posted by Gary on Sep 2

Tom Head with his 103 Pound Flathead Catfish

Now that is a catfish, 103 pounds, 16 inch wide mouth, man what a fish, ok well here’s the story.

Tom Head, a Warner Robins man caught a 103-pound catfish in the Ocmulgee River in Central Georgia this week.

According to a state Department of Natural Resources news release, 76-year-old Tom Head caught the flathead catfish near Warner Robins.

The fish’s dimensions:

Length: more than 57 inches;

Girth: 41 inches;

Head: 16 inches wide.

Although it’s more than 20 pounds heavier than the state’s record, it’s not eligible for the record because Head caught it while jug fishing .

The state Department of Natural Resources says flathead catfish have a flattened head, yellowish mottled with brown and green coloring, small eyes, a lower jaw that extends beyond the upper jaw and an unforked tail.

Melissa Cummings of the DNR says they estimate the catfish is about 20 years old.

The department’s naturalists will try to determine its age Friday by cutting open its pectoral fins and counting the spines, like the rings of a tree.

It will interesting to see how old this fish really is, it would be nice if they grow out that big in 20 years and I could be wrong but I’m bettin we find out he is a little older than that. Anyway, it is an awesome catch, I will be trying to reach Mr. Head to see what baits he was using and a little better idea of where was fishin’ if he is willing to release that spot, better yet I will see if I can go fishing with him. He may be on our next video, who knows. Till then  TIght Lines and Squealin’ Reels,

Gary “Gone Fishin” Turner

posted by Gary on Jul 6

We started the week out in Charleston South Carolina, I went  down to the pier at Folly Beach. There were plenty of black tip sharks to go around. Those little guys were attacking people baits. One fishermen managed to catch a nice 7 pound black drum amid all the shark attacks.

Later in the week me and 2 friends went to one of my favorite fishing spots, Santee Cooper, to fish for catfish. We arrived at Goat Island around 8:30 pm and caught a quick cheeseburger at the Goat Island Restaurant. After that we loaded the pontoon and headed out for the night. The fish were really biting slow, the water temp in the coves was 90 degrees .

We tried a few spots with no success the moved over near the old river bed and anchored up for the night. 
Around 2:00 am we had a hit on a large live 10″ gizzard shad, he hit it hard. After Brandon battled the beast in the dark we got a glimpse of him before he dove again, it was a blue catfish and it looked like a nice one. When he landed it ,we weighed it at just over 30 pounds, a very nice blue catfish and Brandon’s first over 10 pounds. Upon inspecting the blue while removing the hook we could see some serious damage on the inside of this fishes mouth, its mouth had a large wound and the body had several line scrapes. This is indicative of escaping from a trot line. After pictures we looked it over and made the decision that the fish would survive and released him back into the lake to grow and be caught another day.

Gone Fishin Club member Brandon Kohler with a nice 30 pound blue catfish.

I always encourage releasing catfish over 20 pounds unless they have been hooked in a life threatening manner or in this fishes case had other wounds, make a good evaluation and if it is doubtful that the fish will survive by al means take the fish otherwise let him go and grow.

Around 2:45 we had our next bite on a live 3″ bream, it was a solid hook up and the line was running off the spool. Tonia picked up the rod and started trying to turn the fish as she started cranking down on the reel. We scrambled to get the other lines out of the way or out of the water as she drew the big fish closer to the boat. Finally when the fish was landed we got to see the nice flathead. It weighed in at 22 pounds and after pictures we put it back also.

Gone Fishin Club Member Tonia Harbin holds a 22 pound flathead.

Time for a quick nap and at 3:30 another rod went down, I reeled in the 17 pound flathead, took pics and released him back to grow up.

Gary Turner with a nice 17 pound Flathead Catfish.

We caught several more fish that night, including another 20 pound flathead Tonia caught and a 9 pound gar that I caught just after sunrise, that wrapped up 5 lines and made a real mess of things.

