Channel Catfish Stories - The 20 Pounders Love To Attack Moving Lures
The catfish is a fish of legends and stories. What follows are
three stories of some monster channel cats and what lures they attacked.
Lures, that is- nothing dead. In my time fishing for other fish, I
have caught channel catfish on the oddest lures(for cat fishing that
is). I will only write of the largest here. Once I was fishing for
musky, with an 8 inch long floating creek chub with a steel lip. I let
the bait float on the surface a bit, before retrieving on each cast. I
threw out the lure on one cast, let it sit, and bam woosh swoosh, a
"musky" had my lure in its mouth. This fish went absolutely nuts; it
started tearing off line like nothing I'd ever seen before, I was
thrilled. This fish was really using the river to its advantage, and
headed straight down river at an amazing clip.
Luckily, I had my reel filled with 125 yards of high quality line, because this fish needed to be stopped. I put the breaks on him, and started pulling his head out of the current. Well, he didn't like this, and moved into the slower water, but just sat there for a good minute, I could not do much pulling against the current. I had to walk to shore to pull him straight towards me. And he was resisting as much as he could, but the line was too strong for him. I slowly pulled the beast towards me, and was met with a gray face of whiskers. Turns out, the "musky", was a giant 26lb channel cat. I was a bit mad at first, but then I figured it's a fish, it had the nerve to attack this huge lure, so he's a pretty worthy adversary. And he's pretty darn huge, may have even broken some state records, who knows, I released him or her, to fight again. And getting those trebles out of his mouth was quite a surgery to remember.
Another time, I was using a big risto rap crank bait to fish for musky again. Cast out the risto rap, reel it about ten cranks, and the rod nearly rips out of my hand. I have a "musky", this great, I was thinking-yet again. This was in a river with a bank composed of huge boulders, not a good place for an epic battle. The fish goes ballistic, and starts heading down river and stripping line like a maniac. I start jumping from rock to rock, like a possessed fisherman, almost killing myself about 20 times, and after a 15 minute battle I get to see the head of a huge 21lb channel cat. Again, a little mad at first, but then I think, we'll this fish is a great fish, it's easier to catch than a musky, it's just as strong, if not stronger, and its big.
Then a few years later the mother of all channel cats attacked the tiniest of lures. I was fishing for walleye one night, with a ¼ oz jig head and a white scentless 3" curly tail plastic grub. Yes 3" inches. It was pitch black outside, and the walleye were on a feeding frenzy. I got a few nice 20 inchers, and was pretty pleased. I throw out into the middle of the river, where no walleye were, but just as an experimental cast. Reel in the grub, and it stops, line starts peeling of the reel. I was using some stout 15 lb test line that night, and was pretty panicked as soon as I hooked this mystery fish. I think I have just hooked the world record walleye, this thing is huge, and it is moving across the river at the speed of light. I think for a second, and quickly realize that this is no walleye. It's gotta be a musky or pike, and it's a giant, not a 20lber, or a 30lber, this thing is 40lbs, maybe more.
After 30 minutes of letting this monster have line, reeling, back reeling, reeling, he was finally tiring, and I was able to pull on him. I have never had so much adrenaline in my body as on this night, it was insane. It was a Moby Dick moment. He was still flying back out into the river when he was touching or seeing bottom. This thing was invincible. I got anxious, and really started horsing him, I had seen the line in action, and was confident it was extremely strong. I just wanted to see what is was, I didn't think I was ever going to land this thing. So I start to really lay into him, not giving him an inch of back reel or drag, and he starts to submit. I pull this pike/musky/mystery world record walleye, into the shore, and to my amazement there is a channel cat that is easily over 40 inches and the fattest thing I have seen in my life. I released the beast and had no scale or tape measurer that night, which may have been for the better. After these experiences, I no longer think, oh great, it's a catfish. I think, yes, this has got to be a channel cat, and hold on for a great fight.
Luckily, I had my reel filled with 125 yards of high quality line, because this fish needed to be stopped. I put the breaks on him, and started pulling his head out of the current. Well, he didn't like this, and moved into the slower water, but just sat there for a good minute, I could not do much pulling against the current. I had to walk to shore to pull him straight towards me. And he was resisting as much as he could, but the line was too strong for him. I slowly pulled the beast towards me, and was met with a gray face of whiskers. Turns out, the "musky", was a giant 26lb channel cat. I was a bit mad at first, but then I figured it's a fish, it had the nerve to attack this huge lure, so he's a pretty worthy adversary. And he's pretty darn huge, may have even broken some state records, who knows, I released him or her, to fight again. And getting those trebles out of his mouth was quite a surgery to remember.
Another time, I was using a big risto rap crank bait to fish for musky again. Cast out the risto rap, reel it about ten cranks, and the rod nearly rips out of my hand. I have a "musky", this great, I was thinking-yet again. This was in a river with a bank composed of huge boulders, not a good place for an epic battle. The fish goes ballistic, and starts heading down river and stripping line like a maniac. I start jumping from rock to rock, like a possessed fisherman, almost killing myself about 20 times, and after a 15 minute battle I get to see the head of a huge 21lb channel cat. Again, a little mad at first, but then I think, we'll this fish is a great fish, it's easier to catch than a musky, it's just as strong, if not stronger, and its big.
Then a few years later the mother of all channel cats attacked the tiniest of lures. I was fishing for walleye one night, with a ¼ oz jig head and a white scentless 3" curly tail plastic grub. Yes 3" inches. It was pitch black outside, and the walleye were on a feeding frenzy. I got a few nice 20 inchers, and was pretty pleased. I throw out into the middle of the river, where no walleye were, but just as an experimental cast. Reel in the grub, and it stops, line starts peeling of the reel. I was using some stout 15 lb test line that night, and was pretty panicked as soon as I hooked this mystery fish. I think I have just hooked the world record walleye, this thing is huge, and it is moving across the river at the speed of light. I think for a second, and quickly realize that this is no walleye. It's gotta be a musky or pike, and it's a giant, not a 20lber, or a 30lber, this thing is 40lbs, maybe more.
After 30 minutes of letting this monster have line, reeling, back reeling, reeling, he was finally tiring, and I was able to pull on him. I have never had so much adrenaline in my body as on this night, it was insane. It was a Moby Dick moment. He was still flying back out into the river when he was touching or seeing bottom. This thing was invincible. I got anxious, and really started horsing him, I had seen the line in action, and was confident it was extremely strong. I just wanted to see what is was, I didn't think I was ever going to land this thing. So I start to really lay into him, not giving him an inch of back reel or drag, and he starts to submit. I pull this pike/musky/mystery world record walleye, into the shore, and to my amazement there is a channel cat that is easily over 40 inches and the fattest thing I have seen in my life. I released the beast and had no scale or tape measurer that night, which may have been for the better. After these experiences, I no longer think, oh great, it's a catfish. I think, yes, this has got to be a channel cat, and hold on for a great fight.
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