Michael Ballinger wins RigRap Wheel spin on Catfish Weekly
On Monday, February 12, 2018, Catfish Weekly’s RigRap Wheel landed on CatfishNow for an angler from Northern Indiana. There are a million stories in the catfish community, this is just one.
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Michael Ballinger is a riverman. He enjoys spending his recreational time along and on the river. In his younger days, he spent some time chasing ditch pickles in tournaments but having got over that he now turns his fishing efforts to catfishing.
“I do most of my fishing on the rivers,” offered Ballinger. “I find nothing more peaceful than sitting back anchored up on my favorite river and waiting for a rod to fold over. Then the chaos begins. It is amazing how powerful catfish are, especially in moving water.”
Ballinger resides in the northern part of Indiana. He is lucky to have plenty of nearby water, including the state’s largest natural lake, Lake Wawasee, and several rivers.
“The area I live in is called the Northern Indiana Lakes Region,” explained Ballinger. “There are more than a dozen lakes in the area. Along with the many lakes in my backyard, I am also blessed with several small rivers and a couple larger ones close by. These rivers are where I spend my time fishing and have honed my skills over the years.”
Where He Fishes
“I have often been asked what type of body of water I prefer to fish,” mused Ballinger. “I respond that as long as it moves or has flow I am there. I spend the majority of my time on two rivers. The Saint Joseph River, about an hour to the north of me, and the Wabash River, about an hour south of me. That being said these two rivers are the complete opposite of each other.”
Ballinger explained that the Wabash River is dirtier, shallow, and much slower. It rarely exceeds over 500 cubic feet per second (CFS) during the summer months. He describes the Saint Joseph River as much bigger, deeper and swifter. The CFS on the Saint Joseph will usually run 1000 or higher.
“The Wabash River has a variety of catfish species, including many channel cats among the occasional blue and many flatheads. My personal best (PB) flat head of 28 pounds came from the Wabash. But I hear from many locals that there are 40-plus pound flats in there.”
“The Saint Joseph River, on the other hand, only has channels in it,” continued Ballinger. “But it has a lot of big channels, many in the teens. My PB channel was taken up there last year. It weighed 18 pounds 5 ounces. I know there are some 20-plus pounders swimming around in there. So, I guess you can say both those rivers are my favorite to fish. It just depends on what you want to chase.”
How He Fishes
Ballinger considers himself to be mostly an anchor fisherman. He loves fishing off the rope and chasing the cats both day and night.
“There are several good catfish rod manufacturers out there now,” said Ballinger. “I fish with a variety of rods for both daytime and nighttime trips. My daytime arsenal includes the Whisker Seeker medium action rod in the baitcasting model. I pair them up with Ambassador Catfish Specials. My line is the Whisker Seeker orange in the 30-pound test.”
“For my nighttime fishing, I’m using Tangling with Catfish Whisker Whips,” continued Ballinger. “They are also medium action. I have paired these up with Ming Yang reels. I’m trying a different line this year for night fishing. It is the Slime Lines 30-pound test. I love the way that it glows at night but the verdict is still out on performance. I just picked up a couple of the medium action Big Cat Fever rods for night fishing. They just came out and I can’t wait to try them out. I have them paired up with a couple of Lew’s reels that Dieter Melhorn speaks so highly of.”
Ballinger’s typical terminal tackle is a Carolina rig. He uses Demon Dragons, floats, and Whisker Seeker rattles.
“I always try to keep my bait up off the bottom,” instructed Ballinger. “My bait of choice is chubs and/or bluegill. I always use cut bait, fresh if I can get it, but sometimes I use frozen.”
Bucket List Destinations
“As far as a bucket list destination I would be crazy if I did not want to go out to the Mississippi River,” reacted Ballinger. “Also, the Missouri River or even the James River out east. But I would have to say that my heart belongs to the Tennessee River. Back in 2012, I had the opportunity to go on a catfishing trip at Fort Loudoun Lake. Honestly, I think that was when I became hooked on catfishing for life. I didn’t catch anything really big but we did catch a lot of nice fish. I think that’s when I fell in love with the whole Tennessee River system. That was my most memorable fishing trip to date.”
Final Thoughts
“I used to travel throughout the state fishing bass tournaments,” reminisced Ballinger. “There is absolutely no comparison between that and catfishing. I do miss the competition, but it just wears you out.”
“As I’ve gotten older I find throwing lines out in the river, sitting back and just taking it all in, is much more enjoyable. I would have to say that what attracts me to catfishing is probably the more laid-back mentality of it all. It has a calming effect. Bein anchored up on a river, in a remote location with nothing but nature around you, really has its moments.”
“And then there’s this whole catfish community thing which I find amazing. What a genuinely good bunch of people keeping it real. I can’t say enough about their willingness to help you out. It is a special thing to interact with the many catfish anglers, YouTubers, and other catfish media outlets. The catfish community really makes you feel like you belong,” concluded Ballinger.
Epilogue: Everyone likes to win stuff and Catfish Weekly is giving plenty of catfishing gear away. All you have to do is sign up for the giveaway on the Catfish Weekly Facebook page each week and then tune in on Monday nights to listen to Lyle Stokes and Doc Lange. If your name comes in the random drawing then Lyle spins the wheel to see what you have won.
It’s free and it happens every Monday night at 7:00 pm central time, and sometimes in between. When the wheel lands on CatfishNow the winner gets their catfish story told on the CatfishNow website.
