by Jason Mohr and Paul Hensel
Beads of sweat formed on my face and arms as I sat on the park bench waiting for a fish to bite. It was another muggy evening in July. My fishing buddy, Hensel, was also feeling the heat, but neither of us complained. We were there to catch catfish.
A Johnny Cash song just started on the radio when the slack line from Hensel’s rod tip began to straighten. Our eyes immediately caught the movement and became transfixed on the line. When the line tightened, the bait runner drag on his reel engaged and clicked as a few inches of line pulled off the reel then stopped. Hensel and I looked at each other. Then the reel clicked off a few more inches of line and stopped again. Suddenly, line streamed off the reel, cutting a sharp V in the water as it went. Hensel took a firm grip on the rod handle and heaved it backward, hoping to bury the hook point in the fish’s jaw. The bait runner drag disengaged after two turns on the reel handle and the fight was on.
“How’s he feel?” I asked, but the bow in the rod had already answered me.
“Oh he’s a good one,” confirmed Hensel.
The fish had zipped off a good 30 yards of line at first, but Hensel was pumping the rod now, working the fish against the drag and regaining line. Hensel worked the fish closer to the bank.
“Step back a little ways and I’ll slide the net under him,” I said.
As Hensel backed up, the swivel came clear of the water, then the fish rolled on the surface giving us a glimpse of him.
“Wow. You’re gonna need a bigger net,” said Hensel.
“Nah, I’ll get him.”
“But, he’s over 20 inches, probably 5 pounds or more.”
“We don’t have a bigger net. Just lead him in head first. I’ll get him.”
The big cat was getting tired now and easier to maneuver. I slipped the net into the water and waited while Hensel tilted the line over my shoulder and guided the tired cat toward me. When the fish felt the bank come up under him, he turned to make another run, but I anticipated the move. I snared the front half of his body with the net and flipped him onto the grassy bank.
“Yeah! That’s a nice one,” said Hensel. He laid down the rod and scrambled for the tape measure and scale.
The channel cat (not the one pictured) measured just over 30 inches long and weighed nearly 15 pounds. After a few photos, we released the fish.
“Okay buddy, that’s one for me. Now it’s your turn. See if you can top that one,” Hensel said with a grin.
During the remainder of the evening, I caught 3 cats and Hensel caught 2 more. All of the fish ranged from 18-30 inches long and weighed from 2-15 pounds. Not bad for a small lake in a city park just a few minutes from our homes.
To handle catfish like these, and the occasional 10-pound carp we hook into, we use medium-heavy outfits consisting of a 7-foot rod and open-faced reels loaded with 200 yards of 14-pound Stren line. We’ve found the best way to minimize line twist by a catfish roiling on the surface is with a barrel swivel tied in about 18 inches above the hook, which are either 1/0-2 bait hooks or 2/0-4/0 Eagle Claw circle hooks.
One bit of equipment we believe to be essential is a reel with a good drag. The bait runner feature on Hensel’s Shimano Bait-Runner 4500 reel is great. It works like a kind of super-light drag that you engage after the cast. A fish can pick up the bait and move off without feeling much resistance, and the audible clicking alerts you to the bite. After the hook is set, two turns on the reel handle disengages the bait runner and engages the reel’s normal drag so you can fight the fish. In contrast, an open-bail or free spool, invites a potential for the line to come off too fast, causing a backlash.
After many hours of fishing time and many dollars spent on commercial catfish baits, we’ve finally settled on hotdogs as our most productive catfish bait. Early on, we just broke off a chunk of dog, impaled it on the hook and cast out. Unfortunately, the dogs usually flew off the hook during the cast. Then one day, Hensel came up with a great idea. He froze a package of hot dogs hours before we were scheduled to meet at the lake. Freezing the dogs changed their consistency enabling them to stay on the hook no matter how hard we cast them. Once in the water they quickly thaw to the temperature of the water and may even release juices into the water as they thaw. Hot dogs are simple to use with no mess. Just take a typical 8-inch hotdog and break it into 4 pieces of equal length. Use one piece on a single hook. The hotdogs cast so well, and the lake is so devoid of current, that we don’t bother with lead weights.
Fishing for catfish with hotdogs is a relaxing way to spend a summer evening outdoors with a minimum of effort and expense. The lake we fish is strictly catch-and-release, but for us the fun is in the catching and of course, the bragging rights for the biggest fish.
The next time you have a few hotdogs left over after a family cookout, throw them in the freezer where they’ll be ready for your next fishing trip
