mauser06

yesterday i finally catfished with live bait after wanting to for a while. i set my minnow trap and caught about 20 fathead minnows in the 1-4inch range. i was fishing for bass and such on the light rod while it was still daylight with a bobber. the catfish rod had a live 4 inch fathead minnow on it. got a few little hits where my rod tip would move but he wouldnt take it. finally he did and my rod bowed over! i set the hook with all i could and he barely budged! i fought him for 5 mins or so with 17lb test and a 17lb leader. i kept my cool and kept pressure on him and loosened the drag. he took a fewwwww reel screaming runs. the typical big catfish head tossing the whole 9yds. then he burried me in a log jam or something.i had pressure on him and could tell he burried me so i was just trying to hold him and tugg lightly to direct him. waiting when the line went limp!!!! ahhh man he had to be huge. darkness fell. i sent my buddy to go get chicken liver. i sat there fishing...all the dead minnows from the bass fishing earlier i used for bait on my light rod. caught a nice 18-20 inch channel. then 15 minutes later the light rob bowed over. i set the hook and he took off. i only have 8lb iron silk on that rod and the line is OLD. whenever iron silk came out is how old that line is. its tough line. and i had on my 17lb test leader. he fought me for 10-15 minutes and i landed him. a nice flathead. he wasnt giantly FAT but i couldnt get my hand aroud his belly like a small cat. and he was long. i want to say 26-30 inches. gota be pushing 10lbs. then after that i caught a nice channel. all on big dead crushed up minnows(i used a rock to smash them a bit) and all on the 8lb rod!! heres some pics. keep in mind im 5'10" 200+lbs. the pics dont do either fish justice. i dont know why they look like good pics but they dont show the fatness well at all. what do you guys think the flathead weighed?? here he is







heres the nicer channel




very fun night out on the river. i cant wait to get back out. hopefully tomarrow night. i gota call my buddy later and set the minnow trap if he wants to fish tomarrow. i wish i would landed that bigger fish. he would been a brute i bet. that bigger flathead had NOTHING on the first strike i lost! and i fought him on 17lb line not 8! man im bummed! but i know where hes at and know what he wants to eat!

is it common when using live baits to have them peck at it a while then finally slam it?? they slammed the dead minnows HARD. but the live 3-4 inch minnow got pecked at a while then finally got hit hard. is that common and what to expect or what?? thanx guys...hope you like the pics!!

Criggster

I would guess the flathead to be about 5lbs. Glad to see your hooked on cats!

mauser06

catfishing is a blast. ive always loved catfishing, but never wised up and used live bait or freshly killed bait. i was always a chicken liver chucker. im never going to look back now! i set the trap again just now and in a better spot with more bait. i think i should have more bait and hopefully a few bigger ones. ill take the ultralight and some worms or bread with me and try to catch a few bigger baitfish if needed tomarrow. at work tomarrow im going to get some good leader line and im going to try to catch that tacklebuster!! anything that snapps 17lb test line gota be a nice...i cant wait!

Chuck7

5 pounds 2 ounces [8D]

Scott/IL

Over the past few years of serious fishing I realized fish bite better on dead/cut baits better and live bait on other days. I usually throw out alot of poles at first with different baits to see what I should be using and then narrow it down to 2 poles in specific areas.

What type of knot do you use? I have found that a strong knot is almost as important as the line strength.

When I first started fishing for big cats alot of them would what I thought at the time snap the line, so I kept going to bigger and bigger line with no such luck.

I then put a little more care into tying my hooks on and I now consistently reel in 10-15 lbs. cats on light rods withno more than 10 lbs. test on it. Talk about a fun fight!!!

Now 10 lbs. test will not do it for bigger cats so I would definantly suggest something around 20 or bigger and braided line is great, but tie those knots tight!!!Good luckand go get that big flathead.

mauser06

illinois buck hunter..i use an improved clinch knot right now. mainly because its simple to tie and ive never had a problem with anything slipping. i may switch to something stronger. i tie my leaders at home so the ease doesnt matter...what do you recomend? i know it wasnt my knot that broke last night. my leader was about half the legnth it should have been! it was all frayed up and it was 17lb stren mono. he snagged me into something. im not sure whats out there but i think he was right where i occassionally get snagged. rock pile, wood pile, car..train. theres something out there lol. its where a good sized river flows into the BIGGER Ohio river. and right to the side of a shallow mud flat. its a pretty good spot and i think its pretty deep. i cant wait to get back out tomarrow. ill probably buy 100yd spool of spider line or something. i want to have a good leader on the end of my lines. if i play them right i shouldnt have too many problems with them breaking me with a good leader. though i know theres still that 8lb and 17lb on the other rod between us. i switched to using leaders because of the rocks and such. they get frayed up pretty quick. i keep a bucket and throw all the bad ones into it and cut the swivels and hooks off at home. i hope to tie into another tackle buster tomarrow.

speaking of tackle busters...my friend bought a cheap walmart special "saltwater" rig in ocean city this year and he got a snag yesterday and busted the rod in half lol. i was watching him and he really wasnt bending the rod all too much..nothing i thought should broke it! lol. guess you get what you pay for. i want to get me a good catfish rig or 2..i just dont have the cash right now and might not have much use for them in a couple years when i move hopefully. ill miss my catfishing if there isnt any though!

bigbuckOO

Way to go man, i told ya you would have some fun with some big live minnies. Too bad on that bigger cat, sounds like it was a nice one. I currently have 50 pound braided spiderwire on my catfish rod. I really like the braided line better then the mono, and the spiderwire has a very low diameter so you can get more on a spool even if its 50 pound plus. Keep at it, you'll land a hog one of these days.

Scott/IL

Braided line is tough to beat. I use anywhere from 20-50 lbs. braided lineon my heavier poles and 10-20 lbs. mono on the smaller poles depending on what I'm fishing with.

Oh yeah and I forgot to say earlier, those are some nice cats you caught there.