With bright blue sky’s, 15 MPH winds, and no water being generated by TVA…..this made for a tuff day of fishing on Guntersville lake…..Along with the fact that Guntersville can be a tough lake for catfisherman most of the time……It took two fish that weighed in at 35 lbs. 13 OZ. to get first, caught by Sammy and Mike Mitchell……the team also got Big Cat with a 26.4 Blue Cat….these fish were caught on cut skip-jack in 15-25 ft of water near Scottsboro….only one Team managed a five fish limit, and more channels were weighed in than anything.

Check out http://www.southerncats.com for an updated leaderboard and news.

Come out and Join us at Mcfarland Park on Pickwick Lake next Saturday from 2-10 P.M…….There will be fun for all and I anticipate to see several cats in the 25-50 lb range.

March 27th Wheeler Lake “Results”

Another great SCA event with beautiful weather, calm waters, and huge cats caught. With a large crowd gathered at the weigh in site, partly due to a large bass tournament weighing in only 30 minutes prior to our weigh in. The crowd got an eye full to say the least. With the first few 30 pounder’s getting weighed in, the bass anglers jaws dropped, some saying how can you land those. Then the team of Richard Woodruff and James Azbell brought in a 60 lb Blue Cat and everyone was amazed, then they got out a 75 lb blue then another nice fish for a 3 fish total weight of 168 pounds. Needles to say they took first and big cat. Several more nice fished were weighed including a 42 lb flathead.

All fish were caught using cut / whole skip-jack for bait, in the 25-50 ft depth range.

Hope to see everyone April 17 at Guntersville State Park.

Check out the website at http://www.southerncats.com for an updated leaderboard and pictures of the 75 pounder coming soon on the news page.

I use circles 90% of the time, and rarely use 3-ways..but when using j hooks on flatheads or big fish, its a good idea to apply pressure to the line during the hook set with your thumb on the spool to prevent drag slippage…I would also go with 3-6 ounce no-rolls and a slip sinker rig, with a 12/0 circle or the Big River Hooks made be gamakatsu

Wilson Lake….Muscle Shoals, Alabama…..3-6-04

Record breaker tournament, but not in boats to turnout…………..We had a total of 16 competitors…..I think the rain and lack of good bait, scared several people off……..I’ll admit bait was hard to come by……..But as for the cats, everyone caught fish….There were 30 Blue Cats weighed in and 1 flathead………With a combined total weight of 622 lb and 8 oz…….Thats a 20 lb average…….4 boats had over 100 lbs….With Mark and Jon Hendon of Florence, Alabama coming in 1st place with a 5 fish limit of 173 lbs………Followed Closely by Richard Woodruff of Russellville and James Azbell of Florence with 169 lbs……….Big Cat was Taken by Kris Gresham and Tim Faulkner of Florence with a 56 lb Blue…..There were 7 fished weighed in over 40 lbs

Most of these fish were caught in 50-75 ft of water on cut Skip-Jack

Check out the SCA site for pics, angler of the year leaderboard, and more updates http://www.southerncats.com

Also if you can’t make the next event March 27th on Wheeler…….please help spread the word in any way possible.

Thank’s for your support

SCA
Mike Mitchell
256-673-2250

That flathead did pull like a bulldozer…..I caught her on a Medium action American Premier Nite Stick Pro with 50 lb Power Pro…..the bad thing was, I was by myself and the fish would not fit in my net…..so that was a challenge…I appreciate the comments about the truck pic, and it dont make me mad at all….I will find a better pic…no there is no limit for sport fishing on catfish in AL. there considered non-game….no TNT is not legal, nor shocking….these fish were all caught in MAY in the rain……….most of em on sunfish… I encourage people to take all the 1-10 lber’s they catch home….but have a catch and release policy on my boat on anything over 20lbs…unless its a stripe and then they can keep there limit of those

there are no limits of any type in Alabama…..gator……and yes those fish were kept on ice in coolers, except for the time it took to take a few pics…..I have been releasing all the big ones for the last 2 years……last year I released 6 over 40lbs including a 68lb blue and a 73lb flathead….this is the release pic, and it doesn’t do it justice, because the pic was took from to far away.

Thats a older pick……..about 3 years old…..that is from one weekend of fishin….I just put that picture in there to show what some trips produce….I practice catch and release now with anything over 20 lbs……but yes all of those fish were eaten…….not by me personally…..but they were not wasted……however I dont believe keeping those fish even put a dent in Wilson Lake, on the TN river…but if everyone caught and kept fish like that out of there, it eventually would…….I am a strong supporter of catch and release, and all my tournaments are catch and release, no dead fish are weighed, 5 fish limit…..but however i don’t believe you can judge a person by a picture…you also have to realize im from Al. and this is not illegal and a common practice with allot of folks still…and yet we still have the best catfish lakes in the U.S.

no..we havent had any ice….but the water temp is still cold, for these southern cats….i usually start around the first of march….fishin usually peaks in May for me…ill be sure to post some of my outings

No…I fish the Tenn. River Lakes……Im just buttin in on yall’s board i guess…….but i like to see what other people are doing and saying…..and i havent been catfishing in awhile……so im about to go crazy

I would definately recommend gamakatsu…..8/0 circles is what i use, and i use big baits…..if your not shure about circles….go with the gamakatsu big river bait hooks in a 10/0 there big enough for any bait, and sharp……..I use these hooks when i want to set the hook, fishing close to cover or just cant let the fish run with the bait long