Many people think of catching catfish as a summertime endeavor but some of the best blue catfish action begins about this of the year when water temperatures begin to fall. While the red hot ‘big fish’ trophy catching will peak in a few weeks as water temperature falls into the sixties, lots of eater size fish weighing between 4 and 15 pounds, with an occasional trophy class fish are currently being landed. I’ve noted that the bite usually turns on around the time of the Harvest Moon each year.
I’m recently off a red-hot trip with Lake Tawakoni catfish guide Tony Pennebaker and we found the blues to be right on schedule. We didn’t catch any trophy fish, Tony knows Ole’ Luke much prefers catching a good ‘mess’ of eater size blues than trophy hunting for trophy class catfish but when one has a fresh bait in the water at Tawakoni, it’s always possible to connect with a big fish. I’ll tell you about the trip in a bit but first, a bit of information on blue catfish seasonal patterns.
Trophy class blue catfish are landed throughout the year , even during the heat of summer but the majority of big fish are landed during the fall and winter months. With the onset of warm weather in late spring, many ‘catters’ target the smaller channel catfish over holes baited with soured grain or cattle range cubes, but it’s often common to catch mixed stringers of both channels and smaller blues using punch bait. From now until spring, fresh bait such as cut shad, pieces of rough fish such as carp or buffalo will be the go to bait for serious catfish anglers.
The fall blue catfish bite occurs something like this each year. First, the eater size blues turn on (currently underway). During this period lots of blues destined for the fish fryer are landed. It only takes a few fish weighting 4 to 10 pound to make for a jumbo-size fish fry!
Granted, trophy class fish weighing upwards of 25 pounds can be landed anytime fresh bait is in the water but prime time for trophy hunting is still a few weeks away. Through the cold weather months trophy hunters are rigging with stout circle hooks, 30 pound plus line, stout rods and high line capacity reel, baiting with chunks of fresh shad, the oiler and bloodier the better.
Contrary to what many folks think, not all fish are landed from deep water, even during the coldest of weather. Some of the very best big fish action of the winter occurs a day or two after a hard freeze. The quickly dropping water temperature causes a major shad die off and the steady day or two of wind that often follows a cold front pushes the baitfish into water as shallows at 3 feet or less.
On to the catching...
There was a hint of fall in the early morning air as Tony eased his big guide boat out of the harbor at Tawakoni Marina. The long sleeves on my fishing shirt felt good as we headed to Tony’s first fishing area. A flock of teal buzzed overhead, one of the first of waterfowl to migrate each fall. In a few weeks, cormorants will help point the way to feeding catfish. The fish eating birds roost by the thousands in standing timber and point the way to some great winter catfish action. The catfish are there to feed not only on the bird’s droppings but the alge that grow sub surface on the trees. I learned this from Tony a few years ago when we found green alge (moss) in the fish at the cleaning table. Tony in convinced the vegetation grows well on the roost trees because of the natural fertilizer in the bird’s droppings.
Tony used two methods on this trip, we began with Santee Cooper rigs near bottom baited with fresh shad and later slow trolled using the trolling motor to slowly pull planer boards behind the boat. This method covers lots of water and is a great way to catch fish that are scattered rather than in tight schools.
Early in the morning we boated several fish up to 10 pounds using the stationary baits and about mid morning, we began slow trolling. Tony set out 5 rods, two with planer boards on either side of the boat and one directly behind the boat. The planer boards pull the baits out from the boat so the lines won’t get tangled and also present the baits in a wide area behind the boat.
We were fishing relatively shallow water and a glance at the side imaging sonar showed the area was holding lots of catfish but they were scattered and not in tight schools, a perfect scenario for trolling.
After about four hours of catching, we returned to the cleaning table at Lake Tawakoni Marina and Tony transformed our catch into three gallons of snow white fillets, some of the best eating in freshwater, in my opinion. I stopped by Bucees before the trip and grabbed a bag of ice for my cooler. I’ve fished with Tony many times and knew to think ahead, I wanted to ice those fillets as soon as possible.
Do fish ever taste better than when freshly caught? Back at home in my little cooking shack, I fired up my propane cooker, got the oil sizzling and soon had a late lunch of very fresh crispy, very fresh fried catfish. I like to cut the fillets and fry catfish nuggets rather than the fry the whole fillet. I heated up some previously prepared skillet camp beans, I’ve mentioned the recipe several times, using fresh garlic, jalapeno, onion, brown sugar and a couple cans of the cheapest canned beans I can find at the Dollar Store. With several freezer bags filled with fish and water, I plan to be enjoying more catfish frys soon at deer camp! I love this outdoor lifestyle and hope I goes on forever for future generations. Guide Tony Pennebaker can be reached at 903-474-3078.
Outdoor celebration
Mark your calendar for Saturday November 8 from 10 am until 3! Join Larry Weishuhn aka “Mr. Whitetail”, myself and some fishing and hunting guides at the Dash For Cash Pawn Shop in Seagoville, Texas and adjacent parking lot for some free barbeque and good times. For more information call Gary at 972-287-3121 or email Luke at lukeclayton1950@gmail.com . Catch Luke’s weekly podcast “Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and Friends” just about everywhere podcasts are found.
