It Was His Best Day Catfishing So Far, Maybe Mine Also...

We pulled up to the spot where we caught them on our last trip which had been on April 27th. Has it been almost a month since I've been catfishing? Yes it has but conditions looked right as far as wind direction and all but we were prepared to switch to summer time patterns give the unseasonable higher than normal temperatures. We did not have to. The fish were in shallow water, about 3' with a quick drop to 4.5' nearby with that sloping to 6' and they were hanging along this edge. I got a bite immediately and caught a throwback but the real star was my grandson Ezra who boated 5 unassisted keeper cats before I could get another fish in the boat. Ezra has reeled up plenty of fish before but with just a little casting help he was putting the bait right on them. It was his best day catfishing ever and maybe mine too.     

When you see these osprey nests in the area that means plenty of catfish nearby. 

Final total was 22 cats. He probably reeled up at least 5 more fish I hooked accounting for major devastation of a passing school of catfish and a large part of the day's total. All fish caught on punch bait. I think last trip had fish to 4 pounds and these were all small but lots of fun on the slip corks. See little brother Luca looking on? His skills came into play later when we fried these up and he destroyed a plate of fillets and hushpuppies.   

Water temps were 81 degrees. We had swam and canoed at Ratcliff Lake the day before this and the water was much warmer in the shallow swimming area there as opposed to the big water. 

I wish I could tell you that the pattern is to fish by the pink flowers. It's not but it might be as there are plenty of cats in the lake. Just get a wind blowing along a structure break or a point, use punch bait and slip corks and get the grease hot.