Catfish on the fly?!?!

[soonerlongbow]

So this afternoon I went out to my in-law's farm pond looking for Mr. Pigg. As luck would have it he never showed. But while I was there I noticed 2 or 3 catfish in the shallow part of the pond rooting around. I say shallow, it's less than 8" of water where they were and the whole pond has shrank to 3ft at it's deepest. Well, I went over and just to see what they would do I tossed a couple grass hoppers in the drink near them and sure enough a couple got gobbled up.

So for the 2hrs I was sitting there on the pond dam, supposed to be watching for porcine, instead I'm watching these fish thinking how cool it would be to sit fish them with a hopper & fly rod! Both fish look stunted, very skinny for length, probably both over 25", with the tail on bigger fish around 10" wide. Yet neither looked over 10lbs.

Either way, I'm going to hopefully it tomorrow before I have to go back to the oil patch. Real question is #5wt or #8wt, but will probably try both.

[breeden3]

I have caught lots of catfish on the fly, granted never on a hopper. I catch most on olive and black buggers dropped deep. The takes are some of the most savage I have ever seen/experienced out of every species I have caught on a fly. Have fun and be ready for a good battle.

Peter Breeden

[wardw]

They're bulldogs - throw the 8, you'll appreciate the power to control their heads. The fighting butt will come in handy - battling big cats on a 5 will leave you marked up with a bunch of half moon bruises on your stomach.

[dannys]

Amen to that! (What Ward said) 

I once caught one of only about 5 pounds on the Guadalupe (while fishing for bass). I was in a float tube and using a 5 wt rod. That fish pulled me up river, down river and across. Fortunately my fishing friend was upstream in his tube and I finally caved and asked him to net it for me. That fish BEAT ME UP with that 5 wt. But--what a hoot!!!!!! BTW--They like a Cat's Whisker (as do bass and other warm water fish).

[soonerlongbow]

If the honey-dos allow I'm going to try & give this a whirl this weekend. It's my short days off from making earth quakes so don't know.

[slim]

Ward,
Are you coming up to Montana this summer ?
I still enjoy your pictures from your trip last year.
If I can find someone to go with me I want to fish the Blackfoot.
I am in east Idaho right now and the fishing has been good but no big fish for me yet.
We wade fished Henry's Fork this week and did really well on nymphs and hoppers, but nothing big.
Snow melt water is keeping some streams too high to fish. We had new snow twice two weeks ago.
Still catching fish on those old wooley buggers here. And try a nymph now and then even though it's like crappy fishing with a red and white bobber.
Be good,
slim

[alv]

These are two of my big cats on the fly rods. None as big as Ward's beast but both in the 12-15 lb. range. One on a 2wt and 1 on a child's 4wt. The olive size 16 bead head scud got em both. I was fishing for bluegills.

Talk about raw pulling power.

[soonerlongbow]

Well, fish were caught but sadly not on a fly. Bit too windy for the hoppers & they desired the worms my wife & kids used more any way. Didn't think it had enought h2o to hold a minnow but caught 6 fish on light & ultra lights.

We called it "Operation Catfish Rescue". The adjacent pond has held water much more consistently & it's where they came from 4 yrs prior after this dam was cut to deepen it.

[sulross]

This guy hit a woolly bugger like a kid and candy.  As soon as the fly hit the edge of a shallow cut bank, he flashed up and smashed it.  It was more similar to catching stock pond bass on poppers than bottom rigging for catfish like when I was a kid.  I'd go after more in a minute when I can't make it up to trout country:)