More River Bank Fishing @ Mullet Lake Park

Since my last post I've gone out to the river bank a few more times. Most recently last night when it was just me and Zack. The full moon has already passed this month but it was still about 80% full. I only caught one catfish that was about 2-3 lb. It was a slow night but it was fun to be out again. We also fished out there last week with better luck. Zack caught 2 catfish and a gar, while I just caught a single gar. The bait we're using is still the frozen cut shad that I collected from this years shad run. One of these nights I'd like to try some cut mullet again. We've caught some big channel cats on cut mullet, which leaves a better blood trail if it's freshly cut before you put it on the hook. Plus it stays on the hook better without gar stripping the meat off. I prefer the gut section if I'm using mullet too. Just cut off the head and toss it in the water, I rarely use the head for bait.

Night fishing Mullet Lake again

Fished the river bank at Mullet Lake Park at night for the first time this year. It was a clear night with some breezy winds at first but eventually the wind died down as the night progressed. Zack joined me tonight and he was the only one to catch anything too. He first caught a 4 lb 2 oz catfish, then later caught a smaller catfish about 1 lb. We both used the same bait which was cut shad. At some point something must have stole my bait because I reeled in and saw a bare hook. Who knows how long my pole was sitting in the water with no bait LOL. No wonder I didn't catch anything. We had fun anyways, and it was really nice being back on the river edge.

2 LB 9 OZ Channel Catfish @ Mullet Lake Park

With my new job it's been hard to find time to fish during the day, so I figured I'd try a little catfishing at night. Last night was very foggy though, almost zero visibility in some areas on SR44 in Geneva. I headed out anyway, I never had too much sense! I wasn't planning on staying very long and only fished for maybe an hour. Also I just stayed at the boat launch ramp and casted out far into the river. I was able to cast out pretty far actually.
I got a good bite on my first cast and it was a fighting catfish. Had some fun reeling it in, though it was only 2 lb 9 oz. I'm not complaining at least it's a fish that made the trip worthwhile. The fog was setting in thicker so I figured I'd better head home before there's any road closures. No pictures tonight, I didn't bring my headlamp and the lighting wasn't very bright at the parking lot.

Location: Mullet Lake Park boat ramp, Geneva FL
Tackle: 3/0 Owners Light Mutu hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no-roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 2 LB 9 OZ
Bait: frozen cut shad

17" American Shad, Crappie & Catfish

With the shad run nearing it's end, I wanted to see how they were biting today and possibly catch a few crappie. Alot of clouds in the sky with a chance of rain in the forecast, but all we got was a slight sprinkle for a few minutes. When I arrived I noticed some vultures next to the river bank so I knew something dead was laying there. When I looked it was a BIG fat catfish, it to have been about 20lb. It was really fat and I don't know what happened to it. It's likely someone caught it and didn't release it properly. Such a shame to see a big fish like that fall victim to careless fishermen.

I used 1/8th oz jigheads today for casting distance and to stay near the bottom. A couple boats were trolling back and forth, but only catching small crappie. The bite was slow, which kinda surprises me with the upcoming cold front this weekend. My friend David came out for a little while but didn't have any luck. All my fish today came between 10am-noon, but after noon the bite stopped with no fish.

First fish I hooked into was a small shad but it got off close to the bank so it doesn't count towards my season total. My next fish was a small crappie on a black/chartreuse tail Strike King Slab Hammer grub. It was too small to keep so it was released. Next was a 17" American Shad caught on a pink/chartreuse tail Strike King Slab Hammer grub. This is one of the longer shad I've caught this year but it looked skinny so maybe she already laid her eggs. I already have enough frozen shad in the freezer anyway so this one was released after measuring the length. Next and final fish for the day was a 1-2 lb catfish that I had accidently snagged on the tail. When I first felt the fish on my line I really thought it was a big shad. It pulled hard but I did notice the vigorous "shaking" of the line that catfish normally do when they know they're hooked. I removed the hook from it's tail and let it go. The wound wasn't too bad so the fish should be okay. Catfish are pretty resilient anyway.

