Fshnman Catfish (w/pics) 4-23

[rsimms]

Me and Fshnman sampled the ample numbers of Chickamauga Tailwater catfish today. We had a blast. I guess everbody was pretty fished out from yesterday so we pretty much had the place to ourselves until way later in the morning. And the threadfin are still in there THICK! Here's a couple of the better cats Fshnman put the hurt on. The biggest one hit the 20 lb. mark. On light spinning tackle, it was a battle royale!
Richard Simms
Scenic City Fishing Charters, Inc.
http://www.ScenicCityFishing.com

 

[jwateacher3]

Those are some pretty good looking fish. They look real healthy. I have not tried eating any catfish from the river. Do you? Or do you just let them all go?

 

[DHaun]

Great pics RSimms and Fshnman! I would not have figured the generators to be off after all this rain...

Did those cats win a free trip to the TN Aquarium?

 

[rsimms]

Not big enough for Aquarium. But plenty big enough for lots of fun. I turn all catfish loose... not because I worry about eating them, mainly because I'm just too lazy to clean them. When I do keep some, I like the smaller ones... 2 lb. "skillet-sized." They just fry up a whole better. However bigger ones are fine to eat as well... I suggest trimming off "fatty" belly meat. Thats where any contaminants reside. But bottomline, unless you're eating catfish two or three times a week for years, the health advisories are not anything to worry about.

 

[Fshnman]

Big cats on light tackle are a blast! They wore my arm out. Richard can put you on some big cats. Blue cats who win free admission to the Aquarium have to be 75 lbs. or greater.

 

[flip1up]

RSimms, was you using live bait? Did you net the bait at the dam? Nice fish guys, I need to to get back there soon. Alot of fun on light tackle I'll bet.

 

[rsimms]

flip1up - 4/25/2006 4:08 PM

RSimms, was you using live bait? Did you net the bait at the dam? Nice fish guys, I need to to get back there soon. Alot of fun on light tackle I'll bet.

Cast netting threadfins at the dam... and then using them as cut bait... butterflied.

 

[messier49]

can ya tell me what kind of rig you use...line size, hook size, and what is "butterflied"?

 

[rsimms]

messier49 - 4/25/2006 5:35 PM

can ya tell me what kind of rig you use...line size, hook size, and what is "butterflied"?

If I'm specifically targeting big fish (30 lbs. up) I use a big Shakespeare Ugly Stick, 50 lb. Spiderwire, 25 lb. flourocarbon leader, 3 oz. weight and 7/0 Daiichi Wide Gap Circle hook.
HOWEVER, I often use traditional spinning tackle as well... 12 lb. test with a 2-way swivel and short 20 lb. shock leader. 5/0 Daiichi circles or 4/0 Eagle Claw Kahle hooks. I try to use minimal weight, no more than 1/4 oz. split shot... sometimes no weight if I'm using big bait that will sink on its own weight. I think catfish like to see a natural drifting presentation. Big fish on traditional tackle is very "sporting" and you can get your heart broke. But I've landed catfish up to 30 lbs. with patience.
Butterfly... slide filet knife through fish right behind the gills... not slicing down, just sticking it through fish from stomach to dorsal (or vice versa when you flip fish). Then filet backwards to tail and cut out spine & dorsal fin. You end up with a fish head with two filets still attached that flop free... basically a "butterfly" shape. Removing tail or dorsal really not critical with threadfins... but when I'm fishing with bluegill I remove the dorsal fin so big cats don't have to mess around trying to swallow bait head first.

 

[messier49]

thanks rsimms for the info. my wife is just dying to catch a big cat and i don't target them often unless just catching them by accident fishing for other species. again thanks so much.