Year Of The Big Cat.????

This is something i ask myself every year as i start getting things together for all my adventures.This is the time of year that cat fishermen start to ask themselves "Is this the year that I can put it all together?" What is "it" you ask? "It" is the uncanny ability to utilize combined years of knowledge, effort, respect, friendships and ever-changing environmental conditions. In order to gain those abilities you must first have a thirst for cat fishing, adventure, and a willingness to share personal experiences and most importantly, learn new ones. A great way to begin this unending pursuit of skill is by sharing your ways that you fish for catfish, and comparing them with that of others. so how about it guy's and gals, lets share some secrets and special ways that you catch yours.

Yes, I hope this is the year I catch my first cat. Big, small, medium, large, hugh anything would be a starter.

0H I hope this is the year of the big cat!! I know there are big cats in this lake I just haven't been able to key in on one!! I use a variety of methods when I go out to try and see which one will produce ! I believe that if you want a big fish you have to be where they are ! The really big fish aren't on the bottom they are suspended feeding on the first bait that bass both black bass and stripers miss! looking at the food chain you will see plankton then shad then bass then big cats then smaller cats . I have studied the graft watching it and you can see the size differ from top to bottom. Now saying that you can catch some large fish off the bottom but the largest fish are suspended according to my graft!
I watch the column from top is generally around 9ft down to 24 ft in the river that is 42 feet deep.
So I set up with a slip bobber using a leader that is 23 ft long so the knot will stop the bobber at that depth!
I set up a 9ft bobber with the 9 ft leader also to fish at that depth.
I set up off the bottom about two ft by using a slip weight that stops at a swivel then a two ft leader with an inline cork fixed half way from the hook. This will fish 1 ft off the bottom tight line or if you give it a couple of feet of slack you can vary how far off the bottom you fish and adjust for the need at that time!
Now to talk about the bait I use ! I have found that butterflying the bait whether it be shad or brim plus cutting the gill plate off the other side to reveal the red gills has proven to be the best way that I have found to catch big blues! Believe it or not done correctly the brim will still be alive for a short time and quivers till he dies and it is still good till the bait gets taken or you quit! THIS IS THE PAPPY ZONE

I know that what I wrote is not the normal way of thinking but if you give it an honest effort you will be convinced !!

I really have to laugh at Pappy. Not laughing in a sarcastic way or anything like that but it kind of tickles me to read his thread up above. You have to understand that where I'm from an 8 or 10 pound Catifish is a real keeper. When I think of Pappy and some of the other guy's on this site, like Robbi, I have to think of it in a little different way. Pappy should not be thinking is this going to be the year of the big cat, but is this going to be the week of the big cat. Him and Robbi catch what I consider to be a fish of a lifetime, on a weekly basis. But I hope they, and everyone else here, catch the fish of their dreams this year.


Jim