My Biggest Catfish

My Biggest Ohio River Catfish

I got my boat on the Ohio River at 06:45 before the heat got too high. I headed for my new favorite fishing spot. Put two poles out and waited for the action to start. I waited for 45 minutes with NO bites. I cranked up my motor and took off for my second place to fish.

Got my boat anchored and cast one pole in the river. I was putting bait on my second pole when I notice a tap on the pole in the water. I watched the line and there was a fish hitting on it. I picked up the pole just as he moved, I set the hook into him. The fight was on; from the pull at the other end I realized this was a nice size fish. The Channel cat was of decent size. When weighed it was 9 pounds and 25 inches long, not bad for this part of the river. Had one other hard bite that ran the reel briefly but never came back. After spending about 45 minutes there I moved on to another hole.

I stopped a bridge pier that my fish finder showed fish were there. I tried for 30 minutes with no action at all. At least I was in the shade during the stay there. I then headed back up river to the first placed I fished.

20 minutes after I had my lines in the water I heard music to my ears, the reel clicker made a brief run. I watched the pole much more closely, the line move out then dropped back. This action went on for several minutes; I picked up the pole to feel the bite via the line tension. This fish got a little more pressure then dropped back, finally the line stayed tight, pulled back and he was there! From the first moment I knew this was a BIG fish, it just did not want to move off the bottom. This area is loaded with snags and the pole this fish was on really did not have much back bone to apply any lifting pressure on the fish. I was very concerned he would get me hung up on a sang. It took some time to get this fish to the boat so I could get the net on him. When I first saw him I knew this was the biggest fish I ever caught out of the Ohio River! It was a good size flathead cat; his head got into the net, however his tail was hanging out. This guy was 19.2 pound and 33 inches long as I put the details in my log book. I forgot how slimy these fish are, but found out as I had to cradle it with my arms to get some pictures of it. Once the picture taking was completed I slowly slipped him over the side to return to fight another day. I am sure he will give a thrill to the next person that has a duel with him in the future. He got hungry for a strip of thawed skipjack on my hook which explained the stop and start action of the bite.

All in all 3 bites and 2 nice catfish; not bad for about 4 hours of fishing on a very hot morning. Needless to say I will be returning to my NEW favorite fishing hole in the future. Tight lines to all.

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