Making Memories
by Matthew Russell
My name is Matthew Russell I am 36 years old. I am from Kansas but I moved to Northern Alabama about three years ago.
As a young boy, I fished out of a family pond in the backyard where I caught catfish, bass, and crappie. When I got older, I started watching catfish channels on YouTube. After learning a few things from watching the videos I started fishing the banks of Lake of the Ozarks and the Missouri River.
After a while, I had enough money to buy a starter boat and taught myself how to fish from a boat on the Missouri River. Later I decided I wanted to move to the “catfish nation” AKA Northern Alabama.
I first started fishing the Elk River which is part of Lake Wheeler. I used the experience to get to know the Tennessee River System. During this time I met Samantha Caudill. She is now my girlfriend and full-time fishing partner.
We wanted to fish more of the Tennessee River system, so we decided to buy a bigger boat. We now call our home waters the whole Tennessee River system in Northern Alabama from Guntersville Lake to Pickwick Lake.
As we learned more about the Tennessee River we started making videos to post on Facebook and YouTube. It was our way to help other beginning anglers learn how to catfish. Our videos include the products that we use and the different techniques of catfishing. As we gained more knowledge and started using more products we have been honored to pick up eight different sponsors.
As time went on, we got into tournament fishing. So far, we have fished tournaments in Alabama and Tennessee. We are planning on fishing more out-of-state tournaments and new waters. Fishing tournaments have allowed us to meet some amazing catfish anglers that we now call friends and extended family.
We love to fish and are all about helping others try to catch a fish of a lifetime. We do this by taking other people on our boat for fun and showing them how we fish.
One of our most memorable moments on the water helps explain why we catfish. We had our friend Joey Middleton on our boat. He is the owner of BKPC Nation. Let me tell you, it was a catfish story. It is hard to put into words how crazy the fishing was.
We were on one of our favorite lakes on the Tennessee River. We set up on a brush pile that we had fished many times before. After about 30 minutes with no action, we were talking about reeling up and moving spots.
As soon as we started to stand up one of Joey’s rods went down. This was the start of the most action pack hour of our life. Joey’s first fish was a blue cat around 54 pounds. Then another rod went down and I caught a 62-pound blue cat. Soon after that James (Samantha’s 4-year-old son) caught a 46-pound flathead.
We got all three fish into the livewell and organized the boat to cast out again. As we were doing that another one of Joey’s rods went down. This time Aubrie (Samantha’s 6-year-old daughter) reeled and fought a fish for over 10 minutes. As we were about to net it the line broke on an estimated 60-plus pound fish.
Aubrie took it all in stride saying, “It’s only a fish!”
Finally, we organized again and were ready to catch more fish. Again, one of Joey’s rods went down and he started reeling. Then BAM! Another rod went down. Samantha started reeling that fish in. Joey’s fish was 58 pounds and Samantha’s was 84 pounds.
The excitement on Joey’s and the kid’s faces was the best part of it all. Personally, I get joy out of seeing others catch big fish and it is part of why I catfish. I believe the most important part of all is to have fun and make memories.
Note: If you want to share your adventures and catches you can join Matt and Samantha on their Facebook page, Smash It Catfishing. They love sharing their fishing stories and pictures on this page and also love seeing everyone else’s.
