Night of the Living Catfish

[El Destructo]

I don't know what Jug fishing is, but it sounds like a better idea than noodling.

Rick...Jugging is the same as Trotline Fishing...it amounts to two weights...two Floats per Line...and main Line with as many drops and Hooks as the State allows you to run....you bait the Hooks with Chad...Minnows...Comets...whatever...and lay it out in the water...and come back the next day to reap your catch......

[Mechslasher]

our jugging down here in s.c. is tying a 12 - 24" line and hook to a quart or two liter plastic jug with a piece of cut bait and letting it float all night.  we can run 50 per man, steve and i ran 80 sat. night and averaged a pound a jug.  i grew up using quart oil jugs but they are being banned so now we are using pool noodles in varying designs.  after trying several different hook designs, i've settle on the circle style hooks.  very few catfish get off once a circle hook grabs'em.  i think we only had three or four jugs that didn't have bait sun. morning.  i'll post a pic of my pool noodle design tomorrow.  a friend gave me some kevlar string that is used on commercial weaving looms and is all but unbreakable. 

[Pat B]

Nice haul guys. Some hush puppies, fried taters, a bit of cole slaw and a few cold ones and a pan of hot grease!  mmmmm

[mullet]

 Jugging down here you are apt to get just about as many Soft Shell Turtles as catfish. And also whatever is on the hook is also just bigger bait for the Big lizards. It's against the law in Florida, now. We can run Trot lines, though, 25 hooks to a line.

[Hillbilly]

Yeah, those Frankensteined pool noodles are working out good. I bet whoever makes those things had no idea that rednecks would be stuffing PVC pipe and coat hanger wire in them and using them to catch catfish. I've gotten sold on those circle hooks, too. They're the shizzle.

[DanaM]

What kind of cats are they? Channels? If so they look a bit different in color than the Yooper Channels.
Wouldn't eat one of the local ones for a million bucks yuck
Anyway congrats looks like ya all had fun eh

Dana ...Catish is Catfish...unless it's Farm Raised ...then it's Trash....... ...The Channel and Flathead Cats down here are a Yellowish Color...they tell me it's due to the water Color...aint Clear and ice Cold like back Home

Catfish are bottom feeders so here in the river they are full of all them nasty chemicals that were dumped in the river, Mercury and PCB to name a few, eat em at your own risk eh
I did try one  years ago that I caught in the Escanaba River but it just tasted like mud, maybe there is a secret to cooking them As kids we ate bullheads that we caught from clean water
when ya peel their skin off you have beautiful pink meat just like a trout

[El Destructo]

Dana...Channel Cats...Flatheads....and Blues are not Scavengers...they are not Bottom Suckers.....They Feed primarily at night using taste buds in the sensitive barbels and  skin to locate prey...... Although they normally feed on the bottom..... Channel Cats also will feed at the surface and at mid-depth...... Major foods are  insects.... crayfish..... clams..... crustaceans and fish..... Baby Channel Cats eat invertebrates... but larger ones eatminnows and small fish too..... Contrary to popular belief carrion is not their normal food.....

[Hillbilly]

Yeah, what Mike said. Catfish aren't necessarily bottom feeders. We've caught them on these jugs with a foot of line over twenty-thirty feet of water. And the flatheads are very predatory-the best bait to use to fish for flatheads is live fish. Around here at least, catfish don't pick up as much mercury as largemouth bass and walleye. And Dana, any bad taste in a catfish is usually in the skin. Fillet them and get that skin off, and they taste about like flounder. I like catfish better than trout for eating.

[Mechslasher]

growing up, we would dissect the stomachs of 30-40+ pound catfish to see what was in them.  out of one flathead, i remember we pulled two mice, a crawfish, and two 12" white bass.  we started to fillet the bass, but didn't.  still, to this day, can't figure out where it got the mice.  here's a pic of one of my noodles.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[jamie]

man i miss eaten catfish!!

[Mrs. Hillbilly]

You guys missed out on the best dinner last night, fried catfish, hushpuppies, french fries mmmmmmmmm!   The gar was very good, taste like gator, need to experiment on this It was very good. My dad and I liked to good catfishing and some rocking(rock bass) I miss those days, lots of camping and fishing you can't beat that.  

Tina

[DanaM]

We only have channel cats, if I catch any this year I will try em again even, ya soak the meat in salt water or milk or anything?
Love hush puppies especially with onion and jalapeno

[Mechslasher]

tina, i told steve to bring you next time.  we need another apprentice baiter, be sure to bring a hand towel!

[oogabogachiefwalkingdeer]

Flathead is one of the finest eating fish swims fresh water. You must remove alll fat and red meat and the inside belly liner or it will taste like a shad would. I grew up on this fish and love them still. I had some fried just last night, my Debbie knows how to do it right. These were caught the old ways.  Grabbed them by the bottom jaw and said "You going with me fish" otherwise known as noodling<gg> Mike Smyth

[Hillbilly]

Mike, you need to post some pics of a few of those hosses that y'all have wrassled out of the water out there. Y'all usually get some nice'uns.