Summer = Big Cats on Pool 3!

Ahhh, the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer! Well, there have not been many of any except the “Crazy” this year so far! At any rate, the days to go after big catfish is right now. The big females are spawning, or close to the spawn. The weight of these fish will be at their yearlong highest. Fish running 30-50 pounds are not uncommon. gear for cats is relatively cheap compared to other types of fishing. I use the St. Croix, Classic Cat rods, and added the St. Croix AC-300 reel this year. Top it of with some 40-80# super line, and 20-30# mono for leaders, and some ultra sharp 3/0 to 5/0 hooks. Reels with clickers are preferred because of the added audio bennefit for bite detection.

Areas where these fish hang out are fairly easy to find. Look for areas where timber and logs jam up, and have current moving into it. A slight channel close by helps if at all possible. Take a trip during the day, and mark possible locations on your GPS. Stay in the main channel on your scouting trip, and head to your spot at a right angle. The reasons for this are at night, you can use your plotter to get you in and out with ease. Wing dams at night are not a fun thing to encounter. Also, keep a good spotlight to find the tops of the can buoys for navigating. Give each spot a good hour or two before moving on.

Saturday night, LeRoy Carl and I used a combination of cut bait on circle hooks, and live suckers on #5 “J” hooks with 3/4 OZ. weights. LeRoy bagged the two big gals this evening. Each fish took about 20 minutes to get boatside. Both were pictured and released. We caught some smaller fish, and had a number of runs. All in all, this was a great night. We were treated to a beautiful light show, compliments of the Northern Lights. If you get a nice evening, and a day after that will allow you to catch up on sleep, give trophy catting a try!
Tuck