Caught this catfish last night on “accident”. I had a #8 hares ear about 2 feet under an indicator and was casting it over some downed timber trying to pick up a crappie or bluegill. All of a sudden instead of my indicator "tick"ing, it just disappeared! Set the hook… Big bass or catfish on! When it didn’t surface and make racket, I knew what I was fighting. My biggest cat on my 3-weight to date… (low light cell phone pic. Sorry!)
NICE FISH - just another one that I need to add to my “fish list”.
I’m finding that now that I live in Oklahoma and not in easy driving distance to trout streams there are a lot of fish that I want to catch on a fly rod.
And a Channel Cat is one of them! Congrats!
quivira kid,
I love the signature - I couldn’t agree more “Trouts are for people who don’t have bluegills!” 
Hi Zac,
Cool, nice fish! I’ve caught a limited number of cats on a fly rod too, and they sure fight. Bet you had your hands full, and full of fun, with the cat on a 3 wt., good job.
Regards,
Gandolf
Jim,
In my limited experience, they will eat leeches along riprap fairly regularly. That’s how I’ve caught a majority of mine!
Even HRH Betty likes 'gills.
Betty dear, have you read the link that I sent you? Are you going to follow RW down the primrose path into being a 'Gill Bum?
(Don’t pretend you don’t read the warm water forum.)
Ed
Hooked this guy and six of his cousins tonight on my 4wt. while out in the kayak trying to catch a few gills for dinner. Three got in the moss and broke off, two were landed and released, and two are currently marinading in the fridge. And yes, they do pull, and they’re quite a shock when you’re expecting gills!!
One of the joys of warm water is you never really know what to expect, you may size the fly for bream but you may get bass, cats, grass carp, crappies, bream or what ever else inhabits the water. While trout fishing I have never caught anything but a trout, although I have seen carp and heard of the presence of stripers. I haven’t caught any bass or note this year or any cats, late last summer I spent 15 minutes ( I actually checked my watch) in a discussion on whether a channel cat should come over and say hello. Finally my TFO 3 wt. won the argument. It was a good 5-6 lbs., as long as my arm. I have had a couple of 5.5 lb. LMB and a couple of 7.5 lb. grass carp, that will pull the kinks out of your leader.
"Mama always said fishing for bream was like a box of chocolates… "
Bluegill 222,
Where did you get that brown line? I’ve heard that darker lines are more productive scince they are more subtle in some situations, especialy trout fishing.
Man I wish my favorite local pond had a few cats in it. Its full of chunky gills, small-ish (12-15") largemouth, and exactly 3 enormous carp (which strictly avoid whatever part of the pond I happen to be fishing). I’ve caught the gills on 2/0 gurglers and the bass on #18 caddis dries…by-catch is always fun.
While trouting, I’ve caught largemouth, smallmouth, bluegills, rock bass, one small carp, and countless chubs & shiners. While fishing the aforementioned pond, I also hooked one mightily displeased water snake as well as a similarly unhappy snapping turtle. Both managed to release themselves…unharmed more or less…the snake even gave me my fly back! The snapper just bit me off them spat the zonker.
Knowing snakes are cold blooded and figuring they did not like cold water, the Hooch for several miles south of Buford Dam is around 50 degrees, I have never been concerned about them. Until recently the only snake I had ever seen was a water snake I spooked off the bank who seem to have trouble making it the 120 ft. or so across the river. But on the 4th weekend, a bunch of yakkity kids when by in rental kayaks, not far behind them was a snake, at first I thought it was a rubber snake one of them had been playing with. The colors were “Too Good” for a natural I thought, I was wrong, it was a copperhead about 30" long who seem to have no problem swimming out the current to the side when he decided he had enough of the Hooch. I’m glad he was not hunting for the fly I had on that day.
Zac
Nothing wrong with that!!! Nice bend in the rod and Channels that size are really good eating!!!
Fatman
