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OUTDOOR COLUMN -- matthews-ONS -- 28jun06
Hot days and catfish just seem to go together
By JIM MATTHEWS Outdoor News Service
Catfish are the biggest fish you could hope to land from a freshwater lake or river in Southern California.
A blue catfish topping 100 pounds was caught from San Vicente Reservoir in San Diego County, although most are much smaller, with a good one weighing 20 pounds. Flathead catfish over 40 pounds are caught every week this time of year on the lower Colorado River, and most regulars think some big, deep pool holds a fish weighing from 80 to 100 pounds. Some will even tell you they've hooked fish that size. Most of the catfish caught by anglers here are in the 1 1/2 to 3 pound range, and they are channel catfish.
All catfish like warm water, eating more to met their metabolic needs as the water increases in temperature. They have an incredible array of senses, able to feel, smell, and even taste whatever they are eating before its in their mouth. They live in just about every water in the region, and they are one of the best-eating fish an angler can catch. If tuna are "chicken of the sea," catfish are certainly "chicken of the lake." We are now entering the peak of catfish fishing season.
Even knowing all that, the number of anglers who fish for catfish in Southern California, as compared to trout or bass, seems to be relatively small. Seems. Most tackle shops and boat dealerships don't sell a lot of $12 lures, $200 reels, or $25,000 boats to catfish anglers. There are no catfish television shows, no Catfish Unlimited, and no Catfish Anglers Sportsman's Society tournament circuit. So you don't hear much about it. The gear is relatively simple -- hooks, weights, and bait -- and inexpensive, but drive to any lake where there are catfish and anglers are lined up along the banks and fishing from rental boats. Planted lakes are mobbed on weekends. Ed Rister, who runs Hesperia Lake in the High Desert, said he's getting 100 to 150 anglers a day during the week.
Yet, for people who are not plugged into the catfish fishing* community, this is a mysterious activity. But 100-pounders intrigue any angler, and I think there is growing interest in catfish in Southern California. It's more than just 100-pounders. There is a certain appeal to traditional catfish angling techniques during sweltering heat like we've had lately: you go to a lake after a hot day or work week, set up a lawn chair on the bank in the evening breeze, and rig up a stinky bait with a sliding sinker rig, cast it out, and sit back and enjoy the cool air coming off the water. Maybe have a cool beverage. You can daydream. Move the bait now and then, keep an eye on the line, or rig up a bell to let you know when the catfish is interested. No run and gun bass fishing here. No walking a stream bank working a lure for trout. That's way to intense. Catfish let you unwind, slow down, relax.
Bet you there's a place no more than 15 or 20 minutes from the house where you can fish for catfish. Check the fish report. Now's the time.
CATMANDO SEMINAR: Rank amateur for catfish? Ronson Smothers of Los Angeles, the maker of Catmando catfish baits, has built a reputation as one of the best catfish anglers in the region. He's caught an 89.65-pound blue catfish at Irvine Lake, a fish that still holds the lake record and was formerly a state record. He's also one of the only catfish guides in the state.
Smothers will be giving a free seminar on the sport at 1 p.m., Saturday, July 8, at the Turner's Outdoorsman store in San Marcos. He'll cover top fishing spots in Southern California, fishing techniques, and catfish gear.
Asked where he'd fish in the region if he could be anywhere within five minutes. Smothers said he'd take the Colorado River and big flatheads. "Right now I'd love to be at the river," said Smothers. He added that Irvine Lake and San Vicente were close behind because they both have big blue cats and generally good action, especially when low water level concentrates the fish into a smaller area.
HOT DIP BAIT: Clay Rutledge, owner of Bob's Bait Bucket in Bakersfield, is selling the heck out of a catfish bait that no one else in California knows about: Sonny's Catfish Bait. It's similar to the well-known and popular Bowker's and Hog Wild dip baits, but the word-of-mouth buzz in the southern San Joaquin Valley is that Sonny's is the best of the lot. By far. Catfish anglers there vote with their pocketbooks.
"I probably don't sell more than two dozen tubs of Bowker's a year," said Rutledge. "I bet I've sold over 600 tubs of Sonny's, and that's all word-of-mouth sales."
The bait is big in the Midwest, thanks largely to a 1997 article in In-Fisherman magazine, but it's only available at Bob's or via mail order for Southern California anglers. This week, Wayne Pinkerton at B&B Bait in Blythe and Rister at Hesperia Lake said they were ordering a case or two of the bait to see if it's as good as San Joaquin Valley anglers claim. If those three places aren't close or convenient, and you don't think you can't live another day without trying it, you can call the maker, Sonny Hootman, a 68-year-old retired lumberman, who makes the stuff with his sons at his home in Farmington, Iowa, and order it direct. Hootman's number is 319-878-4115. Remember the time difference, and let me know how you do.
