2021 Catfish Thread

[kparker158]

Well I guess it’s time to kick it off.



January 9th we took a road trip to the Tennessee River in Rogersville Alabama. We were planning on fishing Wheeler Lake but they had hosted large tournament the weekend before. So we ended up on Wilson. Josh Brown with Backwoods Catfishing Guide Service was our guide. (He won 2nd in tournament weekend before). Slow day fishing landing around 8 fish all in the 12-15lb range and finally got a big boy to play. Weighed 39.5Lbs breaking my personal best. Was a great time and learned a lot from Josh.



I’m keeping an eye on the weather this weekend, might try make the 4hr drive to Tawakoni. Anyone else fishing for Trophy winter catfish?



Posting pics from Tapatalk here in a second.

[mattfox]

Good day and nice fish.

[mattfox]

I caught a 42 on Twok last week. I don’t know how to post pics tho.

[kparker158]

Originally Posted by mattfox

I caught a 42 on Twok last week. I don’t know how to post pics tho.

Very nice, how deep of water?

[MadHatter]

Been killing em on Twak.
30-50ft.

[kparker158]

Cant beat that! Looking forward to getting up there.

[ATX BANDIT]

Awesome fish! Beside hunting, catfishing is the next best thing lol

[BLACKFINTURKEY]

Some big cats congrats! I need to invest more time trying to catch them
On rod and reel.

[kparker158]

Originally Posted by BLACKFINTURKEY

Some big cats congrats! I need to invest more time trying to catch them
On rod and reel.

Its awesome. I look forward to Winter/Spring more than I look forward to Hunting season now.

[TexaRican]

Are those giant cats good eating? I grew up cane pole bank fishing under a 9" min and 40/day limit. We'd limit often but average maybe 12". They were great. Never cleaned one more than maybe 10lbs.

[Dale Moser]

We are going to Lake Murray in Oklahoma early next month camping with 3 other families. We won't have a boat, but our sites are right on the water.

Any recommendations on bait, setups, tricks for catching catfish? I'm not familiar with the lake, or depth at our sites.

[Big Lee]

Originally Posted by Dale Moser

We are going to Lake Murray in Oklahoma early next month camping with 3 other families. We won't have a boat, but our sites are right on the water.

Any recommendations on bait, setups, tricks for catching catfish? I'm not familiar with the lake, or depth at our sites.

I have caught every catfish in the last 20 years or so while enjoying a cold beer. Not sure how or why, but I highly recommend this method

[Dale Moser]

Originally Posted by Big Lee

I have caught every catfish in the last 20 years or so while enjoying a cold beer. Not sure how or why, but I highly recommend this method

That part, I happen to excel at!

[kparker158]

Originally Posted by Dale Moser

We are going to Lake Murray in Oklahoma early next month camping with 3 other families. We won't have a boat, but our sites are right on the water.

Any recommendations on bait, setups, tricks for catching catfish? I'm not familiar with the lake, or depth at our sites.

This is pretty much the rig I use, really don’t need a barrel swivel, I just use the eye of the weight. I’ll throw some lines with peg floats and some without.

As far as bait, Shad is always a top performer but using cut up perch/bluegill works for me also. Plus perch are fun for the kids to catch.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MadHatter]

Originally Posted by TexaRican

Are those giant cats good eating? I grew up cane pole bank fishing under a 9" min and 40/day limit. We'd limit often but average maybe 12". They were great. Never cleaned one more than maybe 10lbs.

The ones out of Tawokoni are .
Haven't kept a big one in yrs, but don’t think anything has changed.

[MadHatter]

Originally Posted by kparker158

This is pretty much the rig I use, really don’t need a barrel swivel, I just use the eye of the weight. I’ll throw some lines with peg floats and some without.

As far as bait, Shad is always a top performer but using cut up perch/bluegill works for me also. Plus perch are fun for the kids to catch.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Love this rig.
Personally I wouldn't be tight lining from the bank with it unless there was a little current.

[Dale Moser]

Originally Posted by MadHatter

Love this rig.
Personally I wouldn't be tight lining from the bank with it unless there was a little current.

I was just gonna throw it as far as I can, stick it in a rod holder with the bait clicker on, and start peelin Lone Stars.


