Newton Catfish?

[morefishinplz]

I was checking forums on the the dnr site and they have in it that fishing for catfish from there is slow... Are there really catfish in Newton cause I've never pulled one out, been with someone who has pulled one out, or seen anyone around me pull one out.

Mike
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[72badcat]

3-4 years ago I saw a guy on the east side with one that was as long as his leg from the knee down. Must of been about 10 plus pounds. Only one I have ever seen there, but I have never fished for them. That was late summer when the water was waaaay down.

Go catch one!
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[Warchild]

about ten or so years ago when they were draining it off I caught two cats from there both over 15 pounds...
But since the large drain off I have not seen any big cats come out of there.
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[trfishin]

I was there last fall and saw this dead catfish floating on the upper end it was everybit 30" long it was a big cat fish
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[chugg]

According to the fish cops they didnt stock any after the 03 drainage of the reservoir. He tried to tell me there arent any cats left in Newton but I know they are in there. I've seen them on 3 seperate occasions. Once 2 springs ago i came across a nest with both parents guarding it. they circled me in my tube till i was about 30' off the nest then they moved back. Both over 30". The next was by the camp grounds last sping in the shallows sunning. Again it was a toad! The last was at the boat ramp last summer. Saw it and a tiger swam up and the kitty had him by atleast 6+ lbs. They are still in there but few and far between I think. What few there are though are deffinitely great spawner size so who knows they may have had enough time in 7 years to reestablish a fair population. Only one way to find out!
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[lordCrappie]

Last year in May, I did see a 10 in cat floating on the surface. So maybe they are raising! I am all for it! Plenty of small perch to feed on.
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[neveronsunday]

[font "Verdana"][#ff0000]The only time we ever caught them was before the low water and in the middle of the night. We'd throw our bait out tie your pole to a sturdy tree with 440 cord (or it wouldn't be there in the morning) put a bell on the tip and crawl in the sleeping bag. There were some big fish. One about uprooted the small tree we had the pole tied to. It's good to hear they are making a come back.[/#ff0000][/font]
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[gaardvark]

I was fishing for perch two years ago, and as it was getting dark, I caught two small (maybe 8-10 inch) channel cats. I didn't get back there last year, but there are definitely cats in there. And unless they started stocking, it's a safe bet there was some natural recruitment going on at that time.
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