Injury by catfish fins

All of us know that have ever had a catfish fin us while we were trying to handle know it can be very painful. And we also know that the next day is sometimes worse than the time of the actual injury.

Well a couple of years ago Ron (my brother) and myself were out catfishing. I had ben stuck by a catfish fin while removeing it from the trotline we were working,and Ron told me he had heard that if you rub the spot where the catfish finned you on the belly of the catfish that it would not be as painful the next day. We looked at each other for a second and decide that it sure couldn't hurt anything to try it.

I know it sounds a little bit out there or at least thats what I thought,But after rubbing my hand on the belly of the catfish the next day there was not that tender pain that always seemed to be ther the the next day.

Since then I have done this any time I get stuck by a catfish no matter how small and the healing time has been shortened dramaticly.

Try it next time a catfish gets you and let me know how it works for you.

Richard Gowens

P.S. These catfish were caught last night at lake Lavon, The largest was a 10 pound blue catfish caught by Ron.

Lake Lavon

Lately we've been having some fair fishing on lake Lavon. Not what we're looking for but much better than not fishing.

Weve got our sites set on catching the lake record blue cat with rod and reel on Lavon. Not sure what the actual record is but I'm pretty sure it's 60 + pounds.

The first three times we went out it rained on us the whole time we were out. that's ok we caught fish and were on the water having fun.

We went out last night and stayed dry the whole time. Caught 8 blue catfish and 2 channel catfish. The largest was a 10 pound blue catfish caught by my brother Ron.

Our odds of catching the record blue catfish are not the best since this is our first season on lake Lavon and there are alot of guys fishing Lavon that have been on that lake for years and know it alot better than we do.You just never know.

Richard Gowens

Fishing 101 at Lake Cooper

My sister called me and said she was taking two of her granddaughters camping at lake Cooper state park in east Tx. She said they told her they wanted to go fishing. That's where I come into the picture,she said she didn't know anything about fishing and would I like to go along and give a hand teaching them some basics.Without hesitation I said YES. After all how could I turn down a chance to go fishing and be the most experienced one there.(doesn't happen often)

The first thing we had to do was get them some equiptment suited for them. So we went shopping and found a couple of rod & reel combos that would be good for them to start with and would last for more than just a couple of trips.

On Friday August 21st. Lesa and the girls (Alexis and Rebecca ) headed out for lake Cooper to get the spot picked out and set up for the weekend. They went swimming and did some exploring. They saw an armadillo and a rabbit.The girls said around sundown the could see a bunch of catfish at one point along the bank.

Anyway it was about 9:30 pm before I was able to get there after I got off work. As i was pulling into the park I saw a hog just off the road. It was solid white which was a little unusual I tought,so I stopped and backed up to get a picture of it. Of course it was gone when I got backed up so no pics.

When I got to the camping spot we built a fire and roasted some hot dogs and marshmallows and just had some fun talking and trying to keep rebecca from playing in the fire. She reminded me of myself at that age. We talked about fishing and what we would do the next day. About 11:30 as we were sitting at the table talking I looked up and there were two raccoons coming out of the woods looking for a hand out, and yes they got one.

We got up Sat. morn. and had a very good breakfast that Lesa prepared for all of us. Then we went to the local bait shop to get some woarms for the girls. After that we went back to the park and I showed the girls how to put their equiptment together and how to take care of it.

Now we're ready to go fishing so we drove around and found a dock they could fish off of, so we went down to the dock and started getting ready Rebecca had no trouble pinching off pieces of the worm to bait her hook,on the other hand Alexis was alittle mor stand offish about about this part of fishing. She didn't mind putting it on the hook so much but she was not about to pinch it apart.

I showed them how to cast the setup and they both did very well. So i told them they would probably have the most luck catching fish if they would fish by the structure on the dock. But they were pretty sure if they cast it out away from them they would have better luck. After trying that for a while I was able to talk Alexis into trying the structure where almost immediatly she caught the first fish. After that it was on, I don't rember which one caught the most but they both caught quite a few. So i explained how fish really like to hang around structure and when you'r fishing be sure to looke for structure. I don't know how many perch were caught but it was plenty. We went back to camp and fixed something to eat and just relaxed for a while. Then we took them back out for some more fishing that after evening and thats right they caught some more.

Needless to say it was alot of fun helping them get started fishing and watching the excitement in their faces everytime they caught a fish.

You can really tell that they are hooked on fishing when the fish stop biteing and they don't want to leave because they just know that any second they are going to get another one.