Sorry no pictures today. I wasn't trying to keep anymore fish since I already have that flounder from yesterday. But with the 17" shad I caught today, my season total is now 27! I don't know if I'll break the 30-mark since this is usually when the shad fishing really slows down at Mullet Lake. Can't complain though, last year I only caught 10 shad and this year I almost tripled that amount.

3 Crappie and 1 Catfish @ Mullet Lake Park

Stepped out to the river bank again this morning at the usual time around 10am. Normally I'm fishing for shad but today I was going for crappie instead. With a slow retrieve and random twitch, I caught a nice 11" crappie. Shortly after I caught another smaller crappie. The last crappie I caught today was the biggest of them all almost 12" long. All crappies were caught on the new Strike King Rage Tail Slab Hammer Crappie Grub in black/chartreuse tail. The tails on these grubs really move! They are so impressive that I plan on buying more color combinations. Each pack contains 10 grubs but the only problem is they are pretty expensive. Fortunately I can order them from Amazon.com where I use gift cards I've earned from online surveys.

Here's the Strike King Rage Tail Slab Hammer Crappie Grub
Black / Chartreuse Tail



And here's the 3 crappies I caught today using the above grub on a chartreuse jighead 1/16th. The two big ones were about 11-12" long! Slab Hammer!



I also fished with live minnows on a crappie rig and caught a catfish. It hit hard and took alot of drag before I could even get to my rod. The fight was fun on my light rod, and for awhile I thought it was a shad the way it raced and didn't stop. I haven't weighed the catfish yet but my guess it's around 1.5 lb

Father and Son Fishing - Catfish and Shad

On a beautiful Saturday, I wanted to take my son out for some father and son fishing. Figured Mullet Lake would be a good spot to catch a nice variety. Cody is also registered in the shad and crappie derby as a junior, but shad are just so hard to find these days. So why not try for some crappie on live minnows I said. I made Cody a homemade live minnow rig with two hooks. It has a bank sinker on the bottom, above that is a 3way swivel, another 3way swivel above that, and then a regular barrel swivel to attach to the mainline. The 3way swivels allow the minnows to swim freely without tangling the rig line. On the way to Mullet Lake we stopped by Johnson's Live Bait in Sanford. The live minnows are decently priced, 2 dozen minnows for about $3.75. Well in fact he gave us alot more than 2 dozen, and all of them stayed alive the whole time. We even brought the leftovers home and still looks like at least 20 minnows swimming in there.

So today I was getting several bites on my catfish rod but nothing set on the hook. I was using a 3/0 circle hook, so maybe I needed to downside the hook and bait size. Cody on the other hand did very well with the minnow rig. He caught 3 small channel catfish about 10" long each. He had alot of fun. I also jigged for shad today and only caught 1 small 11" male on a chartreuse grub w/ pink jighead (1/16 oz). It was actually quite fun to catch as it made a couple leaps out of the water. I saw some shad busting to the leftside of us but someone else was already fishing there. I probably could've hooked up with a few more if we moved down a little bit, but that spot was already taken. So Cody wins todays fishing tally, 3 to 1. I did catch my 6th shad of the season though. Here's some pics!

13 LB 14 OZ Catfish and 15.25" Shad @ Mullet Lake Park

Today I decided to bring my catfish rod since yesterday was so slow, at least it would give me something to do incase the shad weren't biting. For bait I used cut shad on a 3/0 Owners Light Mutu hook. Right off the bat I had a small catfish maybe 12-14" long, and it was released without a picture. Then I caught a beast from the river. It felt big and it wasn't coming in easy. As I reeled in I noticed it suddenly came to a dead stop. The fish wasn't moving and the line felt like it was stuck. I think the fish found some underwater cover briefly, like a large log maybe. I waited a few seconds for it to come out and it did, so I reeled it in the rest of the way. It was close enough now to get a good look at it and saw it was a huge catfish. How exciting! Landed and unhooked it so I could put it on the scale. This big catfish weighed almost 14 LB! (13lb 14oz to be exact). This is my second biggest catfish of all time woo hoo! After taking a few pictures I let it go.

