Well, it looks like there's still a lot of guys out catching good numbers of eaters currently but, as usual at this time of year, we aren't really seeing anybody bringing toads to the boat. I'm sure the spawn has a lot to do with that. I'm also sure that pretty soon, we'll start seeing some bigger fish showing up in posts. Being a trophy guy myself, I've pretty much hung up my Mad Katz rods for a bit and have gone to putting some sac-a-lait in the freezer but when I'm home I still drift off and daydream about pulling in those monster fish that bend the rod, peel line off, and test the backbone of our best gear.

Today when I was doing that, I started thinking of all the things I've learned in the past year and all the things that have happened and I started thinking to myself what the actual state of blue Cat fishing was in currently. I started looking at pics of state records and made a quick realization that the state of trophy Blue Cat fishing is better than it's ever been. Don't let the doom and gloom naysayers convince you that the future of trophy blue cattin is in disrepair! Thirty years ago a blue cat over a hundred pounds was pretty much a story from a guy who has a cousin who does underwater welding with scuba gear and saw a catfish bigger than a Volkswagen beetle. Since the late nineties, state records for blue cats have steadily fallen and been broken time and time again. To even think about sniffing a world record you gotta be thinking of bringing in a fish approaching 150 pounds! What that tells me is that the majority of trophy cat guys out there are doing their due diligence in protecting the future of our sport by releasing the giants. Not everyone is on board with that thought process and that's OK. The trophy guys can continue to release the big ones so that another fisherman (or hopefully someones kid!) can make his dream come true. Maybe we befriend those guys and have a chance to change their minds by example! I believe that we are going to see more and more records fall in the next few years and personally, I can't wait to best my own. Heck, I have a feeling that in the next few years, someone is actually gonna land one of those fish that cousin Bob was talking about.......

I was really hoping to hardcore fish the early spring and pre spawn this year. Due to Yamaha dragging their feet for two months on getting me a title for the motor, and the non-stop beating of 20mph plus winds that didn't happen. About the time the stars finally aligned for me, we had a week of upper nineties and the water temps jumped 10-12 degrees. I am saving as many vacation days as I can this year, in anticipation of Fall and Winter monster hunting, along with the hopes of that wind finally calming down to somewhat of a normal level for this region. I'm even going to have an enclosure built for my boat so I can spend some serious time on the water, in the cold, without being completely miserable. Going to see if I can put some serious bends in those new Mad Katz rods. I feel pretty confident I can bust into the forty, and fifty pound club, and maybe even the sixty this year. I agree the Blue Cat population is strong, and getting huge.

David, I love the idea of being able to put together some kind of enclosure for those cold winter days. Unfortunately, having the style of boat that I have, I don't think I can. Maybe I'm not thinking outside the box. Or maybe I just need to buy a different boat. I've seen some pretty good setups on a rig like yours. Although, we gotta figure out how to deal with the "freezing cast-net fingers syndrome". It's like having an abscessed tooth on your hand! It's worth it though.

Geno! BCB and I were talking about a heater in the boat yesterday. One of those that just sits on top of an LP bottle or tank...

I agree with you. I think there are areas of certain rivers that are not as productive as they were in the past due to commercial fishing and pay lakers, etc... But, when you step back and look at the big picture, the future is bright. The records are falling and the number of guys who look at the sport through a conservationists lense is climbing.

Keep that positive attitude brother...

GB & TL

I have taken the month of June off. My family is coming to Alabama the week of July 4th, so no big deal as I have lots of weekend chores that I need to finish. Two weeks ago, I bought 4 dozen bass minnows and just drifted them along the edges of the cliff walls, hoping to catch smallmouths. Turns out those areas were infested with 3 - 5 lb channel catfish, which were a blast to catch on light tackle. The grandkids can't wait to get here and catch skipjack and use them to go after the trophy sized cats. As a added bonus, I've promised to lock them through G Dam. Most of the catfish guides don't book trophy trips during June, but lately they are getting back on the water. The spawn started early and thus finished early and they are putting clients on some decent sized fish.

