Does anyone catfish here?

Idahoron · Jan 28, 2011

I was just wondering if anyone here catfishes. Hunting might not be what it once was but catfishing in Idaho is getting better all the time. I had a fantastic year last year. My goal for 2009 was to get a 10 pound cat. I didn't get one that year but 2010 was a great year for big cats. I got several over 10 pounds and one over 15 pounds. My son got several over 10 pounds this year too.
I am planning a catfish float trip for this summer. I am going to camp on the river and see how far I float on my pontoon. Ron

matt4695 · Jan 29, 2011

I love catfishing. I grew up fishing for catfish. In the spring I fish around Farewell Bend. Once the river mellows out in June i'll fish from Swan Falls to Brownlee. Its a great medicene to get me through to the next Deer season. Last year we did'nt catch any over 8-9 pounds. A couple of years ago I was fishing right up against the turbines below Swan Falls dam. I caught two that were over the 20 pound mark. These were the two largest catfish that i've caught. Whats your favorite bait Ron. I use fresh crappie in the spring and then I switch to fresh minnows during the early summer (if I can find them). I did really good between Nyssa and Ontario last summer, there's not as much moss in the river as compared to around Walters ferry and Marsing. By late July I usually hang the poles up and put he boat away and start heading for the hills to find deer and elk. Your right, Idaho has tons of catfish, super fun.....

Pre64 · Jan 29, 2011

Last ones I tried to eat were inedible. I have not kept one since.

Idahoron · Jan 29, 2011

I like to use trout for cut bait. I get them from the hatchery and cut them into silver dollar sized pieces. Did you catch any flatheads?
Pre64, I bet you got them in the late summer. Spring cats are fantastic eating. You have to get that mud vein out of them. I like to soak them in salt water over night before I cook them. I have never had a bad one. Here are some pictures. Ron

matt4695 · Jan 29, 2011

Nice fish Ron!!! I've caught three or four flatheads. They have all been in Brownlee while fishing for bass and crappie with jigs. Pre64 I know what your talking about. We cut the tails off right away and hang them from there heads. This lets all the blood out of the meat,,,They can be a really good eating fish. I've never seen a raft set up like that Ron,,, that's slick. Looks like you've got a fish finder and rod holders.(that's what i'm talking about).

beavis14 · Jan 29, 2011

cool ron ! i enjoy catfishing as well. i like the snake from weiser to mountain man lodge primarily. as matt4695 said fresh crappie or perch fillet, or if possible mormon crickets. tore them up on those buggers. but they do bite !i saw the f&g stocked a ton of cats around boise. my brother was fishing for bass at horseshoe bend pond and saw a gent with some hogs on a stringer 5 lbs +. snake river arm of strike up too loveridge bridge is another good spot. havent caught any hogs there yet. but caught several sturgeon fishing for cats. most broke off or spooled me however. as for the eating i can only stand them cooked immediatly out of the water in corn meal or blackened. not too keen on the texture. but my 86 year old grandma loves them !

Idahoron · Jan 29, 2011

Ya my float tube and pontoon are pimped. The fish finder goes on both and the rod holders are separate for each. The picture with the real big cat above has my old pontoon in it. I don't use it much but I still have it for others to use.
Here is my newer one with a motor and another pic of the tube. The rod holders are a must. I use two poles and I get doubles often. I like the same areas at Brownlee. With these rides I can get into more places. Ron

beavis14 · Jan 29, 2011

awesome pics. wow that ultralight is REALLY loaded up. looks like that was a fun fight. what did the carp take? that last pic looks like a early spring bank i like to smallmouth fish at brownlee !

matt4695 · Jan 30, 2011

I've got a question for you guys. Did either of you have any luck fishing for smallmouths in Brownlee last year. I had a hard time finding fish. We were putting in at spring creek on the oregon side and going past mountain man lodge looking for smallmouths. It was poor last year. Spring time is usually excellent in Brownlee.

beavis14 · Jan 30, 2011

LAST EDITED ON Jan-30-11 AT 08:20AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jan-30-11 AT 08:14?AM (MST)

agreed i found it very slow, even went up to woodhead on memorial day , which historicly is awesome 50-100+ days and we only put a half dozen keeper size in the boat. even the tournament results showed the bass fishing was way way off from normal. we went below the dam and whacked them real good by the spillway and especialy under the bridge. i caught 14 in a row over 16" on a watermellon finess worm. but brownlee sucked. maybe it picked up later than usual or maybe they spawned much sooner than i expected. in april i usually fish by the cemetery and catch tons of chunks but not last year. smallmouth was slow for me at strike as well and swan falls res. not sure hope it is better this year !

