Biggest Catfish so Far

 Usually, I don't expect to catch many big catfish this time of the year but last week things got interesting. I had a guest from Penn. visit me for a day of fishing. This guy is a fairly experienced angler and I have fished with him before so we talked regularly about the little things that I pick up when on the lake. We actually had a terrible day of fishing with only one bass caught in a four hour time period. I was about to call it a day when one of the back lines started to do a little bouncing, sort of like a perch was nibbling on the bait. I had cautioned him about the pesty perch but he kept getting nervous when the rod tip jiggled.

I told him that sometimes when a predator is hanging around a bait fish, the bait will try to swim away and that makes the rod tip move like that. I suggested that he pick up he rod and take up just a little line to make it look like the bait was swimming away from whatever was chasing it. He followed my instructions and suddenly the rod tip went down and hit the water. Shocked as he was, he said that he had snagged a log but he soon realized that the rod was jumping as it pulled away from him. I said, "looks like you got a big fish" and big fish it was.

                                                                

Fortunately I had checked all the drag settings before we left the dock and I told him to make sure he let the fish run if it wanted to because he was using a 10 pound line test and the only way he could land this fish was to tire it out. He took my advice and fought the monster for more than 20 minutes. Each time the fish came close enough to the surface to see the boat, it took a deep dive for the bottom. When he finally tired the fish, I tried to get it in my net, but it was so fat that it wouldn't go into the net.

I grabbed my hand grabber to try and grab it by the mouth and lift it into the boat but the fish was so heavy that it broke the grabber in half. He finally maneuvered the fish so its head went straight into the net and the two of us were able to life the fish into the boat with great difficulty. I grabbed my scale and after some effort we weighed it at 40 pounds and got it back into the water.

The lesson learned from tis experience is that when the bite looks very light like a perch, take the rod and let the bait move like it is getting away. You may be surprised at the results. Also make sure your drag is set so a big fish can run. Thats the only way you can tire a big fish to the point that you can boat it.

Fall Fishing is Picking Up

 Despite the number of anglers that were on the lake last week-end in the Bass Masters tournament, I believe that most of that activity was at the upper areas of the lake. The larger bass seem to be in those waters where there is a little current and a higher concentration of nutrients so the areas at the south end of the lake were relatively un-disturbed. I fished with my son-in-law yesterday for a couple of hours and he caught 12 fish. The bass, with one exception were this years yearlings but he did land one that was in the 2 pound range

                                                           

As the afternoon got closer to dusk, he landed four mid-sized catfish, two blues and two channels. One of those fish is shown here.

                                                      

The most encouraging part of the short trip was the number of shad that I saw. One school shown here, kind of hung in one area so trolling around the school produced fish on every run. Good news that the shad are finally visible in fair numbers. This school, by my estimate contained more than 25,000 shad.

When you see a school of shad like tis, my technique is to try and continue to circle the school, the predators are sure to be close by and feeding. Good luck guys and gals, the good fall fishing has begun.

Even on Holidays, the Fishing was OK

 The lake was covered with boats of all types and jet ski's that churned up the water, but there was still room for a little fishing on Labor Day weekend. Since the occasion presented itself, I took out my Grand Son and his Son for a couple hours of fishing. When I finally found a quiet cove that the boaters had not discovered, we did find some bass and perch. Anthony scored his biggest bass over 5 pounds and Gio participated in catching some other nice fish.

                                        

The rough water was difficult for Gio so he managed to close his eyes on the trip home.

This is the kind of stuff that makes you love the little ones.

Large or Small Bait, Which is Better

 Over the last couple of years we have seen several oscillations in the supply of live bait. At the start of the Pandemic supplies of live bait were low because of the increased number of anglers that were out of work and took up fishing again, using larger quantities of live bait than the suppliers had anticipated. This summer as the Covid craze lessened and people went back to work, retail suppliers couldn't make a profit on bait because stores were not ordering large quantities. During these periods when supplies were low, I was constantly being asked the question about what size live bait is best for the local species of fish. Some weeks the larger baits were available and at other times only the smaller bait was in the stores.

Actually the same question is consistently asked with regard to lures. Will a 14 inch bass attack a 4 inch lure? Like just about every subject related to fishing, there are many answers to these questions depending on who you ask and no answer is really wrong because there are many variables that effect the answer.

First let me say that if a Lake Norman fish is hungry, regardless of its species, it will attack almost anything that swims by as long as it is smaller than itself. The phots below was sent to me by a reader who caught this trout that was digesting this smaller trout half its size. While the fish was being digested, the trout actually attacked the anglers lure. That was a hungry trout.

