Your Best Catches of 2010!

[Crazed Demasoni]

It's so weird seeing people catch fish that some fish keepers actually keep in aquariums.

And yes, I know... most fish we keep are caught in the wild somewhere. haha.

I second that... still so weird to me when people are catching cichla

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

Well I only went out 2 times this year, this guy was a channel/flathead cross or hybrid.

This fish is not a hybrid of any sorts. This is definitly a Channel Catfish, the males will develop a broad flat head as they mature. Its a nice big male too, alot of the ones i catch are skinnier. Did u get a weight on him?

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

Dreamsofpeace, what do you typically use as your catfish bait, mainly channels? Catch many flatheads on cut bait up there?

I like to keep a few different rods out with different baits unless the fish decide they want to hit something particular. i like to keep a rod with shrimp as bait on it, This rod generally keeps me pretty entertained as the smaller eatin' sized (2-5lbers) channels usually go for it. I keep one rod with cut bluegill on it and one with a whole baby bluegill on it. I bought a cast net this year and was pretty successful in catching a slew of baby bluegills (1-3") for bait. they worked the best and caught me a variety of fish (channels, flatheads, white perch, yellow perch, occasional smallmouth and walleyes). So basically, cut bluegill, whole bluegill, and raw shrimp work the best for channels for me.

We caught a few flatheads (probably 4 or 5) on cut bait in the lower part of the river but most of our flathead success came on live bluegills. i like to use 50lb main line and 30 lb mono leaders (lots of snags in the river here) and a 5/0 to 8/0 hook depending on the size of our bait.

Hope this helps!

 

[NCStateFisher]

Largemouth on Watermelon 'Stik-O' Worm Wacky Style

Channel Cat on Butterflied Bluegill

Dad's Huge Shellcracker on a beetle spin

Surprise of the year, Channel Cat on Watermelon Stik-O While bass fishing

Saltwater Catch of the year, didn't get to go deep sea this year due to money restraints, but made it down a couple times for flounder, this guy was the biggest at 20"

Overall it was a pretty good year of fishing, but I hope next year we get to go deep sea and get some real monsters

 

[jworth]

I like to keep a few different rods out with different baits unless the fish decide they want to hit something particular. i like to keep a rod with shrimp as bait on it, This rod generally keeps me pretty entertained as the smaller eatin' sized (2-5lbers) channels usually go for it. I keep one rod with cut bluegill on it and one with a whole baby bluegill on it. I bought a cast net this year and was pretty successful in catching a slew of baby bluegills (1-3") for bait. they worked the best and caught me a variety of fish (channels, flatheads, white perch, yellow perch, occasional smallmouth and walleyes). So basically, cut bluegill, whole bluegill, and raw shrimp work the best for channels for me.

We caught a few flatheads (probably 4 or 5) on cut bait in the lower part of the river but most of our flathead success came on live bluegills. i like to use 50lb main line and 30 lb mono leaders (lots of snags in the river here) and a 5/0 to 8/0 hook depending on the size of our bait.

Hope this helps!

Thats what I usually do as well on the lakes and river that I fish. Keep different baits on. I did not try shrimp last year, just livers and worms. That first on my list for Mar/Apr. Why not just tie the hook straight to the line instead of a 30lb leader?

Largemouth on Watermelon 'Stik-O' Worm Wacky Style

Channel Cat on Butterflied Bluegill

Dad's Huge Shellcracker on a beetle spin

Surprise of the year, Channel Cat on Watermelon Stik-O While bass fishing

Saltwater Catch of the year, didn't get to go deep sea this year due to money restraints, but made it down a couple times for flounder, this guy was the biggest at 20"

Overall it was a pretty good year of fishing, but I hope next year we get to go deep sea and get some real monsters

Nice catches! I have been surprised to find that channel cats take bass bait fairly often

 

[JD7.62]

Due to the oil spill and many months of the Gulf closed down for fishing, I didnt catch anything too exciting.

Lots of mangrove snapper, redfish, spanish mackerel, occasional snake king, and trout. This fall/winter have been filled with flounder, sheepshead and monster whiting.

I would say over all my two most memorable catches where a 24" and perhaps 6lb spanish mackerel caught on a tiny piece of shrimp on a carolina rig with no leader! For those that dont know, mackerel are known to be sight/reaction feeders that usually will only hit fast moving prey, plus they have teeth like scissors! BIG surprise to see him come up off that rig. The next catch was kind of similar, I caught a barely legal cobia during the summer on a tiny piece of cigar minnow while snapper fishing. That was also a big surprise!

 

[spotfin]

Nice striper from this year. 41". Didn't weigh it but probably 35 lbs.

 

[mike_sema]

This fish is not a hybrid of any sorts. This is definitely a Channel Catfish, the males will develop a broad flat head as they mature. Its a nice big male too, alot of the ones i catch are skinnier. Did u get a weight on him?

of all the years i have been cat fishing I have never caught a catfish like this one it had all the markings of a young flat with the body of an channel and a mix of the two on the head. I would say maybe in the low 20lbs range, I know you say it looks like a mature male but if you do a google search you will see what i mean

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

Thats what I usually do as well on the lakes and river that I fish. Keep different baits on. I did not try shrimp last year, just livers and worms. That first on my list for Mar/Apr. Why not just tie the hook straight to the line instead of a 30lb leader

On a good day a bag of fresh raw shrimp will fill a cooler quick, we didnt keep very many this year but damn if we didnt catch the **** out of the anyways.

to be perfectly honest, im not 100% sure why we use leaders. It was how i was taught and never given a reason. But i won't complain with the results ive seen. i like to use braided line on a few on my reels so the a mono leader gives a little extra stretch. Its nice when you get hung up too. u loose your hook and leader line but not the swivel or sinker. i use a bead above the swivel so the sinker doesnt hit the knot that connects the swivel. the line i use for my leaders is red which is said to be invisable to fish at a certain depth. I use a his_vis yellow mainline so i can see it in the dark.

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

of all the years i have been cat fishing I have never caught a catfish like this one it had all the markings of a young flat with the body of an channel and a mix of the two on the head. I would say maybe in the low 20lbs range, I know you say it looks like a mature male but if you do a google search you will see what i mean

im curious as to where you see any markings of a young flathead in this fish? Channel catfish can hybridalize with bullhead and blue catfish but not flatheads.

if anyone has any input on this fish id like to hear others opinions. If youd like i can post it on Thecatfishnation.com (these guys only know catfishing) or send an email to your states DNR to get a experts opinion.

My money is still on channel catfish, feel free to post a link to a site that says otherwise.