Check out the fun I had below on my 2wt rod this morning running a 6X tippet!
What a blast it was and took probably 20 to 30 minutes to land him. I catch some catfish occasionally on my fly rod but usually at this size (28 to 30 inches) I am normally broke off pretty quick!
Only regret was I wasn’t fishing my 1wt this morning but heck the two rods are close enough.
This is the second largest catfish I’ve caught on the fly. Although I dont target them when panfishing its always a nice surprise to get ripped into the backing 4 or 5 times before being able to land a fish!
Dan,
Congrats on an excellent catch! I haven’t taken any sizeable cats (yet!) on my 2wt, but I have caught several in the 20"-23" range with my 3wt & 6x tippet. That fish you took is much larger than I have taken & is an absolute MONSTER on a 2wt with 6x.
Did you net him or grab him by hand? I’ve done both & you can scuff up a thumb pretty well lip landing 'em.
Good job!
Mike
OH no, I landed him with a net! Don’t need no cut up hands or a broken rod tip!
In our pond we’ve got catfish up to about 45# or so and we stock those coppernose and hybrid brim which sometimes can approach the 2# range.
Most of the time I am out there with my 1wt going after those huge brim as they are a blast on the 1wt and if the day is just right, you can catch one on just about every cast… Thats what I was doing this morning before we put out heavy lines later today to get 6 or 7 of those big cats for a fish fry later this evening.
dallee,
just curious. what is the model number of the reel? I purchased a Battenkill LA-2 for a 3 wt. Wouldn’t hold much backing until I cut off 15’of fly line. Just curious which one you are using on the 2wt.
Jim
