Has it Actually Been This Long Since a Catfish Report...

 The last catfishing trip was the camping and fishing trip on March the 14th. We've made a couple of camping trips since then which one of them included some pan fishing but I would guess that between March 14 and May 4 there were a lot of catfish that died of old age because I was doing other stuff. 

I know some will say, "mudbelly, what other stuff is there?" There's all kinds of stuff as the 200-500 people who visit this blog know. After all it is people from all over the world drifting through here on the currents of the internet and not just some guy on his lunch hour eating a sandwich sitting there clicking and the visits are spread pretty evenly and not just all The Girls on the Beach post which has been visited at a continuing trickle of 248 times and continues to be popular to this day.  

Cathy decided there was enough photos of her holding a catfish on the internet and she wanted bent rod pictures showing the flex of mighty arm muscles which she counted as her exercise since she did not get to hit the pool for her laps. She did wear a swimsuit to the lake but at a water temp of 74 that's not quite in our comfort zone yet. 

Brother in law Matt takes a nice blue. These cats were in the very same place we left them on March 14th and were biting from the first cast. The channel cats might have run a bit smaller but still nice fat fillets and that size makes for easy skinning.  

I took big fish with this blue. 

A blue heron watches the proceedings. That biggest blue bit right by the small stump in the lower right of the photo. That was a long cast with a lot of line on the water to make a good hook set and I missed several bits that came afterwards.  

These fish caught under slip cork rigs with Cathy and Matt using up the last of our JPiggs punch bait  which is out of stock due to the brisk sales during COVID and the aging process that is required. I opened and used C.J's shad which the fish bit either one just as good. The C.J's seemed to have a good bit of fiber which some may like. 

Osprey files as we pass. 

Final count was 31 cats. 

Cook

 ramen noodles, mixed with stir fried vegetables. Fry catfish in egg wash and panko bread crumbs seasoned with Tony Chacheres. Make a sauce with honey, chili pepper sauce, soy and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Top noodles with fish, add sauce to taste. I got this from the Outside the Levees fishing channel. If you watch the fishing videos at the end he cooks whatever he catches and since these are Cajuns that might be anything and the recipes are simple and made with ingredients that are usually on hand. 

I had planned on fish tacos for Cinco de Mayo but this was pretty good. As my grandson Luc reminds me whenever catfish is mentioned "I eat catfish" 

That Girls on the Beach blog post was from 2014. Next year will be 10 years. How about a reunion?