We put in at Wolftever about noon on saturday and went out to where the gulls were diving and castnetted some threadfin shad. We fished around the schooling
minnows for a while and only caught one small drum. We ran up to the Sequoia area next and spent 2 or 3 hours trying different areas and different depths, only
catching a few more small drum and a couple of small spots. Went back to the birds and shad again for about 2 hours until dark still catching only drum, Jim
(Rolm) caught 1 that was about 10 lbs. I forgot the camera on saturday, but really didn't need it.
We decided to take some of the threadfin home to see if I could keep them alive overnight. I put the shad in the bait tank that I built last winter from a cooler I got
at an estate sale for $8.00. I got up on sunday and about 3 or 4 dozen of the shad were still alive. I called Jim and we decided to try some of our catfish holes near
the dam. We put in at the ramp above the dam at about 9:00 a.m. The threadfin shad did their job well. We caught a ton of catfish(all blue cats). The first big one
was a 23 lb one on my rod with 8 lb test spooled on the reel. It was a light wire hook and I have a pic that shows the hook barely under the skin of its nose. I also
have a pic showing the large fish tail protruding fom its throat. The next big one was a 21 lb fish that Jim caught on 14 lb test. We caught several in the 5 to 10 lb
range, and a bunch of little ones. Then the big one hit! Jim set the hook and his heavy action rod bent double. The fight was on, the fish pulled the boat around for
about 20 minutes and then swam into a hole or something. For the next 20 minutes Jim would pull up on the rod and he could feel the fish but it wouldn't budge. I
called my son to see if he was fishing any where near us because we knew we might need help if we ever got the fish to the boat. He was at Chester Frost, but he
called his friend Todd who was fishing not far from us. Todd showed up while the fish was refusing to budge. Finally Jim got tired of fooling with it and started pumping
the rod harder than he had been and the fish started swimming again. About 5 minutes later he had it at the top and it was huge. I grabbed its lip with the grips and
Todd stuck his net under it's tail. I heaved it aboard the back deck of my boat and we had it. It was 52 inches long(That's 4" 4" lol) and it's girth was 32 inches. Jim
picked it up with my digital scales and the last reading before the hook of the scales straightened out was 67.5 lbs. there was still 14 to 16 inches of its tail on the
deck. The 23 lb fish was my personal best catfish and Jim's fish could eat it...lol. To get an idea of the size, the world record is 58" with a 44" girth and was 124 lbs.
We figure it was at least 75 lbs.
We got some pics but none that really lets you see how big that fish was. It started raining about 1:30 or so and we headed for home. We were fishing in the river
channel from 40 to 50 feet deep.
minnows for a while and only caught one small drum. We ran up to the Sequoia area next and spent 2 or 3 hours trying different areas and different depths, only
catching a few more small drum and a couple of small spots. Went back to the birds and shad again for about 2 hours until dark still catching only drum, Jim
(Rolm) caught 1 that was about 10 lbs. I forgot the camera on saturday, but really didn't need it.
We decided to take some of the threadfin home to see if I could keep them alive overnight. I put the shad in the bait tank that I built last winter from a cooler I got
at an estate sale for $8.00. I got up on sunday and about 3 or 4 dozen of the shad were still alive. I called Jim and we decided to try some of our catfish holes near
the dam. We put in at the ramp above the dam at about 9:00 a.m. The threadfin shad did their job well. We caught a ton of catfish(all blue cats). The first big one
was a 23 lb one on my rod with 8 lb test spooled on the reel. It was a light wire hook and I have a pic that shows the hook barely under the skin of its nose. I also
have a pic showing the large fish tail protruding fom its throat. The next big one was a 21 lb fish that Jim caught on 14 lb test. We caught several in the 5 to 10 lb
range, and a bunch of little ones. Then the big one hit! Jim set the hook and his heavy action rod bent double. The fight was on, the fish pulled the boat around for
about 20 minutes and then swam into a hole or something. For the next 20 minutes Jim would pull up on the rod and he could feel the fish but it wouldn't budge. I
called my son to see if he was fishing any where near us because we knew we might need help if we ever got the fish to the boat. He was at Chester Frost, but he
called his friend Todd who was fishing not far from us. Todd showed up while the fish was refusing to budge. Finally Jim got tired of fooling with it and started pumping
the rod harder than he had been and the fish started swimming again. About 5 minutes later he had it at the top and it was huge. I grabbed its lip with the grips and
Todd stuck his net under it's tail. I heaved it aboard the back deck of my boat and we had it. It was 52 inches long(That's 4" 4" lol) and it's girth was 32 inches. Jim
picked it up with my digital scales and the last reading before the hook of the scales straightened out was 67.5 lbs. there was still 14 to 16 inches of its tail on the
deck. The 23 lb fish was my personal best catfish and Jim's fish could eat it...lol. To get an idea of the size, the world record is 58" with a 44" girth and was 124 lbs.
We figure it was at least 75 lbs.
We got some pics but none that really lets you see how big that fish was. It started raining about 1:30 or so and we headed for home. We were fishing in the river
channel from 40 to 50 feet deep.
