Fishing Forum

I've caught a lot of channel cats out of Lake Mead, but never anything in excess of about 2 pounds, 12" - 14"

Is there anyone who has personally caught a BIG cat at mead? 8-10 pounds or more??
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Yup there out there just put in the time, season has alot to with it to. Heres one that just weighed over 5lbs. measured 25inchs
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I have never caught a "BIG" cat out there, nice sizers but nothin close to the 10lb range.. I have actually caught much bigger catfish out at lake mohave
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My biggest have come in just shy of 6 lbs.

I have seen fish cruising around the docks that were at least 15 lbs. Heads like a shovel.

There are good sized fish in the lake. I would focus on the vegas wash and the overton arm where water flows in. Fish big baits, like a whole 6-8" gizzard shad, or fresh dead shad chunks. Big baits catch big fish.

The Whizzle
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Yes!!! They are out there. I have caught two over 9lbs. Both out front of stewarts point by echo bay. Have seen other larger ones caught Middle point and boulder beach. All caught on Anchovy.

Stripercraze
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I dont how much of a fisherman story it is but... I had an old family story of an relative who caught a cat so big it took him all day to reel in. It was also so big it drug him all over the lake. When he got it up to the boat it was too big to bring in the boat so he just cut the line and let it go.

On another note haven't there been the divers who work on the damn say there are fish big as school busses down there and they would never go back down there. Would these be catfish? Is that why they dont allow you to fish there?
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I've heard the same thing about near the damn from a firsthand account. Come to think of it, I was a kid and they were probably just telling fish stories. I've thought about taking some deep sea gear over there to fish large chunks of cut carp and see what might happen.

I'm sure there are at least a few old, huge catfish in that lake.

As a kid I caught what I thought to be a 7-9lber, head like a softball. Felt about as heavy as a gallon of milk.
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I've caught severl 7lb+ catfishes from mead before. I still remembere them:

9lb near the water tower thing by boulder harbor at night. Felt like reeling up a rock

11lb by the tires just outside of the launch area from hemingway. Night fishing. While reeling it in, my buddy was holding the net waiting for it to come up... he must've gone through 3 cigarettes before we even saw how big it was. took 30min to land it.

5lb+7lb near the tires on the other side of hemingway boat harbor, near the ferrie exit. night time. My dad caught these, they put up heck of a fight.

All caught night time, w/ lights on chovies.
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[quote lvrider]
On another note haven't there been the divers who work on the damn say there are fish big as school busses down there and they would never go back down there. Would these be catfish? Is that why they dont allow you to fish there?[/quote]

i've too have heard the same things when i was a kid, and also heard there are MONSTER trout in the deepest parts of the lake, its a huge reservoir with lots of food fare, never know, i remember going to hoover dam as a kid 25+ years ago and seeing monster cats just cuising the dam they looked to be about 20-30 lbs easily i would love to tangle with one of them big boys
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these are the biggest cats we have came up with the past few years. all at lake mead except the first picture is desert shores pond
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Nice pics montana[cool] do you remember the area?
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box car cove and hole 33 mostly
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I caught the big Cat 10.1 lbs in a cove south of 33 hole fishing with a anchovie, the smaller one was 6.5 lbs. I caught off anchovies right outside tires at Echo Bay. I have caught a 4lb also and several little ones. All were caught while trying to catch a striper. A friend of mine who scuba dives occasionally at Lake Mead has told me he has seen some big cats around 20lbs he estimates. I guess they are big because they don't take the bait.
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damn, that second pic is the best cat I've seen out of lake mead those are damn good sizes!!!!
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I found some good info on the channel cat species.

"Adults are generally found between 15 and 24 inches in length, with the maximum reported total length of 52 inches . The maximum published weight is 58 pounds. The maximum age is believed to be 22 years, however it is rare to find individuals over 15 years of age. Sexual maturity occurs at 2-6 years and 13-22 inches total length."

So, theoretically speaking. It is possible that there is a 15 year old, 4 foot long, 60lb catfish swimming around in Lake Mead. I bet he'd eat a 5lb carp like an hors d'oeuvre.

Sounds just crazy enough to try [img]../../../images/gforum/.gif[/img]
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[quote cacoon] A friend of mine who scuba dives occasionally at Lake Mead has told me he has seen some big cats around 20lbs he estimates. .[/quote]

i would love to stick a 20lb channel cat, could u imagine the fight that would be? cause even the small ones in lake mead fight like they are 4 times their size, i could only imagine what a 20lber would fight like. wow sounds fun.
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Thats what im talking bout cacoon love 2 see the big boys[cool] very nice. Ive always had a theory that the big channels only eat live bait.
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The five pounder I caught at flsp didnt fight at all. It was like reeling in a old log. He just floated to the surface and i drug him over to me. So I wonder if the 20lbers would be similar.
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yeah most channel cats i hook don't fight too much, I love catchin carp tho, such a good fight!!!!
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i have found the same thing out of the ponds those cats do not fight they are all sluggish and stuff, but i find the cats in lake mead fight exceptionally well for their size. different food fare maybe?
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