Lucky me

I've been lucky - have not had to clean fish. For example, today - I had one that was less than a pound (magic bait) and one that was 1.5 lbs (golden shinner/bait) :)

Dang 2.5 lb on magic bait

I may have to change my rule - I keep catching small catfish that are between 2 - 3 lbs.

Last night I ran out of shad and out of catalpa worms (which got last 2.5 lb).

So I end up using magic bait (see video on my youtube.com/arkieprince page)

I'm going to change my rule so that I don't have to clean any catfish below 4 lbs - mainly cause I have plenty of fillet in my freezer for the planned July 4 catfish fry

I've stopped fishing hard for little bream to bait the trotline - too hard to find little ones (get a mixture of little and big and I give the big one away - I don't want to catch that 60 lb flathead catfish yet - got plenty of flathead earlier in year

Heat index today went over 100F - too hot for dirty old men

I went to spillway - there was a guy throwing net - looking for skipjack - but all her got was shad. Most of the shad were small 3" - and he was throwing them back - keeping only the 5- 10" shad. He was throwing a lot to get a dozen or more big shad.

I'm thinking I may go after the holiday (day after tomorrow) - after everyone else goes back to work - and get some of the shad (I can use the small ones to catch the 4lb channel catfish :)

Shad from freezer

I have this rule: If a catfish is less than two pounds I do NOT clean it - I give it away or let it go

Turtles have been enjoying the bream I catch - so last night I went out to eat with my friends and didn't worry about catching any bream. Instead I got my last bag of frozen shad from the freezer - figuring that the small shad might get some small cats to give to my neighbors

I put two small shad on each hook - and I always hook them in belly to let out some of the 'gook' to attract the turtles (OOPS I mean catfish).

This morning when running the line I felt a tug and saw a catfish about two hooks down - and I have to confess - I looked again and decided he might be over 2 lbs - and I was sorta hoping he'd get off

It got even worst as I got close - I lifted the line so the fish could 'fight more' (giving him more of a fighting chance is my excuse

Well that didn't work so I was thinking of lifting him without using the net but then that would be really obvious that I was trying to lose him (and someone might be watching) - so I decided to use the net

When I went to net him - I sorta hit him (twice) with the net cause I wasn't close (and he still didn't get off) i.e. I was staying back to avoid a splash (yeah right :)

Well no matter how much I was 'secretly' hoping he would get off - he flopped in the net without my help - so now I'm trapped - I either have to change my 2 lb rule or clean him - cause - I was right - he was 2 lb 5 oz by my expensive / accurate scales (dang scales - should have used the cheap spring scales )

BTW: I put him in my shallow fish pen - wonder if he can 'climb out' before time to clean him

Sidebar: I've had catfish climb out of fish pens in the past. If the pen is large hanging (plastic hardware cloth pen) and the wind blows the pen up on it's side just a little - a catfish can get up to speed and jump up on slope / side and floppy right up to top and get out - I sit looking out window one day and watched one take off - and another time I almost got a video of one about to get out.
(but just my luck the wind is not blowing real strong today - so the fish pen is not set up for an easy escape)

BTW: When I have really large fish that I HAVE TO CLEAN - I put them on a stringer and then put them in the pen. This way the stringer keeps them from escaping and the pen keeps the snakes and turtles from getting the catfish

BTW: I once found a snake holding on to a 4-5lb catfish right behind the gills - e.g. it was trying to kill the fish - and when I lifted the stringer the snake did not let go until I kept shaking the stringer. I was afraid to clean and eat that catfish so I let it go and watched it slowly swim off - still wonder if it lived or if snake venom kills them

Oh well I may get out of cleaning this catfish yet - I think the people behind me are wanting to have a holiday fish fry - and I haven't given them many fish lately. In fact, I feel guilt that I have so many fish in the freezer that I think I better give the catfish to them (along with the one I got on catalpa worms yesterday - I was lucky it was under two pounds and I was going to let it go or give it away anyway)

I can go back to bed for a nap now - instead of cleaning catfish - and not feel guilt about breaking my 2 lb rule

Catawba / catalpa worm for eaters

Haven't been catching any big cats on my 'local / easy to run' trotline - but still a great hobby that I love

I did get a 1.5 lb channel day before yesterday that changed how I fish my yoyo's on my fishing pier

It was really windy on Monday so I didn't really fish much for bream (bait) cause I did not plan to bait the line - so I only had 4 bream (compared to more than two dozen when I went after them yesterday).

