Catfish Catching (Freshwater Giant - 2)

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Fishing Academy

In addition to smell, the lateral line, which perceives movements and fluctuations of water, is of great help to the predator during the hunt. Thanks to this, the catfish is able not only to "track" the fish passing by, but even to estimate its approximate size. Moreover, without seeing the victim and not feeling any smells.

Catching catfish is certainly very exciting, but also quite difficult. You can catch this predator using a wide variety of tackle: for a donk-zakidushka, spinning on a spoon, circles, girders, sheer tackle and, finally, a float rod. The attachment can be very diverse, but it must be animal: live bait, parts of fish, crayfish, crawling, frog, brush of dung worms, large insect larvae. In most cases, a 10-12 millimeter line with a tee is sufficient.

It is very interesting to catch catfish with the help of a kwok (see fig.). But since this tackle is practically not used on our reservoirs, I will only briefly talk about it. A kwok is a wooden instrument that is struck on water and produces a very distinctive sound. Catfish hears it from afar, approaches the source of the sound, notices the nozzle and swallows it.

There are different points of view about exactly what attracts soma to Kwok strikes. Some anglers believe that the sounds of Kwok remind a fish the croaking of its tasty prey - a frog. Others believe that these are the calling sounds of the female before spawning. Still others argue: having heard the sounds of Kwok, the catfish takes them for a potential rival and comes to “deal with” him. And yet, ichthyologists, studying the sounds of kwok with the help of acoustic equipment, came to the conclusion that the blows of a properly tuned piece of wood (kwok), although rough, imitate the moment when the catfish swallows prey. And his brothers, having heard these sounds, hurry to take part in the feast.

But no matter how you are going to catch a catfish, you need not only a lot to be able, but even more to know. And, first of all, this applies to a specific reservoir on which to fish. A successful hunt for a predator directly depends on this. Most anglers certainly know that the favorite places for catfish are pits and pools. It is in them, as a rule, that catfish are kept during daylight hours. But how to determine the bottom topography and the place where the catfish can be?

The easiest way to do this is floating from a boat … Going a little higher upstream, dissolve the tackle into a plumb line (with the leash and hook removed) and "feel" the bottom with a sinker. Having made 3-5 such swims in different directions and noting the change in depths along the coastal landmarks (bushes, individual trees, breaks in the coastline, etc.), you can get a fairly accurate idea of the size and configuration of the pit. However, it is not enough to find a hole, you also need to know exactly in which direction the exit from it is directed. That is, in which direction the catfish will go for feeding. In other words, it is necessary to establish its running path. Only in this case can you count on success.

Often the catfish itself "helps" in determining its location. Going out hunting, he often betrays himself with loud characteristic bursts: "flopping." The pit should be fished in two ways: while at anchor or quietly rafting downstream. In the first case, you will need a reliable anchor with a strong thick rope at least 40 meters long. It is most advisable to anchor 10-15 meters above the pit. In the second case, it is very good to fish for holes located along the stream. Moreover, in pits with uneven depth and flooded snags. This fishing method is predominant. If one run was unsuccessful, you need to move 10-12 meters to the side and repeat it. Sometimes you have to do up to ten such swims.

But if the place is chosen correctly, and there is floundering, then the catfish bite will not keep itself waiting long. It feels different … More often than not, the fish pulls smoothly. Sometimes he pulls, but then lets go. Often only touches the nozzle, but does not take it. In such cases, it is very useful to tease the predator by twitching the bait. More often than not, it triggers a grasp. It happens that the catfish rubs near the fishing line for a long time, touches it, or, having captured the bait, shakes it in the same way as a ruff usually shakes a float.

Another bite, though not too frequent and, apparently, characteristic of very large catfish, manifests itself as a sharp jerk. Immediately after hooking, the fish persistently, strongly and without stopping pulls to where it is deeper or upstream. At this moment, it is very important to smoothly deflect the line - the catfish can get off the hook from the jerks. It is especially dangerous when it goes to the bottom, as the fish gives itself the opportunity to rest and continue resistance with renewed vigor. Therefore, it is necessary to take all measures to, firstly, prevent the implementation of this maneuver, and secondly, if the fish still went to the bottom, try to force it to leave there. To do this, you can knock with the edge of your palm on the base of the rod (the catfish is panicky afraid of knocks), or you can throw stones where the predator has hidden.

But you should hardly pull the line too much: there is always a danger of the line breaking if the catfish is hiding among stones or in snags. And if the catfish cannot be “smoked” out of the shelter, one thing remains - to wait until it leaves it. If he fails to lie down, the catfish responds to all the angler's maneuvers in the same way - “crawls” along the bottom. When the catfish is completely exhausted, it begins to rise to the surface, and then it seems that some kind of motionless load hangs on the hook. And then another difficulty begins (which I wish all anglers to experience!): Because of the large weight of the catfish, it is very dangerous not only to load it over the side, but also to bring it ashore. I had to read and hear the stories of fishermen about how they dragged the caught catfish ashore, grabbing them with their hands under the gills.

In this regard, I recall an interesting episode that occurred on the Kuban River and was described in a local newspaper. Two students - "walrus" noticed a huge catfish near the coast, stuck in shallow water. Seizing a convenient moment, one of them saddled the fish and, in order to hold it, put his hands under its gills. And then the catfish clamped the hands of the "rider" with gill covers and dragged him into the water. His friend hastened to help a colleague. Only together they overcame a catfish, which weighed almost 80 kilograms! And if not for help, or would the catfish be larger? What then? Therefore, in order to avoid such incidents, it is necessary to pull the catfish out of the water together: one takes the prey on the fishing line, the other lifts it with a hook. In addition to an exciting struggle with a large, strong predator, the angler (if he is lucky enough to catch this fish) will be able to appreciate its taste value. Because somyatina is incredibly tasty. It contains 3-5 percent fat, 15-18 percent protein. It is good in any form: you want it - boil it, you want - smoke it or preserve it. So catch catfish - and you won't regret it.