Another "Not Crappie" trip...

Went back to the hill today and wanted to try trolling for catfish. Pulled probably 2 hours and only a peckerhead hit one rod and bounced it a couple times. No way a small catfish is gonna take a chunk of bait the size of half your fist with an 8/0 circle hook so I guess that small guy figured that out pretty quick. Anyway, the wind picked up to gale force conditions while anchored but it only took ten minutes to get a good bite. Funny thing....after I got this rod out of the holder the rod next to it slammed down and the tip was in the water. I couldnt do anything with it as I pretty much had my hands full. That fish musta went around a rock or something because it took less than a minute and that rod went limp. When I reeled it in the 50# leader was broken. Had almost 1' waves and the whitecaps was slamming the boat. 2 anchors wouldnt hold so I called it quits. Didnt get a weight as my scales didnt work. Put 'er back to catch another day.:)

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dang Butch that there is a hog for sure !!!! congrats on the catch !!!!:ThumbsUp

dang i hear ya. you are getting the itch scratched. wait till that first 40 dbl then your done for . glad you are having fun with those kitties. i would say low to mid 30's from the pic. great job

Thanks guys.:) Joe, this is something I've entertained doing for a couple years now. With Bowlerman's help and advice along with others from a catfish forum I finished getting rigged up and have just began scratching that itch trying to catch big catfish. Funny thing is I'm having a hard time catching white perch for catfish bait.:( When these fish hit a rod they slam it making it hard to even get the dang rod out of the holder.:yikes It's all fun though and all the catfish live to fight another day (I prefer eating crappie).:)

Thats a good fish! Your doing better than us! I going to start ask you for help.

Wow....nice catch. You will be giving advice instead of getting it before long.

Another nice kitty Butch!!! Congrats on the pull and hate you didn't get to fight the other one. The waves looks like they could be trouble, thanks for the report.

Butch, one of my coworkers back when I was working, trolled Monticello for catfish. I went to Lake Erie with him on a Smallmouth Bass trip and we mostly trolled up there. He catches some really big cats here trolling Buck Perry Spoonplugs. I did not know they still made them, but he told me he took a seminar at their HQs on the art of trolling spoonplugs. What made me think of this is your success at knowing what depth your jigs are running. Same thing with him with the plugs and the catfish. He looks for certain patterns and structures and runs his plugs at the depth he thinks he needs.
I have not talked with him in a while, but next time I see him I will ask how he is doing with that technique today.
Congrats on the catch, would like to have seen what was on the other line.
Ray

come on Butch don't go over to the DARK side.... :)

Catching some big cats is the reason I bought my bass tracker targa. I am going to make a striper and catfish boat out of it to mainly fish murray. I hope to someday have the luck you are having. Your fish are getting bigger and I don't think it will belong before you break the 50lb mark thanks for sharing.

Now you making me jealous, bowler man was enough. Dang you guys are good. Remus made me feel bad about not getting his big cat in a crab net last Friday. LOL But hey I made a bass net out of that crab net. Hope you catch more bigger fish, keep reporting them I like reading them.:highfive

Nice fish!

congrats bowlerman you done made a cat fisher out of a CRAPPIE MAN :Rofl :Rofl

just joustin GBM congrats on a nice catch hope you get some bigger then that

Wow Butch....those are some hefty blues you are tangling with. I've been catching a few perch and I'm now saving the heads and carcasses in the freezer so I can try my hand at hooking a big blue. Of course, a 10 lber would be a monster for me...:Rofl

Isn't it crazy that you wait and wait for a bite and then get two giants on at the same time?

Congratulations Gabowman!! That had to be 1 heck of a fight and makes you wonder what was on the other line. Hate you didn't get the 2nd one but he will be there next time. Thanks for sharing.