Tonia Harbin with another good 20 pound flathead catfish.

We had a great time catching catfish on Santee Cooper in June even if it was pretty hot.

I’m looking forward to going to Santee again in July.  Look for Gone Fishin Club’s Video’s on YouTube or click here  to go there now.

Have Fun Fishing!!!  Gary

posted by Gary on Jun 25

Chris Rolph with his Ohio Record Blue Catfish.

Now that is a pretty Catfish, 96 pounds of blue catfish to be exact. How would you like to feel the tug on you line when you set the hook on that guy!

This fish is the new state record Blue Catfish for Ohio, it has been certified by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee.

Chris Rolph, of Williamsburg, was fishing for catfish from a boat on the Ohio River near Cincinnati in the early morning hours of Thursday, June 11, when he hooked and landed a 54-1/2 inch blue catfish with a 36 inch girth weighing 96 pounds.

Upon landing the fish after a 30 minute battle, his fishing partner that night, Jon Owens, of Amelia, knew they had just boated a new state record catfish and the pair immediately headed back to Schmidt Field ramp from where they had launched. Later that morning Rolph, who kept the fish alive in a large aerated stock tank, had the fish weighed on certified scales at Bethel Feed and Supply.

Rolph’s record blue catfish was caught using cut skip jack for bait at approximately 12:45 a.m. Together the fishermen caught five small catfish before hooking the state record.

Rolph wanted to release the fish unharmed, therefore special arrangements were made to have the fish examined and photographed that morning by the chairman of the OWO State Record Fish Committee. Afterwards the record blue catfish was safely released into a large farm pond.

Rolph’s blue catfish replaces the previous record held by Keith Setty from Lynchburg, who caught a 57 pound, 3.2 ounce blue catfish from the tailwaters of Meldahl Dam on the Ohio River.

Joint studies conducted by the Ohio Division of Wildlife and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife found blue catfish populations in the lower Ohio River were substantial enough to warrant down listing the species from “endangered” to species of special concern.

Down listing the blue catfish opened up sport fishing opportunities for anglers on the Ohio River, resulting in the fish being added to the state record fish list by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio in 2008.

Ohio Division of Wildlife fisheries biologist Doug Maloney, at Wildlife District Five, identified Rolph’s catch as a blue catfish. Blue catfish is the largest growing catfish in the Ohio River often weighing in excess of 100 pounds. The Kentucky state record blue catfish is 104 pounds and was also caught from the Ohio River.

Ohio state record fish are certified by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio State Record Fish Committee. Assisting in the process is fisheries biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife.

Who will catch the next record fish? How big will it be, there are some giant catfish out there, it’s just a matter of being prepared when the oppurtunity hits. Good Luck and Tight Lines, Gary

posted by Gary on Jun 21

OK, I know this report is out of order but I am backtracking to cover this week. I spent the week at an FFA camp in Georgia with 576 middle school and high school students. It was really hot but we had a great time. There are 2 lakes at this camp. One is very large with all kinds of fish and the other is a couple of acre catfish-bream pond with a few bass. My mission at camp is to get these kids fishing. Several students with us are Gone Fishin Club members and love to fish. I drive my van loaded with rods and reels, breambusters, tackle boxes full of hooks, weights, lines etc. so everybody can fish. We have people who fish all the time to kids who have never caught a fish here. Most have caught small fish before but not 4 or 5 pound catfish. I’ts really challenging and fun to coach these kids on how catch these fish. First I start most of them off catching bream for our bait supply. After they have caught a few bream we let them put out a catfish rod with a 2-4″ bream under a 2″ float. Now they are watching that float bob around, then the bobber starts moving a little faster. As it is gaining speed I tell them to start taking up the slack and tighten up the line to the bobber. When the bobber plunges and dissapears I pull back hard on the rod, you should see their faces when that fish pulls the rod back forward. Then they get that face of determination as they start wrestling in the fish. Two middle school girls formed a teanm to gang up on the fish, whenever one would hook one the other would get down close to the waters edge to yank it out of the water as it came close. This camp was about leadership but I think thses kids learned some good team work skills too.