Idahoron · Jan 30, 2011

I didn't fish for bass at Brownlee at all. The only time I catch them is when I am trolling for walleye in Salmon Falls. I had one day there that I had 10 bass over 16". We had 200 plus fish days at Salmon last year for Bass, perch, and a few walleye. Most of the perch were in the 11" to 12" range. The Bass for the most part were keeper size, and the Walleyes were only 14" to 18". I know some guys that had some luck with the larger eyes but I didn't.
As good as Salmon dam is I would rather catch Catfish. Ron

Idahoron · Jan 30, 2011

>awesome pics. wow that ultralight is
>REALLY loaded up. looks like
>that was a fun fight.
>what did the carp take?
>that last pic looks like
>a early spring bank i
>like to smallmouth fish at
>brownlee !

That Carp took a worm. Man that was a hell of a fight. I had to chase him down once with the tube. I was only using 4 pound line. That last pic was about the middle of July. That was a great trip. Ron

Pre64 · Jan 30, 2011

As my family is from Mississipi I can tell you I've had catfish that is out of this world. I just don't see the stuff I've caught out of the Snake being worth the trouble to eat. Besides, if I want to eat fish I fish for crappie or kokanee.

I believe fishing with trout is illegal. Not sure about perch or crappie.

GSJ · Jan 30, 2011

>As my family is from Mississipi
>I can tell you I've
>had catfish that is out
>of this world. I
>just don't see the stuff
>I've caught out of the
>Snake being worth the trouble
>to eat. Besides, if
>I want to eat fish
>I fish for crappie or
>kokanee.
>
>I believe fishing with trout is
>illegal. Not sure about
>perch or crappie.

Not illegal to use trout as cutbait. We use it all the time sturgeon fishing over on Strike and below.
I wish i could find a good way to fix those cats because they are damn fun to catch. We've caught some hogs below loveridge fishing for sturgeaon. I'd asume the really big ones are not that good to eat.

Any of you guys target Flatheads? Thats a fish I'd love to go after. Seen some pics of some absolute monsters caught from various places on the Snake.
the artist formerly known as "gemstatejake".

Idahoron · Jan 30, 2011

Fishing with trout as cut bait is NOT illegal. You can use any fish for bait. You can use a bass for bait but it has to be of legal length. And that fish MUST be added to your daily limit.
I have caught two flatheads both were about 24" long and about 6 to 8 pounds. I got somewhat lucky when I caught them but I knew that the area had them so I was kind of targeting them. I would love to get good enough to target monster flatheads. The biggest problem I see with flatheads is they like live bait and that is illegal.
The best eating cats in my book are 4 pounds and under.
I don't like to eat them when they are much larger than that. If it is early and the water is cold the big ones are good to eat too. Cut the meat thin. Soak it overnight in salt water. Batter it and fry it crispy. I love eating cats. Ron

beavis14 · Jan 31, 2011

so you cut the filet thin kind of like finger steaks ? i will have to give that a go. maybe cover it with buffalo hot sauce? sounds like a good idea catfish buffalo with a side order of wild rice and a good micro brew or 6

huntfish714 · Jan 31, 2011

LOVE THE CATS!!! i fish for them when i go bass fishing. strike swan falls and brownlee. caught an 18lb channel in brownlee a few years back that had a weird boils all over it. also when we were in a bass tournament over there my father inlaw caught a monster flathead probably pushing 30lbs. he thought he was dragging in a log but he wanted to get his favorite rattle trap back and then he surfaced lol. found pretty good small mouth last year. a little sparse but they were good ones to have in the livewell. not many up by spring creek found most of them by the powder river and put in on that side to. i guess they wanted deeper water? i guess well see what happens this year. great pics!!!

customweld · Jan 31, 2011

Better enjoy the fishing in Brownlee now ,it won't be to long before the Asians have that fishery depleted.

Pre64 · Jan 31, 2011

>Better enjoy the fishing in Brownlee
>now ,it won't be to
>long before the Asians have
>that fishery depleted.

OK. Care to expound???

As far as fishing with game fish, far as I can tell its legal as long as fish are not live. I recall a glitch years ago sturgeon fishing. Either me memory is fading or thats long ago.

customweld · Jan 31, 2011

Launch a boat at Farewell Bend and head towards Swedes Landing in the spring check out the Oregon side you'll see what I mean. They set up huge camps (15 or 20 people) and they'll set up big industrial light plants and fish in shifts for 24 hours a day until they have to go back to Seattle or Portland. If you talk to IF and G or ODFW they will tell you what a big problem it is. Not being prejudice, just a simple observation.

