Give Something New A Try

Over the past couple of months my ideas of fishing have somewhat changed. I was and still am an intense bass fisherman who absolutely loves catching the green fish. I have never thought of other fish as something I would want to chase as much as the largemouth, until I hooked up with some folks that take catfishing to an entirely new level. I can't say enough for the people who I have met through HillJack Catfishing, these fisherman are dedicated to catching giant catfish. I have caught that bug, but I have addressed that in a previous post.
My first year of participating in Kayak Wars has also led me to go after some fish that would normally not make the list of "what am I going to catch today." I have really made the spectrum a little wider and by doing this I feel that me as an angler is growing.

I have considered myself to being a fishing addict for years now, but with the addition of kayaks and other species being added to mix, I may need to attend some group meetings! In the last 60 days I have found myself at boat ramps at 3 and 4 am, throwing cast nets to catch bait, using live and fresh cut bait, driving to Columbus a few times to hit the river to chase the skip jack as they make the yearly run, and catching BIGGER fish.

 I know that a 10 pound largemouth is something to be sought after thru a lifetime of spinnerbait throwing, but a 15 pound striper and 11 pound blue cats are nothing to be taken lightly!! Overall what I am getting at, I encourage everyone to get out and try something new. To many times I found myself caught up in catching bass and that was it. I have found new ways to get my family out on the water and having great time doing it.

Enjoy your time on the water with your family and friends, we spend time fishing in some of the greatest places on earth. Tight Lines, Clay

Catfishing From A Kayak. Tourney Win #2

I have been dormant for about a month now, sorry for any delay in getting a post up on recent outings. I can say that catfishing has taken me by surprise. During the past month I have been chasing catfish almost every day. This started when I entered the Hilljack Catfishing Kayak Division at Old Creek Town on Lake Eufaula. I was excited to enter my first kayak tournament, so with chicken livers in hand, I hit the water and somehow managed to win the tournament with 3 pounds of fish. That got me started on wanting to target bigger catfish and defend my title.

Since the first tournament, I have accomplished catching my own bait with a cast net, meaning that I bought a cast net, went to the marina after work one night and starting throwing it. The first night, I returned home with a busted lip and almost blacked my own eye, but I HAD CAUGHT BAIT. Now here we are a month later and I have bags of shad in the freezer ready to go.

I also entered the second tournament of the Hilljack season, which was held on Lake Martin, Alexander City Alabama. This tournament was the toughest fishing day I have seen in a long time. There was one fish landed by the kayakers, my 6 pound blue, and for the boats there were a total of 5 fish weighed out of almost 20 teams. I am proud to say that the blue cat was enough to put me back in the winners circle for a second time.

Now its time to get serious, the Skipjack Herring are about to make the run through Columbus GA and this is going to make for catfish GOLD. I do feel like the last month has just been the beginning to landing some giant catfish from the kayak and I think its safe to say I HAVE THE CATFISH FEVER.