How many fish did we catch, wow!

Monday we caught some really nice big bream, maybe 15, and a good cats, maybe 5 or 6.

Tuesday we caught 30 or 40 small to medium bream and 25 – 30 good cats.

Wednesday was the day, we caught 70-80 bream and hammered the catfish, 30 plus good one with 10 or so 3-5 pounders.

Thursday was slow in the morning, live bream for bait wasn’t working, one kid switched to cut bait and caught about 7 before lunch. We had one student in a wheelchair come down to the lake. I set him up on breambuster and he caught several bream, then we put him on some stinkbait and he caught his first catfish.
He had to leave before the bigger ones started biting but he was happy with his first catfish. By Thursday 2 of the kids who were fishing earlier in the week had stepped up and were helping me bait hooks, remove fish, and untangle lines. So their was some leadership training at the lake after all. I know unhooking fish may seem elementary but last year I had a kid who said he knew how to unhook a catfish and the next thing I knew he had a fin stuck all the way through his hand.
I had to cut it off and pull it through because these fins are barbed like fish hooks and don’t go backwards easily.

After lunch we moved to the sunny side of the lake and things picked up, the bigger catfish were nailing the bream live or cut it didn’t matter. We would hook bait up, cast it out and try to hand it to somebody before the fish hit, it was awesome! Also by Thursday we had most of these kids casting their own rigs, now you are thinking big deal right. Well these bream rigs were set at 7-8′ deep so your bobber was at the rod tip and if you are a 5′ tall girl your bream is laying on the ground waiting for take-off, so yes I was proud when some of these kids casted better than me in 4 days.

Friday we got up early and headed back home, passing the catfish hole on our departure. All in all we had a great week and a great time at FFA-FCCLA camp.

Oh, did I mention that we also built a 10′ long john boat out of cardboard and 2 rolls of duct tape and three kids paddled it around the lake, hmm, it was fun!

Looking for something to do, take a kid fishing!!!

Hope you enjoyed my recount of camp. Tight Lines, Gary

posted by Gary on Feb 16

This is Gone Fishin Club members Gary Turner, Stacy Fleming, Tommy Bowen and Capt. Dewayne Proffit catching blue catfish on the Santee Cooper Resevoir in January.

Hope you enjoy our video and Happy Fishin’, Gary

posted by Gary on Feb 13

I love fishing for catfish! I fish Santee Cooper in South Carolina a good bit.

My favorites baits are as follows:

For Channel cats I prefer to use my homemade concoctions or Magic Baits night crawler flavor.

For Blues I like cut bait- gizzard shad, threadfin shad and eel. Cut into small to good size chunks depending on your quarry. You can also slice the sides to give more scent.

Gone Fishin Club Member Gary Turner with a Nice Flathead Catfish

For Flatheads I only use live baits, I prefer large live baits when I can get them. Check your state regs to make sure what is legal in your state.

Large flatheads will eat other fish up to 10 pounds. So if you think your bait is to big, think again. The Best baits are always indigenous to the waters you are fishing. Gizzard shad, theadfin shad, yellow perch, bream, crappie, catfish, white perch, suckers, and eels all make great flathead baits.

For more information on Catfishing check out Catfishing Products

Happy Catfishing Gary Turner

posted by Gary on Feb 11

FatBoy Juggin Night Light For jug fishing

posted by Gary on Feb 4

http://www.thundermistfishingtips.com

The secrets of catching catfish. We’re here catfishing the Welland River, Ontario, Canada to show you how to catch catfish.

posted by Gary on Jan 20

The 1½-acre fishing lake near the main facility at the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center may have the heaviest fishing pressure of any Texas fishing hole. An estimated 30,000 anglers a year fish in the small pond near Athens.

