Bass vs. Catfish

[soflabasser]

1 hour ago, mrmacwvu1 said:

Had a sailcat poke through my sandal last year. Lost feeling in my big toe for months. That is why I never use live bait when snook or red fishing. d**n cats everywhere down here. BTW the red tide is finally moving out. Had a 50 trout day the other day with 15 over 15 inches and 6 over 20. The largest was 26. All were caught on an 1/8 ounce jig with a mirror lure paddle tail.

I remember you making a post earlier about how the red tide affected your area of the state and how I told you the fish will rebound like they always do after a redtide event.Those gafftopsail catfish are pound for pound better fighters than snook, at least in the areas I have caught them in. Caught one of these saltwater catfish that was close to state record size a couple months ago and I thought I had a +36 inch snook on the line, turned out to be gafftopsail catfish just under 26 inches. As for lure fishing, I have caught multiple snook over 40 inches and bass over 10 pounds on lures and I do not look down on live bait fishermen since I know live bait fishing is a art in itself and know from personal experience that sometimes the reaction bite from a lure can outfish live bait.

[soflabasser]

On 7/4/2018 at 12:59 AM, Arcs&sparks said:

^I really like this comment.  We need more of this attitude in the fishing community(communities?).  BTW you left out the elite purist dry-fly-only fly fisherman looking down on those savage wet-fly and streamer-fly fisherman?. ?

 

“So, why is bass fishing so much more popular than catfishing?“

 

I think you could ask that about a lot of different species,  but it of course depends what is available in different locations.  Bass, largemouth in particular,  are found in every state, and usually plentiful.  Also, TV shows, tournaments, cool lures etc, and how bass are a bit prettier than catfish, make them appealing to the public.  Where I live,  most casual fisherman target bass, not even knowing that they aren’t even native here,  and that there are much bigger fish in some our lakes. 

 

 In my state,  our only catfish is brown bullhead,  with 12” being a big one, and honestly I love targeting those adorable little guys, but if we had some monster cats,  you’d bet I’d target them on occasion too.

 

I just bought a shark fishing combo,  also, a second boat specifically to rig up with trolling gear and downriggers for salmon, trout, and lakers.  

 

I think I might get bored only if I only fished for bass. 

Thank you @Arcs&sparks. I have done some fly fishing and would like to do more of it in the future, maybe for tarpon,snook,bass, peacock bass, or anything that can give a fun fight on flyfishing tackle.I agree with you that bass fishing gets boring quickly if it was the only form of fishing I where to do. 

[Bluebasser86]

You know who rules the water when you're fishing a normally productive spot for bass that isn't producing for some reason, and then one of these pops your jig.

[Bowkill]

We gave up our last morning of smallmouth fishing and started slaying the channel cats. My daughter had a blast. 

[Bankbeater]

I don't think bass fishing is more popular.  I think it's advertised more.

[EGbassing]

On 7/2/2018 at 4:02 PM, Troy1985s said:

I don't really like fried catfish. 

You don't mean that, Mr. Frodo.

[Pedigohornet]

Like many of you, I've caught channel cat at times on various lures.  They get pretty aggressive during spawning time and can be caught along riprap and other spawning areas with crank baits.  Earlier this year I fished one of the kinfolk's ponds with a 7 wt fly rod and a Dragon Tail streamer.  It was early in the morning, cloudy, foggy and cool.  I'd already caught and released two largemouth over six pounds with my fly rod this year and looking forward at another chance for a good bass or two.  As I walked down the hill to the pond, what looked like a bass, kept pushing up water around an old stump.  It was in easy casting range and after a couple false casts, I shot the streamer past the stump and stripped it back by pretty fast.  The water exploded and I was fast to a heavy fish that headed for deeper water.  It didn't take long to realize it wasn't a bass and soon I had a three pound channel cat in hand.  Maybe ten minutes later I approached a dock that generally held some bass and tossed the streamer past the deep end and allowed it to sink a few feet before stripping it back in.  Something jolted it and the power of the fish had my shoulders aching before I had it to hand, another cat, this one pulling the Boga to 5.5 pounds.  After releasing the fish I caught another three pounder.  I struck out on bass but the three channel cats were worth more than the price of admission.  I rank small channel cat, any size flathead and the smaller yellow bullhead, what we call "butter cats" as prime table fare.