fly fishing for catfish

[theokieangler]

I hope it's not annoying that I'm pulling up a post from the 2nd page, but I figured it'd be a better option than starting a whole new thread just for a hero shot.

Caught this one today and I think it's the biggest fish I've ever caught on a fly rod. I'm going to have to break down and invest in a scale/tape measure for next time...but I'd guess this one was 30lb+. Wish I had some better pics of it, but there was a bit of a language barrier with the picture-taker

[Justin]

Nice Catfish!
What was the fly? Sinking Line?
How was the fight? Any more details?

Justin

[theokieangler]

I was trying to catch gar on a rope fly when I heard it behind me....



It couldn't have been more than 15ft away from me. Caught it on a rusty orange headstand by jigging it right in front of his face. The fight was great, probably lasted ~15min and would have lasted longer I'm sure... had he not been in a shallow cove most of the time. I think the shallow water slowed him down and I was able to position myself between him and deeper water to keep him from wanting to run out to the deeper moving water in the main section of the river. Once he got in really shallow water I made my move and pretty much had to wrestle it up to the bank.

I was using a 5wt (I know... not enough rod for gar, but the 8wt is having reel seat issues ), floating line, and 20lb spiderwire braid as a leader. Couldn't focus the rest of the day after this one

[gabe]

omg, that is insane. very nice kittie.

[anacrime]

nice fish man

perhaps you can elaborate on why you use 20lb braid as a leader? you find it advantageous over flouro? thanks

[theokieangler]

nice fish man

perhaps you can elaborate on why you use 20lb braid as a leader? you find it advantageous over flouro? thanks

Thanks! I was using the 20lb braid as a leader just for the gar... It seemed like a better option than a thick mono or wire leader. the 20lb braid is a pain in the butt to cut with my clippers, so I thought it might be stand up to the abuse of gar teeth. Plus, the 20lb braid still has a pretty small diameter at .25mm. I will say that the braid is definitely a bit more difficult to control and wind knots are more difficult to fix.

I was too nervous/anxious about making some casts to the fish right behind me to take time to change leaders, plus the strongest mono/flouro leader I had with me was 3x and didn't think I'd have much of a chance at this fish with that size!

[STMFlyGuide]

Nice Cat!!! You gotta show us some gar photos taken on the fly... I had some fun getting longnose gar the fly when I was guiding out of Santa Fe NM .... Some days there would not even sniff it and the next day they would slash it ten feet from me.... David

[stanbery]

Very nice cat on the fly.

Jon

[briansII]

Wow. That's a jumbo cat on any type of gear. Congrats!!

FYI. Braid/Spectra isn't very abrasion resistant. As you know, it's very strong for it's diameter, but you might be better off with hard mono, or wire for toothy critters. Let us know when you get the gar on a fly.

briansII

[nick562]

I have caught catfish more than several times,if you really want to give em a shot go with clear intermediate to get down below aafter a rainfall or fish near any running water inlet bit small minnows in white are good even better funny thing is I was fishing for bass aggressively and there you go!! good luck out there man

I'm with you! My favorite time to catfish is after a nice heavy rain. Seems like if the water goes up a bit and muddies up some the fish will come in nice and shallow. Sometimes golf course and neighborhood ponds will be connected by various creeks (natural or thanks to a pump) and those inlets have been some of my favorite spots to target cats (and after a rain it's even better). If you have access to anything like that give it a shot! The golf courses can be tough to get on sometimes, but a little networking investment (getting in good with someone on the grounds crew? Asking permission from pres. of neighborhood association, etc) can have some fun fishing returns...

DUDE I barley checked up on this post again YOU SIR ROCK you social skills must be razor sharp to get permission,or you paid some one off right??at least you can fish in comfort and get day light I on the other hand must do a thing called NINJA fly fishing golf courses and cemetery ponds they are the best it sure beats going to a public place where fish are pressured more I have fanatical nights with bass on poppers im talking 4 to 8 pounds easy on a 6 wt caught my biggest blue gill to date on a golf course 3 and half sorry no pics stealth is required at these honey holes any light given off by my presence may lead up to my incarceration for trespassing may have try the networking thing one day