pan fishing and cafishing2017 ADDED PIC OF 30 LB PLUS CATFISH 7/25/2017

[fishy1]

every slow yesterday 1 big mouth 1 small and 1 sheep

was slow for me also.

[fishy1]

7/10 and 7/11 2017 shore fishing for catfish and bowfins was not the greatest but did have 13 runs but i was 1 for 13 . ugh. lost 2 nice catfish to the lily pads and 1 good size bowfin to the jungle weeds. fished a couple hours in the mornings and 2 hours in the evening . lots of carp busting water in the mornings and evening looked like some big bowfins busting water. still fishing on shore in 1 to 4 fow. its warmed up the last 2 days.

[C-Hawk]

Keep after them Matt

[fishy1]

7/13/2017 took my granddaughter alayna over to my relatives camp for some catfishing and pan fishing. she has landed a 7 lb laker and a 9.20 lb bowfin which she won in the lci fathers day derby 10 th place in the junior division. so the challenge was now a catfish if big enough would be entered in the lci basin derby also. had my doubts of her doing that though since she lost 2 or 3 nice catfish in the fathers day derby due to the jungle weeds she wasnt able to pull them in. so my plan was if she got a run i would have her close the bail quickly and hang on so it woudnt get out to far and reach the jungle weeds. started fishing at 6:35 pm with alayna catching sunnies on her spinning rod. at 7:15 pm her cat rods line started peeling off the reel like no tommorrow and told her to hurry and close the bail and hang on tightly. she quickly ran over and did while i grabbed the net. well when she closed the bail the car rod quickly lunged forward and almost pulled her in i said alayna your going to catch this catfish all by yourself and i know you can do it. alayna kept saying pa pa its big its real big. the cat didnt reach the the jungle weeds so that was a good thing but within the next 2 minutes or so it got into the lily pads i said oh oh. told her to let the pressure off the cat and when she did it swam right out of the lily pads onto the sandy bottom and she applied pressure to it. alayna did not give up and had it several times 25 feet from shore but it wanted no part of the shore and kept screaming towards the jungle weeds. luckily the catfish reel has a good drag on it. well this went on for approx 15 or 20 minutes with tension mounting. dont know how long it was afterwards either but she finally got it to shore and it was a big one big clumps of weeds on the shore line pushed up from the north wind but alayna pulled as hard as she could to get it over the weeds on the shore. celebration then began. alayna and the catfish were tired right out and alayna won she just landed a 20 lb catfish all by herself . my plan worked if it had got in the jungle weeds she would have never got it in also the cat rod and the 25 lb test trilene big game did its job. the catfish wasnt about to get off either as it had the bait and hook swallowed in its throat. dont think she would have caught it otherwise. ist catfish i have had swallow the bait in 6 or 7 years. tonight the catfish hit a 7 inch whole white perch. we did not have any seeds for bait. this morning we will be entering it in the lci basin derby. so proud of my 6 year old alayna who has a birthday next week and will be 7 years old. after a while alayna says pa pa where is your line on your cat rod which was about 30 feet from us. ran over and all of the line was gone off the reel. ugh. luckily alayna saw the end of the line caught on the branch in the water. retreived it and nothing on the end but got my line back tied it back on the spool and reeled it in. VERY LUCKY.
here is alayna with her trophy catfish
my cat reel after a cat took all of line off while alayna was fighting the cat

[ThreeBuoys]

Fun reading this. Nice job with your little one!

[Honest John]

no lack of excitement in your adventures, fishy! I'd love to catch a cat someday - ever heard of one taking a fly?

[jimbow]

Matt, last year you lost your rod and got it back later in the year, now you had a fish take all your line and got that back....You're the only guy I know who can do that 2 years running...Say congrats to Alayna for me, she is turning into one heck of an angler!!!

[Sawyer]

Very nice reed it was like i was there. Congrats on her big cat

[fishy1]

no lack of excitement in your adventures, fishy! I'd love to catch a cat someday - ever heard of one taking a fly?

nope never heard of them hitting a fly . ill have to ask vt matt that same question.

[fishy1]

Matt, last year you lost your rod and got it back later in the year, now you had a fish take all your line and got that back....You're the only guy I know who can do that 2 years running...Say congrats to Alayna for me, she is turning into one heck of an angler!!!

getting my line back was lucky but alayna pulling in that 21.38 lb catfish was even more lucky. it swallowed the 7 inch white perch and the hooks were in its throat no escaping from alayna. the bad part was the catfish died and its the ist one i lost ever that i can remember. the fight was to long with those hooks in its throat but i guess we will be eating catfish nuggets for awhile

[jimbow]

Matt, that fish and your being there will be in her memories forever and the "Cat" didn't go to waste (and they're tasty). You have very good fishing ethics and losing just one is nothing to be ashamed of or feel sorry about. Be thankful for the experience and share as much time with her as you can, they grow up too soon and pass on the "Fishy" legend. Before you know it, she will be posting too!

[Gecha (Gerry)]

Great post Matt. Congrats Alayna for catching and handling that big cat by herself. She's better than many of us.

[Reelax]

Just an awesome story!!!! Thanks for the read.

[shirefisher]

I love everything about this story! Good job and enjoy those catfish nuggets! My 5 year old and 7 year old are really interested in catching a catfish. We tried at night once this Summer and one was caught in the 4-5 pound range by a friend. They are hooked!

[fishy1]

Matt, that fish and your being there will be in her memories forever and the "Cat" didn't go to waste (and they're tasty). You have very good fishing ethics and losing just one is nothing to be ashamed of or feel sorry about. Be thankful for the experience and share as much time with her as you can, they grow up too soon and pass on the "Fishy" legend. Before you know it, she will be posting too!

thanks jim.