After enjoying a few seasons of bass fishing, from the bank and from a kayak, I decided I wanted to pursue the fish with whiskers and get into catfishing, with the hope of catching some monsters of the deep.

I captured my first exploits in the n00by thread I posted, and after getting a lot of great advice from various TXFF members (El Gato and others - thanks guys) I had some success in my new to me boat. After landing my personal best to date of 8 pounds, I really wanted to try and break the 10 pound barrier.

Catfish Tim lives local to me, and kindly offered to take me on his boat to give me some coaching and guidance on Lake Lavon, so at 5am this morning we met for the first time at the boat ramp.

Tim has a really cool Deep V boat, and after loading up we set off in the dark.



We go get some bait first with Tim's HUGE cast net, and after securing some bait head off across the lake.

Tim has a serious set up, no less than 6 rod rests, 'slime green' lighting, and a boat 100% focussed on catching big catfish.



As the wind is blowing from the east, we head off to the windward shore and bait up some rigs with roller boards.

How did the fishing go??

Wait for it...

We drift for a bit but no joy. The water is warm (88F) and it's going to be a scorcher, so we know the bite may be tough.

We head for some timbers with bait showing, and tie up to a tree and put the rods out.



We wait for a bit and BOOM!



A beautiful big blue cat, 9.75 pounds, and a personal best for me.

WOOT!

Tim thinks we should go put the planer boards out on a shallow shelf besides some timbers, he shows me the fish on the finder, and he sets up our trolling motor for 0.5 mph.

We sit and wait...

My rod bends double and Tim instructs me to lift the rod and lean into it.

BOOOOOOOMM!!!

This one feels bigger, but then it swims towards the boat and I'm thinking maybe an enthusiastic dink, and then KAPOWWW! it sees the boat and it's off, the drag is screaming and I'm holding that rod bent double with all my might!

Just look at that smile...

Boom! Big Tim is a catfishin machine!

LAKE MONSTERS WITH CATFISH TIM!!!





That is a 28 pound catfish!! Holy moly!!!!

I'm jumping up and down like a little kid, and Tim is laughing his head off.

Make ya feel like a kid again and now you’ll never want to go bass fishing the rest of your life! Way to go Bob and Tim

What a fantastic day!!

I'm 6 feet tall and Tim makes me look like a midget.



Don't piss him off.



Just the best day ever.



Tim is the real deal.

Not only a great day with big fish, but Tim took the time to give me a ton of advice. Fish patterns, rigging, bait.

Catfish Tim, thank you for making this my best day ever.

Respect.

.

Hahaha... Watching you battle that fish was a real treat Bob. The fact that we tripled your previous PB was what made my day. I love sharing this sport with people and I especially enjoyed having you in the boat this morning. I still think that 28 will be back up to about a 35 or more when he gets out from under the results of the spawn. His head is bigger than a 28 pounder. Now, take what you learned and get out and get a toad on your own and you can start sharing and teaching others too!

Can't wait to do it again!

The outtakes.



Slimed!

That’s what you call SUCCESS !

One AWESOME post! Thanks for sharing.