Ran out for a couple or three hours this morning just to get a line wet for the first time in what seems like forever... Beautiful morning and the cats were hungry... I have to give a lot of credit to TD on this trip, he gave me a few tips for shallow water fishing and this is the first time I have been able to try it.... Wow thanks TD it was a great morning, had 9 hits managed to land 7 with the largest coming in about 23.5" and smallest at 18"... Love catching cats when you're trolling for them, even if it is a slow troll with a minnow. Pontoon was a champ, I love it for fishing slow and careful.. Had one cat hit the worm about 5' away from the toon, ended up being the largest fish of the day and it pulled me around pretty well. Let them all go after measuring, really thought they were bigger fish than they measured up to be... I found that the fish all look the same in my pictures no matter what size because I move the camera to where the whole fish fits in the picture and so the 18" looks as big as the 23" fish and there was several pounds difference between those two fish.. I think the big boy was close to 5 lbs and the small were about 2 lbs, nice cookie cutters...Anyway I haven't figured out the in line pictures yet so I'll just post them below... Later J
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[#0000FF]Nice work. Much fun. Glad you didn't give blood like I did. And glad my "tips" worked for you. Always amazed when some of that drivel I drop on folks actually works. Wonders never sneeze.
About the photos, don't pet the sweaty stuff. Whenever you can pose the fish with something to provide a size reference that is good. But if you can't, who cares? Always good to look at fish porn, even if it might not be worthy of National Geographic.
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You let the ones go that are pictured in the basket? Great job, now show me.
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I can see why you like your kitties, man they were some fun fighters. I was ultra careful with those splines today after seeing your recent sticking. I hate that poison in those things. Anyway I appreciated the ideas on how to fish shallow, that's sure where I found them today. Later J
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I just don't love to eat catfish unless I smokem and I didn't have time for that. So left them there for later. Those 18 to 20"ers are my favorite size to eat and they seemed really healthy except the one seemed all spawned out or something. Hey if ya try them, don't fear the shallows. I was in 2 Ft or less today. Graph wasn't even worth taking. I never tried another rod or rig today. Those fish were hitting as soon as I was back in the water. Crazy I didn't think the cats played in that shallow of water. Good luck, fish seemed to be just about everywhere I tried today, lots of spawning monster carp too. Later J
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I'm guessing you weren't out on Willard, but you didn't say, so I won't either.
But hey - some good cattin! I'm always impressed at how even the sub-20's fight.
Ran out yesterday with Pizzaman, cuz he asked me to show him how to catch cats, instead I watched HIM do all the catching!!! Showed a few setups, and approaches - quick learner! He schooled the teacher!!! I couldn't get a hookset for the life of me!
We both wiffed a few, but - he ended up with 4, and I had a deuce. Nothing huge, but some nice cats. No photos, no measures, but I think the biggest musta pushed into the 5lb range.
Nice to meet another BFTer, nice to have the motor start.
But - I'd totally concur - at least this time of year - shallow is where it's at.
Smoked kitty is great, but there's more than one way to skin (or fry/grill) a cat. I had to throw some under some cajun, for a good bake. Just dig 'em baked down to a flaky white sampling.
Think I'll have to try some on the new fryer. Though - I do want to introduce my kind neighbors to some smoked samplings! We're planting giant pumpkins this weekend.
Yote, I just did a quick trip here at home this morning. Hey do you try the TD slow troll when your catching cats? I love it the fish hook themselves most of the time and its great to feel that solid smack when they grab it. I was going to try Idaho in the morning, but I may stick here at home and play with the cats and work on my garden as well. I'll miss the bows but my usual crew went camping instead so I guess I'll just try this in the toon. I might see if I can find the walleye's too. They used to make it back to the river by now so maybe I can catch a few now. Later J
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