At 07:45 this morning I got my 1st line in the water for the 2004
fishing season! The Ohio River finally got down to a level for
fishing and the temperature was in the 50's. I used old frozen
bluegill on the deadline rig . On my pole with a bobber I used a
chuck of grilled stake. I never got a nibble on the 2 bluegill I
had. Baited up the dead line rig with stake as well. That is when
the action started.
The 1st fish was blue cat of 4 lbs. 22 inches long ,after getting
photos was released back into the river. Shortly after baiting with
stake I hooked the 2nd. blue. This one weighed 5 lbs. and was 23
inches. Got 2 photos of him and he headed back to his home. I then
miss 2 other hard bites, I had one on the line about half way to the
raised dock when he left go. Checked the hook and he had pull part of
the bait off the hook , that is where he was biting down never got
hooked. I had got all of my stuff packed up to head home except for
the dead line pole when it got slammed and stayed bent. I pulled back
and realize I had a very nice fish at the other end. After a duel of
several minutes I was finally able to net my prize to the deck of the
dock. This blue cat came in at 15.2l lbs. and 33 inches long. That is
the 2nd largest blue cat I have ever caught! I had to take 3 photos
of his for ever time the self timer was to go off he bent into a large
curve. Not sure how those shots will turn out for posting on the web.
I did have a big smile as he returned to the water to know he will
there to fight another day.

So all the action was on the bottom no suspending fish. Keep scraps
of the stakes from your cookouts. Better yet if you have a friend
that works at a Stake house see if the could make up "fishy bag" for
you as my friend did for me. This was a great start for my 2004
season! Hope that all you folks that seek out catfish also have
wonderful season. nlcatfish