Monster Blue Cat on Tiny Tackle

Dakota Casteel works at my former place of employment, NewsChannel 9 in Chattanooga, TN. He's training to get better at news photography, so I recruited him to shoot some promotional video for Scenic City Fishing Charters on my home water in Chattanooga.

We had a little scripted promotional video all set up to produce. Unfortunately (or fortunately) a MONSTER blue cat rewrote our script.I was demonstrating my "light tackle" technique... standard light action spinning rod, 10 lb. test main line with a 20 lb. shock leader. I was hoping for a solid 10 or 15 pounder to provide some good video. But lo and behold, the first bite we got was a Big Boy!

I hooked him, but after a while I handed off the rod to Dakota. There were lots of very hairy moments, and plenty of opportunities to lose this fish. Dakota has caught some big cats fishing with one of my partners, but this was his first ever big blue on "light tackle," and in heavy current. He has new found respect for these big beasts, and the technical aspect of fighting VERY big fish on tiny tackle.

On top of it all, I purposefully left my big fish net in the truck so it wouldn't be in our way filming. We had to land this fish old school, by hand. Which meant Dakota had to fight him all the way to the finish. I had the fish in hand twice, but couldn't hang on. But the third time was a charm. I managed to get the grippers around his big fat lip and my old worn out body dragged him into the boat. He tugged the scales to 59 lbs. (that's a 60-pounder in "guide" weight )

Since we were out to shoot video anyway, we shot a lot of the battle. WATCH IT HERE, and remember, life is good and gettin' better every day.

http://www.sceniccityfishing.com/for...ota_59_CFF.jpg

http://www.sceniccityfishing.com/for..._59_me_CFF.jpg

Way to go ! Could that be a line class record ?

What brand of line might I ask?

It is not a line class record, however one of my previous clients does hold a line class record. See: Scenic City Fishing Charters, Inc.

This fish was caught on 10-pound Stren. But I actually prefer Mr. Crappie line.

That's a beast .

What were you using for bait? Nice fish & a neat story. Thanks for sharing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Abu65

What were you using for bait? Nice fish & a neat story. Thanks for sharing.

---

Caught on my favorite bait... plain chicken breast.

Great job on light line. :HandsClappingI took Richard's advice about using chicken breast for catfish many years ago. It caught the largest fish I've ever had in a boat in '09 - by Debbie.

Holy whisker feesh...!!

:ThumbsUp

Rickie

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by rsimms

It is not a line class record, however one of my previous clients does hold a line class record. See: Scenic City Fishing Charters, Inc.

This fish was caught on 10-pound Stren. But I actually prefer Mr. Crappie line.

---

I was sauger fishing about 10-12 years ago on Wheeler and caught one that was over 65 lbs using 8lb Stren mono. I say over because that was the limit of my hand-held and it was pegged. It was over 60" long (length of my boat paddle).

Would you mind sharing with us what size of chicken breast you use for the big boys and how you prepare it? Enjoyed your story and the video!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Picwic

Would you mind sharing with us what size of chicken breast you use for the big boys and how you prepare it? Enjoyed your story and the video!!

---

Typically when I'm fishing chicken breast, I'm using light tackle. I simply cut a chunk roughly an inch or inch-and-a-half square (although they're never exactly square). Basically a size that will hook cleanly on a 3/0 Kahle hook and still leave the hook point exposed. Any catfish will eat it... big or small.

Sometimes I use chicken when fishing with the big tackle for trophies, although I mostly use cut bait. But if I do use chicken with the big tackle (7/0 Daiichi wide circle hook - D84Z), I might cut a chunk the size of my fist.

I do NO preparation, nada, nothing, zilcho. I use it directly out of the package as-is. Absolutely no "preparation" needed, except I do trim all fat off because the fat floats and keeps the chicken from sinking when I'm drifting current.

Chicken breast is simply great. Dense enough to sink, it is tough as nails -- will NOT come off the hook (except when you catch a fish, and that's OK). And if you don't use it all, you can refreeze it, no problem. Just try that with liver. Or, worse case scenario, if you don't catch fish you can go home and eat the bait. :biggrin

When fishing with chicken however, I am pretty anal about keeping it in a cooler and cool, not laying out on the deck in the sun. I've heard of some folks getting some nasty salmonella infections from it. But keep it cool while fishing and you'll be fine.

Thanks a lot for the tips. I put four nice tn river cats in the boat this evening using chicken breast. I don't think I'll ever go back to liver lol.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Picwic

Thanks a lot for the tips. I put four nice tn river cats in the boat this evening using chicken breast. I don't think I'll ever go back to liver lol.

---

Another convert. Welcome to the fold. :welcome

Thanks!!

Amazingly great catch. I have heard about all different kind of baits but never chicken breasts. Will have to give that a go round.

Try chicken breast. It works great. I'm setting in one end of the boat with chicken breast, the man I'm fishing with is using livers. I brought a big blue up and he said give me some chicken breast!! Then he proceeded to out fish me lol.

Chicken breast works.