So I'm out fishing with CV and we're on some spot of his that he says has been great for big fish in the past. I'm tossing a 5" Big Hammer down in about 25 feet of water just bumpin it along and it goes thump. I'm thinking sweet, fish on the Big Hammer. But ... no something is afoul. My Captain Catfeesh instincts are kicking in telling me this is something of the whiskered variety. Yup, there it is...

http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/d/14750-2/bullhead.jpg

Frickin bullhead on a Big Hammer! I just had to laugh. The same day I snagged a 15" squawfish through the back on a rattletrap. When you're hot, you're hot... or something.

Rob-

What kind of rod is that? It looks like a similar style to the one I'm having made by Mark at Performance tackle with respect to the grip. Nice job on the swimbait catfish. The ways catfish are caught never cease to amaze me.

That's an Okuma Guide Series 7'6" Heavy. All of the Okuma swimbait rods have an exposed grip like that.

Thanks Rob. The more I hear and see about the Okuma's the more I like them. It seems like they are the best option on the market when you consider their affordable price.

Good ole Squawfish, I caught a few in Oregon last weekend. I knocked a few on the head and fed them to the bald eagles. Worth the tangled line to watch a bald eagle do its thing...

Maybe you can build some sort of X-men type helmut to block the catfish vibes when you fish :o

I like your thinking... Maybe a Bass Pro Shops hat with a gold hook on the bill would do it? O wait that's what Mountainbass wears, rofl. I catch way too many catfish...

Maybe the biosonix thing could scare the kitties away for you. Or you could make a cool tinfoil hat with a stinkbait jar lid on it so they focus on the hat instead of your bait

Rob, maybe you should stop using stinkbait for shampoo.

shhhh, dont let anyone know my secret to catching fish!

roflmao.

bass pro shop hat, gold hook on bill.

yesssssssssssssssssssssss.

Snagging fish is always a delight.

I remember at stick marsh farm 13 I snagged a needlefish by casting a rattletrap onto its back totally randomly. I just casted as far as possible and it landed right on its back and I was instantly hooked up. what a thrill!

Maybe someone put your hammer tails in chicken liver LOL!!!
Gota love those cats LOL! I hit a 5 lb cat on a 8" triple trout LOL!
Just don't put them on the carpet of the boat (SLIME COAT)

Don.

less then two weeks to Bassathon;)

You guys figured out my secret... Chicken liver hair gel.

Gude, I know what that feels like! Catch cats on cranks while out for bass all the time. I've seen'em take the powerbait the trout guys throw! Best I ever had was when I first started out fishing cranks. I was shorfishing on a point and getting kind of bored, not really paying attention. I hear this splash as I'm getting the bait out of the water and not 2 feet from the shore there's 10lb. kittie that just came up and absolutely demolished the bait. He hit so hard that I was to stuned to set; the friggin' thing had scared the living #&*%&% out of me!

Dude that post just made my day, that was just great, straight up, you catch catfeesh like no other!

Next year at the BNT clear lake open you need to also enter the catfish derby. Fishin for bass, yet I'd still put my money on ya Rob for bringing in the biggest kitty.

I'm so there...

On a slightly more serious note, one thing I have noticed is that big bass and cats hang together. Most of my cats have come from areas where I've caught big bass at some point either before or after catching a cat there. The cats just have a habit of hanging out on key structures around bait so if you're around bait and cats, you're probably in a good spot. That's the captain's tip o' the day
:P

This spring, I caught about a 4 lb cat on a Chatterbait:+

Rob, this is a cat I caught last year. I was fishing a Prototype Rago 3pc. Live Trout Hardbait and had a high teen Largemouth follow it to the boat, twice. I left and fished another spot for an hour and returned to the original spot and cast out and got slammed in 23 feet of water, thinking it was the teen fish for a moment until I felt the twisting. I did go 22lbs. and change.
David Conway

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/5372-MVC-005S.JPG

My part time team partner got this 47lb channel @ Castaic on a Huddleston.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/5373-catfish.47lbs.jpg