So now for the shad update. Today I only used 1/16th oz jigheads, hoping the smaller lures would increase strikes. I also respooled my light spinning reel with 8lb Spiderwire Stealth braided line and this has increased my casting distance alot. I started with chartreuse grubtails and didn't have any hits. I then switched over to smoke silver flake and still no luck. It wasn't until later in the day when I switched over to white w/ pink jighead and finially got my first shad. This one actually made an acrobatic leap out of the water right in front of me, so awesome! Thankfully the hook was still on and pulled it up onto the bank. Measured it at 15.25" long to the fork, which makes this my longest shad of the season. This is also my 5th shad of the derby run. I tossed the white grub out some more and got another brief strike. It felt like the shad bit the tail without the hook. Unfortunately by now it was time for me to go, figures right when the shad start biting. Well the fishing was good today, even though it was slow at times I still came out with good fish.

Location: Mullet Lake Park river bank, Geneva FL
Tackle: 3/0 Owners Light Mutu hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no-roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 13 LB 14 OZ
Bait: frozen shad

1st Shad of 2012 - 3rd Annual Shad & Crappie Derby

American and Hickory shad are an anadromous species, meaning it spends most of its life in the sea and returns to fresh water to spawn. Shad enter the St. Johns River in late December and January to spawn, and the spawning will last until early April sometimes.
With that said, the 3rd Annual Shad & Crappie Derby is open. This year the derby has been extended an extra month too. It opened on December 17, 2011 and lasts through March 17, 2012. My friend David and I have already got in on the shad action. He's the only guy I know who targets shad as much as I do, and he is more experienced so I've learned alot from him. Shad aren't good to eat, we just love catching them. Plus the added chance of winning some prizes in the derby is cool too.

This morning was my first visit to Mullet Lake Park river bank since May 2011. I brought 3 poles with me (two catfishing rods and a jigging rod for shad). The hike was a little wet and the grass is still really tall. The old pathway to the bank has grown in so it was more difficult to find my way out there. When I finially made it out I immediately started jigging. About 20 minutes later I caught a decent 11" Crappie. And not long after that my friend David showed up. It was cool to hangout with him again. The shad were hard to find but probably because it's still early in the season. It will be another couple weeks before they are thick in our area. David caught the first shad of the day that was about 11". Then about noon I caught my first shad of the year that was approx 11.75". David says those are the males, but the females get bigger. Those are the ones we're after. The females usually average 16-18" long.

During the day I had good bites on my catfishing rod too. I used old shrimp and chunks of shad, with a piece of cut mullet mixed in there. The shrimp was getting good bites but it was hard to stay on the hook. So I switched over to cut shad and caught a big 6 LB 3 OZ Channel Catfish. I didn't bring very much shad with me so switched over to a piece of cut mullet. After some soaking I got another Channel Catfish that was about 1 LB that was let go to grow some more.

All together I caught 2 catfish, a crappie and a shad. Good day on the water!

Happy New Year - 2011 Recap Stories

Well it's a brand new year and hoping to share some brand new fishing stories. Sorry I haven't posted much in the last month, but with the holidays and cold weather in the area I just haven't had much time to get out on the water. 2011 was a great year for me and my fishing friends though. The many hours of research and time on the water has paid off. I learned many different techniques, rigs, and how to target specific species. As the new year begins, now would be a good time to highlight the best of the best of 2011. So here's a summary of my 2011 fishing adventures and best moments to remember. Enjoy =)

In late January/February I participated in my first ever Shad & Crappie Derby with very good success, and came really close to catching the longest American Shad for 1st place. I caught my first American Shad on January 24th that was 16" long. A few days later I caught my largest shad at 17.5 long. All together I caught 10 American Shad in 3 weeks.
17.5" American Shad that almost won 1st Place