We don't have trout in our lake but a bass, if hungry enough will attack nearly any fish that is smaller than itself. I have found that during the spring and early summer months when the water temperature is in the comfortable range between 60 and 80 degrees, every species in this lake prefers medium sized bait between 3 and 4 inches. As the water warms and when it gets very cold, bass will tend to want a larger bait knowing that they don't like to exert a lot of energy attacking their prey. Size of course is only one issue for the predators. Any bait or lure that acts like it is wounded or otherwise unable to swim away, will be a preferred meal for a bass.

Catfish also have a preference regarding live bait. Channel cats will attack smaller bait and often will like something that smells. Blue cats prefer larger baits with the really big ones wanting a sizeable chunk of bait. Flatheads like their food to be alive, no matter what size it is

With the situation being as it is these days when we never know what's available, I say take what you can get. Its better to be on the lake with the wrong size bait than sitting at home waiting for the right size to come along.

Channel Catfish are Growing in Lake Norman

 We are all aware of the existence of Channel Catfish in Lake Norman. For years these small fish (less than 4 pounds) have been considered a nuisance to anglers because they bite at any live bait and often a lure, they are not big enough to be considered good to eat, they seem to be everywhere, even where the bass should be located. During these warm water periods, the small channels have always been a nuisance.

For some reason the size of the channels are getting much bigger. I have been catching channels regularly that are 5 pounds and bigger and they fight like mad, no longer considered a nuisance. There seems to be no known reason for this sudden growth. It is not unusual in other southern lakes to catch large channels, 5 pounds and up. Years ago I fished in the red river in North Dakota for channels and got one that was close to 50 pounds. But here in Norman they have always been small. 

I have discussed this situation with the Wildlife Commission personnel and they don't tend to agree with me and cannot provide a reason why it might occur. This might be because they don't regularly fish this lake and they really don't care about the catfish population or its conditions. If readers have noticed the same situation, please let me know because despite the Commission, the situation does exist.

This photo is a 30 inch channel cat, weighing more than 7 pounds. It was an exciting catch and fought as good as most stripers. There was actually enough meat on this fish for a couple good filets if that was my objective.

Delays in my blog information

 Sorry folks, I have been delinquent in maintaining my blog inputs but I think that you will understand if I explain. I started having medical difficulties in December. Not to elaborate on those issues, they caused me to loose the months of December and January, because i could do no fishing. I eventually resolved those problems, at least I thought I had. Once healed, I went out and got a Covid vaccination (both shots).About 6 weeks ago I permitted the ladder to fall out from under me when working on a roof. The fall was fine but the sudden stop really hurt. Hospital stay and scans eventually showed no breaks but serious muscle damage. At that point I was using a walker.  A couple weeks later I started passing blood (seriously). before I could get to a doctor I was tested positive for Covid. (remember I had the vaccination).

When visiting a doctor about the bleeding, I found that I had contacted the Shingles and I had a bleeding situation in a bleeding toe. Tests were run on the blood situation, and I am awaiting the results and a September doctor meeting will do some scanning on my kidney. Meanwhile I have cleared the Covid and will now deal with the toe. That's enough to make you understand my absence.

I did get out fishing yesterday just to break the cabin fever. It was hot and I wasn't ready for that activity but I did catch a couple of real nice sized channel catfish and a couple perch. No sign of bass but the water temp. is hot and everything is deep (below 25 feet).

Most encouraging was the presence of schools of shad. I did see several small shad schools which is important especially with the recent move to stock F1 bass. To grow to the larger sizes predicted, it will be necessary for them to have sufficient food and nutrition. The schools i saw were small but they were visible.

In the middle of all of the above, I did make another trip to Tennessee to fish for stripers. This trip was to introduce my brother-in-law and his son to striper fishing. The trip was a success as shown from some of the photos below.

As the Lake Norman water cools, I suspect that the bass and hybrid fishing will return to its pre-summer levels.

Tennessee Again Provides Thrills and Lots of Fish

 Some of you have noticed that I have been slow to make new posts. That's because I'm very slow getting around. Last week I fell from a ladder while helping shingle a roof. So far the results have not shown any serious breaks but you can't prove that by my condition. Had an MRI yesterday but have yet to get the results. Hopefully this old body is just slow to recover. getting around with a walker so fishing activity has been stopped except for my annual striped trip to Tennessee. It was a blast.

This year I took all my sons, step sons and grand son. Didn't get monsters with all the fish in the 20's but the action was steady. here's some of the photos.

