Alternative methods Catfishing Clinic

[fishinwrench]

5 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Aw come on.   Post up some pictures.   

Here ya go.   I had a really aggressive bite the day before yesterday so I threw it on the floor and made another cast really fast.....Boom, another one.....threw it on the floor......Boom, ANOTHER ONE !  

THEN it was over.     Had I took the time to piddle around with my phone, or put my rod down and walked to the livewell, switched it on, ect.  then there would have only been ONE brought to hand. 

They all swam off fine after the flurry.  No more stressful than putting them through a tournament weigh-in.   3 solid keepers in less than 1.5 minutes.

 

Wrench tip for the day:.  Quit worrying about "recording the moment", and KEEP FISHING !    😁   

If you could do that during a MLF event then the weights would skyrocket.  

[Terrierman]

Back to alternative methods for catfish on a big river. 

If you look at the first picture in my post, you'll see David is lying on a 4' gaff.  When you're catfishing on the big rivers, there are fish there that is the best way to get them in the boat.  And now and then, it's the only way.  Wonder if MDC will share that little bit of information in their classes?

I also wonder if they'll teach about throw lines.  Which is how we always fished the Missouri.  They are a lot easier and safer then trot lines.  I have seen a lot of bank poles used and occasionally a limb line too.  But we had plenty of fish caught with our system.  Our target dates were the dark of the moon in June.  Moon phase definitely makes a difference.

Cleaning those big fish is easy but takes time.  Filet first with a big electric filet, and then chunk them up in frying size pieces.  Be 100% certain to get every last bit of red cut out and discarded.  A rapala filet knife is great for that work.  If's its not white its not right when it comes to catfish for the fryer.  And that's not a guideline, it's a rule.  Done that way, those big fish eat as good as any freshwater fish I've had.

[Quillback]

Rick you must be fishing in a tough neighborhood being that you have an armed guard riding shotgun.  

As far as table fare, best eating freshwater fish I have ever had was blue cats from Grand Lake.  Not big ones, but they were in the 1-5 lb. range.  

 

[Terrierman]

32 minutes ago, Quillback said:

Rick you must be fishing in a tough neighborhood being that you have an armed guard riding shotgun.  

As far as table fare, best eating freshwater fish I have ever had was blue cats from Grand Lake.  Not big ones, but they were in the 1-5 lb. range.  

 

He was there just in case we caught somebody else checking our lines.😵

[BilletHead]

         Hey Rick,

 @Terrierman is that Butch Best with you in second photo?

[Quillback]

18 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

He was there just in case we caught somebody else checking our lines.😵

I was fishing on Beaver lake a few years ago up the White river arm and I see a jug being pulled in the water fast enough to leave a wake.  It kept on going past me and continued down the lake until it was out of sight, never slowed down.  I was sooooo tempted to see what was on it, but I can see it now, just when I pull it out of the water, around the bend comes the guys running the jugs.

[snagged in outlet 3]

7 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Here ya go.   I had a really aggressive bite the day before yesterday so I threw it on the floor and made another cast really fast.....Boom, another one.....threw it on the floor......Boom, ANOTHER ONE !  

THEN it was over.     Had I took the time to piddle around with my phone, or put my rod down and walked to the livewell, switched it on, ect.  then there would have only been ONE brought to hand. 

They all swam off fine after the flurry.  No more stressful than putting them through a tournament weigh-in.   3 solid keepers in less than 1.5 minutes.

 

Wrench tip for the day:.  Quit worrying about "recording the moment", and KEEP FISHING !    😁   

If you could do that during a MLF event then the weights would skyrocket.  

I did the same thing on Taney this morning.   Got there in the dark knowing the bite would slow once the sun hit that water.   Awesome 2 hours!

[fishinwrench]

4 hours ago, Terrierman said:

He was there just in case we caught somebody else checking our lines.😵

I may have told this story here before, but I'll tell it again, just in case, and because it's one of my favorite stories. 

My grandpa thought someone was running his limb lines on the Middle Fork of the Salt river, so he put a nice fish on one and staked it out one evening.   Sure enough here comes a Paris Water Co. boat with a guy and his kid.   

As soon as the fish was in their boat my grandpa shot him in the arm with a Winchester pump .22 

And then the next morning he pulled into the Water Co. office and asked who didn't show up for work that morning.  Found out, and then went to the dudes house.   Sure enough there he was laying on the couch all bandaged up.   They had words, but eventually became best friends.    My grandpa even named a dog after him.   

RIP Carl. You turned out to be a hell of a good guy. 👍

[Terrierman]

11 hours ago, BilletHead said:

         Hey Rick,

 @Terrierman is that Butch Best with you in second photo?

It is.  We were best friends since the 7th grade.  To the point that he came to my house to die.  Which was rough for everybody but not as rough as it was for Butch.

How do you know Butch?

[BilletHead]

8 hours ago, Terrierman said:

It is.  We were best friends since the 7th grade.  To the point that he came to my house to die.  Which was rough for everybody but not as rough as it was for Butch.

How do you know Butch?

                   Was introduced to him while out working on a couple jobs. He lived across from where Fram was for some time also didn't he?