On February 21st, me and two friends made the first hike to the river bank at Mullet Lake Park at night. It was a scarey trek not knowing if there will be alligators or snakes on the way out there. But the 3 of us carefully pushed forward and it was definitly worth the hike. Zack set the bar on the biggest catfish of the year that was 17 LB!
Zack's 17 LB Catfish of the Year

Now in March, my friend Kyles' fiance, Tara, almost surpassed Zacks big fish but not quite. No surprise it was at Mullet Lake park again and this one was 15 LB 6 OZ. Congrats Tara!
Tara's Big Catch 15 LB 6 OZ Catfish

No fooling around in April! This month was very productive at Mullet Lake Park for me. I caught several catfish and gar as my fishing buddies were just watching. I love bragging lol. One night I caught a 7lb 5oz catfish and 3 Florida Gar. Then another night I caught a 4lb 14oz, another florida gar, and then a 12 LB Catfish that was my personal best at the time.
My 12 LB Catfish on the hook!

May came and so did my personal best catfish of the year. May is also the month we basically stopped hiking out to Mullet Lake park because of alligator nesting season. It was just too dangerous to risk our lives to fish. Summer was also here and so was the rainy season, making the pathway to the bank very wet and muddy. I'm just glad I got to catch a big one before our mullet lake catfishing season was over for the year. On the night of May 15th, me and my friends hiked out to the bank at Mullet Lake park. I caught a monster 14 LB 6 OZ catfish that night. Later that month we made one more trip to the park bank and I caught an 8 LB catfish to cap off the month.
My Personal Best 14 LB 6 OZ Catfish!

When June arrived it was saltwater life. It also marks the first time me and Kyle were introduced to the species of Crevalle Jacks. These are probably the most addicting fish to fight on your line. Once you hook one, you will understand. The Crevalle Jacks were only caught in the morning, shortly after first light. Me and Kyle would stay at the pier all night and wait it out until morning to get some Jack action. The long nights were exhausting but it was so much fun once you knew the Jacks were around. I also can't forget to mention the huge 24 LB southern stingray I landed one night in New Smyrna. I fought it for almost 10 minutes, the whole time guessing what was on my line. Was it a big drum? a shark? Nope, just a stingray LOL
Huge Stingray that was 24 LB!
Attention Crevalle Jacks!

In July I caught my personal best Spotted Seatrout one morning, it was 23.5" long and 5 LB 10 OZ. After spending so much time in New Smyrna I switched it up to the St Johns River again. Since Mullet Lake Park was a no go, I decided to give CS Lee Park a try along the bank. I quickly learned that this was my new catfishing spot for the next several months. It was so much easier to access too with the bank being next to the parking lot. Most of the catfish at CS Lee were 1-2 LB but my biggest catfish this month was 6 LB 10 OZ. As the year went on, CS Lee Park would continue to produce sizeable catfish.
Personal Best Spotted Seatrout 5 LB 10 OZ!

August was a very busy month for my fishing blog. At CS Lee Park I caught my biggest Longnose Gar so far that was 20 LB 8 OZ and 54" long! This is the longest fish in my record book. Another night at CS Lee I caught two large catfish, a 9 1/2 and 5 1/2 LB catfish! The 9lber is the biggest catfish so far at CS Lee Park. Also this month I also started surf fishing for the first time at Canaveral National Seashore. Surf fishing is a whole new ballgame, requiring some new gear like sand spikes, longer rods, and different rigs. The Whiting bite was on, including my personal best 15" Whiting.
Personal Best Longnose Gar 20 LB 8 OZ!
Biggest Catfish at CS Lee Park! 9 LB 6 OZ
Personal Best 15" Whiting at CNS #3

