You don’t have to sit still to catch catfish By Larry Myhre
Reprinted from the Sioux City Journal
Drifting and trolling are two tactics for catfish
When it comes to catfishing, most anglers think of sitting on the bank watching the tip of your rod for a bite.
Catfishermen working from the bank are advised to move often in an effort to find the fish.
That also holds true for fishing from a boat, but you have other options than anchoring.
Pat Carter, a catfishing specialist from Elk Point, S.D., has taught me that over the years.
It was no different last week when we decided to meet up at McCook Lake to see if the fish were biting.
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shinning and the wind, for once, was not howling. It was, instead, light and variable.
Just right for drift fishing.
Pat tossed out the drift sock and dropped the bow mount electric motor to control our course, and we tossed out our baits. We had shrimp, shad and chubs, and used them all.
The fish, it turned out, were not on fire but over the next few hours we put eight channels in the boat topping out at around four pounds and a nice walleye of about two-and-a-half pounds.
When drift fishing in lakes, heavy weights are not needed. In fact, Pat had only two small spit shot about two feet above his hook and I used only a large swivel. That was good enough to get us down to 10 feet which was about the deepest water we fished.
We also trolled using the electric motor when the wind died. The key is to move slowly.
When drifting or trolling you have to have confidence that catfish will hit a moving bait. Be assured that they will.
The year Pat will head up the annual catfishing tournament on the Missouri River here at Sioux City.
This year’s event’s major sponsor is First Class Credit Union and the “First Class Cat Attack!” has a guaranteed $5,000 payout. The event will be July 25. Visit www.firstclasscatattack.tk to learn more.
The credit union is also offering a $1,000 “bounty” for anyone winning the tournament who is not a Carter. Brothers Pat, Darrell and Larry have won the event the past five years.
Eight teams from five states are already signed up.
For information about the tournament, call Pat Carter at (712) 281-1841 or email at: imcoolcatpat@yahoo.com
Over 30 teams are expected to sign up.