Pre64 · Jan 31, 2011

Nothing implied. Its been a while since I've been there. I've seen similar operations with trout. Can'em as fast as you catch em.

matt4695 · Feb 1, 2011

Customweld,,,,, i've seen the camps,,,, we call them the mongolians they catch the sh#t out of the crappie and bass. I heard a rumor that they got in trouble for selling the fish, but just a rumour.

customweld · Feb 1, 2011

If you look on Craigslist in Seattle or Portland you will find them selling crappie. I seen it on there last year for $3.99 a pound.They keep everything they catch (could be why bass fishing is slowing down) and fillet the illegal fish immediatley and put them in their coolers. Sorry to hijack your thread Ron. I do love to catfish in Brownlee and try to spend at least 20-30 days down there a year fishing.

rcrosby · Feb 1, 2011

Ron those are some awesome catfish. I float the snake quite a bit in a little marsh boat I have with a trolling motor. Usually I float around Walters Ferry for smallmouth. I tried on the catfish and didn't do worth a darn. I was normally fishing from the bank and tried lots of different baits. Are you moving in the tube when you are fishing for the cats? I am just curious with the strategy since I haven't had much luck.

beavis14 · Feb 1, 2011

wow that sucks. i may have to take the boys down there and " shake them down " soprano's style.

Idahoron · Feb 2, 2011

I normally use two rods. One is an ultra light and the other is a Medium. The medium is in the rod holder and the UL is in my hand. I use 10 pound braid on the UL and 15 on the Med. I use either a 2/0 hook or a 4/0 depending on where I am. In the snake from Walters ferry down stream I use a 2/0 until June. I step up to the 4/0 after that. I use one or two split shot to sink the bait. I don't like a lot of weight. I float slowly early in the year. After the Middle of June they are active enough that they will take bait at river speed. If the bottom is very rocky and your snagging I use a slip bobber. I get the depth from my fish finder and set the bobber so the bait is just off the bottom. I also like cut bait for cats. Nothing beats fresh cut bait. Since I work at a trout farm I use cut trout. The cats love it. The area you are fishing has a lot of cats. Ron

Murphy · Feb 3, 2011

I've found that bleeding & trimming make all the difference. Before we started doing that 1 bite would be great and the next might be really rank. I'll try to put up a link to how we prep them. Hope it works, never tried this before

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nWd01AxTsIo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Murphy · Feb 3, 2011

Didn't work. If you go on youtube and search Brownlee catfish for How to clean a catfish part 1&2 you'll find it. Really makes a difference in the taste

Idahoron · Feb 4, 2011

I just watched the video. I do mine the same way. Did you see the big bowl full of water? I bet that he has salt water in that bowl.
Salt water will pull any blood out of the meat. Good videos. Ron

Pre64 · Feb 4, 2011

Still, why eat stinky cats when I can catch crappie???? Love to catch em though.

Idahoron · Feb 4, 2011

I love eating cats. If a person can cook at all cats are great. Ron

Pre64 · Feb 4, 2011

If I ever go again I'll save a whole cooler full for ya.

Murphy · Feb 4, 2011

When we have a fish fry we put out a platter of catfish and a plate of crappie. The catfish almost always goes down first. Don't get me wrong, I love my crappie but those cats are great if you take care of them right.
This comes out real good: Mix up some plain old sandwich mustard in a pan of water and soak the fillets or chunks for about a half hour. Roll them in Zatarain's FishFry breading and pan or deepfry. If you don't like that you just don't like fish.

Idahoron · Feb 4, 2011

64, just do the catch and release thing. I can get my own, but thanks anyway.
Murphy,The Zatarain's, lemon pepper is real good. I also like Dixie fry if I am making a batter for the fish and onion rings. Ron

Pre64 · Feb 4, 2011

This is kinda interesting. The last time I tried cats was when they carp/cat die off was going on. The cats I cleaned were literally bloated with dead, fetid, fish. With you guys singing the praises of local cats I wonder if I got a batch feeding on bad stuff. Maybe I'm missing out on something, but the memory of such bad fish has pretty much turned me off of local catfish forever.

I know you can catch your own, I was just funnin.

Idahoron · Feb 4, 2011

I remember the time when brownlee died off. The water temp was high and the oxygen levels were very low. That is not a good time to keep fish.
I like to keep cats for eating in the spring with colder water. When the water gets real warm they get bumps that look like pimples. I only keep the smaller 3 to 4 pound fish for eating. If the water is clean and cold I will keep a fish up to 10 pounds.
Ron

Pre64 · Feb 5, 2011

Sounds like good advice.

huntfish714 · Feb 5, 2011

warm water and low oxygen is what caused the boils on that cat i caught? they were large white and grey fleshy circles. or was that a whole different thing mine had? love fried channel cats just no bread batter for me and have never tried flatthead. are they similar tasting considering they are alike?

Idahoron · Feb 5, 2011

I have seen the smaller "pimples" on them in colder water but the larger "boils" are from the warm water that is low on Oxygen. It is also good to inspect the gills of any fish you plan to keep. They should have a good red color to them. If they are light colored or pail I would not keep them. Ron