Lastly, I bought 4 Mad Katz rods at the Catfish Conference. All my other rods have now been retired and are stored in the attic. I have been some testing lower end priced reels. So far the Piscifun Chaos XS 60 reels seem to work very well. But ask me again after I've had them for a year.

Nice post, Geno.

Trophy hunting is an obsession that's for sure.

Catching 'dinks' in the spawn can be done of course, but to be frank personally I just can't get excited about it at all. I was chatting to Tim while out on his new boat yesterday, and I told him I think moving forward I may take June off next year. He told me that many of the professional cat fishing guides do exactly that, have a break to take time out with their families.

One memory from last year stands out for me. Last winter Catfish Tim had called me and told me to get ready to fish that week as it should be good on whatever day it was. I asked him if he had seen the forecast, as it was hovering below freezing with a chance of snow? He told me to just suck it up as it would be worth it. He was right on.

I wrapped up in all my hunting gear, balaclava, and a bunch of hand warmers and off we went. It was crazy cold, Tim threw the net and frankly I couldn't have done that, the water was freezing on the deck, but we soldiered on.

It turned out to be the best days fishing I have ever had. We were pulling in monsters one after the other, Tim knew where they would be hiding and was right on. We spotted a ton of big fish in 40 feet of water, in fact the lower 20 feet was stacked with big fish.

By the time we had finished we had well over 300 pounds of cat's in the boat, and we were both sweating like pigs despite the cold.



That is a 60 mound monster blue that just about tore my arm off, caught on that same day on Tim's old boat under his direction.

That right there is what inspires me.

'Catching freshwater sharks' - yup, and there is nothing quite like it!

No doubt bud, the frozen fingers from cast netting are tough to deal with. I guess that's the one nice thing about winter though. On the lakes I usually catfish on, the shad are so concentrated it usually only takes one or two throws to get all I need for the day.

On the enclosure, just talk to a guy at a boat upholstery shop. If you can put a bimini on it, chances are pretty good it can have an enclosure mated to it.

I've put two Chaos 50's through the paces for over a year now. No complaints at all on my end. I'm about to purchase two of those Purple and Pink Mad Katz rods to put them on, they will be my wife's dedicated rods. For a little more I bought a couple more Lews SC 600's for my Orange Mad Katz rods, and I absolutely love them. The smoothest reel I have ever owned, by far.

You guys make a man want to go fishing and spend money... not sure which more or which first. Lol

Ken

Love the Mad Katz and Matt Knight is good people. Anything I can do to grow his market share I will gladly do. As far as the reels go, I have had and used Kast King Rovers in 40, 60 and 70 size, Penn Squall 20 and Rivel 50, Lews SC600, Slime Cat 7000, and the Shimano Tekotas I run now. The Kast King are good 2 year reels. By that I mean they will last about that long when they get used a lot. Penn Squall is a quality reel but IMHO it doesn't cast well. The Rivel was a cheap reel, wouldn't recommend it. The Lews Speed Cast is a good reel. Casts like butter but again, longevity is not it's thing. The slime cat 7000 surprised me. I think it is basically the same reel as the Kast King. It worked well and still does after a couple years. The Tekotas are my cadillac. They cast great, they are smooth, lots of drag, just a quality reel. They are spendy for sure. As my son always says, buy once cry once...

Post like this make my heart happy-
Very early in my days here on the TFF, I happened upon the catfish section as it was one of my favorite species to fish for.
Because there were some great guys that loved to teach newbie’s then also, this section changed my fishing life.
I learned techniques of course but also about the value of putting the big ones back, and my hopes are that maybe some of the fish you guys have put into your boat could be fish that folks on my boat released 10+ years ago.

That is why it matters IMO-
I venture in here off and on and it’s great to see there are still extremely helpful guys that are teachers at heart that make this section the wonderful place it is.
Although I pretty much only lurk here now, it’s because I see that so many of you guys are already sharing great tips to help others-
We are all fortunate there are people like you, and I bet there are many of the older guys that also still lurk here and see the same thing I see-
I just wanted to drop a post and say thank you, you can bet there folks that you are helping that you may likely never even know about, simply because you took the time to post and then respond to others.
Guys like you made a big difference in my fishing life, as I’m sure you are for others now.

