11-11-2024, 08:42 PM
Jon and I looked ahead at the weather and other commitments and decided Saturday 10/12 might be our last shot at a bump fish in the catfish contest. My wife was a half inch ahead of me and I was half an inch ahead of Jon. Julie said she wasn’t going to make this trip.
Due to other commitments, we settled on an afternoon/evening trip and got to the UL State Park ramp at 1:30 P.M. Air temp was near 80 and the water was over 65 degrees, crazy for mid-October.
At 2, we started strolling FLAITs and white bass chunks at 0.5 MPH in about 9 FOW. It took just over 30 minutes for the first fish to hit. It was a healthy 28 that picked a medium sized blue and silver SnG. A good start, but counting the 8 from yesterday’s trip, it meant 9 in a row w/o a 30+. Well below average for the previous 6 weeks.
The next 2 hours were decent, we averaged 3 cats/hour, but none were over 30. I started to wonder if the bigger fish had moved. I also started to wonder if I was going to get any more as Jon had caught the last 6 straight! It seemed like everything was going his way. If anyone got a bumper today, it looked like it would be him.
Fishing had been steady but slower than a few weeks ago. It looked like the fish were scattering like they usually do by mid-October, even though the water was still warm.
About 5:15 we finally hit a good spurt. 5 fish in about 30 minutes, and the pendulum had begun to swing. 4 of the 5 were mine and one was almost 31”. We started thinking the numbers and the bigger fish were moving in for the evening.
![[Image: 31.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/QBGQr2dS/31.jpg)
Apparently, we were wrong. The next 90 minutes produced 5 fish, but consistently below the 30-inch mark and all came as singles. We were now looking at only one 30+ in the last 27 fish (counting the 8 from Friday that came from the same general area). We talked about moving but decided our next best spot was too far to go in the time we had left. The sun was setting and that usually brought a decent increase in the catching and often the size.
![[Image: Sunset.avif]](https://i.postimg.cc/8JTL7LW6/Sunset.avif)
Julie called just as it was getting dark and asked when we would be home. I told her we would pull the gear at 10 if things got quiet and 11 if we found some promising fish. Either way we would be home by midnight.
As we put the glow tips on the rods and got the headlamps ready, things got eerily quiet. We went 20 minutes w/o a hit, then 30 minutes. I said I thought we had to move. We must be either too close to shore or too far out. Logic said in this warm water they should be moving shallow to feed, but it would take us over an hour to get there at strolling speed. At 45 minutes of nothing we talked again. After 10 minutes of discussing scenarios, Jon said: “What does your gut say?” I said: “logic says shallower, but my gut says farther out.”
At 9:15, with less than 2 hours left, we pulled the gear and pointed the boat west. I ran the big motor for what I estimated would have moved us half a mile farther out and we started over. True to form, it took just under 30 minutes for the first cat to hit, but it was a nice one, a 30-inch cat for Jon. 30 minutes later he got another at 29.5. “They seem to be getting bigger, but we are running out of time,” I said. I didn’t know it until I reviewed the video, but at that point Jon had landed 13 cats to my 8.
Just after 10:15 things turned my way. I got a hook up on my far back rod, my first in almost 2.5 hours. It felt like a good fish, but as Pat says, “They are all good, some are just better than others!” This one came in just shy of 30 and was barely in the net when my close rod doubled over. I unhooked the cat in the net, cast the back rod back out and picked up the other one, the drag now screaming for attention.
“How does it feel,” asked Jon. “Better fish!” I replied. Five minutes later we netted it and put it on the board… 31.5”, great cat and the best fish of the day, but still a bit short. We took some pictures and as I released it, I looked at the clock, 10:56. “I won’t put this rod back in since I told Julie the gear would be out at 11,” I said.
![[Image: 31-5.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/k6MtJq3N/31-5.jpg)
Just as I started to open the rod storage, I heard the drag on my back rod start complaining. I leaned on it to ensure the hook was set and again Jon said: “How does it feel?”
“Just about like the last one, really good fish, but not spectacular.” Then I mumbled something about it being harder to tell in the dark. Since this was the far back rod, it took 6 or 7 minutes to get it close to the boat. A solid battle, but no long fast runs or refusing to come to the top. As it broke the surface Jon leaned over to net it and his headlamp shone directly on it, it swapped ends and took off hard.
“That’s a big fish!” he said. “So was the last one,” I replied, “Now we just need to get it in the net and see what we got. But it’s mad now!” The second time it came close he easily netted it. In the dark I could only see it was another very good fish. When I laid it on the board, I started to get excited. “It’s going to make 32.5 for sure,” I said as it flopped off onto the floor. “That will put me tied with Julie, a great way to end a great year,” I said.
After it stopped flopping around, I laid it back on the board and laid the placard on it. “My gosh Jon, it’s going to make 33. That’s my longest cat ever! It will put me half an inch ahead of Julie. I hope she doesn’t kill me.”
![[Image: 33-PB.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/VSfNMgGm/33-PB.jpg)
![[Image: Jim-s-Happy.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/r0zFZm2H/Jim-s-Happy.jpg)
We grinned a lot and exchanged high fives. Just as I released it, Jon’s far back rod bent over. While I was stowing the rest of the gear, he landed another one just shy of 30. We found the bigguns, and it was time to head home.
