Fast action

[katfish]

Last week I had some fast action on channel cats. Wed and Thur my wife and I caught 40+ pounds of channel cats per night with most being 4-8 pounds. I was fishing for flathead with large live bluegill and unfortunately missed lots of fish due to the large hooks.

On Fri night the channel cats disappeared and the additional soak time allowed me to catch a small flathead.


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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]Hey katfish,[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Nice little flathead. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]What size hook were you using that made you loose those other fish ? Did you get any of the channels on the live bluegills or did you use cut bait for them ?[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Were you river, lake or reservoir fishing ? [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Did you keep any of the channels for the table ? [/size][/black]
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[katfish]

I bait the flathead rods with handsize bluegill on a 5/0 kahle hook.
I got 4 channels and 2 that were a swing and a miss on these rigs.
I didn't anticipate the channels taking those large bluegills so I didn't keep enough live gills to rebait.

I did have 2 guthooked gills that I cut up and put on smaller rigs to continue channel cat fishing through the night.

I was fishing an eastern Ohio lake.

With the warm weather and the channel cats smelling like shad I released them. By the end of Sept they will keep better in the cooler and maybe be off the shad diet since shad will be bigger.

When I do keep them I will keep 3 or 4 small channel cats because we rarely freeze fish and that is plenty for my wife and I. Early Spring and after water cools in Fall we usually have a few fish dinners.
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3] Hey Robby,[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Ohio eh ? I used to live (grew up) in Missouri - Kind of in your area. Great catfish country in the Mid-west ![/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]As I was looking at your website I noticed you were using several different rods (great website by the way). What are your preferences ? I like Ugly Stick Tigers and Surge rods. Do you have any experience with those ? If so, what are your thoughts on them ? [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Also, I have usually used Big Game line. I like Hi-Vis for my main line and clear for the leader. When I go with no leader, it is clear line all the way. What are you spooling up with ? Is that Dacron on your reels ? [/size][/black]
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[katfish]

[#ff0000]I noticed you were using several different rods[/#ff0000]

I advise people to select tackle that best performs the task they want accomplished. The variety of rods you see is from years of fishing with different types and impulse buying[]

For big flathead and the way I fish I have a particular rod in mind.
E-glass is lighter than solid fiberglass rods and almost as tough.
6-7 ft rods give me enough length for good hooksets in most situations. This length does not give the flathead as much leverage as a longer rod would.

I look for rods with lots of line guides to distribute the strain of a big fish over the length of the rod. Concentrating tension of a moving line on just a few guides is asking for trouble-especially with monofiliment.

I prefer cork handles because they feel better [cool]
While not as durable as foam they provide a firm grip even when wet.

[#ff0000]Is that Dacron on your reels[/#ff0000]

Yes
I use 36# test Cortland braided dacron. In most situations it would not be the best line. For our flathead fishing it is the best line. Finding the best tackle sometimes takes trial and error. Our use of dacron line evolved over a 5 year period of trial and error evaluating dozens of lines. Each time we were not confident that our line was working to our advantage we tried another.

BTW
For about 6 months I have had some fellas testing the advantage of braided dacron leaders for blue cats on the James. Results are not yet in but indications are that catch rates improved while using the dacron.

My experience with lines is that color has little or no effect on catfish. Colored lines may help catmen if visibility is a factor in their fishing. Those fishing several rods in rivers would want to know if a cat moves sideways before it crosses another line.

Writers in fishing magazines prefer to make "new discoveries" and make fishing seem more complicated than it actually is. This sells more magazines.

We may never completely figure out fish behavior but using past experience and logic we can improve our catch.
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[LlindeX]

Ah Robby, you tryin to tell us that all those articals in the magazines about new fangled equipment are just tryin' to sell us somethin'? Heck, and here I thought they were just givin' away all their secrets.

Regard, & Good Fishin'
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