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#Post#: 225--------------------------------------------------
Day of the cats.
By: chunting Date: May 19, 2018, 10:41 am
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Being retired, I have the liberty to pick and choose when to
fish. One morning last week found me sitting in my truck
drinking coffee and munching on some donuts a quarter to six in
a pasture surrounding one of my favorite ponds. My 7 wt was
leaning against the bed of my truck loaded with a 1/0 Dragon
Tail streamer. My eyes were fixed upon a stump about 30 feet
off the bank where something was disturbing the water. Some
critter was pushing up some serious water. I'd taken a 5.5 #
bass off that stump earlier in the year with commie tackle and a
spinnerbait and figured another bass was making all the
commotion. It was just too much. I put my Thermos down and
picked up the 7 wt. Easing down to the bank a little distance
from the action I shook out some line and tossed the streamer
into the water to get it wet. Now prepared I closed to within
casting range of the stump, loaded the rod and shot the streamer
10 feet past. When the streamer neared the stump something blew
it up and gave a good impression of a bonefish in the shallow
water. My immediate thought was a large bass but it turned out
to be a channel cat. This was only the second I'd taken on the
fly rod and a real treat.
[URL=
HTML http://s544.photobucket.com/user/spikeknife/media/cat3_zpss5bpfwgl.jpg.html][IMG]http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh338/spikeknife/cat3_zpss5bpfwgl.jpg[/img][/URL]<br
/>
The landowner had released a number of channel cats he had
trotlined from another pond the past year weighing up to 15
pounds. Pound for pound a channel cat will easily whip a bass.
:)
I fished down he bank to a dock where I had placed a pile of
logs and large rocks when the pond had been lowered several
years back. This structure had produced bass or black crappie
in the past. When in range I sailed a cast beyond the pile and
worked the streamer slowly past. Something jolted the streamer.
After a hard fought battle the critter was dragged out and
quickly weighed at 5.5 pounds.
[URL=
HTML http://s544.photobucket.com/user/spikeknife/media/cat2_zpsccg407ht.jpg.html][IMG]http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh338/spikeknife/cat2_zpsccg407ht.jpg[/img][/URL]<br
/>
The rock pile gave up another a few casts later. After fishing
a total of two and a half hours I caught and released two three
pound and one five and half pound channel cats. I never did
catch a bass this day and had no complaints. :)
[URL=
HTML http://s544.photobucket.com/user/spikeknife/media/cat1_zpsftsus6vi.jpg.html][IMG]http://i544.photobucket.com/albums/hh338/spikeknife/cat1_zpsftsus6vi.jpg[/img][/URL]
#Post#: 227--------------------------------------------------
Re: Day of the cats.
By: Catchcoma Date: May 20, 2018, 4:17 pm
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I experienced some great catfishing on the fly rod at a most
inopportune time - during the recent "Bass on the Fly" fishing
tournament on Lake Fork. Shortly after 6:10am, I had something
big miss my popper. I recast back to the strike zone and the
fish took it in. For awhile, I thought I had a good size bass
to start my day. Then I saw the fish's tail just out the
surface of the water and knew something wasn't right. It turned
out to be a nice channel cat.
Ended up catching five that morning - 1 on the popper, 1 on a
Clouser, and 3 on a Bass Candy. All were somewhere between 3
and 5 pounds. Best eating size. Except I was after bass.
Ended up catching a couple nice bass and finishing 4th in the
kayak division. But I wasn't disappointed, as those cats sure
made for a fun day!
#Post#: 228--------------------------------------------------
Re: Day of the cats.
By: chunting Date: May 23, 2018, 7:35 am
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I'd say, aside from taking time away from your contest, you had
quite fine day. When I lived at Natchitoches, during the spring
spawn I'd walk the dam on Sibley with a spinning rod and small
crank baits and have a ball catching channel cats along the rip
rap.
Our pond is producing many large copper nose from a pound to a
pound and six ounces and still growing. You get up Ruston way,
holler, I'll let you check'um out.
#Post#: 229--------------------------------------------------
Re: Day of the cats.
By: Jody Titone Date: May 24, 2018, 12:34 pm
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Ruston ponds bring back great memories. When I was a freshman at
La.Tech in 1966 I befriended a local who had fishing rights (he
claimed) to many ponds in the area. We waded and fly fished
ponds all over the parish catching our share of bream, bass and
catfish. Needless to say, my GPA suffered greatly and rather
than fishing the rice paddies in Viet Nam I decided to give up
the fun and become a serious student. It was a great time. Never
have been able to remember the guy's name.
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