lived there fished off the bridge at the end of town every evening...he never missed a night as I recall..had just the "hole" to fish and caught lots of fish...we left his spot alone.

[farmerjim]

I sometimes catch them on rod and reel, But If I am after meat I use trotlines.

[duckey]

I to have the Catfish bug. I fish the James River just below Hopewell VA for Blue cats. This is my third year fishing for them. I just broke my personal best with a 65 pounder caught 29 March. I anchor up when I fish and carpet bomb the area, usually 10-15' deep flats with 7 rods out at once. I use Gizzard Shad cut into big chunks fished on 10/0 circle hooks. We are allowed to use a 110' gill net for catching nice fresh bait which is a must.

[DougGuy]

My buddy Jon Royce and his son Zack Royce are rabid cat catchers, they caught an 86lb blue cat in Lake Gaston, 3lbs shy of the all-time NC record. Zack has it going on!



http://www.wcnc.com/story/news/local...lina/24700059/

[wcp4570]

I've been know to chase cats from time to time. For these I used trotlines baited with perch from finger length to hand size.










My my grandson didn't think it funny when he found this in his pool beside the camper.

wcp

[tomme boy]

We don't have blues here. The channels get up to about 20 lbs. But they are very rare. The commercial fishing has wiped them out. Thinking about traveling south to look for them.

[Beagle333]

I love catfish. I got em living right here in the backyard. My profile pic is even one of me and a whiskered friend.

[JSH]

Cat fishing for me is like deer hunting. I am no trophy chaser, I like to eat them. However in the past dozen or so years I have got to chasing blue cats in the Missouri River. It has a strong current with a lot of snags, plan on losing some gear. I like at least an 8ft rod, 40-60lb test backer with 20-30lb leader.
I have really paid attention to moon signs a lot as of late and it seems to have paid off. I would share pics but lost them on my old desk top when it crashed.
As to bait. The bigger the bait, the bigger the catch, usually. It simply amazes me how a medium sized flat head can get its mouth around a bait that is so large. I have caught several that were not really hooked, but couldn't disgorge it from their mouth or refused too.
As to the blue cats, a lot of folks I have visited with say they are inedible. Well I was taught by an old river rat about 30 years ago how to dress and clean them. You have to get every bit of the dark meat out and get the silver skin off *** well.
I filet but leave the skin on. Take the filet and steak it, skin on. Then flip it around. You then take and filet the top and bottom off of the steak, leaving the dark meat on the skin side. Takes less time to do it than explain it. Sounds like a pain but you end up with no better than you treat it from the start.
I then wash in cold water and inspect. Blues are oily. I have a big SS pot with the steamer thing for the bottom. I put all of my chunked up fish in the pot and cover with water, put the strainer on top to hold fish down, then into the fridge. My spare fridge is set at about 40 degrees. The oil will rise to the top. I change water every 12 hours and depending on what it looks like depends on how long. Size seems to make no difference as to oilyness. Worst batch I had was several 15-20 lb fish.
Belly meat, the triangle that is left on after filleting. Skins pretty easy but that silver membrane has to come off, all of it! I save these for me most of the time. I have fried these up alone and folks thought they were chicken strips!
On the bigger cats don't forget the nuggets behind the the eye on top of the head. They are excellent but they need to be trimmed of all dark meat as well.

I just hate hate folks that waste any kind of game! Not take the time to take care of it in a proper way.
I was at a fish station cleaning area late one night several years back. I gent came in with several nice sized cats. He was in a hurry so let him dress his. All that SOB did was cut the lower full filet off and was going to throw the rest in the grinder! I told him we were saving carcasses for chum and he left them. I filled three gallon zipper bags of clean white filets and belly meat. One of the flat heads belly meat did over half a bag by its self!
jeff

[w5pv]

I trotline/limbline for cats channel cat mostly.with a river blue thrown in ever so often with a opp or two also.My fishing is for table fare so I keep only the 2 to 5 lb fish and let the bigger go back for some one else to catch.The biggest fish that I have caught weighted about 68 pounds on an old spring scale and we tried to eat him but found that he was too strong tasting for us.I kept him in my old outside bathtub with fresh water running over him for 3 or 4 days before we butchered him that weekend.
I like to use blood bait and fish about two foot deep along the bank where the water flows up against the bank from a straight away or from another bend in the river.Bull or old cow blood will get as tough as shoe leather and will smelll like something dead good bait.I also use blood charlie dough bait.Not to say that haven't used perch,cut bait,liver,shad,chicken livers/gizzards,guts or the like but the blood bait is my favorite.

