Kara reached out to us and purchased a half day fishing trip for her dad‘s birthday present. The group was interested in trophy size catfish. We had plenty of bait left over from our morning trip so we picked the group up and took off to start fishing.
It was a gorgeous 70° day, but the wind was howling. With steady winds around 15 to 20 miles an hour we had to choose our fishing locations carefully. In our first spot, we targeted structure and the fish weren’t super interested for the first 20 minutes. We started to get a couple taps on the rod and eventually one folded over. Kara was quick to grab the rod and we realized this was going to be a good fish coming out of the shallows.
Kara and her dad have been all over the world fishing so big fish were nothing new as she battled this blue catfish. The fish made a run for deep water and we had to move the rod across the rod rack to the outside of the boat.
The fight was a little chaotic, but eventually the fish was right under the boat and Kara started to lift it towards the net. We were anchored in about 18 feet of water so the fish came to the surface quickly and we scooped it up with the net. We were all happy to see a nice big blue catfish hit the deck, but a little disappointed when it only weighed 25 pounds. It was a great fish but a little shy of the trophy marked by weight. We pulled out the ruler and this fish had a length of 39 inches which well over the requirement of 38 inches. Congratulations on the trophy blue catfish.
The bite died off in this location and the wind started to swirl so we made a big run down river to a spot that has consistently holding fish. When we got to the new location, we scanned with the sonar and there were plenty of big fish around. We set up the boat and tossed out an 8 rod spread. We were surprised that the action was not very fast. We had one good tap and the fish drop the bait before we could get to the rod.
Another 15 minutes went by and then another rod got hit but the fish dropped it. This pattern continued, but eventually one hooked up and started screaming dragged on a spinning reel. Nick grabbed the rod and reeled in the fish. This was his first fishing trip and he did a great job. After a quick fight, he had his first ever blue catfish in the boat right around 10 pounds. Nice catch.
We sat for a while longer without a ton of action, but eventually, James caught one more small fish in this area.
Time flies on the water and we found ourselves with about an hour and a half left in the trip and a 20 minute ride back to the boat ramp. We pulled out to the main channel and started relying on the sonar as we spot hopped up the river scanning to see if there were any fish before throwing out an anchor.
Captain Dan was not successful marking many fish so we kept on trying to look and after about 10 minutes of scanning, we found a cluster of nice fish hugging tight to the channel ledge. The wind changed directions from earlier in the day so it was hard to get the boat settled. We had to rely on a double anchor system with the trolling motor and a secondary anchor at the back of the boat. It took a little while to get the boat settled but it was worth the effort. Almost immediately a few rods started to get tapped right where we had marked the fish. One of the fish hooked up and it was another eater size blue catfish.
We had tossed a couple rods near some structure on the channel ledge, and a few minutes after catching that eater size fish something started to play around with one of the pink hellcat rods. This particular rod had a giant hickory shad headpiece on it and we were under the impression it was a small fish, unsuccessfully trying to pick up the head piece. This went on for a good 10 minutes. The fish would pick up the head piece, the rod tip would twitch and it would drop it. Kara was determined to hook this fish and stood by getting ready to reel down once she saw a convincing take on the rod. After what felt like an eternity, Kara made her move on the rod and was rewarded with a massive head pull in return. The rod started to swim up river and once it got right under the boat she couldn’t lift the fish. It was suctioned to the bottom. The subtle and persistent bite, combined with the way the rod went down, looked like a textbook flathead bite.
After a minute of trying to lift the fish, the fish finally broke loose from the bottom, but it did not want to come to the boat. It started to thrash and run for the channel, then decide to run back to the flats and took us across the road rack in a chaotic moment. Despite the violent head shakes, Kara stayed calm and handled the fish like a champ. Soon the fish was right under the boat and on his way to us. Captain Dan grabbed the net and we were all amazed to see a giant flathead catfish surface like a submarine. This fish was a true river monster and weighed in at 38 pounds with a length of 45 inches. Congrats on another trophy fish!
The rods were continuing to be bit somewhat steadily, and we are hoping to catch one more fish before their trip wrapped up. We had a big run on a bait out in the channel. The fish dropped the bait when we went to reel down on the rod. With our time running out one more rod went down with another eater size catfish.
Half day trips go by really quick, but we made the most of it and had somewhat steady action throughout the entire trip. We sent the group home with the memories of two trophy fish, some trophy chips and a successful day of fishing on the river. Kara, Nick, and James were all able to catch multiple fish.
Thank you for coming out. We hope to see you on the river again someday soon.
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