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I had to make the trek from Garden City to Logan for the weekly Walmart trip(ugh!). Since there is nothing more hellish than following my wife around the store like a pathetic boob, I decided to leave her with my problem child and take the two others fishing for an hour or two to cutler marsh and try our hands at some cold weather cat action.
Went across from the church in benson at first and only had one tiny bite on a worm and bobber setup in about 20 minutes so we pulled up stakes and headed to benson marina. It was loaded with fisherman so we turned around and went to try the north end of the marsh.
Still using the worm and bobber rig, we all cast out and sat back to soak up the sun and hope for a nibble or two. After about 10 minutes, my 10 year old daughters bobber took off like a rocket and after a couple minute tussle she brought in a big ol' whisker fish! She was so excited as this was her first channel cat ever. Probably about 6-7 pounder.
After that, my 17 year old son moved in on us and pitched his rig out in the same hole. About 5 minutes passed and his bobber took off on a run too! He ended up bringing in a big kitty too, about 8-9 pounder I'm guessing! Now the bragging between the two begins!
I gave it my best for the next 20-30 minutes until my wife called and said she wanted a ride home! Dang woman!!
Anyway, lots of fun for an hour or so and a big catfish feast is the plan for St.paddy day. Who woulda thought that these big boys would be out and about so early in the season? Looking forward to late may through June now for the spawners!
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That's what I'm talkin about! Nice Channels!
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Very nice. ClearIy I shoulda gone cattin like I meant to, but got distracted by other chores, and went for an alternate pup-friendly venture. Had I done, I probably would have crossed paths with ya - black dog, not a cat - so all's good!
Did you get a measure on those toads? Bet the kids were tickled pink. Never have got my kid onto more than a kitten, and he's SO missing out on a serious good wrastle! Sounds like you did well to steer clear the Wally world cows - I mean crowds...
that does it, it's time for floating! Game on!
Sir - can I offer you one of these?
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It's tempting to sign up. Maybe I will.
The smaller was 27 1/2" and the bigger was 29". I'm not sure what they weighed because I don't have a scale, but they were pretty hefty.
I pull several that size and bigger from the swamp every year around June. I usually go out at early evening and fish till daylight. So far I've done that for 4 years running and pulled some real bigguns out. Further up by Trenton there are some real honey holes with plenty of jumbos also.
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Way to go! Your kids will talk about this for along time. Not only trying to out do each other but they even out did dad. My kids love to out fish me.[cool]
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Hey thanks! I don't know how, but my little girl outfishes me all the time after I first find them. She's very lucky or I just don't realize that she has developed a real touch for fishing. Doesn't matter to me though, I completely love to fish with my kids. A so so day with them usually beats a stellar day by myself. I feel lucky to have them!
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Nice! I've only fished that spot once when I very first moved here, but I wrote it off because all I caught were bullhead. I guess I need to give it a try again. Too bad today is my day off with 50mph winds and scattered ice pellet/snow squalls [frown] Oh well, another day to get tackle ready for spring, maybe shoot some baits.
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It's been ok for channel cats in the past, but not too good. Mostly mud cats also, but I've been noticing that we've been catching a lot less mud cats the last couple years and more smaller channel cats. Could just be a weird coincidence though.
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Lets hope that's a new trend. I don't hate the mudders as much as some, but they're nothing to get excited about either. I'm just happy to see reports showing that the draw down didn't kill everything off. I'm hoping the bass and walleye are doing well too. I may have to explore Cutler more this year if they are.
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Last week I did a recon trip to see if I could find any evidence of a die off and I'm happy to report that I couldn't find any floaters or dead fish in the reeds. I really think that the fish just retreated back into the river channel to ride it out and will be back in the normal spots this year. I could be wrong, but I hope not. It just makes no sense that they would die off without just moving into the channel. If the water would have dropped instantly, like within hours I could see it happening though. Also some of the shallow backwater ponds and sloughs could have been hurt by it.
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That's kind of what I figured. There are plenty of fish that live in the river, so I figured they would just hunker down in the channel. The thing that winter kills fish is a lack of oxygen, so with the rivers still running in, that wasn't an issue.
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I've met a few nice bass along that shoreline too. Cross the fence, working south along the rocks. I think Lavaman's best cat came from there, and some big ass gnarly carp too!
Might have to think about another overnight adventure on the island sometime when things warm up some.
I did notice some carp die off up towards Sam Fellow, though I wasn't lamenting that too bad!
Mike - from what I have measured and weighed - I'd say your guesstimates are right on the money. I found scale over by Benson launch that goes to 50 lbs, hope I can hook something worthy of THAT weight measure!
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I will definitely have to spend some more time there then, especially since that marsh will warm up sooner than my usual bass haunts. I hope things warm up soon, today was pretty brutal out there.
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I'm not sayin' where my 'best' cat was caught! 
But I've caught several in the 25"-29" range over the last couple of years...most in different areas.
There's one over 30" in there for me this year.
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Nice catch, I'll bet she got a fight with that one. Congrats. J
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Well, two that I put back last summer topped the 30" mark! I caught several in the 25-29" range. I normally release them the size that my kids caught, but telling two excited kids to chuck back their trophies is too cold hearted for my conscience. I personally think the 2-3 pounders are the best size for the recipes we use, however, last night they were delicious!
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well done looks like fun
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I hear ya! I want to try some catfish recipes this year.
Always good to catch and release IMO, but nothing wrong with keeping a few!
The carps....well, let's just say there are a few swimming around the Cutler/Benson waterways with a plastic float attached through their gill plate
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