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

[fishy1]

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

vt matt said he was going to try the the flys next spawning season

[fishy1]

7/16/2017 hit the lake this morning at 6:30 am hoping to get into some catfish and bowfins. it didnt happen in the 3 hours i was there but did catch a 30 inch skinny bowfin that was really mad at me. im always alert when landing a bowfin and watch there eyes as they can be nasty and have a set of grinding teeth with a powerful jaw. as i went to disengage the hook he looked up and flopped up with his mouth open trying to bite me. ugh closed his mouth and went down again and put my needle nose pliers onto the hook very quickly and pulled it out . it got very mad and opened his mouth and kept it open until i edged him back in the water. never seen a fin keep there mouth open in fact rarely do they open their mouth only to bite. they are not easy to deal with and you have to be careful handling them . 2 summers ago i had a big one try to bite me when i landed it and the hook embedded in my finger with him attached it got off and off to the emergency room i went. it was a 1/0 hook and only a portion was showing in my finger. ugh. hope all of you forum members that catch bowfins handle them with care. the best is try not to handle them at all.
here is the bowfin

[C-Hawk]

If only they knew what a nice guy you are Matt!

[jimbow]

What a nasty Fish! Good tip Matt. don't want kids or newbies at catching "fins" reaching in too soon and getting hurt.

[fishy1]

7/17/2107 we had catfish nuggets for dinner tonight and we all agreed there were great. alayna liked them very much and said pa pa i still want to release them if i can.

[fishy1]

7/18/2017 went over for some catfishing at 6:00 am . set out 2 cat rods with whole bait a 8 inch white perch and a 7 inch pumpkinseed. had the 2 rods seperated about 25 yards apart. at 7 :45 am looked over at my left cat rod and the line was stiff. ran over only to find i was out of line. ugh. closed the bail and pulled hard on the rod and couldnt buge it but i could feel the fish on the end of the line out there 150 yards. kept pulling on the end of the rod but no dice . this cat had himself buried in the jungle weeds and was a big one. my adrenalin was running high now so i grabbed the line and tried to get him out by hand and the line sliced my fingers. so i went back to the rod and pulled as hard as i could and snap broke off my 25 lb line . he got all but a few feet. ugh. i know how fast these cats can run the line out and i made the mistake of not paying attention since my rods were apart. ended up catching 2 fins and went home at 10:30 am
here is my almost empty spool.

[C-Hawk]

This could get expensive.

[Sawyer]

Matt i wen't to 50# Dacron when i fished for Kings in Alaska on the rivers. in swift water and a 50 pound king on going down stream the 25 pound test didn't hold up.

[fishy1]

Matt i wen't to 50# Dacron when i fished for Kings in Alaska on the rivers. in swift water and a 50 pound king on going down stream the 25 pound test didn't hold up.

don going to upgrade soon with trilene big game 40 or 50 lb on my 2 biggest reels to deal with the jungle weeds.

[fishy1]

7/20/2017 another warm day on the lake with not much of a breeze but stuck it out from 6 am to 10:30 am. didnt expect much since the water is warming up to much in the shallows where im fishing. 7:05 am a decent run and i pull in a 8 to 10 lb catfish out of the jungle weeds. then until 10:30 am 2 more runs both bowfins and lost both to the jungle weeds one a good one.

[EagleCrag]

I have converted to nearly all braided line now and tie on a mono or flouro leader about 6 feet long. I find that it holds up much better than mono in most situations and doesn't lose strength as quickly as mono. I don't fish nearly as much as you Matt but am wondering if you've had issues with it. I order it from the Piscifun website where it is much cheaper than other braided lines and comes in 600 yard spools in various colors. The line quality seems good to me.

[JGreen]

Anyone know if bowfishing allowed for basin derby?

[Sawyer]

Sounds like it's time to get your little Boat out Matt.

[fishy1]

Anyone know if bowfishing allowed for basin derby?

not allowed

[fishy1]

I have converted to nearly all braided line now and tie on a mono or flouro leader about 6 feet long. I find that it holds up much better than mono in most situations and doesn't lose strength as quickly as mono. I don't fish nearly as much as you Matt but am wondering if you've had issues with it. I order it from the Piscifun website where it is much cheaper than other braided lines and comes in 600 yard spools in various colors. The line quality seems good to me.

glad you like the braid lou. nothing against it really just what i have heard and seen. i like the trilene big game and have had great success with it . some freinds use it with circle hooks with success although they lose more fish to the weeds than than the j hooks with some stretch. a matter of preferance when wayne started fishing with me on the rivers he had braid and after watching me with my trilene big game switched over. couldnt cast as far and no big balls on his spool. thanks lou for your post.