The Great July Forth Catfish Adventure...

Last week I went on a bream fishing expedition in the canoe. Cathy thought they were so tasty when she was crunching the boney, crispy fried little critters it sounded like the skidding impact of a car wreck. She wanted to fish for bream on this trip but with dropping lake levels receding from the bushy hiding places along the bank and the difficulty of stealth with the big boat compared to the canoe we were having no luck so we headed out to try a deep water summer pattern for catfish. Hard to believe our last fishing trip when they were still in a shallow pattern was June 7th but with the hot weather the swimming trips with the grandkids have nearly splashed all the water out of the lake.    

 The wind was from the south and the boat laid out over 27' of water. I broke in my on sale Academy Sporting Goods spinning rod that I paid a whole $10 for. I saw this sale and had a reel and thought it might be a good pole for a marsh fishing trip I have planned later this summer to Galveston Island State Park in the canoe. It's a bit noodly and I might should have spent a buck more on the stiffer saltwater version but I felt the reel I had matched this one better. It is sensitive to a catfish bite and casts a beetle spin well.    

Cathy complains I did not take a photo of her biggest fish. We were fishing a spot we have caught hundreds of catfish the last several years. We call it the dog walker because it once had what looked to be a dog leash tied to the stick up we tie to. If the wind blows from the west the boat lays out with the stern in 37' of water and it seems we catch many small bait stealing blue cats. I think wind from the south or east is best for this place. It puts the boat on the shallow side and though only a few feet apart the fish are bigger.   

Cathy's brother Matt holds up a fat channel. 

Even though it was July 4th and it seemed that boat ramp traffic picked up after lunch we were never even rocked by the wake of a passing boat. All them folks in the air conditioning looking at ticktoc videos are not a threat to my way of life.  

Total for the day was 38 cats. All caught on JPIGGS punch bait in less that two hours fishing between 12 and 2pm. 

I traded 3 pounds of fillets to my brother's neighbor for these vegetables. A good vegetarian meal of cheese and tomato sandwiches with hot peppers on the side will counter act the effects of artery clogging fried catfish. If you need more medical advice than this my venmo link will be at the end of this report.  

We fried those catfish right up and had Father Denzil, our pastor at St. Patrick's Catholic Church and his nephew Ramon out for dinner. They are from Sri Lanka and that's a long way from Sam Rayburn but I think I could probably make cat fishermen out of them.