So basically a Carolina rig, with the peg float added, and a catfish hook....even I can handle that! I'll look for a bait shop, but the kids will be perch fishing as well.

I had a guy work for me for a while who caught hundreds of pounds of catfish a month on Bar S hotdog weiners partly rotten, so I was gonna try to have something like that ready.

[wytex]

Ice fishing season up here. Good friend brought us some nice channel cat filets he caught under the ice in Eastern Wyoming. Have to say the cold water really gives the meat a nice firm texture and the lake is on a river so the water is pretty clear too. Great eating.
Trying to coordinate on a day to go out with him.

Not anything near the size of the posted catches, those are awesome fish !
Some ice catches from last year.

[Hammerhead]

Nice fish and great advice on this thread!

[BLACKFINTURKEY]

Where are the target areas right now for river fishing? I fish some Guadalupe River lakes with low currents...

[hogslayer78]

We had decent trip out on Conroe yesterday. First time out this year. Wind was up and water was rough but we managed 23 good eaters.

[Mr. Whiskers]

Originally Posted by Dale Moser

I was just gonna throw it as far as I can, stick it in a rod holder with the bait clicker on, and start peelin Lone Stars.


So basically a Carolina rig, with the peg float added, and a catfish hook....even I can handle that! I'll look for a bait shop, but the kids will be perch fishing as well.

I had a guy work for me for a while who caught hundreds of pounds of catfish a month on Bar S hotdog weiners partly rotten, so I was gonna try to have something like that ready.

BAR S soaked in kool aid works great. Gonna be hard to cast them very far without slinging them off. You'd be better off using liver. Cut with scissors so the membrane stays stuck to the meat. Cast as far as you want.

[Quackerbox]

Originally Posted by Mr. Whiskers

BAR S soaked in kool aid works great. Gonna be hard to cast them very far without slinging them off. You'd be better off using liver. Cut with scissors so the membrane stays stuck to the meat. Cast as far as you want.

you gonna have to school me on them big fish down this way. Something Ive always wanted to try

[Tbuddyandroby]

Here are a few cats from different days this year on Lake Conroe.

[Hart8]

Originally Posted by Dale Moser

I was just gonna throw it as far as I can, stick it in a rod holder with the bait clicker on, and start peelin Lone Stars.


So basically a Carolina rig, with the peg float added, and a catfish hook....even I can handle that! I'll look for a bait shop, but the kids will be perch fishing as well.

I had a guy work for me for a while who caught hundreds of pounds of catfish a month on Bar S hotdog weiners partly rotten, so I was gonna try to have something like that ready.

Dale,get a bag of range cubes;and slang about ten pounds of em out from the bank.20% ones sink faster than 16%.Don't know why,but they do.In cold water it takes awhile for em to start breaking down.The catfish will be in that area in a couple hours.I won't even go catfishing without a bag of range cubes.Never caught anything over 6/7 pounds,bit always limit out pretty quick.

[kparker158]

Originally Posted by Tbuddyandroby

Here are a few cats from different days this year on Lake Conroe.

Nice, I’m going to try to get out on Conroe this weekend if weather is good. Try to chase big blues

[SaltwaterSlick]

If you guy are just lookin' for eaters, get you a 5 gallon bucket and fill it up about 2/3 full of milo, then fill it with water and put the lid on and sit it out in the sun... It'll sour in a week or 2 and will keep like that for a year or more and still be "good"... You don't have to add anything to it, but you can... some add a beer, a pack of brewer's yeast or some other fermentation catalyst, but just putting the maze in a bucket of water will get it cookin' pretty good.


Got to a spot on the lake (I used to fish CornRow a lot) that maybe you've caught fish before and throw out a coffee can or 2 of that maze. most of it will sink... give it a few minutes to draw in the fish... If' there's any in the area, that will concentrate them and make them come to you rather than you having to go hunt for them...

[bigchiefj]

Originally Posted by SaltwaterSlick

If you guy are just lookin' for eaters, get you a 5 gallon bucket and fill it up about 2/3 full of milo, then fill it with water and put the lid on and sit it out in the sun... It'll sour in a week or 2 and will keep like that for a year or more and still be "good"... You don't have to add anything to it, but you can... some add a beer, a pack of brewer's yeast or some other fermentation catalyst, but just putting the maze in a bucket of water will get it cookin' pretty good.