Now back to taking care of and protecting your gear from getting broken. I told them never store them behind a door for fear of them getting in between the door and the facing and getting broke when you close the door,and beware of ceiling fans when indoors. Well I was pretty sure one of them would get broke after all I can't rember how many fishing poles I broke growing up. I just didn't know it would be so soon. As we were getting everything ready to pack the car Lesa told the girls to take their fishing poles out to the car so they would be ready to load up. Well here comes Alexis walking back to where we were, she walked up to Lesas and said I'm never going to get to go fishing again. somehow she let her pole get in the door of the car and you guessed it closed the door and broke off about six inches of the rod tip.

All ended up well we were able to get a rod that my brother had in his garage to replace the pretty broken one with.

All in all we had a great time and watch out world here comes two more fisherman into the sport.

Richard Gowens

Homemade stinkbait

Many anglers will tell you this is what they use and catch the big cats, and others will tell you that they use this to catch the big cats.

The story is true. Everyone has a different way to catch a fish. The thing is that the bait is the one ingredient you need to catch a big catfish.

It is not necessarily the best bait for catfish fishing you need to know, but the bait that work the best for you. Once you know some of the top rated baits that are used will help you select and use one or all of the baits.

The first bait that you might try for catfish fishing is stinky bait. There are many different stinky types of bait that you can try. The first one that comes to mind is the chicken livers.

You will need a package of chicken livers. Place the first layer in a pan, add garlic salt. Then add the second layer and garlic salt. Do this until the chicken livers are all layer and salted n the pan.

You then cover the pan with a cover or tin foil being careful not to let the lid touch the chicken livers. Put the covered pan outside for three hours.

After three hours, drop the chicken livers into a bucket. Add the remaining garlic salt while stirring the livers. Save about a quarter of the garlic salt for when you uncover the creation.

Cover the bucket and place outside in a storage area for ten days. Ten days, you are ready to go catfish fishing. Pour the rest of the garlic into the bucket and stir.

Now you can head out with your tough chicken livers for some great catfish fishing. This is the easiest catfish bait to make and use.

The next bait on the top of the list is fish heads. This is as simple as it sounds. You can use fish heads from a market or from fish that you have caught before. The biggest catfish that was caught a while back was caught with a fish head.

The catfish attract to the smell. The keen sense of smell allows the cats to smell and find something smelly such as a dead fish or fish head. This would probably account for less dead fish in lakes that have catfish. They can keep the waters clean and free of dead fish.

Then there are the anglers that use an Ivory soap mixture for baiting the catfish. This is a strange recipe, but it has been proven to work.

It is relatively inexpensive and the cats like it. You need four bars of Ivory soap, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Put the water into a pan, add the sugar, and dissolve.

Add the shavings of the Ivory soap to the water mixture. Keep the heat low as not to boil over.

Once the soap is melted, pour it out onto a piece of paper and while it is still warm, flatten it down to about a half an inch thick.

Then cut the flat slab into cubes before it cools all the way. Put the cubes into a zip-lock bag to keep it moist. You can use these cubes to catch a catfish with a baitholder hook or a bait hook. The catfish attract to the smell and taste of this stinky bait.

These are the two top stinky baits used. However, there are many recipes for stinky bait.

You can use just about anything for stinky bait. The more it smells, the more it will attract the catfish. You just need a place to keep the bait after you make it unless you plan to share it with friends or use it all in one day. The amount you make at one time will depend on how often you go fishing.

If you fish a few times a week, you can use a large recipe, but you might need to cut it in half if you only fish occasionally. You do not want the bait to lose its stink appeal. This would defeat the purpose of making the stinky bait.

If you decide to do some catfish fishing, you will find that any of these baits will work.

However, catfish do bite at anything. They will eat minnows, frogs, other fish and even have been known to eat possum.

It is all up to the angler as to what bait to use for catfish fishing. Take the time to study what other anglers are using as well.

Every area has a different type of catfish. It might be as simple as catching a catfish with a piece of herring or a plastic worm dipped in a stinky bait mixture.

Enjoy a great day of fishing the most sought after fish.

USING "COLORS" to CATCH A HUGE SLAB of CRAPPIES

Most crappier anglers feel the best baits for catching the often finicky crappie are live baits, but there are many crappie fishermen who have clearly experienced the benefits of using crappie jigs when live baits are not convenient.

There are advantages to using lures rather than live bait, and most of them are obvious.

