Fishing Fury » Catfish

Adam Guy’s Mekong Giant Catfish Gallery

Jonathon Marshall — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:40:44 +0000

Our good friend Adam Guy sent us some fantastic shots of his recent trip to Thailand and the Bungsamran fishing park where he spent two days fishing for the famous Mekong Giant Catfish. Check out the gallery below!

Continue to Adam Guy’s Mekong Giant Catfish gallery.

Adam Guy – Mekong Giant Catfish

Jonathon Marshall — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:01:13 +0000

Our good friend Adam Guy recently went on a trip to Bangkok, Thailand and the Bungsamran fishing park where he spent two days fishing for the Mekong Giant Catfish! You can read the entire fishing log of this trip, and plenty of other amazing stories, on Adam’s blog.

Behold “Charlie” The CIA’s Robotic Catfish

Jonathon Marshall — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:56:47 +0000

CIA’s Office of Advanced Technologies and Programs developed the Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) fish to study aquatic robot technology. The UUV fish contains a pressure hull, ballast system, and communications system in the body and a propulsion system in the tail. It is controlled by a wireless line-of-sight radio handset.

If that doesn’t impress you how about a covert “Seismic Intruder Detection Device” that looks like a turd.

via Flickr

Crossover Surprises in Kokemachine Country

Jonathon Marshall — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:37:47 +0000

With the music blasting, the fire roasting our toes and beer cans emptying themselves into our bellies, none of my fellow cottage goers had any idea about what the Kokemachine was silently pulling off in the lake just feet away from our party. Suddenly, at 11:45pm, a bite alarm fired off with lights a blazin’ sending me flying from my lawn chair and landing at the foot of my rod. Finding it violently bouncing on my bank stick I lifted it quickly only to realize that the creature on the other side of this equation was far bigger than I was anticipating. After a short battle in the pitch black night the creature was resting in my hands under the glow of my head lamp. With a laugh of surprise I held up the night’s catch: a 3 pound largemouth bass. I quickly returned the fish to the water and resumed my party with a smile on my face.

It is in these moments when one begins to truly appreciate the crossover spoils of the multi-species fisherman. In Kokemachine country, I strive to read as many fishing books as I can possibly find, ranging from deep sea fishing to carp fishing. With a raving hunger for fishing literature, I’ve familiarized myself with the many techniques and rigs used for nearly every freshwater fish in North America and beyond. Many times the techniques I learn from one species will inform the techniques I use for another. In a time like this, however, it’s just a pure fluke.

In this situation to suggest that I had any idea that I was going to catch this bass would be a blatant lie. Being fortunate enough to be invited to a friend’s cottage on the Lake of Bays, I immediately began researching the fish species of the lake. There was one species in particular that had recently won a place in my heart: The Bullhead Catfish. Hoping to set up a night rig I scoured the net to see if this lake contained this species. Finding only vague answers, I opted to set up the rig anyway.

The rig was simple: a ½ ounce bell sinker rigged to slide and a short 10” fluorocarbon leader with a #6 circle hook rigged with a juicy night crawler right on the bottom. My rod was set up on a bite alarm and a bank stick, a staple for British style carp fishing. I figured that if I’m going to be near the water then I might as well be fishing in whatever way I could. After this moment of unexpected success, I doubt I will ever be able to resist setting up this rig anytime I’m sitting by the campfire, just to see what is roaming around.

- Erik Kokkonen (AKA Kokemachine) 4 Eel Fishing

Thank you for your entry in our 2010 Contributor Contest. We’ll be sending you a copy of Fins + Skins magazine for your efforts!

Friday Afternoon Caption Contest Spectacular

Jonathon Marshall — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:47:27 +0000

Open wide and say “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Catch Magazine 13

Clive Mathias — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 23:31:07 +0000

Another outstanding visual masterpiece better known as Catch Magazine is available for your viewing pleasure!

Where Do You Buy Your Catfish?

Clive Mathias — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:56:57 +0000

I don’t eat fish too often, but one of my favorites is catfish. We used to catch them a lot when I was about six years old and we’d eat them within an hour of catching them. I’ve never bought catfish from a supermarket, and after seeing this video I’m not sure I ever will. Despite healthy populations of catfish across the United States, a lot of catfish are actually imported from outside countries like Vietnam. Now this would be OK if other countries followed the same food safety regulations we do, but they don’t.

World Record Blue Catfish

Clive Mathias — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:05:27 +0000

Recently a massive 79 pound (35.8 kg) blue catfish was caught by Jayson Zerda of Unadilla, New York, setting a new Maryland state record. This amazing catch beat the old state record by more than ten pounds!

The fish was 49.5 inches long with a girth of 38 inches.

As impressive as Mr. Zerdas record catfish looks, its not even remotely close to the current world record blue catfish – just have a look at this!

Caught by Tim Pruitt, this world record blue catfish weighed 124 pounds (56.2 kg) and was caught on May 22 2005 near Alton, Illinois in the Mississippi River.

The fish measured a staggering 58 inches in length and was 44 inches around! Just last month an even larger blue cat was caught, weighing 130 pounds. It is currently under review by the IGFA and may take the world record title from Tim Pruitt.

Caught by Greg Bernal, of Florissant, Missouri – July 20 2010.

Of course, these big cats look like babies when compared to the largest catfish ever caught – the Mekong catfish – which can grow over nine feet long and reach over 600 pounds!

World record Mekong catfish weighing 646 pounds (293 kg)!

New Wels Catfish World Record

Clive Mathias — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:33:40 +0000

I love reading about new world records, especially when its a freshwater fish that exceeds 250 pounds! This enormous wels catfish is nearly 8 pounds more then the current world record!

Guided by IGFA Certified Captain Alberto Bartoli and using shrimp forbait, Roberto Godi of Arcole Veroma, Italy landed a potential IGFA All-Tackle record after catching a wels (Silurus glanis) on February 5. The giant fish weighed 113.5 kg (250 lb 3 oz) which Godi caught while fishing Italy’s River Po. He said the fish fought for 45 minutes before he was able to pull it to shore onto a smooth surfaced mat where it was weighed, photographed and released alive. The current IGFA record is 242 lb 8 oz (110 kg) caught February 2009 also from the River Po.

Stubby Steve’s Artificial Fish Food Lure: First Impressions

Jonathon Marshall — Thu, 20 May 2010 02:58:37 +0000

Stubby Steve’s Artificial Fish Food Lure is the first ever, that I know of, lure designed to be an exact replica of a fish food pellet. You might think that sounds a little silly given all the different kinds of lures out there with photo realistic patterns, holographic eyes, and laser etched fins on modern lures. But Steve’s quick to point out that each year billions of fish are grown and distributed across the United States alone, and the vast majority of these fish are raised on fish food pellets. Think of Stubby Steve’s Artificial Fish Food like you would mom’s famous meat loaf, or whatever your favorite meal might be, and you haven’t had any for years. The next fish that passes your bait could be a short chum line away from your photo album!

These Stubby Steve’s look promising, they’re 100% biodegradable which I know we all love and appreciate in a lure. I’ve got about 10 packages which should make for quite a few rounds of testing, and hopefully some leftovers to giveaway to you. I think they’ll be a great bait here in Ontario for salmon, trout, panfish, carp, catfish, even bass. I especially like the idea that it can be combined with traditional lures to make them more effective. I’ll be putting them to the test in the next week or two and will report back with a full review!