You’d think it would be difficult for a catfish to grow to trophy size there with 30,000 people fishing every year, yet Janice Arnsdorff caught a 22-pounder while fishing in December.

Arnsdorff manages TFFC’s angler pavilion and is one of five people certified by Texas Parks and Wildlife as a Freshwater Elite Angler.

An Elite Angler has landed and documented trophy-sized fish of at least five species. Arnsdorff also has several catch-and-release and water body records to her credit.

 An unidentified second-grader subsequently caught an 18-pound catfish from the same pond. What about that, how would you like to catch an 18 pounder when you were in 2nd grade. What a smile that must have made!

The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center (TFFC) combines visitation and outdoor education with a production fish hatchery. Its mission is to provide an educational, entertaining visitor experience that promotes freshwater sport fishing and the enhancement, conservation and stewardship of aquatic resources in Texas.

Hall of Fame

Inside, the Visitor Center houses a Texas Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame honoring men and women whose efforts have helped conserve natural resources and improve Texas fishing. A museum area showcases replicas of state record fish and the equipment anglers use, including an example of the first bass boat ever built, a 1948 Skeeter. Exhibits in the hatchery gallery give an overview of how hatcheries produce the millions of fish stocked into public waters each year.

The TFFC was also home to Splash, the former world record blue catfish. She came to live at the center on January 14, 2004, after being caught from Lake Texoma by Cody Mullennix of Howe, Texas. At 121.5 pounds, she was the largest blue catfish ever caught and held that record until a 124-pound fish was caught from the Mississippi River in 2005. Splash is still the Texas state record blue catfish. Splash died in December 2005.

During her time at TFFC, Splash was responsible for a large increase in visitation. She was the star of the daily dive show during which she ate chicken, herring or mackerel from the diver’s hand. She was especially popular with children. On the first anniversary of her arrival at TFFC, nearly 800 people came to see her, and 133 children brought hand-made birthday cards. “You are my idol,” one said. Many others simply said, “I love you.”

Splash will be missed by TFFC staff members and by untold numbers of people who regarded her as a very special fish. She is survived by thousands of descendants in Lake Texoma. A life-size replica is being prepared for display in the record fish area of TFFC, and her skeleton will be preserved for display as well.

This is a picture of Splash the Former World Record Blue Catfish

The Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center is located on FM 2495,  just off State Highway 31, in  Athens, TX
For more information please call them at  903-676-2277

Go catch some Big Catfish!!! 
For more info on catching big catfish go here  How To Catch Big Catfish

posted by Gary on Jan 19

 This is a chili recipe I am going to enter in a chili cookoff we are having for a fundraiser this week. Nearly everyone else always brings the standard beef chili so I thought I would try some fish to shake thinks up. We did have a great chicken chili last year and Burgundy brought a great chili that everybody loved.

Catfish Chili

Things you will need:

4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

2 large onion, minced

6 garlic cloves, minced

4 Tablespoons of chili powder

2 teaspoons of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of ground coriander

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

2 teaspoons of oregano

1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

2 16 ounce cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 16 ounce cans of diced tomatoes

2 chopped green peppers 

1 teaspoon of sea salt  

2 pounds catfish fillets, diced

*Add Pepper as needed

Large Saucepan

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook the oil with the onion, garlic cloves, chili powder, ground cumin, coriander, cinnamon, oregano and cayenne pepper for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

2. Add the tomatoes, green pepper, kidney beans, sea salt, and pepper. Stir for one minute.

3. Place the diced catfish on top of the chili mixture and gently stir them into the chili.

4. Turn down heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 5 – 6 servings  

*serve over rice for another option, this will make 8 – 9 servings for more guests or bigger appetites

Suggested sides: Cornbread and Mixed Salad

* You can substitute other fish, I’ve seen variations of this recipe with Walleye, Bass, Halibut and other fish.

If anyone has any other great additions or variations please comment on them below,

one idea I had was to add some more peppers, any thoughts?