My catfish stocking is working. It's amazing how in the summer they'll just absolutely smash your bait, but in winter they can consistently pick your bait (minnow head) of the forage minnow or buckshot spoon your jigging to where you think they're crappies....until they bend your pole in half and start pulling out drag. I had an even bigger one up the hole the weekend before, face with air surrounding it and no longer water, and the fukcer snapped me off right there before I could hit the deck and grab it. I've lost a couple more good sized fish. They make for a lot of excitement and a hell of a fight on 4lbs test. It's also amazing how hard they are to get a good hook set. I'll rip it and make just a beauty of a hookset only to have it feel like I just tried to dig into a cinder block. Unless you get then at the edge of their mouth, fleshy edge or even fleshier corners (one last I got it at the base of it's whisker)....unless you get a little luck you're probably not getting shit. You don't realize how much their mouths are bones until you're vertically fishing for them with a tiny spoon and treble. Usually on the river they crush it....well, I'd say 50/50 they do....half the time they sit and bump it, pick at it, keep your rod tip looking like it's writing morse code.....half the time your rod tip suddenly gets bent over like a bow gets pulled back and the fish is already on when you grab it after inhaling the bait deep.
Anyways, I'm really happy my program has been a success. Now it's time to ramp it up and really reap the benefits.
They're not surviving---they are Thriving. Look how fat this fukcer is!
Still catching crappies too....lots and lots of dinks this past weekend with only a handful of nice ones mixed in.....no bueno.....still a lot of fun.....