Fishing Forum

Saw how nice it was on Saturday and decided to go fishing on the spur of the moment. I live in Boise and didn't want to drive to Strike because I got skunked there last weekend. I had some old cut bait in the freezer from last year, so I decided to go to Wilson Ponds in Nampa. The back pond holds catfish along with bass and sunfish. It's so small and shallow it warms up pretty quickly. It was kind of windy, but the temps were in the 70s. Lots of people were there fishing the stocked trout ponds with their kids, but not having much luck according to those I asked. I was the only one on the back pond except for a guy with his kid and a few people who strolled around casting for bass.

I got my first cat within 10 minutes, before I even had time to set up my second pole. About 15 minutes after that, the wind changed direction and a terrible windstorm came up. The temps dropped about 20 degrees and the wind was blowing hard enough to knock my chair over. No rain, but it was pretty miserable.

I went for two hours without any action and decided to leave. Just as I was packing up my stuff, I got a double. Both fish hit pretty much simultaneously. If you think it's easy to land two cats alone with no net in a ripping windstorm, you're sorely mistaken. But I did manage to land them.

The wind finally died down about an hour before dark, and I got two more. The last fish of the day was a 12" largemouth, who must have been pretty damn hungry to inhale a big chunk of squawfish on a 4/0 circle hook.

I still have fillets in the freezer from last year, so I released all the fish. I love cats. They're not fussy, they fight hard and they taste great. What more could an angler ask for?

Here's some pics of the catch. For scale, those are 12" boards:








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Good size to those kitties. Nice reward for battling the wind!
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good job !
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Nice going with those catfish. That wind was really something. We could hear it coming along the south side of Lake Lowell - with a roar like a jet engine. When it hit at our house it recorded 48 MPH on my wind gauge. It toppled a 50 year old Russian Olive tree in our front yard. I've got lots of wood cutting to do, but some extra firewood for next year.
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Nice catfish! I love how hard they fight - I think they're seriously under rated!
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Good job on the cats. I am going to have to try that place some time. It is close to my Uncles house but I have never tried it. Is it big enough to use a float tube on? Ron
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It depends on how many people are fishing from shore, I think. It's kind of long and narrow, so there are several spots where you can cast far enough to hit the opposite bank. There are a coupe of islands in the middle, and I've seen geese standing up in the water around them so I suspect it might be pretty shallow in some spots. However, I have seen people rowing around in a Porta-Bote on the back pond. You may want to check the regs to see if it's legal.

If you want to try it, go early because it gets really choked by weeds starting about mid-summer.

I'd encourage C&R only on catfish in this pond, since it's so small. According to the stocking records, in five years there were less than 400 catfish stocked. The last stocking was in 2010 and consisted of only 13 adults. It wouldn't take much to wipe them out completely.
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For a long time I have been pushing the f&g to put some kind of limit on those planted fish. On those small ponds CR is all I do. Ron
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You can see an aerial view of the ponds by clicking here:

[url "http://maps.google.com/?ll=43.53753,-116.55728&z=16&t=h"]http://maps.google.com/?ll=43.53753,-116.55728&z=16&t=h[/url]
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Nice kitties, not as big as the ones I used to catch on the Miss. but very, very nice for Idaho. I kinda miss the fighting Cats, you said this place was in Nampa? I will have to make a trip soon!
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Yes, it's in Nampa across from the state fish hatchery. These fish were probably among the ones transplanted from the Snake River during the summer.

If you want some really big ones, try below Swan Falls dam once the weather warms up. I've caught them over 10 pounds down there, which is a good channel cat anywhere.
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Ohh reeeeeealllllllly.......Yes a 10 pound Kittie is a fantastic fish...It just snowed this morning here in Poky so could be a while before I get to go try my luck at nabbing 'em. Still...I'm itchin' for catfish, collard greens and corn bread now. Best difference between Miss. cats and Idaho? Here, you can eat 'em and they don't taste like muck[fishin]
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Ya, if your looking for fish to keep Swan Falls is good. Brownlee is even better. For a closer place to you Milner Dam has catfish. Milner won't have as high a success rate as Brownlee but they plant about 50,000 cats a year in there. It is only about an hour drive or less from Poky depending on where you go. If you have google earth check out the river from Minadoka dam to milner. There is a lot of public land and access. Ron
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Brownlee has flatheads too, which get much bigger than channels. It's just harder to catch them, because as adults they have a strong preference for live fish as bait, which is illegal in Idaho. Bass anglers sometimes catch them when casting minnow imitations.
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