Back On The Big Ones

It has been a long year for me as far as big fish are concerned. I have struggled to find and catch any fish of trophy size. Between my injury limiting the amount of time I could fish in the first half of the year and the catfish spawn, I have just had a hard time getting my bait in front of the monsters. Better times are coming and some bigger fish are starting to appear though.

Last week before all the storms rolled through, I spent three nights striper fishing. I trolled artificial baits along some main channel ledges covering different depths until I found some willing to play. Once I found them, the bite was on. A big striped bass can really pull some drag. They are an absolute blast to catch from a kayak. The fish pictured above and below this paragraph are my two biggest from those trips. Both were caught on the same night.

With the current flow a little higher from all the rain this week, I went out yesterday to hit a backwater area looking for some post spawn catfish. It didn't take long to hook up. Within my first 10 minutes on the water, I had landed a nice size fish. Shortly after that, I hooked into a whopper. That fish slammed a skipjack head that I was dragging along behind the kayak. He took me on one heck of a ride before I could land him.

I fished that area for a couple more hours and landed a few more smaller fish before moving on to the next spot. Thankfully, there were some fish willing to participate at the next location as well. I caught a few dink size blues and the fish pictured below.

I think it is safe to say the spawn is wrapping up and the big fish are back on the prowl. July and August have historically been two of my best months of the year for size and numbers of catfish. Hopefully this year follows that same trend. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to see all the big fish action.