Learning for today, teaching for tomorrow.
was a huge influence in getting him into tournament fishing.
My name is Brandon Whaley and I am 27 years old. I am from a small town called Ayden located in North Carolina. I have been actively catfishing for the last few years.
Growing up, my Pa would take me to the creek just about every weekend and that is where my love for fishing began. My small town is surrounded by two large bodies of water, the Neuse River and the Tar River, which is where I do most of my fishing.
I have always had a passion for fishing but the first time I went catfishing I knew it was something I wanted to continue to do. Catfishing is like no other fishing that I have ever experienced. Starting out, I caught a couple of smaller catfish in the 10- to 15-pound range and I was hooked!
Every trip my goal was to catch a bigger catfish than before. But seeing as I was just starting out, I didn’t know everything I needed to know about catfishing.
One day while in our local bait store, Stoney Creek Outfitters in Grifton, NC, I was asking the owner, Thomas Dew about catfishing. I wanted to know the things that I would need. Thomas made sure to help me out as much as he could but recommended that I contact Mr. Brent Townsend a local fisherman in the area that is passionate about catfishing.
As most people know, it takes a while to gain another person’s trust enough for them to take you fishing, especially to or around their “spots.” After months of talking to Mr. Townsend about catfishing, he finally agreed to take me catfishing with him. He was willing to show me the ropes so we made plans to go.
I would have to say that night was one of the best nights of my life and another part of the reason that I am hooked on catfishing. I landed my personal best catfish that night, a 21-pound blue catfish.
From that night on, the catfish fever got even higher. I had Pipe Dreams Custom Welding build me a custom rod rack for my boat. And I purchased eight matching rods and reels made by Catch the Fever.
Also, from that night on me and Brent became great friends as well as tournament fishing partners. Over the years fishing together we have had some great weigh-ins for tournaments and have won quite a few. Our best weigh-in together with three fish was 101.4 pounds.
It is very important to promote catch-photo-release (CPR) fishing if we want to have trophy catfish in the future. The size of the fish doesn’t matter, we have to take care of all of them.
I try to impress on others how important CPR is to me because I want future generations to be able to catch big fish too. I am always looking to beat my personal best weights which are a 43-pound flathead and a 41-pound blue.
When I am not on the water fishing, I am constantly educating myself on ways to improve my skills so that I can be the best fisherman I can be. The next thing is sharing what you learn with others.
I often have people ask me how I specifically target each species. When they ask, I will share all I know about fishing except for my “spots”. The only way our future generations are going to know how to fish is if we share our experiences and our knowledge. Then, we enjoy watching those that we have helped catch the fish that they are targeting.
I have a few memorable catfishing moments that I enjoy sharing with others. The first is when my tournament partner, Brent, invited me to fish our very first tournament together. I was so nervous that night, but I ended up catching my personal best blue cat weighing in at 41 pounds. Together we weighed in 101.4 pounds in three catfish.
The next memory was when my fiancé, Jennifer House, and I fished a tournament together because my fishing partner was unavailable to attend that weekend. It was the first tournament I had fished without my normal tournament partner.
The tournament was a benefit tournament for a young girl that has cancer. There were 26 other boats that fished that weekend but we came in first with a total of 106 pounds in 3 fish. The weight included my new personal best flathead at the time, weighing in at 40 pounds.
The last memorable moment I want to share was a night that my dad and I went catfishing just for fun. We started out the night landing a 37 pounder and not even an hour later I landed my new personal best flathead, weighing in at 43 pounds. That was an exciting night, especially to have my dad there to share it with me.
I have always enjoyed the outdoors but to me nothing is more relaxing than putting the boat in the water, casting out the rods, and listening to Mother Nature while enjoying the beauty she has to offer.
Catfishing can go from one extreme to another, but nothing is greater than watching that rod slam down and fighting to get that big fish in the boat. I can’t wait to be able to share my knowledge of fishing with my children one day. I can only hope that all our children will be able to appreciate the wildlife and all it has to offer the same way that we appreciate it now.
