THE FISH'N HOLE
Edwin and his Channel Cats
Here Kitty-Kitty In Search of Florida Channel Catfish
A Visitor...Gator Time, maybe he's fishing too...
Here Kitty-Kitty; In Search of Florida CatsAnd found Ray Moss!Channel Cat fishing, no matter where you fish, has always been a past time to cool away under an oak tree, spinning tackle to a bamboo pole, a can of worms, your favorite stink bait or just a pint of chicken livers from your local grocery. In Florida, well back in the days before electronics, a staple for the table, ranking only behind the largemouth bass in terms of anglers’ preference and hunting. The reasoning for this is that channel cats can be found in almost every freshwater stream, pond or lake, in Florida and are more than not, are willing to take any bait offering. With few to no bag limits on these prehistoric creatures, except in management areas or preserves, the tastiness of catfish fillets double dipped and fried, puts them on a lot of tables. With the new fandango electronics, fish finders, and boats that float across the skinnies, cat fishing is all but lost in Florida as the largemouth to Tarpon have taken its place. The neat thing about this stealthy fish is, all you need is time to pass the time in catching one. No boats or fancy stuff needed, here kitty-kitty, just a pole, you, and a bucket. The biggest problem in southwestern Florida, especially if you live within an arms throw to the beach is finding worms to fill your can. That is where a local bait shop sure comes in handy because a shovel and sand equal a sandy hole with no worms. You could try turning a log but this is Florida and I’m into going fishing not snake hunting. Fine Bait & Tackle, in North Port, Florida supplies all that you will ever need in any approach to catch most any fish, freshwater to salt. Operated by retired Captain Ray Moss and his partner, Beth Mayberry, they have the finest selection of worms to tackle I have seen anywhere. I ask Beth about the local freshwater scene and she is an information highway with great customer service too. Ray, was working on piecing back together someone’s favorite reel and was now in need of some TLC. Ray could have been blindfolded and doing the same job, as he talked with me about his new shop in North Port. I purchased the worms, bid my good byes and headed home to “get it on” and head down to the waters edge with all baits in hand.
Florida boasts an impressive amount of lakes, ponds, and reservoirs full of the fish on the prowl, some of the best fishing spots get overlooked because it always has been easier to go to old haunts, rather than put in the time to explore new waters. However, it doesn’t take much to plan an outing to a near-by canal with shade trees on the bank. Whither putting in your Yak or canoe to explore more or just finding a good snag on the bank in setting up your camp, urban angling can offer a wide range of fish at little to no cost in catching. Channel cats will move into creeks and rivers to spawn in secluded areas or cavities under logs or undercut banks, just as they do on rising levels on urban canals or when locks are raised. This time of year, the Channel Cats are on the spawn. The males protect the nests and become aggressive during this time, as they are pushing off the females or anything else that might eat the fry, often biting first, asking questions later. This makes them easy catching to the angler. My favorite are chicken livers, night crawlers, and stink bait and to make it interesting, try an artificial frog or bait of your choice, they will pick it up if they have the opportunity and you might get lucky, get a Bass to bite too. When a fish is on the spawn, everybody is hungry.
The best habitat for Florida channel catfish in canals, rivers, creeks and streams are the unseen obstacles such as logjams, sunken stumps, trees and clumps of the bank itself. Looking for sign of backwater flow or eddies across the flow of the stream or edges are sure tell signals of a catfish haven. The use of a slip bobber will allow you to drift your bait through eddies, around woody structures and through riffles. Using a circle hook is not only great protection from a fish swallowing a hook but with its inward point, it is almost snag less too. In cat fishing, you need a sturdy rod. Remember you just might be pulling out that monster from a logjam and I’ll bet you your catch that fish is trying to bury its self-back into the middle of it. This is the most important piece of your equipment, the hook. You will want the sharpest, most durable hook you can buy because Channel catfish have tough mouths. Cheap hooks will only straighten out when you hook it up or if you’re lucky and land this fish, will turn into a piece of twisted wire as you pull with your pliers or hook retriever. A good stout circle hook in the 1/0 size do the trick. Rigging options remain almost infinite, but the two easiest prepared bait rigs that seem to work every time for channel catfish are a barrel swivel with a slip sinker above it, attached to an 18” piece of 50 pound test leader line and your hook, the other is the same minus the slip egg weight, replaced with a pencil or slip float. Two rods rigged in this way and you can cover a lot of area from top to bottom in search of Florida cats. Remember too, if you do not have a spinning reel set up or a Zebco combo, (perfect in catching cats), bamboo poles are second to none and will produce just as many, if not more fish from the bank as a spinning set up.
Unfortunately, the overflowing bulkhead dam had no trees to sit under so it was squelching humid and hot as Edwin and I hunkered down on the bottom side of the burm. No airflow but the water flowing over the lip on the bulkhead was making a real backwash across the sidewalls. A perfect place to drop a nice slimy piece of chicken liver. The natural flow of water running downstream caused riffs to ruffles and eddies behind logs to floating grass were the perfect placement to the hook under a float and a fine looking, big fat juicy worm. I also bring along one bamboo pole, used as a stand-by while you’re on the wait for that cat. Armed with a small Balsa bobber, split shot and number 4 hook, I’m ready for any other fish too. You can even fly fish with the Boo. It is limited by poppers are fun too.
As I was waiting for a bite, I reflected back on what Rick Gassett said to me last electronically. “ I've known Ray Moss for about 20 years. When I first started in the business, Ray was guiding and working at Economy Tackle in Sarasota. He was one of the first fly-fishing guides in our area and one of a only a few doing night snook fishing. A little later, he was partners with Ad Gilbert, a retired educator and another fly-fishing guide, in a fly/fishing tackle shop at Fisherman's Wharf in Venice. Ray was also one of the first guides in our area focusing on tarpon with a fly.” On that thought the bait that was purchased at Ray’s shop, under the float did its wiggle to drop out of sight and Edwin yelled “FISH ON!”, as he fought this fish down out from under a snag. As he lifted it from the water, we noticed a friend right on its tail as Edwin scooped the landing net under this nice channel catfish, it was a three to four foot young gator. He or she, stayed with us all afternoon. I’d swear, eighty percent of my bites that took the liver were that gator, including my two cut offs? Ed on the other hand was catching cats on the top or bottom using those Fine bait and tackle worms. I wonder what Ray and Beth do with their worms, I switched over and was no longer in search of Florida channel catfish but catching them too.
I dropped back in to Fine Tackle to tell Beth and Ray of our journey and to ask a couple of questions about worms. The more you know, You know! So the next time you’re in the area and are looking for info to bait or tackle, stop on in at:
Fine Bait & Tackle
14503 US 41, North Port, FL.
Just north of Lowe’s
941-240-5981
Be sure to check out their website:
http://finebaitandtackle.com“FISH ON!”
