Fayette...catfish

[Red3Fish]

Hi Gang,

Slipped out to Fayette Sat morning and picked up 26 catfish on DK fished in about 14' of water around tree tops. What amazes me about Fayette, is I have NEVER caught a throw back catfish in 5 or 6 trips there! We had a 24", a lot of 18-21", and 5 or 6 @ 15". When I fish Lake Palestine, we catch a lot of throwbacks, but not at Fayette!!

I must have found one of Obiwans' baited holes....several were stuffed with what looked like birdseed! LOL We caught 18 at that spot in a couple of hours.

Made a trip to L Palestine last week and picked up about 50 in a couple of days fishing...mostly 13" to 16" and a lot of throw backs...need to find the secret of bigger ones there! A front came through on Tuesday and the fish seemed to get lockjaw afterwards.

Something we discovered, was, we spent the first hour or so of each day fishing for bass with a Charturse/White Ribbet frog. They are virtually snagless, and can cast way back in weed mats and tight places where you couldn't fish any other lure. They wiggle and wobble across the surface and lead to some explosive strikes!! We caught a 4#, 2 1/2# and several around a 1 1/2#, but had numerous strikes....bad news about this bait is you miss a lot of strikes, but boy are they exciting!! Snagless = Fishless too,....sometimes!! LOL If you bass fish...try it...they come in a package at Academy pre rigged (package of 3) for like $4. Large size and smaller...we use the smaller size.

I put the bigger filets in one bag and gonna try the Catfish Supereme recepi this week....sounds great.

PS...someone asked about where to buy DK...I have ordered it online and got great service..delivered in a few days...or I go to L Palestine once a month, and Porters Sporting goods always carries it...e mail me and would be glad to pick some up for you...like $9 for a Qt. or $33 a gallon. I find the quarts easier to manage and not much savings on the gallon size. I keep it in the "beer icebox" in the garage and it seems to keep it firmer.

Later All
R3F

[kim e cooper]

Way to go R3F glad Fayette paid off, thanks for the report.

[muleherder]

Thanks for the report. I've never fished Fayette even though my brother lives in Schulenburg. I need to make it a point.

Catfish Supreme is excellent. You won't be disappointed.

[McBuck]

Sounds like a great trip, R3F! Obie's grain-fed catfish out to be good eatin!

Ditto on the Catfish Supreme!

[obiewan57]

Could have been anyones baited holes. I do not normally prebait holes, but if you came shortly after me you might find some of my chum, which is all wheat, not bird seed or hen scratch. If you clean one and it has a hand full of fat in its tummy, then it might have gotten fat on my wheat, he he he. I try my dangdest to take all that come to my chum home with me, if you know what I mean, he he he.

[Red3Fish]

You must have fed a few with that wheat....about 5 or 6 of them exploded with big gobs of yellow fat (not roe) when cleaned!! Thanks. LOL

I am curious about why we dont catch any small catfish there. I feel sure they reproduce, but I have never caught a catfish under about 15" there and most are in the range of 18" to 22"? And that is in 5 or 6 trips? I find that most unusual?

Appreciate any info you have on it.

PS....The Catfish Supreme was excellent....my sweetie accuses me of being a "recipe tinkerer"...and next time...I think I would like a few more mushrooms and green onions...and a little wine added to them when sauteing (sp?). She took leftovers to work and let a couple of the girls sample it, and I had to send the recipe to them!! LOL OH, yeah, I added a small container of crab meat to it.

PPS....For a pretty good replica of cheap crabmeat...take a redfish or other coarse grained fish and put it in some cheesecloth and boil it in crab boil for a few minutes. It is not crabmeat, but comes close and adds texture to any sauce or gumbo recipe!!

Later
R3F

[obiewan57]

I do not remember the last undersized fish I caught there. I did find that catching them in open water, we catch more of the 15 inch size, still not throw backs. My trip out yesterday loaded up on the 15 inch size fishing some spots I got marked on my GPS out in open water, the winds were 2-4 mph from the east, so anchoring over spots was pretty easy.
A little different when you catch that fish down 22-30 foot in open water rather than the trees, even though there is some deep water cover there. Deep water fishing is fun cause you can use ultra light tackle when you do not have to worry about hanging in the trees.