Sidebar: I usually catch plenty of little bream for my trotline by fishing my brush pile late in the afternoon (just before time to bait) - the golden shinners / shad that were easy to get with cast net last year are not showing up very well - so far. I'm still feeding / throwing out presoaked dog food n range cubes - every day

Well at 8PM the wind just stopped and I was really mad that I didn't have much bait so I cut the bream in half - used a few 'stink balls' from previous day ( made by mixing corn meal - vanilla extract - garlic powder - chopped up catawba / catalpa worms. Then I decided to use some catawba worms by throwing them in lake water as I baited - they worked great - they didn't have time to 'rot' turn black and mushy and stayed on hooks very well - and I got two channel cats (one was the 1.5 from trotline that I gave to neighbor - the other was smaller one on my yoyo on fishing - and a snake must have got it during the night - it was swollen up - especially the stomach and it was almost dead (died later and I was afraid of it) (another possibility is that it swallowed the hook at first and was bleeding into it's stomach but I couldn't see signs of this i.e. hook was in it's mouth

Last night I waited until time to bait and used catawba worms on five yoyo's on my fishing pier - at 10:30 - I have a small channel and I almost kept it for neighbors but it was less than a pound so I set it free and re-baited the three missing baits

At 3 AM - I used spot light to check yoyo's - afraid a snake would get any I had on yoyo's - and yep - I had one - so I had to go get it off yoyo - It's just barely big enough to give to my neighbors

BTW: One way to fish with catalpa worms is cut off head and use kitchen match to turn them half way inside out - so the green 'gook / smell attracts the catfish. But another way I use is to use the catfish hook to tear a hole in the in the side of the worm to let out some of that good smelling gook :)

BTW: I have a 'I hate to clean' catfish rule - if the fish is not over 2 lb - I do NOT clean it (and sometimes I change that rule to must be over 4 lbs :)

End of ramble - moral of story - be careful how you use catalpa worms from last year's crop (freezer) - do not thaw out until ready to use.

Video of flathead from weekend

My flathead

I got my first flathead on trotline (not first flathead of year - since I got one on yoyo earlier in year)

I baited line on Saturday night but it was too windy on Sunday morning so I didn't get out to the trotline until Sunday evening when it was time to bait the line.

Started to bait line and felt fish - turns out it was on other side of weight but I could still feel it (or at least I think that was the one I felt - there is a possibility that I had two fish and one got off - cause when I got to middle weight I could not feel the catfish - it was on far end.

Anyway - it was 4.5 lbs (4 lb 10oz) so I have to clean it

Neighbor is lucky

Another of my neighbors (one who is almost as lazy as me) - put out a trotline 4 days ago. He put it within sight of his house - tied to a tree and them with concrete blocks on the end

First night he got a 36 lb and an 8 lb catfish - on frozen shad from my freezer. Then last night he used live bream and shad mixed - he got a 9 lb flathead on the bream

e.g. just my luck - his line is not much farther out than mine but it's over a old pond. I never used this spot cause the pond was really not deep i.e. he's not in any deeper water than in front of my house. And there are no stumps in the pond area (like I have in front of my house)

I guess the change in level from a very shallow levy to a only slightly deeper pond bottom is just enough to make the fish like the spot

Just shows that sometimes the more likely looking spots are not that much better

Recap

Before I put out trotline and started this blog - I got a 3 lb (3 lb 4oz) flathead on yoyo. BTW: I usually round down on weight to nearest 0.5 lb e.g. between 3 and 3.4 lb will be listed as 3lb

Since I put out trotline - I bait it most days but sometimes with limited bait - it's only partially baited. There are 22 hooks and sometimes I only have 10 or 12 bream and I might put on magic stink bait or dead shad or whatever is laying around :)

This morning with dead shad / live bream (50:50) - I got a 5 lb catfish that only was 3.5 lbs :) This fish is very very long and thin - so I figure it's a mom that already laid her eggs - and if I had got her before the spawn she would have been much bigger. (her belly is flat) Anyway here is trotline recap with real weights :)

Trotline (all channel cats):
4 lb
7 lb
2.5 lb
3.5 lb

So for a trotline that I just put in an easy place to reach (instead of a good place to catch catfish) - I'm doing great i.e. I bet the people that are putting their lines in the good areas' (the flats along the channel - the heavy stumps - etc ) - are probably tearing up the catfish (fish reports in newspaper back this up - but who believes them :( Plus I had a neighbor get a 36 lb the first night they put out their line

But for those that know me - and know that I run the trotline as hobby - to get exercise - cause I'm retired and sit on my butt too much.. ... The most amazing fact about my trotline season so far is that - I CLEANED EVERY ONE OF THE FISH I GOT - where normally I give them away

Well I may change my luck today - I may not clean this 3.5 lb - if I can find someone to give it to :) :) - wish me luck (my excuse I feel sorry for the mom with her thin long form)

Still running trotline

I check and/or run the trotline daily - twice daily if I bait it in PM e.g. if not too windy in PM

I have gotten catfish on bare hooks so I check the line everyday

Since last post I've been slowly picking up a few more catfish - one was 7 lb but most are 2.5 to 4 lb Channel