Guide Tony Pennebaker slowed his big catfish guide boat and studied the sonar closely.
"This is the spot we fished yesterday and landed limits of ‘eater’ blue catfish in the slot and a couple of trophy catfish which we released that measured over 30 inches and weighed 35 to 40 pounds apiece," he tells me.
The water was relatively shallow, about 5-feet deep and we were positioned a long cast from the edge of a big patch of standing timber. Long casts definitely improve the bite when fishing for blue catfish which are sensitive to vibrations. With power poles lowered into the soft lake bottom, the big craft was stationary. Eight rods with fresh shad rigged Santee Cooper style with small floats set about 8 inches above the hook to keep the baits dangling up from bottom were positioned around the boat and we didn’t have to wait long before the action began!
I’ve fished with Tony many times and he knows ole’ Luke is all about a fish fry. I share his love of catching these hard-fighting fish and eating those snow-white blue catfish fillets but I won’t snub my nose at a platter of tasty channel cat fillets either. We could have baited a spot with cattle range cubes or soured grain, used his Tony P’s Punch bait and undoubtedly landed our limits of channel catfish weighing 1.5 to 2 pounds but with the bigger blue catfish on a dependable bite, our choice of species was a no brainer.
At Tawakoni the daily limit on blue and channel catfish is no minimum length limit; daily bag and possession limit is 25 blue and channel catfish in any combination. In the 25-fish bag, no more than 5 fish 20 inches or greater in length may be retained, and no more than 1 of those can be 30 inches or longer.
This ‘slot’ between 20 and 30 inches is made up of what we refer to as ‘good eaters’, fish weighing from about 5 to 15 pounds. Any catfish angler/eater understands that 5 of these ‘slot’ fish equate to several freezer bags full of tasty fillets.
We were fishing a big, shallow flat with what’s left of a ditch or old creek channel near the edge of standing timber. Through the years, most of the submerged creek channels have silted in but a close look at sonar will show many of these depressions still visible. It doesn’t take much elevation difference in bottom structure to attract and hold not only catfish but the bait fish they feed upon.
This is one style of fishing where I’m convinced more hook ups will occur with the rod in a holder rather than in the fisherman’s hands. The drill went like this; heave the baits out far from the boat, as far as we could cast, allow the weight to pull the bait to bottom and the floater suspend it up a few inches - which makes it easier for the catfish to scent and position in its mouth. With the butt of the rod in a rod holder, crank the reel handle to take up slack.
With all the rods positioned, it was a waiting game. I kept an eye on the rods in front of the boat and Tony watched the rear rods. Blue catfish usually don’t ‘nibble’ a bait as is common with channel catfish. The bigger fish simply grab the bait and run with it. The circle hooks we were using are designed to thread into the corner of the fish's mouth as it swims away. Shaped with a bit of a corkscrew twist, these hooks are ideal for this style fishing. When the rod is bowing heavily toward the water, begin cranking as fast as possible on the reel (with the rod still in the holder). This takes the slack out of the line and insures pressure is maintained on the fish.
You’ll know when the hook-set is solid -- the rod will be bending in a sharp arc and it’s time to reach down and winch the rod from the holder. This can be a trick when a big trophy blue is applying pressure. When fighting these big fish, it’s best to grab the rod a few inches forward of the reel and place the butt of the rod somewhere around your beltline. This gives more control; the trick is to let the rod and the reel's drag system do the work to tire the fish.
Our goal on this morning was to boat a limit of slot fish for an upcoming fish fry I have planned. If we were lucky enough to catch a trophy, then photographs and quick release was the plan. After only a couple hours fishing we had a big ice cooler filled with big slot fish weighing from about 4 to 15 pounds and were thinking about heading to the marina to transform our catch into several gallon bags of tasty snow-white fillets.
But our plan changed quickly...the rod on the port side of the bow bowed heavily and there was no need to crank on the reel to take up slack line. The big blue had already accomplished this! My goal was to get the action on video and as Tony muscled the rod out of the holder. I grabbed the video camera and had it rolling on the action. Big blues are known for making long, strong runs and this one didn’t disappoint. We were lucky it didn’t tangle up with a couple of lines still in the water.
As the fish began to tire, it was time for the net man to go to work. Because there were only two of us in the boat, the cameraman (me) had to do double duty with the net. I was able to get most of the fight on camera before setting the video camera down and reaching for the net.
With the big blue in the boat, I resumed filming duties for our TV show “A Sportsmans Life”. The action should now be on YouTube as well as Carbon TV www.carbontv.com.
Tony says the blue catfish bite is right on schedule, the majority of fish he’s landing now are in the slot but as the water continues to cool more and more of the trophy class fish weighing from 25 to 50 pounds will begin taking the bait. It’s a challenge for some of us to get out of the fall woods and go fishing, but, take it from me, a few hours on the water with someone like Pennebaker is likely to pay off in not only a box full of some of the best eating in freshwater but memories to last a lifetime as well.
Contact guide Tony Pennebaker at 903-474-3078.
Email Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio.org