[Pepe Ray]

We call them Hornedpout. (Leave out the "d"). The old Frenchman call them "belbout" or sumpin like 'at.
Ours don't grow anywhere near the size you southerners have. Probably just as well. All the trout and salmon fishermen would raise a stink
and find some way to screw up our fun.
Seventy yrs ago I used a bamboo pole and green twisted line with a gob of worms on the hook. The muskeetos didn't allow much fun and the whole event was just for food. They are the BEST fresh water table fish IMHO.

Brings back memories.
Pepe Ray

[Mooseman]

I have the Kiamichi River 700 yards from my house and have been catching some blues and small channel cats but we are waiting on the big Flatheads to show any time now. There has been very little shad but once they are there at the base of the dam the Big Flatheads will be too...Now I'm hungry ! LOL
Rich

[tomme boy]

My uncle was a commercial fisherman for 55 years. He told me to get the best tasting cats to take a hatchet and cut off the tail about a 1/4'' into the meat while they are alive and to let them bleed out. I do this all the time now. You would not believe how much better the meat is.

I went out yesterday and caught 3 small channels. They went in the freezer. At least it is a start.

[w5pv]

After 65 or so years fishing I do things like bleeding them while alive,cutting any blood meat out and makinng sure the kidneys are taken out I just do automac mold and do.t thing about tell others,not a secert but that I am not a good teacher.

[Indiana shooter]

Catfishing, well at first it was just channel cats in ponds, not my cup of tea. Years later I caught a 38 pounder on 8 lb test line sauger fishing in the ohio river. After that I went out and got some rods just for cat fishing. I found it to be very exciting to hear that bait clicker going off.

If your drifting for 'em stay on the down stream side of points and channel drop offs. Drop your bait down to the bottom and reel up about 2-3 cranks and get ready. My favorite bait is skipjack (fresh water herring) followed closely by....... man I know I'm going ta get myself in trouble here..... red ear sunfish (shell crackers) that are about 7-8 inches long. The red ears are my go to for flathead cats, I use them hole with a 9/0 circle hook. I keep them alive and hook 'em through the nose.

My best luck in lakes on flatheads has always been in the deepest areas, usually around the damn, and you need to find some sort of structure, remember flatheads are a predatory fish laying in ambush.

[MT Gianni]

In MT it is mostly channel cats in the warmer waters of the Missouri and Yellowstone. A 10 lb cat is a big one, most are a lot smaller. Grasshoppers are good bait.

[SWMO1]

Have drift fished for blues (locally called white cats) in the tail race below Truman dam. Tackle includes a heavy/stout 6' or 7' rod with 25-30lb line. Depending on the current we use 3 or 4oz weights and circle hooks seem to work well. Lots of current and the right bait (usually shad) seems to be the key to success. 15 to 20 pound fish are commonplace with a good potential to catch a 30 to +50lb fish. This is rod and reel fishing not jug lines, set lines or trot lines. It's a blast with lots of action.

[Tom W.]

I started using circle hooks, and caught more. It took a long time to learn not to set the hook.........

[Mauser48]

I have always used dollar store hotdogs. Mackerel is supposed to work good too.

[johnson1942]

a interesting fact ive learned about cat fish is they are geared up to smell the protein L-arginine. so critters made out of L-arginine are a very good bait for cat fish. guess what critter is 100 percent pure L-arginine. chicken. tex rex was also but he isnt around any more so that is why cats love chicken, they smell it better than most other things. some small ocean bait fish are L-arginine also. when it is stinky it means to the cat a dead L-arginine meat, easy to suck up.