Live bait has to be kept alive, it is harder to put on a hook, and you have to either catch it or go to a bait shop and buy it before you can fish.

Lures may be purchased ahead of time, and you can go fishing whenever you want without having to worry about a trip to a bait shop or stopping to catch bait before you can fish for your target fish.

I hope this comprehensive guide to which colors of jigs work best under which conditions will help you maximize the use of jigs when catching crappie, should you decide that you wish to use jigs as opposed to live

baits.Minnows are generally recognized as being the most popular live bait for catching crappie. The thing is, everyone knows how finicky a crappie can be, and minnows come in one basic variety. If you are using artificial crappie lures, you can choose from almost any hue of combination of hues to maximize your potential no matter what the water conditions might be or how persnickity the crappie are set on being at the moment.

Sometimes it does not seem to matter one bit the color of the lure you use, and at other times, it seems like even subtle color variations make a huge difference when it comes to enticing crappie to take a bite!

Most people who fish for bass will tell you that you should fish dark lures in dark waters and dark days, and light lures in clear water on light days, but in the case of crappie it is just not always true.

In fact, try fishing dark lures in clear water on clear days, and it appears the crappie have trouble distinguishing the lure from tasty bugs and other bait on which they normally feed.

Anytime you are having a tough time with getting the crappie to bite, consider using these reliable colors of jigs.

Anything that is flashy or sparkly to catch the crappie's attention can make a real difference when they are particularly finicky.

Consider yellows, oranges and chartreuse as well as anything with metalic flecks on such occasions, especially if the water is stained.

Another option could be any lure with lots of contrast such as is the case in black and white lures.

These suggestions really are just that...suggestions, because one fact alone remains constant when it comes to choosing colors of fishing lures with which to fish for crappie.

The colors on which crappie will bite changes, not just from day to day, but from hour to hour.

The only sure fire way to determine what works best is trial and error. Consider putting different colors of jigs on different rods and line fishing.

Once you hit on a color, or color combination that seems to be tempting the crappie to take your bait, just keep using it until they stop biting and then switch to something else.

I understand that this approach seems less than scientific, and a little vague, but any experienced crappie angler will tell you thatcrappie do not always adhere to logic and science when it comes to what they will or will not bite.

Feel free to try the old 'dark lures on dark days, light lures on light days' school of thought if you would like, and if it works foryou, great! It just seems like the single best way to determine what a crappie will hit, is to test the waters and determine what catches their interest at the particular time at which you are fishing.

Another tip for finding crappie or other fish is to simply work with the locals. You will see that they have the best availability to help you find the right type of bait, lures, and even fishing spots because they have the experience necessary.

It is always wise to have a wide selection of jig colors with you, too. That way, you can try out a few different choices and find the one that will work the best for you.

You may even become an expert yourself at it!
Choose jig colors based on all of these factors when possible.
--------------

...and there you have it.
Do your best to KNOW your prey.

Soon it will be second nature, and when you're on the water you're always thinking like a crappie.

And you'll use color get another inside edge.

Get out there and use this stuff to tear em upas soon as you can.

Hopefully this weekend!

Have a great one.
Gone Fishin',Dan Eggertsen

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RECIPIES

If anyone has a really good fish or hushpuppie recipie I would really like to try it out.

