Pool 7, Secret 7 stinkbait – sounds like a match made in heaven! Sure enough, the Pool 7 catfish found something heavenly about the Team Catfish Secret 7 mixture on a recent excursion.
I’d be lying if I said chasing catfish with stinkbait on my home waters was on the top of my list for things to do. My earliest recollection of using stinkbait was taking a gallon bucket full of the smelly stuff, cutting up sponges, and baiting 400 hooks on setlines for commercial fishing. Even better was taking off those stinky old sponges off and re-baiting them with fresh ones. Good times …
Well, times change, but stinkbait stays the same. Last Saturday brought back years of buried memories into one freshly cracked bucket of Secret 7. Woof! That stuff could curdle even the coldest of milk. Or maybe it’s just my over-sensitive nose.
My fishing partner for the day, Bret, brought a couple rods and two buckets of Team Catfish bait – one of Secret 7 and one of Sudden Impact. I provided plenty of hand rags. There’s nothing quite like cracking a bucket of Secret 7 and dropping the lid on your freshly washed shorts. I was honestly afraid the stain and smell wouldn’t wash off. But as I always say, in for a penny, in for a pound.
It wasn’t too long and I was wrist deep into a bucket of the best Catfish stinkbait I’ve ever used. Stinky fingers be damned, this stuff was lights out. But don’t take my word for it, look at the attached pictures. Bret and I caught more than 20 cats on the Team Catfish products in just a short window of time.
We tried a few community holes first, hoping to capitalize on an early-morning bite that never materialized. So we moved to a short wingdam that on the point carved a 20ft hole – a prime spot for any self-respecting catfish. Apparently the larger class of fish didn’t know this was prime catfish real estate, however, as we managed only a couple of small fish there and a few half-hearted bites.
Bret mentioned then that he’d been doing well fishing below chunk rock utilizing current seams. So we found one just downstream and used our Humminbird to look for the sweetspot. It wasn’t too hard to find, and the screen lit up with marks.
We set up and within minutes we both had good bites signalling this was where we wanted to be! I know for a fact, we caught over 20 Catfish from that one spot. It was pretty cool to hunk that glob of smelly goo out into the water and once the bait hit the bottom count down from 30 and have a bite interrupt your count. It was the kind of fishing anyone could appreciate. Fighting a hard pulling, line stretching and drag testing “river monster.”
Ultimately, the goal was to get some catfish for my wife’s grandmother. I’d been supplying her with a steady stream of crappies, but I heard her mention that she sure liked catfish, given the opportunity to have some. And after hearing Bret rave about how awesome they taste when cleaned properly, I just had to try some for myself.
We brought home 14 that evening, most were in the 18-inch range, with a few in the low to mid 20’s. As far as I’m concerned, those were perfect eating size. I admit, they were great tasting and I cannot wait to bring home a few more of those for the frying pan soon!
The set up we used was a standard 3-way rig, incorporating a cut-in-half tubeworm packed and coated with either Sudden Impact or Secret 7 dip bait. I’m not sure if Bret noticed, but I kept that bucket of Secret 7 very close to my side. And as the photo here shows, I milked that bucket dry of its contents.
Ask me now if I plan to chase catfish on Pool 7 with dip bait and I’ll excitedly proclaim that it ranks right up there on my list of things to do on my home water. No joke, it was an absolute hoot and I encourage everyone to step up to the plate. When you do, be sure to check out those Team Catfish dip baits. I honestly believe you’ll not be disappointed.
And to the guy who runs around here saying that catfishermen own the night, you’re missing one heck of a daytime bite while catching up on your ZZZs. LOL!! We caught most of the fish described in this report between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. That’s my kind of “Live Action!”