After some other fishing plans fell through I decided to
call up my dad and my buddy Rigo. We gathered our striper stuff and headed to
the Sac. We had sardines, anchovies, nightcrawlers and I also had some lures
and we didn’t get a bite! I take that back, My dad had a couple of bites but didn’t
get into any fish.
A couple of hours went by and we decided to take the show on
the road. We got to 2047 at around 4:30pm. 2047 is a drainage canal that runs
through Colusa county. It is notoriously dirty but also has tons of catfish in
it. Any time we want to be guaranteed catfish, we go to 2047. We had our striper
poles so we were going for some monster cats but unfortunately all we were
getting were mini bites. And we noticed that the bites were a bit slower than
they have been in the past. This may be due to heavy pressure as 2047 is one of
the most fished areas in all of Colusa County.
About 30 minutes into our fishing trip, I drew first
blood. It was a tiny little baby cat
that I hooked very deep so I cut off the hook and released the cat into the water
with the hook still in mouth. I wasn’t quite sure with this fish. It was too
small to eat and he was so small I felt like tearing out the hook would have
killed him. He seemed to swim away with no problem but who knows if it
survived. After that I threw on a smaller hook and a bit later I got into
another small cat. I was able to release this one with no problems. My buddy Rigo
also caught two small cats and my dad ended up getting skunked. Nonetheless I
can’t complain. I had a great day with My dad and my good friend and that is
always a blessing.
Total Fish: 2 Catfish
Most of the dirty creeks in the South tend to be good for catfish too. I think your big rods scared away the big fish. Next time take a smaller rod, and the big fish will bite for sure.
ReplyDeleteHaha I think so too.
DeleteI can't tell you the last time I caught a catfish when I was actually fishing for them. Nice catch.
ReplyDeleteNot a catfisher? I like fishing for them time to time. some of the bigger ones put up a nice fight! Plus night fishing for them is always a good time!
DeleteI just can't seem to get them. I catch about two to three good ones a year fishing for bass though, and they do put up a good fight.
DeleteI started fishing for cats with my dad as a kid so I know a good deal about catching them. When it gets hotter, buy some live crayfish. use a bottom feeding rig and put the cray on a 2-3 foot leader. toss it out and I'm pretty sure you'll get into some.
DeleteThat little one with the hook should be OK as long as it wasn't bleeding too bad. Catfish are a pretty tough.
ReplyDeleteNext time try poking the hook the rest of the way through and pinching the barb. a fish with modern hooks blocking it's throat is a dead fish. It takes months for them to rot out and the little guy needs to eat to live.
DeleteMark, It wasn't bleeding too bad but the hook was all up in his grill. I felt bad but I felt like ripping the hook out would have caused more damage.
DeleteDaniel. i hope that little guy survived but based on what you say it probably didn't.
You ever try circle hooks, I have a few buddys who only use circle hooks for cats now because it is easier to unhook them.
DeleteNo I haven't but I need to. the biggest problem with that cat was that I caught it using my big striper hooks. Poor little guy never stood a chance. he bit off more than he could chew...
DeleteJuan
ReplyDeleteI love landing catfish on the fly rod. Try the olive green super nymph to go after catfish, I have landed numerous catfish with this fly. thanks for sharing