February Blue Cat Fishing Report...

 Recent rains have the lake up a bit. After she backed the boat off the trailer Cathy could pull up to the dock barely grounding the bow of the boat for me to step aboard after parking the trailer as opposed to the last time we launched and I had to jump to avoid wading aboard. I also expected the fresh inflow of water to muddy things a bit but the water was clear green and it was a beautiful feels like spring day on the lake in the middle of late winter. 

We set up on a windy point off the main lake long cut with the back of the boat tied off in 18' of water. Normally that spot would be at least 8' deeper and the stump we grabbed would be far underwater but this position allowed us to cast slip cork rigs to 4' of water so the distance of the rise from deep to the bank was probably about 50'. First couple of fish were nice fat channel cats and then blue cats the size of the one in the photo started hitting. I think I threw back one 12" channel as I did not want him to be scared occupying the livewell with the big girls. I had decided I would keep no more channel cats with the size the blues were but I never caught another channel. 

Since we were fishing right on the depth break all the fish we hooked in shallow water provided a challenging battle. When hooked the ran back toward the boat and under the boat to try and reach the sanctuary of deep water. One of the things my dad used to say when he was trying to judge the size of fish you had hooked was, "Is he trying to run under the boat with it?" We say that all the time also. 

Note the lay of the land here in the background. Normally at pool level the water is about 5' deep on the ridge behind Cathy with an old creel drain on the other side. That creek flows out to a big "S" curve in the submerged channel of the Angelina River. We've caught thousands of catfish in this area and I have probably fished it for at least 50 years. Once I found an arrowhead on the bank here and I often see people sifting for arrow heads when the lake is low. I would imagine a beautiful area with many indigenous people living here several hundred years ago.   

Final count was 10 cats in two hours fishing. We could always catch more but because Cathy's replaced shoulder makes skinning catfish harder for her and that makes me principle fish cleaner we quit when I decide I have all the work I need for the day. The Zamoras came over and we fried and blackened fillets using left over gumbo I cooked at the church Fat Tuesday party as a side dish. 

Once again we enjoyed being out in our refurbished boat and thanks go out to our children who put in the time to carpet, install seats and clean. When we talk to other fisherman on the lake and they get a look at us with all the rods and big net in the holders I can tell their impression is, "these people mean business."