Catfish Fever

article by Dan Chason
photographs courtesy of Bill Petrus

Of all the game fish pursued across the country one of the most common caught species is the catfish.  There are many strains of this fish found in our area with the most common being the channel cat, blue cat, yellow or mud cat and the Appaloosa catfish.  Methods to catch these kings of “table fare” vary from angler to angler.  Most of us grew up with the time-true method called tight lining.  All an angler needs is a rod and reel, a heavy singer, a number 2 hook or larger, strong line and of course bait to draw them.  A catfish is much different than other fish as they love something dead with the smellier the better.  My father was a catfish lover on both the line and on the table.  He spent the last decade of his life or better chasing them the easy way.  He would load up a couple of rods, some chicken livers and head over to a commercial catfish farm and make a day of it.  Once done fishing, you then weigh them up and pay per pound for what he caught that day.  That’s the easiest way but quite honestly there are very few lakes in North Louisiana where an angler can’t find hungry catfish.

Another way to find these delicious fish is through grabbing.  Grabbing or noodling is not for the faint of heart.  Successful grabbers hit the water from May to June when the spawn occurs and find hollow logs, cut banks and other shallow hiding holes where the “grabber” reaches in and feels the fish hiding in the dark.  We did this many times with the notorious “Catfish” Jack Clampit and Bobby and Bill Petrus and filmed many an episode catching catfish, with many topping the 50-pound mark.  The Clampit and Petrus gang took grabbing to another level; they fished lakes such as D’Arbonne and Bistineau in a much more intense level.  After sinking old hot water heaters or big pipes, they used scuba gear to go down and find their prey.  The grabber would literally block the pipe with the body and ready in and allow the catfish to literally bite their gloved hand.   The fight was then on.  By blocking the pipe, the catfish can’t get out and the method then involved sliding a mono rope into his mouth and out through the gills where the fish was then brought to the surface.  This type of fishing is not for the faint of heart.  Many have tried and failed, but I can tell you it is something to watch and something you want to do at least once.  They say if you want to find a successful grabber, the best are missing a piece of a toe or finger as catfish are joined sometimes in their hiding holes by the alligator snapping turtle.  I’m a little old for that these days but I will tell you, it is something I will never forget.  And to spend a day on the water with Catfish Jack or the Petrus boys is something you will never forget.  I have never had more fun on the water or laughed any harder.

My favorite way to catfish is at night.  My preferred bait is catalpa worms as I don’t have the stomach for stink bait.  I start out with limb lines.  A limb line is pretty simple, it’s a stretch of heavy cord that is tied on a very flexible limb off of a Cypress tree.  You place your bait on it and let it hang about a foot under water.  After setting a few limb lines, I then repeat the process with noodles.  Now noodles and noodling is different.  Noodles are the tubed pool floats commonly seen in swimming pools.  You run your line through the tube with a small weight above your hook.  I still use catalpa worms, shad, cut bait or beef livers (they stay on the hook better) and drop a dozen or so in open water.  Open water is much more friendly to noodles as the first thing a big catfish does when hooked is head for the timber and try to pull off.  While my noodles are soaking, I anchor up where I can watch them and tight line with a rod and reel.  There is nothing quite like watching a noodle start swimming off and then the race is on.  

Back when I was a kid, we called this technique “jugging,” Dad would take old bleach bottles with a neck and we’d hook our lines on them.  The problem with jugs is they were cumbersome.  They were bad about hanging up and storage was always an issue.  Dad loved to set a trotline as well.  A trotline is a stretch of cord with hooks hanging about every 18-inches apart.  Setting a 50-hook trotline is very effective and we spent many a day enjoying fried catfish from our trotlines.  Let me stop here and say this:  Tend to your set limb lines, trot lines and noodles.  Nothing is quite as aggravating to a rod and reel or jig pole fisherman than trying to jig a Cypress tree where some inattentive angler has left old line or gear.  Always remove your old lines after your trip and be courteous to other anglers.  That is one reason I despise fishing Oxbow River lakes.  They are covered in old trot lines and yo-yos which are just left to rot.  I have had many a close call when the water starts falling and there is nothing more aggravating than hitting old lines with an outboard or trolling motor.

So the next time you are looking for a productive and fun way to catch some great eating fish, try these methods.  They work well and you can beat the summer heat with some fast action resulting in tasty catfish which are just hard to beat.