Got to a spot on the lake (I used to fish CornRow a lot) that maybe you've caught fish before and throw out a coffee can or 2 of that maze. most of it will sink... give it a few minutes to draw in the fish... If' there's any in the area, that will concentrate them and make them come to you rather than you having to go hunt for them...

Chopped corn works too.

[SaltwaterSlick]

It does and it "sours" quicker, but it also goes bad/rots quicker than maze. I've got 2 buckets of maze now that are at least a year old and they still look like I just started them, but that smell.... well, it's pungent!!

[kparker158]

My Ipilot Terrova showed up today. Pretty excited to get the boat rigged up how I want it. Ordered the MulTBar Rod racks last week, still waiting on them to ship.

[kparker158]

Anyone going after them this weekend?

[sailor]

Originally Posted by Dale Moser

We are going to Lake Murray in Oklahoma early next month camping with 3 other families. We won't have a boat, but our sites are right on the water.

Any recommendations on bait, setups, tricks for catching catfish? I'm not familiar with the lake, or depth at our sites.

Dale, I've fished Murry hundreds of times.......But mostly for Bass........
And in a boat.........
But that lake, is very deep, and very cold............
Been SCUBA diving there as well.......Although, the water is extremely
clear......... I got an ear infection every time.......
I love the lake, and the lodge.....
Good luck..... and give us a report,.....................

[duckmanep]

Interesting....

TPW Commission Approves Changes to Freshwater Fishing Regulations for 2021-22

AUSTIN — The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopted multiple changes to the freshwater fishing regulations for the upcoming 2021-2022 season at the meeting held virtually March 25. Changes to length and bag limits for blue and channel catfish statewide and at specific locations highlight this year’s list of freshwater fishing regulation changes. The changes also include minor modifications to passive gear float dimensions.

The changes that were enacted for the 2021-22 license year and take effect September 1, 2021, are listed below. In addition, the details of these new regulations will be incorporated into the 2021-22 edition of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Outdoor Annual.

The current statewide regulations for blue and channel catfish consist of a 12-inch minimum length limit and a 25-fish daily bag limit that combines both species. The changes remove the minimum length limit (fish of any length could be harvested) and retain the 25-fish daily bag. However, of the 25 blue or channel catfish that could be harvested per day, anglers will be limited to harvesting no more than 10 fish that measure 20 inches or longer.

Two new exceptions to the statewide regulations for blue and channel catfish were adopted. The first category follows the no minimum length limit and 25-fish daily bag limit for blue and channel catfish from the approved statewide regulations but further limits the number of fish 20 inches or larger that could be harvested per day to five and further limits the number of fish 30 inches or larger that could be harvested to one. A total of 12 locations were approved for this category. Following are the locations and their current regulations.

Six locations that are currently under statewide regulations: Lakes Belton (Bell and Coryell counties), Bob Sandlin (Camp, Franklin, and Titus counties), Conroe (Montgomery and Walker counties), Hubbard Creek (Stephens County), Lavon (Collin County), and Ray Hubbard (Collin, Dallas, Kaufman, and Rockwall counties).
Three locations currently under a 30- to 45-inch slot length limit: Lewisville (Denton County), Richland-Chambers (Freestone and Navarro counties), and Waco (McClennan County).
Two locations currently under no minimum length limit and a 50-fish daily bag limit but with harvest limits of five fish that measure 20 inches or longer: Kirby (Taylor County) and Palestine (Cherokee, Anderson, Henderson, and Smith counties).
Lake Tawakoni (Hunt, Rains, and Van Zandt counties) currently is under similar regulations: no minimum but with harvest limits of seven over 20 inches and two over 30 inches.
The final new exemption category is a 14-inch minimum length limit and a 15-fish combined daily bag for blue and channel catfish. Locations for this category, which are currently under statewide regulations, are:

Lakes Braunig (Bexar County), Calaveras (Bexar County), Choke Canyon (Live Oak and McMullen counties), Fayette County (Fayette County), and Proctor (Comanche County).
Additionally, two reservoirs will be added to an existing blue and channel catfish regulation category: no minimum length limit and a 50-fish bag limit with the additional restriction that no more than five fish of 30 inches or larger could be harvested per day. Those reservoirs are Lake Livingston (Polk, San Jacinto, Trinity, and Walker counties), which has a 12-inch minimum length limit and 50-fish daily bag limit, and Lake Sam Rayburn (Jasper County), which is currently under statewide regulations.