Thanks,Richard

Spider Rigging for Crappie

If you have ever seen anyone spider rigging for crappie, you know it is a sight you are not likely to forget. In spider rigging, the fisherman uses a large number of long crappie poles or rods and reels, spread out around the front and sides of the boat. The term itself actually comes from the appearance of the boat, which, with all these poles extended out from the boat, gives it a spider-like appearance. Each one of the poles will normally be set at a different depths. This approach really makes a difference in locating the depths at which the crappie may be located. Once a fish bites at one of the depths, since crappie travel in schools, the various pole depths may be adjusted to the depth the bite occurred.To spider rig for crappie, you will need several fishing rods or poles. The accepted length is usually about ten foot long. Each rod will need an accompanying rod holder to hold the rods in place. Rods come in lots of types and the prices really do reflect all ranges of the products available. Just try to do your homework, buy the best you can afford that is practical for your purposes, and buy reputable brands from reputable dealers, and you should be fine.One set up that is designed specifically for spider fishing that can give you a great example of what you will need to do a good job, is the Black Widow Spider Rigging System. The price is really reasonable, and the product is good, but even should you decide on a different set up, it will give you an idea of what all is involved in the equipment needed for spider rigging for crappie.Whatever set up you choose, you should rig your poles with a spinning reel. It is not necessary to spend a lot of money to do that. Inexpensive reels will do a good job as long as you choose one that is relatively good quality and brand. Use about a six pound test line on these reels. Figure out where you want to sit, and mount the poles spaced as far apart as you can while still keeping them relatively close. Make sure you can reach them fairly easily.Now, it is important that you find a way of spider rigging and setting up your poles that works for you, and stick with it once you do. What we provide for you here is just an overview and a set of options. Definitely customize them for your needs, your strategies and your area.Here are some suggestions that have worked well for others, and could work well for you. Just be sure not to hesitate to experiment a little bit to hit on the right combination that will work for you in the areas in which you like to catch crappie.Try something like Hot head jig, on the end of your line, and use an ounce split shot about a foot and a half above your jig. Minnows also work very well. Try them on about a #2 hook tied onto your hook. Put a fourth ounce spit shot about 1 inch above your hook.You can paint the tips of your poles also to help you see when a fish gets on your line.Good colors for maximum visibility are chartreuse or orange.Recently, anglers fishing in crappie tournaments have used spider rigging to catch fish in the winter tournaments when they are suspended in shallows. They actually color code their floats to certain depths and use very systematic charts and routines to determine precisely where the crappie are located and where they are hanging to maximize the time they have to catch their record limits. As you can tell, this is perhaps one of the most complex methods of using this system, but it works.Even if you are not planning to do any tournament fishing for crappie, you can still use this type of method to catch your own fish. Whether you choose a simpler method or go for the most in depth method available, that's up to you.What you will find is that fishing for crappie like this (or any other way for that matter) is a lot of fun and is worth the extra work it takes to get the process started.

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Remember... if you're not fishin', you're notlivin'.
Get out there as often as you can, and takesomeone you love.
Any problems you're having will fade away, atleast for a little while.
You have a good one, and I'll be back with younext Friday.
Gone Fishin',

Dan Eggertsen

Fried Catfish

One of my favorite ways to fix fried catfish is to take my catfish filets and place them in a container and spread Louisianna hot sauce on them covering them with a nice coating.Then I cover the catfish filets and place them in the fridge overnight.Then I remove the catfish when I'm ready to start cooking,I lay the catfish on some paper towels in a single layer and pat them dry with aother paper towel and begin breading.Icook my catfish in a fish cooker at 350 degrees until the catfish floats,remove and enjoy.

Happy Fishing,Richard

Drift socks

In the last posting I failed to explain what drift socks were for those who might not know.



The size of the drift socks you use will depend on the size of your boat and how fast you want to drift.I prefer to drift about 1 to 2 mph.If your not familiar with drift socks they are a cone shaped device that is coated with plastic or rubber. when positioned over the side of the boat they will slow the boat down and keep it from turning around,allowing you to drift in a straight line with the wind.We normally use two socks one off the bow and one off the stern.If the wind is very strong we will drop another one off the side in the center of the boat to help us slow down.You will have to decide what works best for you.



Marker bouy



As I said this is optional. We use the marking bouy to mark where we start our drift.As we're drifting we like to chum the water with sour grain and or fish parts that we're not going to use for bait.Then we can go right back to the marker bouy and start another drift in the same location allowing us to drift over the water we just baited.Sometimes we find we don't need to chum the water because we start catching fish right away on the first drift.If we make a couple of drifts without any success we will pick up our bouy and move to one side or the other and repeat the process from a new starting point.Don't be shocked when you end up catching some 20+ pound catfish Good luck and remember kids of all ages love to fish.

how to drift for catfish

I was intrduced to drift fishing about 5 or 6 years ago and it quickly became one of my favorite ways to fish for catfish

My first time out was with my brother Ron who had heard about this style of fishing from a friend of his.So we loaded up his boat and all of our gear and headed to the lake.we got to the lake and headed out with great visionsof catching a lot of fish or at least enough for both of us to have a good meal.After fishing for a couple of hours and not catching any fish at all we began to think maybe this wasn't such a good way to fish.Needless to say we went home without any fish.The best thing about the whole day was we were on the water.

Several days later Ron's friend Roger called and invited Ron to go drifting.I managed with help from my brother to get a spot on the boat with them

My brother and I soon discovered that we had done just about everything you could do wrong we did wrong.In fact the only thing we did right was being in a boat on the water after that nothing was right.

Now I'm going to explain how to drift fish the way we do it today.