It has been an amazing year for us with all the big cats we have found, but I’m still amazed that for the last two hours of the last night we moved in just the right direction and distance to get my last and biggest cat of the year, less than 5 minutes before I told Julie we would quit fishing. I can only count it as a blessing and a great memory!
P.S. I'm starting t oget caught up on reports, next up Strawberry.
Due to other commitments, we settled on an afternoon/evening trip and got to the UL State Park ramp at 1:30 P.M. Air temp was near 80 and the water was over 65 degrees, crazy for mid-October.
At 2, we started strolling FLAITs and white bass chunks at 0.5 MPH in about 9 FOW. It took just over 30 minutes for the first fish to hit. It was a healthy 28 that picked a medium sized blue and silver SnG. A good start, but counting the 8 from yesterday’s trip, it meant 9 in a row w/o a 30+. Well below average for the previous 6 weeks.
The next 2 hours were decent, we averaged 3 cats/hour, but none were over 30. I started to wonder if the bigger fish had moved. I also started to wonder if I was going to get any more as Jon had caught the last 6 straight! It seemed like everything was going his way. If anyone got a bumper today, it looked like it would be him.
Fishing had been steady but slower than a few weeks ago. It looked like the fish were scattering like they usually do by mid-October, even though the water was still warm.
About 5:15 we finally hit a good spurt. 5 fish in about 30 minutes, and the pendulum had begun to swing. 4 of the 5 were mine and one was almost 31”. We started thinking the numbers and the bigger fish were moving in for the evening.
Apparently, we were wrong. The next 90 minutes produced 5 fish, but consistently below the 30-inch mark and all came as singles. We were now looking at only one 30+ in the last 27 fish (counting the 8 from Friday that came from the same general area). We talked about moving but decided our next best spot was too far to go in the time we had left. The sun was setting and that usually brought a decent increase in the catching and often the size.
Julie called just as it was getting dark and asked when we would be home. I told her we would pull the gear at 10 if things got quiet and 11 if we found some promising fish. Either way we would be home by midnight.
As we put the glow tips on the rods and got the headlamps ready, things got eerily quiet. We went 20 minutes w/o a hit, then 30 minutes. I said I thought we had to move. We must be either too close to shore or too far out. Logic said in this warm water they should be moving shallow to feed, but it would take us over an hour to get there at strolling speed. At 45 minutes of nothing we talked again. After 10 minutes of discussing scenarios, Jon said: “What does your gut say?” I said: “logic says shallower, but my gut says farther out.”
At 9:15, with less than 2 hours left, we pulled the gear and pointed the boat west. I ran the big motor for what I estimated would have moved us half a mile farther out and we started over. True to form, it took just under 30 minutes for the first cat to hit, but it was a nice one, a 30-inch cat for Jon. 30 minutes later he got another at 29.5. “They seem to be getting bigger, but we are running out of time,” I said. I didn’t know it until I reviewed the video, but at that point Jon had landed 13 cats to my 8.
Just after 10:15 things turned my way. I got a hook up on my far back rod, my first in almost 2.5 hours. It felt like a good fish, but as Pat says, “They are all good, some are just better than others!” This one came in just shy of 30 and was barely in the net when my close rod doubled over. I unhooked the cat in the net, cast the back rod back out and picked up the other one, the drag now screaming for attention.
“How does it feel,” asked Jon. “Better fish!” I replied. Five minutes later we netted it and put it on the board… 31.5”, great cat and the best fish of the day, but still a bit short. We took some pictures and as I released it, I looked at the clock, 10:56. “I won’t put this rod back in since I told Julie the gear would be out at 11,” I said.
Just as I started to open the rod storage, I heard the drag on my back rod start complaining. I leaned on it to ensure the hook was set and again Jon said: “How does it feel?”
“Just about like the last one, really good fish, but not spectacular.” Then I mumbled something about it being harder to tell in the dark. Since this was the far back rod, it took 6 or 7 minutes to get it close to the boat. A solid battle, but no long fast runs or refusing to come to the top. As it broke the surface Jon leaned over to net it and his headlamp shone directly on it, it swapped ends and took off hard.
“That’s a big fish!” he said. “So was the last one,” I replied, “Now we just need to get it in the net and see what we got. But it’s mad now!” The second time it came close he easily netted it. In the dark I could only see it was another very good fish. When I laid it on the board, I started to get excited. “It’s going to make 32.5 for sure,” I said as it flopped off onto the floor. “That will put me tied with Julie, a great way to end a great year,” I said.
After it stopped flopping around, I laid it back on the board and laid the placard on it. “My gosh Jon, it’s going to make 33. That’s my longest cat ever! It will put me half an inch ahead of Julie. I hope she doesn’t kill me.”
We grinned a lot and exchanged high fives. Just as I released it, Jon’s far back rod bent over. While I was stowing the rest of the gear, he landed another one just shy of 30. We found the bigguns, and it was time to head home.
It has been an amazing year for us with all the big cats we have found, but I’m still amazed that for the last two hours of the last night we moved in just the right direction and distance to get my last and biggest cat of the year, less than 5 minutes before I told Julie we would quit fishing. I can only count it as a blessing and a great memory!
P.S. I'm starting t oget caught up on reports, next up Strawberry.
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