Mid March, when it starts warming up, is the time to start catching catfish in the Colorado River. I don’t have the patience to sit with a pole and wait for action. A 12 foot flat bottom boat and limb lines works better for me. My section of river has a lot of trees on the south bank and limbs hanging over the water.
Choose a tree limb that is strong enough to hold a large yellow catfish or flathead as we called them back in Indiana. The Colorado River has all three catfish species, yellow, blue and channel. Using 80 pound nylon line, tie to a live limb at least ½ inch thick. Trim the limb back so the line cannot get tangled or reach anything. Thread a 1/2 ounce sliding sinker onto the line, and then tie on a barrel swivel. Using butane lighter, burn the ends of the nylon line where you tied it to the swivel. This will prevent any loose ends tangling in the swivel action because the first thing the catfish does when hooked is twitch and roll in circles.
Now cut a piece of nylon line 18 inches long and tie the ends together to make a loop about 9 inches long. Once again burn the loose ends of the knot. Put one end of the loop thru the bottom end of the swivel and back thru the loop and pull tight. Using a number four trot line circle hook with large eye, thread the other end of the loop thru the eye and back over the hook. The loop makes it easy to remove hooks when you can’t run the lines for a few days. I like to keep the sinker just under the water and the hook about 9 inches deep.
Now you are ready for the bait, I like to use live bluegills or perch about 4 to 6 inches long. Hook the perch thru both eyes. This sounds terrible but the perch will stay lively for several days. Catfish feed mainly at night and will cruise along the bottom near the bank. When they see or smell the perch above them, they rise up and swallow the bait and as they go back down the circle hook turns and catches them in the corner of the mouth. The springy limb acts just like a fishing pole and plays the catfish until he gives up. When you arrive in the boat the next morning, the catfish has rested up and will explode into action when you touch the line. Let them fight the limb until tired before you try to get them into the dip net. A 20 pound catfish can take a long time to settle down so take your time.
The best time to set limb lines is after a rain has muddied the water and the water level is going up or down. You can catch a few during clear water but mostly the gar and turtles will take all your bait. If the water is clear, put on your bait just before dark. If you bait in the morning, all of the perch will be gone before the catfish start feeding. After a rain and muddy water you can bait and catch catfish all day. You can catch your perch using small in line spinners or use worms and bobber. I also have good luck with a fly rod and black ant. A perch trap in a good tank works well as does a cast net. Keep large quantities of perch in a water tank with an aerator.
Dip them out and haul to the river in a two piece minnow bucket. Before you clean large catfish, hang them on a post and cut off the tail to bleed. Remember yellow cats must be 18 inches long with daily bag of 5 and blues and channels must be 12 inches long with a daily bag of 25.
To clean the catfish, make a cut down each side behind the head. Using catfish pliers, grip the skin and pull down to the tail, then cut the fillets off each side. Save the thick belly meat on the yellow cats. Yellow catfish are always good no matter how big they get. Blue catfish and channels are not as good when over 8 pounds. The following recipe can be used to make even the large ones delicious.
Cajon Catfish Nuggets
For 5 pound of fillets add two bell pepper, one jalapeno pepper and two onions. Grind all in a meat grinder, mix well and season with pepper, garlic and Tony Chachere’s Creole seasoning. Add one egg and enough olive oil and flour to stick together. Drop tablespoon size nuggets into hot peanut oil until floating brown. Anyone that doesn’t like these nuggets should leave Texas.
Pictured above is a 25 pound yellow catfish.