Here is a list of items you will need to get started drifting for some large cats..

Equiptment

1. Boat(That goes without saying)
2. Your favorite rod & reels for catfishing.

3. Rod holders( you don't want to watch your rod going over after you hook a 15 or 20 pound cat)

4. 2 Drift socks( these can be bought at most sporting goods stores for around $20) 5. Marker bouys (optional)

HOW TO SETUP YOUR LINES FOR DRIFTING

The first setup is what I like to call the float assisted drift rig. Even though it doesn't show it in the highly professional diagram I have supplied.I like to add what i call a stinger hook on the end of the hook.I simply tie a small treble hook on the hook about 2 to 3 inches from the main hook.

STRAIGHT LINE SETUP

The second is simply the straight line setup.

The pictures above are of my nephew Justin and myself.That was Justins first 20 pounder,mine was only about 15 pounds.

Teach a kid to fish.

Richard

Old school crappie fishing

Hi {Friends},
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Now you can have the secretsthese guys have kept hidden fromthe world...for decades. (Everask an old master how he's catching so many? Somehow theynever give you the FULL story)
It'll be your choice.
Question: How would you like toKNOW you'll catch dozens oflarger crappie on your nextfishing trip...instead of just"hoping"?
And how would you like to outcatch your buddies almostevery time?
I'm here to tell you it's all possible.
The information Dan is about to show you is nothing short of acrappie fishing breakthrough...presented by some of the greatestold school fishermen in the country.
You'll soon be using their amazing secrets to manipulatethe primal instincts of crappie.
"Luck" will have nothing to dowith how many you haul inconsistently...almost any timeyou want to.
So, if you are ready to endfrustrating crappie fishing tripsforever...
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Finally, I want to thank everyonefor the kind words you've beensending. It means a lot to me.
Gone Fishin',
Richard W GowensRichard Gowens Enterprises
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Mr.Catfish

While I do like to fish for catfish and do catch some sometimes. I also have days where I don't catch any fish at all or just one or two.

The way I came up with the nickname was my fishing and hunting buddy started calling me that after I had a couple of good days.I think it might have been meant as a joke.

Wishing everyone a great day of fishing,and don't forget to take a kid fishing.

Fun for the kids

It is really quite fun and easy to build a minnow trap to use to catch your minnows anytime you wish, rather than having to go to the bait shop and buy minnows each time you want to fish. It is a good exercise to do with your little fishermen and fisherwomen as well. It is also a great rainy day activity and simple enough that you probably have all you will need just lying around your house.All you will need is: - 2 cola bottles (the plastic 3 liter kind work best, but you may use the 2 liter ones if you don't have a 3 liter) - 1 large nail (approximately a 6 penny nail, but any large size will work) - Cotton string such as twine *Adult supervision for your littler fishermen You will also need some common household tools: - Heavy duty scissors - Vise grip pliers - Regular pliers - Utility knife - A stable flame such as a gas burner or candle Begin by cutting the bottom third of one bottle off, and discard it. Be sure to leave the cap on the part you are keeping. Cut off the neck and shoulders of the second bottle, about half an inch below where the bottle begins to straighten out. Discard the bottom and the bottle cap from that bottle. Get a large bowl of cold water ready, and have it nearby. Also have your flame going and have all your materials nearby. Fit the uncapped bottle into the capped bottle so that it acts like a funnel.Hold the two bottles together in one hand, while you hold the nail tip into the flames until it is very hot make holes in the bottle and the funnel in about a dozen places, and then put the nail into the cold water. Use the twine to sew it together, and fasten securely. It seems to work best if you use a section of twine for each set of holes, and tie each individually rather than stitching the whole thing together. It is important that it be well fastened and secure, so that it does not come apart.Reheat your nail and poke lots of holes in the bottle.To bait your trap, put pet food (dog or cat food works well) cracker, or bread crumbs through the funnel. Lower your trap into minnow rich waters such as a pond or lake, and leave it over night. Be sure it is tied to something stable, so that it will not float away.The next morning, the minnows will have found their way into the trap, but will not have been able to find their way out, and you can just open the bottle cap, and pour the minnows into your minnow bucket.

About me

My name is Richard,I'm a single man who loves to fish and relax spending time on the water.The only thing that comes between me and fishing is family and work(sometimes work loses).

I'm new to the blogging scene so I really don't know much about what I'm doing yet.What I really hope to do is get to know more people like me and share knowledge with them and learn from them.