Del Valle Catfishing_11Jul10

Fished at Del Valle today with a friend for catfish.  Best spot was directly across from the launch.  We had a couple a monster take downs that broke both of us off.  My pulled my rod from the holder and launched it toward the drink before the line broke.  Actually I was a bit relieved as I was using an expensive reel.  I loosen up on the drag and kept a sharper eye on the rod after that.  I caught one on chicken livers, around 3 lbs or so. 

It was a nice day out, very little wind, and not too many people on the lake.

-Danman

Sounds like you had the lake to yourself and caught a nice Kitty which I'm still looking for    Thank you for the report Dan.

Sounds like a great time!  Do you mind me asking what time were you fishing and how deep of water?  I fished Del Valle yesterday for trout and striper, trolling.  Had one nice hit in the first ten minutes but broke my leader.  Next time.

Bill

We got there at 0730 and fished until after 1500.  Bites and fish came between 0800 and 1200. We moved around a lot, but it seemed best around 1100 - 1200..

My friend heard there was a better cat bite in the narrows, so we are heading off in that direction on Saturday.

Also,

 I tried posting the picture but it was too big to post.  I'll try working on it tonight if I get a chance.

-Dan

Nice work. I do love catfish for the table.

Those monster takedowns sound exciting. I've caught catfish up to 8-10lbs when I was a kid. I always used light saltwater gear of about 15lb test.
What line weight were you using that they could break?

Piscean,

I was using 8-lb Vanish Transition.  It was fresh line. ( I was using my trout rod).  I had set my drag pretty tight because I had been pulling my line in through a whole mess of submerged weeds and kept getting hung up.   

I am going to switch up to 14-lb test.  I was using snelled hooks on my leader that had (at least) 20-lb test on them, so I don't think the fish are line shy.

-Dan

Thanks Dan.  Going to Union Vally Reservoir this weekend but hope to go back to Del Valle the following weekend.  Good luck on the cats.  I lived in Northeast Kansas for 10 years, about 5 miles from the Missouri river and we used to catch beautiful Flathead and channels.  We would also catch yellow cats and some blues.  I miss a good catfish fry. 

Bill

I finally got the JPEG to a manageable size so I can post it (better late than never).

Good luck this weekend.

-Dan