September was another busy month, mostly on the surf. This is the month when my son Cody and I caught our first Redfish! Kyle also caught his first Redfish. All of them were on the surf at CNS too. In between surf fishing, I visited CS Lee Park and had some luck there too with a couple nice 3-4 LB catfish. And then finially, a catch that will last a lifetime... One night at the North Causeway in NSB, I caught the biggest fish of my life, a big bull redfish that was 36 LB and about 48" long! Kyle was with me that night so I have a witness LOL. With his help, we were able to get it out of the water and take measurements. We were sweating with excitement and pumped with adrenaline the whole evening. It was definitly the highlight of my year!
Cody and I catch our first Redfish!
Kyle's first Redfish too!
36 LB/48" Personal Best Redfish!

October was the month when the St Johns river saw major changes. Heavy rains caused severe flooding that completely submerged boating docks. I did some saltwater fishing in New Smyrna and caught quite a few Sail Catfish, one being my personal best at 4 LB 8 OZ. Those sail cats really put up a good fight too! The fishing at CS Lee Park was good too, with mostly 2-3 LB catfish biting. The river flooding actually made it a little easier to fish at CS Lee since the water was even closer to the parking lot. I just set some rods and leaned against my car waiting for a bite. :)
Personal best saltwater Gafftopsail Catfish 4 LB 8 OZ!

I didn't fish very much in November and December, but I did manage to squeeze in a few trips to CS Lee Park. I caught a couple 2 LB catfish and a bigger 5 LB 8 OZ catfish came about mid November before our Thanksgiving family cruise. As December came, the water levels on the St Johns river went down rather quickly and as of now it's pretty much back to normal.

Well there you have it, 2011 came with alot of personal bests and alot of first time species for me. I know alot of my records will probably stick for awhile, but as long as I keep putting time on the water, there's always the possibility of hooking the next Big Catch. Thanks for reading!

CS Lee Park - 2lb 8oz Channel Catfish

I'm back from our 7-day family cruise on the Royal Caribbean! Everyone is still wishing we were on the boat though. It was the best Thanksgiving ever, in fact we were actually in St Maarten on Thanksgiving day. We went to Coco Cay (Royal Caribbeans private island in the Bahamas), St Thomas, St Maarten, then two full days at sea on the way home. We cruised on the Freedom of the Seas, a very large modern and kid friendly cruise ship. The weather was nice with only a few rough days at sea during the beginning of our trip. Our rooms were cozy with a very large balcony since we had four staterooms connected. Royal Caribbean also offers the Dreamworks Experience so the kids got to see characters like King Julien, Alex the Lion, Gloria, Kung Fu Panda and Shrek! The staff on board the ship was extremely friendly and professional, completely meeting our needs and going beyond expectations. It was definitly a fun time and like I said, we're all still wishing we are on the boat. :)

I was back near water Friday night fishing the St Johns river. Went to the usual spot at CS Lee Park and only stayed for about 2 hours. It was in the low 60's that night which isn't too bad, it was just the steady wind chill that made it feel colder. I casted one line straight out and one line to the left area where I had recent success. No hits on the leftside line all night. It took awhile, maybe 45 minutes to hour before I saw the first bite on the line straight out. This one kept biting and spitting for several minutes, at least it gave me something to do. Finially snagged it on the lip and reeled it in on my 10 ft rod. To be honest the fish felt heavier in the water than it did on the scale. The fight pressure was strong yet it weighed only 2 LB 8 oz and was released back in the water to grow.

Location: CS Lee Park, Geneva FL
Tackle: 5/0 Owners Light Mutu hook on carolina rig - 3 oz pyramid sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 2 LB 8 OZ
Bait: cut mullet

