Flatheads became the favorite target for Joey Pounders. He has developed a tried and proven method for catching them as witnessed by these Alabama River flatheads.
It’s Good Medicine
by Ron Presley
Some call catfishing a passion. Joey Pounders calls it a necessity.
Thirty-nine-year-old Caledonia, MS resident, Joey Pounders credits his dad, Jerry Pounders, for instilling in him a passion for fishing. He claims the Tombigbee River and one of its tributaries, the Buttahatchee River, as where he learned to fish and develop a love the outdoors.
“My earliest memories of fishing date back to camping on the Buttahatchee River,” recalled Joey. “From the time I was a toddler to my late teens, Dad would take the family on 3- to 4-day camping/fishing trips. We would camp on an isolated gravel bar with several creeks and small pools nearby. We could fish for just about anything.”
Even though they caught many species of fish, Joey’s current fascination with flatheads probably came from those early camping trips with his dad and family.
“I remember setting out cane poles baited with bream in the nastiest logjams you could imagine,” continued Joey. “We caught huge flatheads out of those jams. I can’t explain how much those trips and experiences taught me about catfish. I can say, I learned most of what I know about catfishing from my dad on these summer trips.”
His dad was a well-known fisherman in his day and possessed a lot of knowledge that the whole family would benefit from and enjoy together. Camping and fishing were things that the family could do together. Most people know Black Friday as the day after Thanksgiving and it is a discount shopping day. To the Pounders clan, there is a Black Friday catfishing trip that includes Jerry Pounders and his boys going fishing while the wives go shopping. It wasn’t until the early 2000s that they began using boats.
“We didn’t have a lot of money coming up,” added Joey. “But dad was a hands-on guy and he taught us everything we knew about fishing and the outdoors. He always reminded us that it’s never a competition. Then once he had caught more fish than you it somehow became one.”
“Dad made fishing fun in our young lives,” continued Joey. “He took us to random places to fish and camp and that’s where my passion and love for the sport came from. Dad always made it an adventure. Those experiences and how he raised us doesn’t take money, it just takes personal time.”
Joey is known for his flathead knowledge and success. He knew that anglers were catching big blues in his area, but as the tournament scene developed he learned quickly that targeting flatheads were the way to win.
He was in his early to mid-twenties when he started focusing more on fishing. He played baseball throughout college and that took a lot of his free time. But once he was done with ball he never turned back. He had some early success including catching a state record flathead and needless to say he was hooked from then on.
“Being young and learning how to throw a cast net to catch the perfect size bait helped me early in my tournament career,” offered Joey. “It was an adapt-or-die concept as I learned about flatheads. I certainly don’t have it all down but I’ve caught a few in my time so there is some confidence there.”
A part of his passion for flatheads spills over into the conservation side of fishing. Like many others, he grew up keeping about everything that was caught for the dinner table. As time went by and as he fished more tournaments and met more serious anglers he learned the importance of Catch-Photo-Release (CPR). He now teaches others about its importance.
“As my fishing evolved I had the pleasure of taking a few marine biologist fishing,” recalled Joey. “They explain conservation like this. Take a 7-foot-tall man and a 5-foot-tall man and let them have 10 kids each. Chances are none of the 7-foot man’s kids will ever be as short as the tallest of the 5-foot man’s kids.”
“Genetics is that important,” continued Joey. “Age doesn’t matter. Genetics is what matters. If we don’t stop keeping the big fish there will only be smaller genetically sized fish in our waters.”
Joey Pounders is approachable with a friendly personality. Those traits are obvious in his behavior towards others and his willingness to share what he has learned about catfishing. He wants to be remembered as someone that cares about people and wants to encourage others in a positive way.
“I want to be that person that can hold a conversation at any level,” hinted Joey. “Whether it is with the local bank fisherman or the best tournament angler, I hope I can meet them on their level and not be thought of as trying to get one-up on them. I hope I am remembered as an angler that just wanted to communicate with others regardless of skill level.”
Joey says that as a young tournament angler he was afraid to talk to a Phil King, a Carl Morris, a Larry Muse, or the Masingale brothers. But when he did they engaged with him fully.
“They were all great ambassadors of the sport,” stated Joey. “They took the time to speak to me and give any advice I asked for. I just wanted to be that guy for the next guys coming up. So, I pride myself in trying to be as approachable as possible.”
Joey has been married for 8 years to his wife Lindsey and they have added two young boys into the Pounders household. In addition to fishing, he likes to camp, travel, and coach baseball. Add to that his passion for buying, selling, and trading houses and he’s a busy guy. They currently sold their home and bought land with a pond where they will build a barndominium. Although he enjoys the process, he admits that it is taking a lot of his free time and impacting his time on the water.
When he does get on the water he is taking a new tactic towards his fishing. He has begun to choose locations that are targeted less by other anglers.
“Lately I’ve been taking a little different approach to fishing,” confessed Joey. “I genuinely like fishing where tournaments are not held and where a lot of people don’t fish. My goal is to video this realistic approach for the everyday fisherman. I feel like this could help bridge that gap between ‘pro’ and ‘amateur’ anglers.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” joked Joey. “I still enjoy fishing tournaments. To me, it’s a way to see how you stack up against your peers. It’s also a way to rub elbows with the best cat guys out there. I like to be amongst these guys on occasion even if that means they’re hanging major weight on me tournament day!”
Joey fully recognizes that with his 6-year-old and 3-year-old boys his free time is limited. It makes it hard to commit the time needed (prefishing/bait/scouting) to fish a tournament successfully.
“I may not be doing as much tournament fishing currently,” suggested Joey. “But I’m sure things will come around. I want my boys to have a variety of interests including sports, outdoors, fishing, etc. I’m sure fishing/catfishing will be a mainstay in our future.”
“You can call fishing a passion or in my case a necessity,” concluded Joey. “I just love being around water and always have. I could be catfishing, bream fishing, or bass fishing, and get the same feeling. Fishing has always been able to relieve me of all the distractions I have. It gives me peace of mind that I can’t find anywhere else. It’s good medicine!”
“When I’m on the water I have church, solve all the world’s problems, explore new areas, and get a chance to catch a trophy fish all at the same time. That’s what fuels my PASSION!”
