Sarah Zimmerman may be petite, but she’s always ready to tussle with a big catfish.
Why We Catfish: A Visit with Iowa Angler Sarah Zimmerman
by Brad Durick
A young female angler shares the reasons she loves catfishing with fishing guide and writer Brad Durick.
I first met Sarah in 2015 when she joined her brother Sam and dad Clayton on a trip in my guide boat. I knew she was a real spitfire right out of the gate. There was nothing squeamish about this girl. She was right in with the catfish and not afraid to get her hands dirty.
Now 22 years old and a business owner in Carroll, Iowa, Sarah still never misses a chance for the annual North Dakota fishing trip with her dad. In fact, they have only missed one year and that was due to work schedules not working out.
This group is always a treat to be around, and I look forward to it every year. I recently asked Sarah why she catfishes and why she loves it so much. She told me, “I used to walk down to the river in my backyard with Dad, catch some frogs, throw a line out and cross my fingers.”
Sometimes they caught catfish, and other times they didn’t.
When she was 15, her dad booked a catfishing trip to the Red River to try something different while they were on their annual trip to Devils Lake, North Dakota. She told me it was there that her love of catfish really took hold.
“I love hanging out with my dad,” she said. “In fact, 95 percent of my time with my dad is spent in a fishing boat.”
Sarah said she loves fishing for everything from walleyes to pike, but catfish are her favorites. She finds them to be “much more fast paced and more exciting.” Fishing for catfish on the Red River is “always rewarding.”
There have been many memorable trips to the Red River. One time she caught a catfish near the bridge in downtown Grand Forks. While she was fighting the fish, a crowd from the nearby farmers market gathered to watch her. When she landed the fish, she held it high over her head for all to applaud.
Another time, her brother could not join them. As luck had it, there was a once-in-a-lifetime bite with big numbers of huge fish. It was just her and her dad Clayton to enjoy a day on the water catching hundreds of pounds of catfish.
I have watched Sarah grow up and become a very astute catfish angler. The real prize was on day one of their annual trip when she landed an amazing 27-pound Red River channel cat, the biggest in my boat in several years. The fish was truly a memory for all of us who were lucky enough to witness it.
(Captain Brad Durick is a nationally recognized catfish guide on the Red River of the North, seminar speake, and author of the books Cracking the Channel Catfish Code and Advanced Catfishing Made Easy. For more information go to https://redrivercatfish.com/.)
