September Cats...

[wny angler]

looks like you had a pretty good night of catfishen there T.H, nice size cats too.

[Trophy Hunter639]

Thanks guys.That night my uncle and I only fished from about 7:00 - 10:00 p.m as a huge thunderstorm was headed our way we stayed as long as it was safe but the cats were slammin our 2" thick sucker steaks like there was no tomorrow and it was hard to leave. I'm sure glad there is a 24'' maximum size limit for those who do keep cats up here.It sure makes for a great trophy fishery.The double I beleive was a 35.5" and a 36" and the biggest of the night was a shade over 37" I didn't get anything over 40" this year but a couple of 39" were my biggest this summer.

[operaman]

TH that's amazing!!!! wish they were that big down here!

[Trophy Hunter639]

TH that's amazing!!!! wish they were that big down here!

Operaman I'll bet there are cats that big where you are if you guys got 33's there are definatly bigger just forget about chicken livers big steaks of fresh cutbait will help select for bigger fish and the smaller ones will hammer the same offering just takes them a little longer to get it in their mouth people think i'm nuts when they see they size of bait i put on that is until i get a bite

[Jigwiggler]

I've caught them as big as 34" (only one) but our average fish is much smaller than that.  A good fish for this area is 30".  3' and up are unheard of around home.  I don't know why we don't see the monsters like you've posted.  It seems that our waters would be capable of producing cats of that size.  All other species that inhabit those waters reach large sizes.  One thing that doesn't help is that there is no size limit and you are alllowed to keep 50 per day.

[Trophy Hunter639]

JW do people keep a lot of cats around you? Not too many people keep them around here and the daily limit is 4 i think and anything over 24'' must go back or there is a big fine.Plus if you ever get to check out a map of manitoba notice how big lake Winnipeg is it's pretty huge and a lot of cats spend a lot of time out there feeding and enjoying no fishing pressure out there they come in to the red to spawn.From there some make it to the assinniboine river and there is a floodway just outside my city which concentrates some good numbers of big cats until this time of year they drop back to deeper water and i think a lot go back to the red because the assinniboine is shallow.

[Jigwiggler]

Plus if you ever get to check out a map of manitoba notice how big lake Winnipeg is it's pretty huge and a lot of cats spend a lot of time out there feeding and enjoying no fishing pressure out there they come in to the red to spawn.

That is where the difference in size comes in.  The Susquehanna where John and I catfish does not feed any lakes or reservoirs.  The cats here are in the river 365 days a year, I think that makes a big difference in how much size a fish can put on per year.  When they can retreat to a lake where they have to exert less energy they can retain more weight and grow faster.   I think we have the potential for cats that size here they just take longer to reach those lengths and are in far less numbers.

Some people do keep cats here, most big ones that are kept unfortunately are usually for bragging rights and then tossed over the bank to rot.  You'll have a few of those fisherman everywhere I guess.   I have kept some smaller ones before from late fall and winter when the water is cold and clear and they make pretty d*%n good table fare.

[Trophy Hunter639]

That sucks that people kill a big cat for bragging rights I'd blow a gasket if i saw anyone trying to keep any cat over 24" around here.My pics are my bragging rights too bad some around you don't just take a pic.That used to happen a lot around here before the size reg came into effect people would just toss the so called "garbage fish" on shore not anymore the channel cats are respected around here as the red and assinniboine rivers are now world class channel cat fisheries and people want it to stay that way for years to come.Next year mabey just mabey I can get one bigger than our record 46.5"  I can dream can't I

[Jigwiggler]

Hey if you've caught a 41 then 46.5 is nowhere near out of the question.  You always have to have something to shoot for.  Go get em' TH!

[Trophy Hunter639]

Thanks Slipbob sorry no walleyes this roll nothing big anyways.JigWiggler my hunt for another 40+ will have to wait till next year i'll prolly get out a couple more times for walleyes before hardwater which isn't far away -8 degrees celcius today

[Jigwiggler]

Yeah, that's what I meant.  -8C    You will be ice fishing soon!  I was out last night trying for some eyes after dark.  It was about 38 F with a 20mph wind!  Let me tell you I would have much rather of been ice fishing!  BRRRRR!  Didn't catch sh_t either!

[Trophy Hunter639]

Hey Jw I like to think of the weather right now as training for ice fishihg I will be going out to a spot that has in the past been reliable for nice 14-16" walleyes from shore about this time of year with the outside shot at a BIG pike got a 37.5'' last fall there and three trips out there so far have only produced 2 little dink perch and some bullheads for me although my uncle that guy that is posing with the two cats had a big pike on long enough for it to make a huge run on the surface shaking it's head like crazy until it broke his 6lb mono.Man i hope i can pull a Slipbob and get a few eyes for the pan cause i'm craving fresh fish like you wouldn't beleive right now!!!

[TroutFishingBear]

JW do people keep a lot of cats around you? Not too many people keep them around here and the daily limit is 4 i think and anything over 24'' must go back or there is a big fine.

Those are great catfish. Makes me think of what the colorado almost used to be.

There is an unlimited limit of catfish where I live in the colorado river and they (USFWS and CDOW) are thinking about starting giving bounties for big spawning catfish during the spawns But since colorado is in major debt it might not happen, but it probably will since they spend millions on killing bass, pike and catfish each year and saving the chubs.

the colorado river used to be great catfishing with the average only being 2-5 lbs. but 15+ pounders were caught all the time. Now it is not very good thanks to the USFWS and their no bag limit and fish removals and encouraging people to kill them. Thank god almost all of the anglers hate USFWS or all of the cats would be gone!!!

[Jigwiggler]

Hey Jw I like to think of the weather right now as training for ice fishihg I will be going out to a spot that has in the past been reliable for nice 14-16" walleyes from shore about this time of year with the outside shot at a BIG pike got a 37.5'' last fall there and three trips out there so far have only produced 2 little dink perch and some bullheads for me although my uncle that guy that is posing with the two cats had a big pike on long enough for it to make a huge run on the surface shaking it's head like crazy until it broke his 6lb mono.Man i hope i can pull a Slipbob and get a few eyes for the pan cause i'm craving fresh fish like you wouldn't beleive right now!!!

Go get em' TH!!  Don't forget the pics!

[The Rocket]

Awesome pics TH!!!!

Did you keep any of those??? I could go for some fried catfish