Gearing Up for The Mega-Catfish
These tips on gear, bait and tactics can make your quest a bit easier in the month of August.
By Tim Roberts
Posted Friday, June 24, 2005
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So you want to catch a trophy-sized catfish? These tips on gear, bait and tactics can make your quest a bit easier in the month of August.
 I've heard trophy-class catfish called whiskered monsters, and with good reason. They fry drags. They bust rods. They straighten hooks. They snap heavy line like sewing thread. They humble the most stout-hearted anglers.
How big is a trophy catfish? Different anglers answer in different ways. The reply depends on several things - where they fish, the type of catfish they seek and how big a catfish they've caught before. For most anglers, however, a channel cat over 20 pounds is an exceptional fish, and in most waters a flathead or blue over 50 pounds would be the trophy of a lifetime.
Trophy cats swim in many waters. In some, they are abundant. Nevertheless, few anglers catch them on a regular basis. True heavyweights may be older than the anglers who seek them, and with each passing year they grow more elusive and shy.
PATIENCE AND PERSISTANCE
Successful trophy catfish anglers tend to have two common virtues - patience and persistence.
Patience is required because catching trophy cats seldom occurs on a daily basis, even for the most knowledgeable enthusiasts. You may spend scores of fishless hours trying to pinpoint a trophy fish. And as the hours pass, the doubts begin to grow. You start wondering if it's really worth the bother. That's why many anglers give up trophy catfishing even before they land their first big fish. They have little patience.
Savvy trophy men learn to bide their time without undue agitation. They carry comfortable seating, plenty of cold drinks and snacks, a good supply of insect repellent, and a buddy to talk to. They know it may be a long night, maybe several long nights. But they also know that sooner or later, the patient catter reaps his reward.
Persistence is equally important. Anyone can learn the tactics necessary for catching cats. You learn to change the places you fish and what tackle and bait to fish and how you fish from day to day as weather and other conditions dictate. But to catch a trophy-class fish, you must keep bait in the water where the big ones swim. You must learn everything you can about a lake or river where you know those big fish are. Then you stay at it, day after day, learning more. Catfishermen who do these things have the best chance of catching trophy catfish.
WHEN AND WHERE TO FISH
Catfishing once was considered strictly a nighttime sport. We know now, however, that big cats can be caught day or night if you use the right tactics. In ultra-clear waters, night fishing may be best, but in the colored waters typical of the best catfish rivers and lakes, trophies are landed as often at high noon as at midnight.
Also bear in mind some seasonal considerations. Trophy channel and blue cats are caught every month of the year, and in some areas fishing during winter is considered best because it is then that trophy fish gather in larger concentrations in deep wintering holes. Both species, however, fall prey to good fishing tactics year 'round, so make the best of your fishing time whenever it may be.
Trophy flatheads become lethargic in cold water, and though they can be coaxed to bite in winter, the best fishing tends to be during high-water periods in spring or in late fall when big flats feed ravenously before a season of inactivity. Summer fishing can be excellent as well.
Article courtesy of Texas Fishing Guide Tim Roberts - Visit Fish-N-Friends Website
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