Basics of catfishing PART 1

[Earl Phillips Jr]

By: FlatheadsRus

This article is for the newcomer to catfishing and those that don’t have any experience in this fabulous sport. You the experienced catfisherman may not agree on some parts and areas, but it not intended for the average or well versed catfisherman. Most of the information here is provided at the ground level and enough that anyone off the street can have reasonable success and gain the desire to become more proficient and ask more exacting questions of members in their sections of the country and locals. For you the new guy or gal I have tried to show as many pictures and graphics as possible so that you may visualize the sport and methods to have some success. Although you will see many trophy pictures with this article it only serves as the basics in what you will need to get started, baits to use and the areas in which to look for catfish on your local streams and lakes. We encourage you to use the forums and chat rooms on this site to ask more exacting questions of your tackle, baits, and fishing area.

Welcome to all you guys and gals that want to learn about America's most popular fishing sport. Unlike lots of other types of fishing, catfishing has deep rooted history and more followers than all the rest. Catfishing is fun for young and old, men and women, and is pursued by people of all walks of life. Night or day, summer or winter, blue skies or stormy weather---the simple fact is catfish feed and feed a lot. They are prolific breeders and are found in most all areas of the US and Southern Canada. Equipment and bait can range from the simplistic push button snoopy pole to high end saltwater gear and everything in between, the simple fact is you don't need a 40 thousand dollar boat and a tackle box or two full of gear to catch catfish. This is the one sport in which the most simple of gear and an earthworm will bring a relatively high degree of success.

Catfish are found around the world and their species exceeds over 2200 most of which are fresh water. Its true that catfish lack some of the sporting attributes appreciated in other species as they seldom jump out of the water when hooked nor fire off a 100 yd run down river unless you hook into one of the giants over 60 lbs. In fact catfish is the giant of fresh water species and specimens over 600 lbs are not all that uncommon in some parts of the world.

Most people tend to fish for them in a laid back, forked stick, bait on the bottom and wait till something happens manner, Hmm kinda sounds like the relaxing sport most of us need after a hectic week at work doesn't it. Most of the catfish caught are under 2lbs and provide great table fare as an added bonus. On the whole, catfishermen spend many hours fishing for this species after dark as they do during daylight hours. One common but misunderstood element is that not all catfish are caught only on smelly, stinky baits. And not all catfishermen smell bad, wear dirty overalls, and chew snuff. Today many cafishermen might well fish from a sleek and well equipped boat instead of a battered and bare Jonboat powered by a small outboard

So with all this said and your ready to take up catfishing you've probably got a bunch of questions on how to get started, what do I need, where do I need to go to fish and when, plus there’s the issue of getting bait. Hopefully this article will get you off the ground and heading in the right direction and answer the most basic of questions without going into to much detail and confusing you. If you have a friend or relative that catfishes great, hook up with them and coupled with the knowledge from this article and members posts on Mastercaters.Com you'll be way ahead of the game, even without the friend or relative this is a good place to meet new friends and learn the ropes.

Most sporting goods stores and distributors sell a prepackaged fishing outfit by the various manufactures that are well suited to the beginner catfisherman. These rod and reels are specifically matched to each other and are a good place to begin, and after spending some time on the water you'll see other outfits and as time goes on you'll add to your collection and start fine tuning the equipment to fit your needs even better. There are 3 basic setups or types of equipment: Spinning outfits, Bait Casters, and Closed face spincast. Each having their own merits and degree of ease of use and each have their limitation and practical uses. Before we get into each types specificness and relation to catfishing you must be honest with yourself to be able to select an appropriate outfit and set up for your usage.

The easiest to master for the beginning cafisherman is the closed face spinning reel. Often it is associated with kids and not being much more than a toy while mom and dad are on vacation, but higher end units will more than serve your needs adequately. They are easy to operate and maintain while offering the inexperienced fisherman a product that can truly marvel the old guys and pros alike, even the Flathead catfish record of 121 lbs from Kansas was reportedly caught on an age honored closed face spinning reel. One of the true shortcomings of this type of reel is the overwhelming majority are made for right handed people and I cant ever recall seeing a left handed model in over 40 years of fishing. So for you lefties it's just another one of those things you have to get use to doing right handed. They are very easy to disassemble for cleaning and lubricating and with proper care will last many seasons.

Look for prepacked outfit with a medium action rod 5 and half to 7 foot long with the reel prespooled with 6 to 12 lb mono line. These are quite popular at most all sporting goods stores and retail giants, just speak with the sales person and tell them what your looking for and most of the time they can point you in the right direction in helping you make your selection.

If you are truly a beginner and have never casted a rod before---take it to an empty ball field or lot and practice casting so you can get the hang of it and get use to the feel of cranking the line in. Showing up at a fishing dock or pier with your gear isn't the place to learn especially if there are others around—hooks are sharp and dangerous and sinkers are projectiles, you need to be fully aware of where they are at, at all times. Buy a practice casting plug or use a ½ to 1 ounce bell swivel sinker tied onto your line and go practice and be careful, they can travel quite some distance and have a pretty hard impact similar to a projectile fired from a sling shot. The act of casting a closed face spinning reel is relatively simple: depress the button and while holding it down firmly, raise your rod tip vertically until it is nearly horizontal behind you, then bring your rod tip back over the top and release the button (not the entire reel) at about the 12 o’clock position. Follow the imaginary bait (sinker or practice plug) from behind you to your target with your eyes---this will teach you safety so that you don’t inadvertently hook someone behind you. This is the basic overhead cast that will serve most of your casting needs until you have some overhead obstructions---then you will learn to use side arm, flipping and backhand casting techniques. Use easy fluid motions initially and develop some accuracy by trying to hit a sheet of newspaper or something. Keep the distance short initially as well, perhaps 25 yds or so...walk around, shorten the distance, lengthen the distance, cast into the wind, against the wind, and perpendicular to the wind so you will learn the affects of casting in these conditions. Next change up the weight, make it lighter and see how much more casting force is required to hit your target, make it heavier and you'll notice the opposite.

Do not think for one moment that your being foolish as most of the best fishermen practice extensively on dry land and can hit a target as small as a doughnut from 75 yds or further. Catching any fish is not a contest of who can cast the furthest, but the one of who can cast the most accurately. If you remember but one thing about fishing it should be that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water you fish---you need to be able to hit that 10% with your bait and casts.

Next in line is the Spinning reel and a modern favorite among fishermen of all types. It's only slightly more complicated than the closed faced spinning reel as you will hold the line your self with your index finger, then flip the bail back and go thru the previous casting motions explained earlier. With just one exception, instead of releasing the button you release the line from your index finger. With just a little bit of practice you will be able cast accurately and much further---that’s one of the inherent features of spinning reels---being able to cast further.