Jake Abts is a relatively new cat man. Catfish Weekly is an internet TV show that disseminates catfish information. In today’s social media world lives become connected without the people actually knowing each other personally. Sometimes those stories need to be told.
Lyle Stokes, Chuck Davidson and Tim “Doc” Lange are the hosts for the Monday evening internet TV show, Catfish Weekly. They recently received an uplifting message from Jake. As it turns out, Jake not only learned new techniques that helped him catch more catfish, he learned the importance of conservation. Stories like this are proof positive how sharing information with the catfish community will grow the sport.
“I just thought I would start by thanking all of you guys for the content you put out every week,” began the message from Jake. “I thought you might want to hear a success story related to information gathered from your podcast.”
Jake grew up and lived in a small Wisconsin town near the Mississippi River. He started fishing with his dad at a very young age for walleye and crappie. “From my teens to early twenties I fell in love with fishing,” said Jake.
His fishing love affair was with bass. “Like any great parent dad was always ready to go out and chase those things around the world for me,” related Jake. “I know it wasn’t his favorite fish to target, but in order to have some great father/son time he did it.”
Five years ago Jake lost his dad in a work related accident. “I all but quit fishing for two years,” reported Jake. “We all know a boat is not the same without our fishing partner. As time went by I found myself drawn back to the river. It almost became a place of peace and happy reflection. It got to where I never wanted to come off the river again.”
Then a beautiful thing happened to Jake. “Last summer my beautiful better half wanted to come out fishing,” recalls Jake. “I was more than happy to have someone back in the boat that I could finally share all those years of fishing secrets with.”
Jake and Beth quickly discovered that it wasn’t as easy as they first thought it would be. “We both quickly found out that the task of teaching someone how to fish in their twenties can be taxing,” joked Jake. “The amount of time spent pulling out bird nests from an over spooled cast and removing baits from trees was getting to the both of us.”
Jake’s wife started to fish less and sit more. He recognized that Beth enjoyed their time on the water, but he wanted them to fish together. He turned to catfishing as the answer.
“Never having tried it before in my life I knew these things called catfish existed,” said Jake. “We could both just throw lines out and spend time together, so we decided to give it a shot. It was safe to say that we knew nothing about catfishing. This is where Catfish Weekly came to save the day and change how I fish forever.”
Jake stored his treasured St. Croix bass rods in the closet and bought two “dirt cheap” catfish poles. “I bought two Zebco Catfish Fighter Spinning Combos from Fleet Farm,” revealed Jake. “I was sure a big catfish would break them in two as I loaded up my dip bait onto some unfamiliar rubber tube. I packed it in there carefully with a stick not to get any of that stinky crap on me. It seems like it always ended up everywhere.”
“This would have been June of last year,” continued Jake. “I started to do some basic research on just what it took to catch a catfish. I knew I needed a basic Carolina rig which was new to me as well as some sinkers. One-ounce weights seemed ridiculously oversized. As I look back now I can only laugh. Despite my best efforts in the first few weeks all we could catch were some small channel cats. Later I found out that is all you catch on stink bait.”
Jake was smart enough to know that he needed to do more research. He knew there had to be bigger fish than the 5 pound fish they were catching. “I dove head first into every podcast of Catfish Weekly,” declared Jake. “I would listen to you guys all day every day until I had worked my way through every podcast of the show.”
“In a span of three months I went from 30-pound mono to 65-pound braid. I was tying rigs with swivels and leader line; I went from 1 ounce sinkers to 4 ounce; I went from stink bait to the biggest sunfish I could get my hands on.”
Finally his hard work and dedication to learning paid off. “In September of last year (four months from my first attempts) I caught a 40 pound flathead on that damn $30 rod and reel combo. I was hooked deeper than the Team Catfish Double Action Circle hooks that I use today.”
Catfish fever set in hard and Jake continued his pursuit of preparing for more and bigger fish. “All winter long I continued to read and listen to as much as I could. I worked overtime out of my ears to save up and buy the Helix 9. Now I can’t imagine life without it. In fact, your podcast about electronics was a big help to get me going in the right direction. Any other pennies saved went towards Abu Garcia Ambassador Reels and some heavy action poles.”
As Jake’s fishing season in Wisconsin winds down he reflects on his journey. “I’m just over a year into being hopelessly addicted to catfishing and loving every minute,” admits Jake. “Given the great success of this year, Beth often likes to remind me just how far we have come in a year. Our success is largely due to Catfish Weekly podcasts and lots and lots and lots of time spent on the water learning.”
Jake and Beth had a 135-pound flathead day, in four fish, to top off their year. Now their thoughts have gone to the winter break. “We are staring to look at some local tournaments, but converting a 1750 Fish Hawk into a tournament machine is going to take a full winter’s worth of time and money,” joked Jake.
Jake also picked up the importance of conservation from the many Catfish Weekly podcasts that he listened to. “The fish come first and the right live well is a pretty big deal unless you are fortunate enough to have a SeaArk. Those lucky devils.”
Jake closed his message to the Catfish Weekly guys with a statement from the heart. “I look forward to your shows in the future and just wanted to let you guys know that we are out here listening and it is helping a great deal. Keep up the good work and stay outta my spot.”
Catfish Weekly can be viewed live every Monday night at 7:00 CST at CatfishWeekly.com. The podcasts that Jake so much admires can be listened to from the same website.
