Pure Muscle

Its settled. August is catfish month around these parts. I've only fished three times in three different locations and caught a catfish. All of the fish were caught on a crayfish colored bugger pattern with rubber legs. All of the fish hit the fly with in seconds of it hitting the water. The key is do nothing. Letting the fly drop and sit was the only way I've found works. The amazing thing about catfish is their ability to dive. I caught one tonight on my 8wt rod and even when the fish was with in a few feet of me I could not pull it to the surface. It wasn't until the fish was exhausted that I could bring it up. There's something about catfish I find fascinating. Maybe it's the whiskers or the strange look of them.

From Summer2011

The fish seems to be pure muscle but also has a docile look to it.

From Summer2011

This was a healthy looking channel cat. The recent fish have been caught on flies I tied. I'm not sure if that means my flies are great or that the fish will hit anything. I don't really care either way. Hopefully I'll continue to catch them.

The Cat Days of Summer

I had a Deja Vu moment fishing yesterday. It was at the work pond and I was trying out some new fly patterns. I didn't have any action and the fish seemed shy and reluctant to even follow the fly. Then I saw movement in the water under a tree. It looked like a fish swirling. I cast right in the middle of the swirl and with in a second my line shot away from the bank and headed for deeper water. I yanked back putting the pressure of the 8wt against the fish. Line started stripping and the fish wasn't slowing down at all. This had to be a carp. I watched my reel spin and kept an eye on the line that was rapidly unraveling. In about 5 seconds this fish had almost taken me to my backing. Then the reel stopped. I thought maybe the fish came off but as I kept tension on the line and reeled in the slack I could tell the fish was coming towards me. I tried lifting the rod to bring the fish to the surface so I could get a good look at it. The fish would have none if it. It was bull dogging and keeping to the bottom. Then it bolted again stripping line and I knew this was going to be a fight. The fish kept doing patterns of coming close then running out to deeper water. The fish rolled and I saw its tailfin. It was the unmistakable tail of a catfish. I had caught a catfish last year at almost the exact same time. It was the same scenario too, I saw movement under the same tree cast the line out and the fish hit instantly. I couldn't tell if it was the same fish. This one seemed smaller. It sure had the same fight.

Then at the end I even had the same problem of how to land the fish. I didn't bring my net and there was a small cliff I had to lift the fish up on to. I was using 10lb line but I was still worried about the knot holding. This fish was heavy to just lift straight up. I tried a few times and my line kept getting wrapped around weeds and sticks on the bank. I eventually had a free space to pull the fish up. I grabbed the leader and POP my fly just came off. I thought maybe the hook bent but it was in perfect condition. I have no idea how the fly just came out. When I caught a cat last year I grabbed the fly and tried to pulling the fish up the bank then it shook its head and unhooked itself. I kicked myself for not bringing my net. I'm not sure it would have been big enough but it would have helped. I estimated the fish to be at least 5lbs.