Chickamauga Cats 4/9

[polo-dog]

Took my son and three High School freinds out fishing for catfish at my "secret spot". Fished from ~3:30 to 5:00 and caught two and had three others on. Fished with three days dead threadfin/gizzard shad cut bait and my hands still stink. The two fish that we got in were bookend 10.25 and 10.5 lbers. The boys had lots of fun but the wind was really bad and the waves from passing boats were huge at times. Here are some pics. The water temp was 65 degrees in the main channel and we fished at the bottom of a submurged bluff in 40-43 feet of water. We fished vertically only today as with 4 lines in the water most of the time casting was a bit of a potential tangle. The guys did great and we only had a very small tangle with one of the fish.

 

[DHaun]

Great Report Polo-Dog and nice pics too - Thanks! I bet they had a lot of fun.

 

[flip1up]

Good report. You know how aggresive TT can be about these "secret spots", watch out.

 

[jon the fisherman]

nice cats. I like catching those slimy things sometimes, kind of takes me back to my roots.emoToast

 

[jason]

Hey Polo, is it common for a catfish to begin rolling violently at the boat? I hooked a monster cat yesterday and fought him all the way to the boat and then he started freaking out on me. Before I could get a hand on him, he began thrashing and rolling until he broke me off and swam away with a LC rattler stuck in his face.

 

[dec1]

You ever tried your secret spot at night along the riprap in the summer for bass? It gets fished often but usually holds a good keeper or two.

 

[polo-dog]

That's what happened to a couple of fish that we lost today and it seems to happen frequently to me. I got my thumb sliced open by one today which has reminded me that I really need to keep a pair of gloves on my boat so that I can land them and let them go safely for them and me. The rolling is something that cats are notorious for. Most of the cats that I catch fight little before I get them near the boat but then really go nuts, especially if I don't get them out of the water fast or at least netted. I never used to keep a net in my boat but now that I am targeting cats more, just for fun, I am keeping a net close at hand. The amount of slime that is on the last couple of feet of line is really gross but it comes from the rolling that those cats do. I don't know why they do like that but it can be effective for getting off especially if you don't have your netting/landing routine really well organized. Today I just had too many people in the boat to get things done quickly and well, it was still a blast to watch those kids fight the fish!!!!!!!
drc, I haven't tried it at night but maybe I will this summer. Good thought.

 

[jason]

Yeah, it's a blast watching a kid catch a fish. My son is still pumped up over the big bass he caught last weekend. All of his buddies at church want me to take them fishing now.

 

[rsimms]

polo-dog - 4/9/2006 11:30 PM

That's what happened to a couple of fish that we lost today and it seems to happen frequently to me. I got my thumb sliced open by one today which has reminded me that I really need to keep a pair of gloves on my boat so that I can land them and let them go safely for them and me.

Polodog... get you a set of these: Cabela's Grab & Weigh Fishing Scale, Item:6IS-016914 http://www.cabelas.com
They're an inexpensive version of Boga Grips, but they work great! I've hauled some huge catfish in the boat with them. The gripper portion rotates right along with the catfish... no thumbs involved! emoThumbsup I've got the 50 lb. scale version which were only $24.99 when I bought them. They've gone way up on those but right now they have the 15 lb. scale version on sale for only $14.99.

 

[TennesseeTalker]

flip1up - 4/9/2006 9:36 PM

Good report. You know how aggresive TT can be about these "secret spots", watch out.

Flip .. I think Polo's spot is safe from my tenancity. I'm not into catchin' cats. Nice fish and all .. good line yankers .. but I'd rather leave them where they lie. Now if he starts talking about a secret bass hole or crappie place ... When and Why might get a temporary break!!!

TT