CS Lee Park - 5lb 8oz Catfish - Half Hitch Tackle Warranty Repair

Last night was in the 60's, perfect weather to be outdoors. The full moon has already passed this month, but it was still about 80% full. When I arrived at CS Lee Park around 10:15pm, it was very misty outside, almost borderline light rain. It was enough to wet my skin and cloths. I didn't setup right away, instead I waited in my car and checked my mobile Weather Channel app. Fortunately it looked like a small precipitation area was moving out soon and it would be all clear shortly. When the skies cleared up and the misty rain stopped, I finially setup two lines in the usual hot spots. It really didn't take long when the line straight out was being played with. The hit and run bites kept me anxiously watching the rod tip but everytime I picked up the rod, the fish was gone. It was about the 4th or 5th attempt when I felt the fish and set the hook good. The fight was nice too, as soon as the fish knew it was hooked it immediately splashed topwater. It was a catfish and weighed 5 LB 8 OZ, one of the few 5 LB+ cats I've caught from this spot. The last 5 LB+ I've caught here was about 3 months ago.

The night continued with occassional bites and more playing around. I had a couple short moments where I thought I had one hooked but quickly the fish got off. Also a few times the bait was stripped off my hook. Probably victim of a gar yanking the bait off.

Location: CS Lee Park, Geneva FL
Tackle: 3/0 Owners Light Mutu hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no-roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 5 LB 8 OZ
Bait: cut mullet

So 2 months ago I used Kel's Rod & Reel service to clean some sand out of a Okuma reel that fell on the beach. The service didn't cost me anything since I had a free reel cleaning certificate. Well, when I finially got the reel back 2-3 weeks later, the baitfeeding clicker was not clicking anymore. I didn't want to take it back there again, so I was looking for another warranty service center for Okuma reels. My friend used one in Panama City, FL called Half Hitch Tackle. They are a warranty repair center for Okuma and they fixed his reel to work flawlessly (which had the same clicker problem). So today, I'm shipping my non-clicking reel to Panama City. I figured it's a good time since I'll be away from town for awhile in the coming days. Should have my reel back when I return home, or at least the repair almost done by then.

CS Lee Park - 2lb 8oz Channel Catfish

Cold night in central Florida, temps were in the 50's and the wind made it feel colder.

Location: CS Lee Park, Geneva FL

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 2 LB 8 OZ
Bait: cut mullet

CS Lee Park - Grand Slam Catfish

Arrived about 10PM and setup in my usual spot. I baited two rods with cut mullet and another with nightcrawlers. The worms didn't produce anything tonight, however, cut mullet was putting fish on the hook all night. Normally I cast straight out across the river where I usually catch them, but oddly I didn't get any bites there. All of the action came from the far left side, kinda close to the shore actually. Also all of the fish caught tonight had slammed the bait as if they were starving. They weren't playing around that's for sure.

First hit was good, and it felt good too. Reeling in against the current it felt alot bigger than what it really was. It still weighed just under 4 LB though. I casted out again to the same spot with another piece of mullet. It wasn't 5-10 minutes when another catfish slammed it. This one was smaller about 2 LB. Later in the night I had another solid bite, started reeling in and felt the power of a bigger fish. Unfortunately after about 10 seconds the hook popped out and it was gone. Damn! I know it was a big catfish too because my leader line had slime all over it. About 1:30am it started sprinkling and I was out of bait anyways, besides the nightcrawlers, so I packed up to get some ice.

Location: CS Lee Park, Geneva FL
Tackle: 1/0 Owners Light Mutu hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no-roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 3 LB 14 OZ
Bait: cut mullet

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 2 LB 2 OZ
Bait: cut mullet

The smaller 1 LB blue catfish (bottom) was caught by a commercial fisherman while he was killing time with me. I learned alot from this guy from trotlines to some of his fishing stories, plus he gave me one of his bigger hooks and some bait when I ran out. So in return I gave him one of my rod holders that he was pretty interested in.

CS Lee Park - 3 LB 4 OZ Channel Catfish

Back to CS Lee Park last night for some more night fishing fun. Temps were in the low 60's with a slight north breeze. The first hour or so I didn't catch anything, but I was getting some bites. It wasn't until 12:20am when I caught the only fish of the night, a 3 lb catfish. Before landing this catfish, it got stuck in some weeds literally 2 feet from the shore. I'm reeling in this fish then all of a sudden it just stops. Tried to pull it through the weeds but I also didn't want to break the leader line. So I ended up feeding it some slack line hoping it would swim out of the weeds. Tried this a couple times and it finially came loose. One in the cooler!