Another good fishing day

 Harry Theil and I took a few hours to drown some bait the other day. Again for some reason bait was in short supply but I did find some larger shiners that I felt would work find. The fishing started slow as it has in recent days but as the afternoon grew old, the fish started to cause us some trouble, if catching three at a time is considered trouble. Of course Harry landed most of the fish except those that were multiples when I helped him out. He started with a nice crappie and eventually got about 20 nice bass like the one shown here

The spawn is in full swing and the fish are feeding heavily when you can find them. They are still on the drop offs in 30 to 40 feet of water. As usual, I don't fish in the shallows for the males that are building nests. I choose to leave them alone so that we can expect a good crop of new fish for the future seasons.

I expect that the good fishing will last a few weeks as the spawn continues and the waters continue to warm. Shad schools are still rarely seen and perch are not hanging out in the areas that I fish which is a blessing. Get out and fish guys, it doesn't get this good very often.

All Circle Hooks Are Not The Same

I have been using circle hooks almost exclusively on Lake Norman since I release nearly all the fish that I catch. I really never took a hard look at the shape of the hooks that I buy because I never thought it made much difference.

Recently I have noticed that I and my fishing guests were getting an unusual number of drop off bites, meaning that the bite seemed strong but after a turn or two of the reel handle, the fish dropped off. A few of these drop-offs is normal but recently the ratio of catches to drop-offs was almost equal. This caused concern on my part so I took a good look at the hooks that I was using.

Because of the way I fish, I loose quite a few hooks and for some reason the stores have been out of the normal circles so I purchased what they had in stock. After taking a good look at the hooks I was using I theorized that the specific hook that I had was possibly causing the heavy drop-off rate. See the illustration below.

Ay first glance the two hooks look the same but they aren't. The right hook is the normal circle hook and the gape is nearly a perfect circle. The hook on the left has a s lightly offset gape so that the edge of that hook (c) causes that edge to be much further away from the parallel of the hook shaft (a). Notice that that distance (a) is nearly twice the distance from the shaft that the normal hook distance (b). This might not seem important at first glance but ass the hook is pulled up out of the gut of the fish, this greater distance (a) prevents the circle portion of the hook from catching the mouth of the fish and the hook simply pulls out of the fish. This is almost the same effect as jerking on the rod when retrieving the fish.

I purchased a complete new package of hooks and re-hooked all my rods. On my next trip my catch rate was 14 to one meaning that I caught 14 of the 15 fish that bit the bait. Doesn't seem like a very big difference, but the result kind of proves that sometimes the smallest thing can make a difference when bass fishing. It also shows that we are never too old to learn new things.

Fishing is Getting Hot Again

 I haven't been posting a lot lately but I have been on the water when the weather gets warm. I can't see any reason to got out there and freeze my but when I can simply wait until a warmer day. Well! those days seem to have arrived and the fishing is good. I call this the pre-pre spawn period. The water is getting warmer and the fish realize that the time is coming for the spawn. The bass are moving into the deep water ends of the creeks and coves and they are feeding heavily in preparation for the spawn. The water is a bit warmer at the mouth of the coves and they can still feed at the drop offs in the deeper water. As the water warms into the 60s they will begin to move further into the shallower water but now they are still deep in 30 feet or so of water.

I don't get many opportunities to get a photo of myself but this time it was necessary to have a buddy take this one. These are 5 and 51/2 pounders and I got them both at the same time. These are the biggest bass that my boat has caught this season.

There was a shortage of bait and I was forced to use some larger shiners but the bass gobbled them up as soon as they were dropped into the water, strange  thing.

I have been fishing in any drop off that i can find that leads to 30 feet of water. That's where I am finding a lot of fish. Also boated a couple of 20 pound plus blue catfish and the other day and a fishing partner brought in a nice striper. My wife and I were sitting on the boat tied at my dock and she landed a 20 pound blue cat the other day. Things are great on the water so get ut and fish.

                                                           Hello Again

I have had a few of my friends and fellow anglers ask why I have been silent on this blog for two months. No, I did not contact the virus, but I was sick for a long period of time. I basically lost the month of January and part of Feb. No need to give you all the details but I am now feeling much better although I have lost considerable confidence in our medical care system in general.

During my recovery I took the opportunity to re-gain some productivity by doing maintenance on all of my fishing gear. This is a good time of the year to re-spool all of your reels, clean and oil them and check all the eyes on your rods for nicks or scratches. One item often overlooked by most anglers are the hooks on your lures. if they are bent or rusty, they should be replaced. It's not a big job if you have the right tools.

Because of the weather that we have been having, the fishing pressure on the lake is very light so when it warms, and I hope that is soon, fishing should be real good. I hope everyone has gotten through this cold period while remaining healthy. I should be back on the lake in a week or so. Hope to see you all out there.