THREE CATFISHING TIPS WITH RICK, ROXY, and me.

Here are some BASIC guidelines for catching the three most common Texas Catfish: Blues, Channels, and Flatheads. 

Tip one. Good things come to those who BAIT!!! The following list is a guideline - BUT REMEMBER, we have caught all three types of catfish on Shad, Worms, Perch, Stink baits, and our SSB (super secret bait: HOTDOGS)...  

• Blues love FRESH shad (they will eat previously frozen shad - but, fresh is better).
• Channels will dine on stinky bait and worms all-day
• Flat Heads like perch, shad, crawfish, and even smaller catfish.                                                                
  

It is true that Catfish eat stuff off the bottom - but not always!  They are skilled hunters and have hundreds of thousands of tastebuds all over their bodies - some say they are the equivalent of a swimming tongue!    

Tip two. Some say the very best time to catfish is when the barometric pressure is kinda low (29.70/30.40) this when there may be a chance of rain...

Hot or cold REMEMBER THIS: Every day is a fishing day, but not every day is a catching day!

Tip three. Vary the depths - oxygen in the water is critical... catfish will hang out in oxygen-rich 70-80 degree water (cold water holds more oxygen).  Our average depth in Lake Waco for catching fish is 15-20 feet.  Lake Belton 20-25 feet.

Tip four. Most important: 

PRAY

 It was either my famous almost-uncle Alton Jones (great fisherman) or my Catfishing Buddy, Bob Cervenka that once said, "To me, a catfishing buddy is a much more esteemed relationship than a friend!"

Went out on Bob's Barge Boat to do some jugline catfishing - WOW! What a GREAT TIME!!! 

If you've ever Jugline Catfished before you know half the battle is chasing down the successful jugs as they spread out across the lake! 

We caught two REALLY big Gar and two REALLY big Catfish.  

This Cat weighed in at 22lbs! Caught on Lake Waco with live hand size perch.

 

WE COULD NOT PASS UP THIS AWESOME TEXAS WEATHER!!!

TightLine is back on the water...

Rick and I were so lucky to have our good friend and CATFISH GURU go out on the USSS Sassy with us...

the one and only DALE EVANS!

 

Dale is a tennis and fishing friend from WAY BACK THERE!!!

He and his wife Robin were active members (family) of the Charlie McCleary Tennis Center and helped me host MANY tournaments over the years. 

MANY YEARS AGO, Dale took me out on a catfishing trip and taught me the importance of the almighty drain plug - 

somewhere in my excitement of going fishing with the GREAT Dale Evans

I forgot to handle the ONLY job he gave me - "Put in the Drain Plug...!"

A VERY short time into catfishing, he said and I quote,  "Kevin, why are my feet wet...?"

    

Now, I wear a new hat...

Some might say, "Water under the bridge..."

Here are co-captains Rick and Dale waiting on the Catching to begin...

So we baited and baited and baited... 

and then we went to the Higher Power we came up short on the catfishing poles on this day - but, pulled in a bunch on the trotlines.  We will return with lessons learned...