Hot days and catfish just seem to go together
By JIM MATTHEWS Outdoor News Service
Catfish are the biggest fish you could hope to land from a freshwater lake or river in Southern California.
A blue catfish topping 100 pounds was caught from San Vicente Reservoir in San Diego County, although most are much smaller, with a good one weighing 20 pounds. Flathead catfish over 40 pounds are caught every week this time of year on the lower Colorado River, and most regulars think some big, deep pool holds a fish weighing from 80 to 100 pounds. Some will even tell you they've hooked fish that size. Most of the catfish caught by anglers here are in the 1 1/2 to 3 pound range, and they are channel catfish.
All catfish like warm water, eating more to met their metabolic needs as the water increases in temperature. They have an incredible array of senses, able to feel, smell, and even taste whatever they are eating before its in their mouth. They live in just about every water in the region, and they are one of the best-eating fish an angler can catch. If tuna are "chicken of the sea," catfish are certainly "chicken of the lake." We are now entering the peak of catfish fishing season.
Even knowing all that, the number of anglers who fish for catfish in Southern California, as compared to trout or bass, seems to be relatively small. Seems. Most tackle shops and boat dealerships don't sell a lot of $12 lures, $200 reels, or $25,000 boats to catfish anglers. There are no catfish television shows, no Catfish Unlimited, and no Catfish Anglers Sportsman's Society tournament circuit. So you don't hear much about it. The gear is relatively simple -- hooks, weights, and bait -- and inexpensive, but drive to any lake where there are catfish and anglers are lined up along the banks and fishing from rental boats. Planted lakes are mobbed on weekends. Ed Rister, who runs Hesperia Lake in the High Desert, said he's getting 100 to 150 anglers a day during the week.
Yet, for people who are not plugged into the catfish fishing* community, this is a mysterious activity. But 100-pounders intrigue any angler, and I think there is growing interest in catfish in Southern California. It's more than just 100-pounders. There is a certain appeal to traditional catfish angling techniques during sweltering heat like we've had lately: you go to a lake after a hot day or work week, set up a lawn chair on the bank in the evening breeze, and rig up a stinky bait with a sliding sinker rig, cast it out, and sit back and enjoy the cool air coming off the water. Maybe have a cool beverage. You can daydream. Move the bait now and then, keep an eye on the line, or rig up a bell to let you know when the catfish is interested. No run and gun bass fishing here. No walking a stream bank working a lure for trout. That's way to intense. Catfish let you unwind, slow down, relax.
Bet you there's a place no more than 15 or 20 minutes from the house where you can fish for catfish. Check the fish report. Now's the time.
CATMANDO SEMINAR: Rank amateur for catfish? Ronson Smothers of Los Angeles, the maker of Catmando catfish baits, has built a reputation as one of the best catfish anglers in the region. He's caught an 89.65-pound blue catfish at Irvine Lake, a fish that still holds the lake record and was formerly a state record. He's also one of the only catfish guides in the state.
Smothers will be giving a free seminar on the sport at 1 p.m., Saturday, July 8, at the Turner's Outdoorsman store in San Marcos. He'll cover top fishing spots in Southern California, fishing techniques, and catfish gear.
Asked where he'd fish in the region if he could be anywhere within five minutes. Smothers said he'd take the Colorado River and big flatheads. "Right now I'd love to be at the river," said Smothers. He added that Irvine Lake and San Vicente were close behind because they both have big blue cats and generally good action, especially when low water level concentrates the fish into a smaller area.
HOT DIP BAIT: Clay Rutledge, owner of Bob's Bait Bucket in Bakersfield, is selling the heck out of a catfish bait that no one else in California knows about: Sonny's Catfish Bait. It's similar to the well-known and popular Bowker's and Hog Wild dip baits, but the word-of-mouth buzz in the southern San Joaquin Valley is that Sonny's is the best of the lot. By far. Catfish anglers there vote with their pocketbooks.
"I probably don't sell more than two dozen tubs of Bowker's a year," said Rutledge. "I bet I've sold over 600 tubs of Sonny's, and that's all word-of-mouth sales."
The bait is big in the Midwest, thanks largely to a 1997 article in In-Fisherman magazine, but it's only available at Bob's or via mail order for Southern California anglers. This week, Wayne Pinkerton at B&B Bait in Blythe and Rister at Hesperia Lake said they were ordering a case or two of the bait to see if it's as good as San Joaquin Valley anglers claim. If those three places aren't close or convenient, and you don't think you can't live another day without trying it, you can call the maker, Sonny Hootman, a 68-year-old retired lumberman, who makes the stuff with his sons at his home in Farmington, Iowa, and order it direct. Hootman's number is 319-878-4115. Remember the time difference, and let me know how you do.