Things really slowed down after 1:00am, so that was it for the night. My next fishing trip will be somewhere in New Smyrna probably. I used the last bag of frozen mullet last night so I need to restock more catfish bait anyways.

Location: CS Lee Park, Geneva FL
Tackle: 6/0 Owners Light Mutu hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no-roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 3 LB 4 OZ
Bait: cut mullet

CS Lee Park - 2 Catfish and The One That Got Away

Wednesday (last night) was the first day of the approaching cold front. The temperatures started to drop by late afternoon when gusty winds came through central Florida. By evening it was in the low 60's, with breezy winds and a few strong gusts. The moon tonight was half full, and the fishing forecast said GO FISHING. You don't have to pull my arm though, I'll go fishing regardless! LOL

Anyway, I arrived at CS Lee Park around 10-10:30pm. The river is still flooded, no surprise there. But the best part about the water levels being high is that my fishing spot is closer to the parking lot. So while I was fishing, I was just leaning up against my car watching my rods for a bite. Plus I almost got attacked by fire ants while standing in the grass. When I say almost attacked, I mean there were several crawling up my right pants leg. I must have stepped on an ant hill that I didn't see. Luckily I noticed before they got very far and brushed them all off.

Ok so the bite last night was pretty good, especially for the hour between 11pm and midnight. I think that's the timeframe where I caught the two catfish you see below. Both catfish started with small bites for several minutes before self setting the hook in their mouth. Maybe it's because my hook size was a little too big, or they were just tasting the bait before inhaling it.

Then it was after 1am, not sure exactly what time but I hooked into something that was doing the same behavior. It started with small bites, it would shake my line a little bit and then stop. This kept going on for awhile until it was finially hooked. The fight was pretty nice, it was definitly alot bigger than the two I already caught. During the fight it kept trying to shake me off and even made a couple nice splashes on topwater. Usually I can tell if it's a gar or catfish by the way it fights. A Florida gar usually makes quick dashes once hooked but quickly gives up. A good fighting catfish, however, will keep you on your toes the whole way in. Another one is the Longnose Gar, which is much more powerful and bigger than the Florida Gar. It doesn't give up like it's smaller cousin either. Common to see splashes on topwater and really fast long runs during the fight for longnose gars. I've had some big catfish splash the topwater during fights too. So basically, this big fish I hooked didn't make it to the shore but I was very close! I had it within maybe 5-6 feet and all of a sudden the hook pops out. All I had left was a bare hook! My best guess is it probably was a Longnose Gar or Channel Catfish around 10 lb. Dang that would've been nice to catch! :)

Location: CS Lee Park, Geneva FL
Tackle: 6/0 Owners Light Mutu hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no-roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 2 LB
Bait: cut mullet

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 1 LB 6 OZ
Bait: cut mullet

CS Lee Park - 3lb Channel Catfish

A Tuesday night with a new moon. Every star in the sky was visible. It was almost 1:00am when I was about to packup to go. Then I noticed a large gator swimming in the river, which I have to admit I was a little intimidated. It was a big gator. I watched it swim slowly towards my honey hole, and I figured nothing would be biting after this gator passes by. The gator was about 20-30 feet from my line when my rod was getting some bite taps. Reeled in the slack and felt a fish on, this one I could feel the head shaking and it was trying to shake loose the whole time I was reeling him in. I was worried the big gator would notice the disturbance in the water and try to eat my catch but fortunately it didn't phase him. The catch was a 3 lb Channel Catfish.