These two reservoirs, Lake Livingston and Lake Sam Rayburn and these reservoirs, Lakes Caddo (Harrison and Marion counties) and Toledo Bend (Newton Sabine, and Shelby counties), and the Sabine River (Newton and Orange counties), which are currently in the above regulation category, will also be added to the regulations for commercial harvest.

Current statewide length and bag limits for commercial harvest will remain at 14 inches and 25 fish [both species combined], and a five-fish bag limit will apply on all community fishing lakes and lying totally within a state park.

Changes were also adopted to standardize the descriptions for float dimensions for some passive gears as length and width rather than height and diameter. Also, inadvertently, the width of the float for minnow traps was listed as 6 inches, and it should be 3 inches.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/rel...?req=20210326b

[hogslayer78]

Caught 51 Friday morning on Conroe hitting bulkheads

[kparker158]

Originally Posted by hogslayer78

Caught 51 Friday morning on Conroe hitting bulkheads

On like Donkey Kong Lol. Using shrimp or Shad? What rig do you usually use for the channels? All of my rods are set up for bigger fish but I want to hit the bulkheads soon.

[kurt68]

My son and i hit the bulkheads yesterday on Conroe, I think we had thirty in 5 hours. One 5 lb blue and the rest channels. Slow and steady, we used shrimp and chicken livers. They bit on both about even. I won't say where we were either.

We use spin cast rods with 12 lb. test. A #1 crappie hook and a split shot about a foot above it and throw against the bulkhead and hang on.

[hogslayer78]

Originally Posted by kparker158

On like Donkey Kong Lol. Using shrimp or Shad? What rig do you usually use for the channels? All of my rods are set up for bigger fish but I want to hit the bulkheads soon.

Carolina rig with 1/2 oz weight and 12" to 14" leader and 2/0 circle hook. All but one was caught on shrimp.

[Tshelly]

Tagged


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AggieSportsman]

Originally Posted by hogslayer78

Carolina rig with 1/2 oz weight and 12" to 14" leader and 2/0 circle hook. All but one was caught on shrimp.

Where do you get your shrimp from? I just can't seem to bring myself to pay over $5/lbs for headless/de-veined shrimp from the grocery store.

[kurt68]

Originally Posted by AggieSportsman

Where do you get your shrimp from? I just can't seem to bring myself to pay over $5/lbs for headless/de-veined shrimp from the grocery store.

Kroger here, it was 4.49 a bag for wild frozen deshelled. There was like 40 in the bag.

[hogslayer78]

Originally Posted by kurt68

Kroger here, it was 4.49 a bag for wild frozen deshelled. There was like 40 in the bag.

This is what I use also but normally get mine at walmart and buy medium easy peel raw and it's like $7.99 a bag for like 60 shrimp.

[Boss Buck]

[Boss Buck]

Well crud. She’s sideways!!

[hogslayer78]

Originally Posted by Boss Buck

Well crud. She’s sideways!!

I will turn her for you

[kparker158]

I guess Xpress is the favorite around here Lol. I got an H18B. Here’s a couple toads we have been catching in the San Jac. The blue is from Livingston.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mayhem]

Headed to Conroe Saturday. Calling for a north wind. Hoping it’s doesn’t get screwed up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kurt68]

Originally Posted by Mayhem

Headed to Conroe Saturday. Calling for a north wind. Hoping it’s doesn’t get screwed up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm gonna try Friday.

[MadHatter]

Originally Posted by hogslayer78

I will turn her for you

That's a boat anker for a weight.

[Mayhem]

Y’all think these weak cold fronts will have much of an impact on Conroe?? Trying to get a game plan together for Saturday.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[hogslayer78]

Originally Posted by Mayhem

Y’all think these weak cold fronts will have much of an impact on Conroe?? Trying to get a game plan together for Saturday.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No sir. Was 43 last Friday morning when we went post front.