You know who you are!

A big thank you to y’all!

Nice Steveiam... If you love it as much as we do, you have to share it. I told someone the other day I am to the point that I love watching other people catch big fish more than I love catching them myself! Geno is a great guy. I have had the pleasure of fishing with him. Blue Cat Bob and I fish together a lot. Never knew either of them until I got on the TFF. I hope to keep that trend going. Ken, your next!

Bluecat Bob, that is one of my favorite pics from last season. That look on your face tells a story that no words could convey! Kudos to Catfish Tim on making a fellow cat man's dream come true. You, Catfish Tim and El Gato Azul taught me how to use planer boards and it changed my future forever. I think the first time I saw them was watching Chris using them on an El Gato Azul video and I was curious. Then, when I went with you one day was the first time I actually got to use them but I think we only ran two, which, at the time, was almost one more than I was capable of LOL. Catfish Tim took me out on Sandy Too and taught me how to use six at a time. It's a bit of choreographed chaos when you've got them all out but it's definitely the way to up your game. I'm grateful to all of you guys for the lessons and will pay it forward to teach others how to be better trophy fisherman. Hard to believe that as a newbie, you were teaching someone how to be a better cat man!

Ken, I can't wait to see pics from your first time on Dock Holliday with Catfish Tim. That day will definitely cost you more money than you think!

David, I'm interested in how those Chaos 50's stand up over time. I got a couple of Okuma Classics this year and I love them so far. They were less than $65 each and they are super smooth and cast great. I'm just not sure what their longevity is going to be. I'm definitely going to get a couple of the Tekota's that Tim has when I can. Everything I've seen and heard is that they are the best.

Steveiam, you are the one that deserves the thanks here. What you said about helping people that we may never even know really hits home for me. The guys you are talking about helped me become a much better fisherman. Some of the guys I learned from don't have a clue that they influenced me. You are also right that they know who they are! Some of those guys don't post much anymore but I know they still lurk every now and then and I want to thank them as well. Cat guys are a unique breed and I feel like we are a more cooperative and supportive group than some of the others.

Hmm, looks like my post earlier did not get in. trying once again.

My boss up at work uses a heater to Crappie fish in the winter. A lounge chair to fish at night in the summer due to the heat of the day. On his previous boat, he set up a shelf over his motor for his ice chest to make more room on the deck. Plus he set up his own green light tubes.

So there are a lot of innovations out there.

For me, I have a PVC roof frame so I can put a tarp (poly) for extreme sun, or rain. Plus my uncle rigged up a light system, which had 4 LED (multi bulb) flashlight heads (from flashlights that used 2 C or D 1.5 volts) which if you use 4 that would be 12 volts if wired correctly. He then set them in PVC "Tees" on a runner PVC tube, to where we attached by plastic zip ties very tight to the front upper roof frame. He added and end PVC handle so the angle could be adjusted. Straight out for cruisin' at night, angled slightly down for running the shallows with constant stumps here & there to be able to spot them, as well as straight down to where I would be running or baiting my trotlines, juglines, or throwlines. Of course, he ran the wire back to a switch control. And with them being LED, very low draw on the battery.

You can rig up for night runs during the summer to beat that extra heat, you just have to sit down & map it out. For instance, I have a PVC "Tube" Shoot/Chute, or Plume up front. I stand my 5 assorted dip nets (3 short & 3 long) in them. I can easily catch 1# to 60#+ easily. I have them set to where it will drain in case of rain.Then I have another one for a sledge hammer & 2 or 3 hand short gaffs (in case of a really feisty one). So everything is there when I need it & easily grabbed according to the situation. With the proper lighting above, I can see what I am doing & be in control of the situation.

If you want to set it up, to where you can take down for travel, you can do that as well by not gluing a specific joint.

Lynn, if you get a chance, post a pic or two of that setup. Sounds interesting. I'd like to see it and put some ideas together.