Let's Catch Some Catfish

That is exactly what my son, daughter-in-law and I did yesterday morning.   I tell you if you want to put a smile on someone's face that doesn't fish a lot then take them catfish fishing.   Take a look at my daughter-in-law face.  Plus it didn't hurt that she also whipped up on us boys pretty good on her way to a great day fishing.

We ended up keeping 10 good eater catfish and left them biting because the cooler we took wouldn't hold any more.  Sure there weren't any monster like you see in some of the magazine articles but hey it was Labor Day and the Texas sun had the temps pushing 100 by 11:00am when we pulled up stakes and headed home.   Didn't check the water temp but I can bet it was in the low to mid 90s.   To catch a mess of catfish like this fishing from the bank this time of year you have to be doing something right.

So just how did we do this under these conditions and have smiles on everyone's face?  It is simple, well it is simple if you are in a spot where catfish are hanging out.  We were fishing close to the bank on the deep end on Lake Nassau which is located near the Johnson Space Center south of Houston Texas.   You can find a lot of lakes big and small to catch catfish, but you can't just pull up anywhere in a boat or the bank and start catching fish.  The right spot on your body of water is something you are going to work on to find for yourself.   In this case there are Cypress Trees along the bank and if you know Cypress Trees they have one heck of root system that extends out into the water. Also these trees were shading the water and I'm sure cooling it some in this area.  There is also a aerator system in this lake with one of the outlets near where we were fishing that created a slight current.  A perfect spot for cats to hang out on a hot Texas Labor Day.

Now what were we using for bait and how were we fishing this bait?  The bait of choice was Little Stinker Dip Bait in Chicken Liver favor.  The rig was a Slip Bobber rig that allows you to cast and still get your Dip Bait down within a foot or two of the bottom.  Believe me when I tell you that the old wives tale about catfish being bottom feeders is very false.  Sure you can catch catfish on the bottom but they find your bait by smell and go to the bottom to get it.  If you fish a foot or two off the bottom you will catch a lot more catfish I promise.  So how do you rig a Slip Bobber rig for catfish?  Well let me tell you it is a lot easier to show you than to tell you and that is why I made the video attached below.  I know the video shows up pretty small here on the blog, but you can click the screen Icon on the video to make it larger.

Now I do have to warn you that this rig does not work well drift fishing or in fast moving water.  If there is a slow current you are fine fishing it but you have to have enough slack in your line to allow the sinker to pull the line through the bobber to the bobber stop.  Drift fishing from a boat or anywhere there is a swift current the line won't be able to slide through the bobber and the bobber will be pulled down to the sinker.

If you are in a good area and using a Dip Bait favor the catfish like you will catch them on this rig; just ask my daughter-in-law! You might have to try a couple different dip favors which there are many favors out there and many brands to choose from.  We have found that the Little Stinker works well for us, but I will admit we haven't tried them all so there might be others just as good if not better.  If they are better you had better take a really big cooler to put all your fish in because you will have a bunch.  Oh and find you a shady spot so you can kick back while fishing.  Sometimes there is 15 to 30 minutes or so between feeding runs in the area.  No sense in not kicking back and relaxing a little and sipping on a cool drink while watching your bobber.

Until next time, Tight Lines and Take a Kid Fishing!!