TV host Chad Koel holds a channel catfish that dreams are made of. It is a fish
like this that sets expectations high, especially when it is on a television show.
Life Lessons: Catfish Expectations
Story and photos by Brad Durick
Catfishing is many things to many people and, depending on location and experience, expectations vary for everyone.
They say with age and experience comes wisdom. I hope I have gained some wisdom (God knows I have aged) over the past two plus decades in fishing. I have now been a professional catfish guide on trophy water for a long time. I have experienced a lot of ups and downs as far as catch rates and size of fish over those years. More often than not, I have been able to pull through and put some trophies in the boat for my guests and have had many mind-blowing big-fish days. That is what builds a solid reputation and keeps customers coming back. Well, at least that is what I thought.
I have spent that past 15 plus years honing my craft to be a better and more consistent trophy channel catfish angler. I would say looking back at those first years that I have accomplished that fairly well, and catch rates are always about where they are supposed to be at the end of the season. Of course, when dealing with nature, there are always a couple days mixed in there when they just were not having it, even when you knew they were there. On the other side of that, every season has that day or two when I can do no wrong and fish are jumping in the boat.
At this point in my career, nobody has higher expectations for a day of fishing than me. So, what happens when Mother Nature throws a giant curve ball into everything and suddenly a trophy catfish guide finds himself in a situation with very few big fish and average size is down by nearly 50 percent?
The Situation
Spring flooding is normal in these parts and, normally, when the river gets in the banks from the flood, the water temperatures after winter say it is GO TIME. Of course, we are fishing as the water is still falling quickly (about one foot per day), and the fish are still a little confused because of that. When things level off and settle down, the prespawn bite gets really good really fast.
2023 had other plans for us. Just as things were settling down and the catfish were starting to really feed, the high temperature soared into the mid 90s. It is normally mid 60s to 70s.
The temps stayed hot, raising water temperatures from 58 degrees to 72 degrees in a week. Now we found ourselves with fish still a little shocked from the fast-falling water levels and shocked from fast-rising water temperatures. Once the temperatures did stabilize, nature told the fish it was time to spawn. That was two weeks early, another factor against us.
We all know that spawning stresses catfish anyway, but when they did not have a chance to bulk up in preparation, then the spawn stress followed by water temperatures nearing 80 degrees … well, there was no coming back from that. This meant we were going to be dealing with skinny fish all season.
Add to all of that, it seemed there just was not the number of big fish we have become accustomed to in our sections of river, but rather many smaller fish that were under five pounds.
Mental Anguish
Having fish standards the way I do, starting out a season with all this shock and lack of monster fish had my mind and attitude in the dumps. I am sure early on guests could sense my disgust. We were getting our numbers but lacking big fish. What bothered me more is that many of my customers have been here numerous times and know what we should be catching. I found myself apologizing, with the hopes of getting them back for another year even though things were not all that great this time.
The Realization
It took me about 20 trips to finally come off my cloud and listen to customers day after day telling me that, yes, they would like to catch big fish, but it is just the being able to go fishing and catch fish that was important to them.
Once I started actually listening to them, it clicked that most of them only get to fish a few times per year, and we cannot control nature. It is fishing and not catching. Many came back to fish with me because I work hard and we do catch fish. Some said, even with smaller fish, at least they catch more than when they are on their own.
What really got me noticing that people were satisfied is the number of rebookings before they left at the end of their trip. Many enjoyed the day and wanted to make sure they got their dates on the calendar to come back.
Great Season
By mid-July, after finally listening to the guests and realizing this is how the season was going to be, the weight was lifted, and a great season prevailed. I would tell customers on the phone that this season was different and what they should expect. If they were returning customers, I flat out told them not to expect the bite they had experienced before.
After understanding that this was the season presented and customers were simply happy to go fishing, I realized that I learned a life lesson. I learned that most people are looking to escape the grind of daily life and go fishing. Getting outside with family or friends, enjoying the outdoors and catching fish was what they were after. Catching trophies was just a bonus.
Everyone has different expectations in everything we do. Fishing is no different, and I did learn a life lesson that will now be wisdom of fishing going forth.
(Captain Brad Durick is a nationally recognized catfish guide on the Red River of the North, seminar speaker, and author of the books “Cracking the Channel Catfish Code” and “Advanced Catfishing Made Easy.” For more information, go to www.redrivercatfish.com)
