Tournament Time
Welcome, everyone to the May edition of CatfishNow (CFN). This month’s edition is dedicated to blue cat destinations. Spring fishing has been extremely good with numerous personal bests posted. If you haven’t improved your personal best consider visiting one of the three destinations featured this month.
I had the opportunity to fish Wheeler Lake a couple of times this spring and it was great as usual. The first opportunity was in conjunction with Patriot Catfishing INC. Spring event. I had the honor of fishing with B’n’M Poles Prostaffer Cad Daly. As usual, the fishing was great. You can read all about it in this issue.
I returned about a month later and fished with Roger Breedlove and Larry Muse. Those stories will be featured in future issues of CatfishNOW.
If Wheeler Lake is not on your bucket list you need to add it. Believe me, I speak from experience.
The other two featured destinations are Lake Murray in South Carolina and the Chesapeake Bay. Terry Madewell’s story on Lake Murray will convince you to give it a try. Keith Sutton’s tale of catfish in the Chesapeake Bay leaves no doubt that it too is a worthy candidate for a trophy blue cat bucket list destination.
Destination Wheeler Lake, AL
Suspending on Wheeler by Ron Presley Patience and a calm day can produce some nice trophy blues in Wheeler Lake’s deep water forest. Cad Daly was one of the volunteer captains at the 2022 Spring Warrior Catfishing Contest hosted by Patriot Catfishing INC. Daly took out some of the veteran anglers and […]
Blue Cat Destinations: Chesapeake Bay
Blue catfish often reach huge sizes in Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries, leading some to worry that these increasingly abundant creatures could wreak havoc on the ecosystem. Blue Catfish in Chesapeake Bay by Keith “Catfish” Sutton East Coast catfish are trophies to some, invaders to others. The tributaries of Chesapeake Bay are home […]
Springtime Blue Cat Bonanza
Lake Murray has an excellent diversity of blue catfish size classes and the potential for trophy fish is realistic. Get the Lake Murray Blues by Terry Madewell May offers sensational action for blue catfish at Lake Murray in South Carolina with bonus channel and flatheads also on a strong bite. Lake Murray is […]
Future of multi-beam sonar and underwater fishing cameras
LOOKING INTO THE CRYSTAL BALL OF MARINE ELECTRONICS by Brad Wiegmann Garmin, Lowrance and finally Humminbird now all have released their version of phased array scanning sonar aka live-imaging sonar(LIS) in forward/down/wide viewing sonar in real time. It’s seems impossible for this technology to get any better, but wait. What the future has forthcoming is [...]
Catfish Basics #135—Beat the Spawn by Scott Peavy
Most of my catfishing is on Santee Cooper (Lakes Marion and Moultrie), Lake Wateree, the Wateree River, and Lake Wylie. As a rule of thumb, the spawn normally starts around the middle of May and continues until about mid-June in my area. This annual ritual should be taken into consideration when fishing for catfish. The […]
Catfish Basics #136—Shallow Mud Bottom by Roger Breedlove
My association with Patriot Catfishing INC. gives me plenty of opportunities to put new catfish anglers on fish. I often search the waters of the Cumberland River and the Tennessee River to find some trophy cats for my veteran guests. It is just a way of giving back to those that have made so many […]
Catfish Gear #52
The SeaArk ProGuide provides plenty of room for larger groups of anglers. Tommy Vaughn says the ProGuide has changed the way he guides and opens new possibilities for his No Wake Guide Service. The ProGuide—A Boat For All Seasons Tommy Vaughn uses the versatile SeaArk ProGuide for catfish, paddlefish, and other species. The SeaArk [...]
Catfish Profiles in Passion – Joe Granata
Focus on Flatheads by Ron Presley Catfishing—The give and take sport. He says he doesn’t have a specialty, but flathead fishing is high on his skills list and it isn’t because of luck. Like many other passionate catfish anglers, his love for the sport started at an early age when he would fish for […]
Trophy Catfish for the Future
Multi-Year Catfish for Frank Jackson State Park Source: Outdoor Alabama A new project to improve the catfish fishery at Lake Frank Jackson in Opp, Alabama, got underway Tuesday, February 1, 2022, with the stocking of more than 5,000 harvestable-sized channel catfish. An additional stocking of smaller channel catfish is planned later in February. The […]
CFN How to Video with Larry Muse—Why 2 Hooks?
Larry Muse uses a double hook rig under certain conditions. He ties on a Boss Kat 6/0 and a Boss Kat 10/0 fairly close together when he wants to catch both smaller and larger catfish. View the video to see how he positions them and learn why it works.
B’n’M How to Video with Roy Harkness—Make a List
B’n’M pro staff angler, Roy Harkness, wants to be sure he takes everything he needs on the boat. It doesn’t matter if he is recreational fishing or tournament fishing he understands the cost of forgetting something at home. He solves the problem by making a list of all the essential gear he needs and checks […]
SeaArk Boats Owner’s Invitational Catfish Tournament
Tournament winners Craig Norris and Tyson Burnett had a bag of 135.29 pounds that included the Big Fish of the tournament at 86.42 pounds. Craig Norris and Tyson Burnett Win SeaArk Owner’s Invitational on Wheeler Lake, AL An 86.42-pound blue cat anchors the winning bag on Wheeler Lake in Alabama. One hundred eighty-three […]
