Discover Catfishing

There he is! Ahh man he’s a big one too,  get the net!  What the hell? Dude that fish just came off. 

Have you ever been in that situation?

Sometimes fishin doesn’t always turn out the way you want it. Even with the seasoned anglers, mishaps will and still can happen. Even some of the smallest details that are sometimes overlooked, may jog your memory as to why your standing there lookin at your buddy holding an empty net,  but don’t sweat it! It can happen to the best of us. To this day I  can remember most every big fish Ive lost do to anglers neglect of the small details and wondered and dreamed as just to how big he was. Just last week i had my memory jogged real good, with a lesson that i learned long ago in a similar situation, and i knew better but for some reason this day i had overlooked the small detail of checking my hook point before i placed it in the river, resulting in a big fish not getting hooked. Thinkin what the hell just happened, i pulled my line in to inspect it to see if the line broke or what and as i got the bait in my hand, i see a big scale from the herring i was using for bait stuck to the point of my circle hook, which didnt allow it to penatrate the fishes mouth.  i learned this lesson a long time ago, but didnt pay attention to one of the small details that had haunted me once before, a lesson learned but apparently neglected and now im standing in the middle of my boat with a dumb look on my face, like danm i knew better than that. 

so in this article im gonna re-visit some small details that when put in play together will definently increase your chances of landing that trophy catfish.

1.  SET YOUR DRAG BEFORE YOU SET YOUR BAIT:

For some reason when you dont use your reels for a few days especially weeks, the star drag will stick or lock, and not work properly when needed. One way to prevent a loss of a trophy catfish is to check your drag on every fishing trip. I like to grab my line before I set my baits and pull the line out with my hands, breaking loose the drag from being sticky so that im sure the drag will fuction properly just incase a big fish decides to hit.  now you dont want it to be too loose of course,  you want to make it tough for a fish to pull your drag but not so tight that he pulls your rod holder off your boat or breaks your line. So you definently dont want it locked down tight. Once youve got the rig in your hands and your fighting the fish, you can then start to re-adjust your drag if needed.

2. BE SURE TO CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK YOUR LINE AND KNOTS

Periodictly throughout your trip be sure to check your knots and line for freys and abrasions, especially the mainline where the sinker slides up and down on your fishing main line. The first 2-3 foot of main line will take the most beating so when you retie be sure to cut a little extra line off to get above the worn line.  Also inspect the leader material for abrasions due to getting hung up on  structure on the bottom and pulling it loose, this will also weaken the leader line.  Also be sure to tie the knots properly, dont take shortcuts, if the knot you tie requires 5 twist and back through the loop, dont get in a hurry and just twist it 3 times and back though the lopp and expect it will hold.

3. HOOK INSPECTION

Be sure the point of your hook doesn’t have a scale attatched to it after you’ve threaded it on the hook, and be careful as to what bait cut you use. Bait cut a certain way will sometimes hook back on it self and cause the hook point to be buried in the bait rather than the point extruding from the bait. just spin the bait cut around on your hook , if it acts like it would be able to hook back into the bait, re hook it in a way that will not be able to hook back into itself. There no getting around it, you just ain’t catfishing if you don’t get hung up from time to time, and this will sometimes cause your hook points to get dull or bend, so be sure to inspect the hook point thoroughly and sharpen as needed through out your fishing day. 

LESSONS LEARNED 

Sometimes we lose sight of the little things or just take for granted that every thing will go our way.  Nothing is ever guaranteed in fishing  but a little preventive maintenance can make the difference between takin photo’s or cussin like a sailor. These are just a few small details that Ive learned over the years that may help some of you NOT lose a fish of a lifetime and also help some recall the small details that also caused you to jump up and down in your boat because you lost what you felt on the other end of your line.

THIS IS EVERY CATFISHERMANS DREAM!

More Catfishing info.

We at discovercatfishing.com would like to congratulate! Greg Bernal of Florissant, Missouri

 A Missouri couple may have possible broken a  world record by catching and landing in a 130-pound catfish with a rod and reel, breaking  the previous record set 5 years ago by Tim Pruitt by 6 pounds. 

Greg Bernal and friend Janet Momphard used pieces of Asian carp that jumped in there boat while fishing  in the Missouri River in the Columbia Bottoms. Bernal Say’s he brought the monster catfish to the side of the boat in about fifteen minutes, but took  an additional thirty minutes to actually get it into the boat and requiring two dip nets to do so. They finally got the fish in the boat at about 1:30 a.m. Bernal used a Penn reel and 40-pound fishing line to catch  the catfish. Because he caught it in the middle of the night, Bernal could not get the fish to the Department of Conservation office until later Tuesday morning, unfortunately by then, the fish had died. The fish measured 57 inches in length, and 45 inches in girth. It has been confirmed by Missouri Department of Conservation biologists as the new state record. Application for world record status has been submitted to the  Game Fish Association and is currently awaiting confirmation.