Location: C.S. Lee Park
Tackle: Owners Light Mutu 5/0 hook on carolina rig - 3 oz no roll sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 3 LB
Bait: cut frozen mullet

CS Lee Park - 4lb 13oz Channel Catfish

Sunday night I saw a break in the weather to do some catfishing over at CS Lee Park. The rain looked like it was coming after midnight so I only had a couple hours to fish. Using cut mullet, I caught a nice 4 lb 13 oz channel catfish. I had another bite later on but when I reeled in the slack, the hook popped out. The sprinkles started around midnight and as soon as I got in my car to leave, it was pouring rain.

CS Lee Park - 6lb & 9lb Channel Catfish

Grabbed some fresh frozen mullet out of the freezer and headed down to CS Lee Park last night. Probably arrived there around 10pm and casted out to my usual spot. Got a few bites early on cut mullet. Then I got a solid bite that kept tapping at my rod, I picked up my pole and saw the fish swimming left with my line in his mouth. Reeled in the slack and it was fish on! It was a nice catfish about 6 lb. Not bad! Switched rods and casted out to the same spot with another gut chunk of mullet. Maybe 15 minutes later and it was another good bite, again swimming left with the current. Another fish on and this one felt bigger. This one was over 9 lb with more power and I was working with a 20# test leader. So after a little game of tug o' war, got it on the bank and saw it was gut hooked. Normally I wouldn't keep a catfish this big, but since it was gut hooked I didn't think it would survive a release. Now I had two big catfish in the cooler and I needed ice so I had to leave. In only two hours of fishing too!

Caught the first 6 lb catfish on the Okuma Classic Pro XP conventional reel and then got the bigger 9lb+ catfish on my old reliable Okuma ABF-65 spinning reel.

Location: C.S. Lee Park
Tackle: Owners Light Mutu 5/0 hook on carolina rig - 3 oz sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 9 LB 6 OZ
Bait: cut frozen mullet

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 5 LB 11 OZ
Bait: cut frozen mullet

Channel Catfish 6 lb 10 oz - CS Lee Park

I'm back from vacation! Dealing with fishing withdrawals all week I quickly cured that by getting some rods in the water down by CS Lee Park. It must have been around midnight by the time me and Kyle got setup. There wasn't much action throughout the night there. We were actually thinking about switching spots but I decided to just stick it out where we were already posted. And with my patience, I was rewarded with a really nice catfish. Sometime around 1:30AM I got a nice hit and a great fight from a 6 lb 10 oz catfish. This cat was pulling line like crazy, haven't had a catfish fight like that in months. Got it in the cooler and was ready for more. But that was the only fish from CS Lee Park. On the way home we stopped at Mullet Lake Park by the dock where Kyle caught another small catfish, too small to keep though.

Location: C.S. Lee Park
Tackle: Owners Light Mutu size 2 hook on carolina rig - 1 oz sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 6 LB 10 OZ
Bait: nightcrawlers

One more catfish before the roadtrip

Due to a power outage at my house and a week long vacation, this post was delayed for 9 days. The events in this post happened on the evening of 7/18/11.

Me and Kyle setout for a final trip before I was leaving to pickup my son from his moms' house in Ohio and visit family in Indiana. I believe we started around 6-7PM at CS Lee Park. It was still light out but we were waiting for sundown. No bites or anything for awhile. In fact, the bites didn't start until it was dark. I ended up catching a nice little 1 lb 4 oz catfish after sundown. I got another catfish too, but it was too small to keep. Back in the water it swam away, perhaps I'll get him another day. :)

So when I got home around 10PM, I noticed the street lights were out and all the houses were dark. A transformer was blown which is normally no big deal. But the sucky part is we had to finish getting ready to leave for our roadtrip. On top of that, the power didn't even come back until 4AM. Here's a picture of the catfish I caught. I had to use a battery operated lantern to get some light. I was basically cleaning this fish in the dark.

Location: C.S. Lee Park
Tackle: Owners Light Mutu size 2 hook on carolina rig - 1 oz sinker

Species: Channel Catfish
Weight: 1 LB 4 OZ
Bait: nightcrawlers