A lot of catfishermen will tell you that they hate the hot summer months. I happen to love fishing this time of year. Typically, mid to late July marks the end of the catfish spawn here in East Tennessee. When the fish come off the nest, the action is as hot as the air temps. I tend to catch good numbers of fish this time of year as well some whopper size too.
The month started off with a bang. I hooked into my biggest blue of the month, which is pictured above, on July 2nd. That fish measured in at 45.75 inches long. It hammered a bluegill head while I was anchored along a main channel ledge.
The following week, I landed a nice blue and flathead while anchored on a point. Both of those fish ate a white bass head that was suspended a couple feet off the bottom. After that trip, the action was pretty inconsistent and limited for the next couple weeks. Part of that was due to poor fishing on my end and the other was due to me becoming consumed with Game of Thrones. I made the mistake of watching a few episodes and went down the rabbit hole. Before I knew it, I had watched the entire series from start to finish. That is two weeks of my life I will never get back.
Once I had removed myself from the clutches of the Dragon Queen, I was able to get back to my regular fishing. I found a nice 38 inch blue willing to play along a main channel ledge. This fish ate a body section of bluegill.
Two of my biggest fish were caught on the final weekend of the month. I was competing in a kayak catfishing tournament when I landed the two fish pictured above. Both measured at 41.5 inches, however, the bottom fish had several pounds on the top one. The first one ate a white bass head while the other ate a red horse sucker head. Those two fish helped me seal the win in the tournament.
July 2019 definitely won't go down as the best July I have ever had. There were some bad trips and I actually got skunked this morning. All in all though, it was a great month. I landed several big fish and the fishing will only continue to improve in August. I'm looking forward to getting the month of August started in the morning and see what the river has in store for me.