Check out the video of the fish here.

second place prize goes to stonewall starter kit of skippi jigs

third place prize goes to reel squealer of a value pac of skippi jigs

goes to discover cat fishing member (draggon)

thanks again everyone for your support with discovercatfishing. check back soon for more awesome giveaways

JULY IN KENTUCKY IS A GREAT TIME TO CATCH POST SPAWN CATFISH FROM THE OHIO RIVER, THEY TEND TO SCHOOL UP ON THE DEEP FLATS. 

HERE’S THE BASIC INFO YOU NEED TO CATCH FISH NOW

 Are you ready for the FREE STUFF?

Hello everyone!

Most of you may already know me, but if you dont, my name is Steve Douglas, avid tournament Catter with Cabelas King Kat and owner of the Monster Rod Holders. I started this blog to help others learn the sport of Catfishing and to help the sport excel. plus its gives me another avenue to pimp my Monster Rod Holders in.

FREE ROD HOLDERS? BUT HEY THERE’S ALWAYS A CATCH, RIGHT.  

Well not today!

Today i want to give back  to everyone that supports the Discover Catfishing blog. I have some FREE stuff to give away! (To three lucky winners)

This will be a drawing of names in a hat type giveaway : commenting blog member only names will be drawn as first,second and third.

First Prize = Two Monster Rod Holders with economy bases

Second Prize= Skippi Jigs, Seasonal Starter Kit 

Third Prize=  Value pac of Skippi Jigs

To have your name thown in the hat for a chance to will some cool fishing product, leave a comment on any of my pages. NOT A MEMBER? CLICK HERE.    http://discovercatfishing.com/wp-login.php Leave a comment to WIN!        PRIZES WILL BE DRAWN  JULY 4TH 2010

COOLING YOUR LIVE TANK WATER IN THE SUMMER

As we know the cooler the water, the more oxygen is penetrated. I hear allot of guys say they put soda bottles of frozen ice in there live wells to keep the water cooler, but does it really help?

 Sure it will cool it some initially but it will not maintain its coolness for long. My theory is, (water frozen in pop bottle dont work well) and here’s why.The diagram below  shows a bottle half melted, in the beginning as you initiualy put your frozen pop bottle in your live well, is when it will cool the most, but then after you get some melt water surrounding the ice and is trapped inside of a non-cold transferring material, the melt water kind of act like an insulator, preventing the ice from actually cooling your live tank sufficiently. 

now i understand why guys are doing this, for the fish. anglers are not wanting to harm the fish with tap,  chlorine water and i do applaud their efforts.

But honestly  a couple gallons of tap water will not harm your fish in a 60-100 gallon live tank, and the truth be known, the fish are probably living/swimming in more harmful substances than the chlorine now!

i have found that blocks or chunks of ice has worked best for me, i will buy it, or make it which ever, depends on the situation im presented with.  To make block/chunk  ice I will fill gallon zip lock bags with water and freeze them, but when I’m ready to cool my water, i will remove the zip lock bags so that my tank water is in direct contact with the ice, resulting a more efficient cool down and will also be easier to maintain a desired temperature through out the day.

P.S. be sure to discard your old zip locks in the proper place.

The channel catfish is the smallest of the catfish species but are the most sought after throughout the US. With 2 to 5lbers, being real plentiful for all to catch and channel catfish up to 15 lbs. are not uncommon. The channel catfish may be smaller when comparing to the other blue catfish and flathead catfish in rivers and reservoirs but by far pound for pound, the channel catfish is the hardest fighters of all.
Channel catfish are affected by the seasonal patterns and there is enough of a migration with the season changes to make them predictable. As the seasons change you can target different migration areas once you learn where they are. As spring breaks and the water starts to warm you will find channel catfish mixed in with blue catfish chasing a variety of bait fish along the banks. Normally they will be holding on the windward side. Their main food source in early spring is the winter kill of shad. If you can find multiple dead shad in an area most likely there will channel catfish feeding on them. Once the shad kill is depleted the channel catfish will travel up the small tributaries located around the reservoir and will stay there feeding aggressively in a pre-spawn mode until early summer. 

The channels will seek out cut banks, riprap and hold there for unsuspecting bait fish. Channel catfish also love mussels so and if you can find (mussel beds) sandy/gravel flats that hold mussels and that are close to deep water, you have just found a channel catfish hotspot. Once the water really warms, channel catfish will head back to the deeper water. Look for deep water on the main body of the reservoir at the mouth of large creeks and rivers that dump into the reservoir, deep ledges, drops and ditches. Channel catfish like to hold there. Look for points or a bar that drops into the creek near where the creek empties into the main reservoir. Also if you can find a large flat that is close to the opening of the creek you will catch channel catfish. A flat at these locations are ideal setup locations for night fishing for channel catfish and blue catfish.