Ah, the good ‘ole days, baiting a hook with a fat juicy night crawler, casting it out to what you think is the deepest spot on the lake, and waiting. I was rummaging through some old files on an external hard drive of mine, and came across some old pictures.
I haven’t caught a catfish in so long. Makes me want to set aside an outing to dunk some bait this summer. With the lake right behind my GF’s townhouse, I just might have to do that, while I fire up the BBQ and grill some steaks.
Thee biggest catfish I have ever caught.
(No idea why I’m wearing a batting glove. HAHA)

I had a different system. I always thought adding the bobber helped keep the bait off of the bottom a tad. The fish never minded it. In Illinois, you’re allowed 2 rods per angler. I used to soak some bait with my spinning rod, and cast lures with my baitcaster or other spinning rod.

Nice little Channel Catfish at Mallard Lake.
Catch and Release
Salad

These photos are probably 10+ years old, and they brought back some really good memories. If I find any more good ones, you can bet, I will most definitely share them!

16 Replies to “Night crawlers and Cats”

  1. Nice to look back down memory lane, similar, to what I did with one of my recent posts on my blog. Plenty of Catfishers in my area, but, I would like to hook one on my fly rod again.

  2. Lots of things to use for bait while Catfishing, but I think the weirdest one was a girl out here in Blogdom (and I haven't seen her in ages) used a chunk of Ivory Soap. Go figure.

  3. That was one thing I had intended to do last year, bust out the old Catfish gear. We have some monster Flatheads here. Thanks for sharing.

  4. HA! The thought of noodling in Illinois is not so bad as the thought of noodling in the Southern states. Don't really have to worry about gators up here. I do want to try noodling, though.

  5. Your post inspired me. I'm a little tardy going through with the inspiration. I, too, would love to catch one with my fly rod, as well!

  6. That's 1 species I've been wanting to catch, too. There are some monster flat heads in a nearby river. My friends have hooked up with some using their musky and bass gear. I know of other guys using the traditional bluegill head on the bottom.

  7. The good ole boys around here swear by using a small live bullhead. The problem for me is I don't know where I can catch them at, other than a few farm ponds I have no access to.

  8. Interesting. I have never heard of the bullhead method. Everyone around here swears by bluegill. I do know a place that has a ridiculous amount of small yellow bullhead.

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