[shelbygt1979]

Well I seem to catch alot of fish that are of the same size an was wondering if anybody else notices this or if it's just me.

This year I have caught 7-8 channels that were 13lbs each. Or maybe it's just a common weight or something just seems strange to me. And they came from different lakes.

 

[BowieKnife357]

I'm very much a quality over quantity fisherman. I normally chase flatties, but every once in a while I go for channels. I normally use huge baits to try to discourage small fish, and to be honest I only catch fish about every third or fourth trip out because of it. Because of that my average flathead seems to be either 10lbs, or 30 with almost no fish falling inbetween those two weight ranges but many at those two. With some semi-decent frequency I get lucky and get bigger than 30, though not enough to count as average, never anything less than 10 (except on a trotline every now and then when anything is possible, and I've caught baby flatties almost the same size as the bluegill or carp I was using for bait). Channel cat my average is about 8-10lbs. When it comes to catfish of either species (I say either because I rarely fish for bluecat, simply because I really don't know how), I'd rather sit all night and catch one big fish than catch a hundred pan sized ones.

 

[Gamblen]

Channel Cats about 22".

There seems to be some sort of correlation between size/amount of fish I catch the previous year and how well the fishing will be next year. Sometimes size, sometimes amount, sometimes both.

 

[Kansasgoose]

I excel at catching channels 15-18 inches long. I would say 70% of what I catch is in that range. Now granted I prefer to eat cats of that size, but I dont mind catching larger fish just to turn them back.

 

[n2fishn]

My size are eaters because thats what I target.
I'm just happy to catch a limit of eater and send me home for a fish fry.

Big fish come along once in a while and its fun when I catch one but it's released
and I'm counting how many pounds of fish it would of put into my skillet.

I have caught all the Big fish in my life that I want.Now I want to eat fish.

 

[Backlashed]

Mine's always a 1/4" shorter than the length limit. :dont-know:

 

[rwg]

My average fish is aprox 18/22 " 3-4 lbs, have caught a 16, 2 -10/11 lbs and several around 10 lbs this year, I think my average size is up from a year ago because I'm using bigger baits and fishing for the bigger fish, I have the freezer full of all the fish I need to eat so its time to get after the bigger ones, one of these days I'll catch a Shelby size channel

 

[Circlehook Jester]

When I use to be a die hard line setter, my average was pretty high. But I started getting educated on killing these bigger fish. Thus, I started rod and reel fishing more, and practicing my CPR. I still catch a decent flathead here and there, mainly because that's what i target. I seem to catch channel cats of all sizes. I love to eat channel cat and even more love to eat flathead. SO, I would say I catch most my fish in regularity in the 2-5 pound range for channels and 5-10 pounds for flatties. With the occasional whopper flattie.

 

[lookin4akeeper]

I'm still getting used to throwing them back without having a fit. Although, it's not too hard to put them back, I don't really like eat them(I dunno why, it just doesn't taste good to me). I think the avg. this year has been 4-5 lbs. Wait for hours and hours, and then usually after 3 or 4 hrs, I'll catch something, lol! And the minute I start doing something else, reading or sewing, the fish start biting! I noticed it's been a lil difficult finding bluegill lately with the higher water levels. I try to help Richard find them, and after I've caught one or two(that seems to be my limit), I'll sit and watch him catch the rest :waiting:

 

[Katatonik]

Shelby, I suspect that 13 is just your lucky number this year! We could have a longer
and more philosophic conversation about it and talk about size of gear used versus
size of channel cat caught while sounding like statistics freaks but I think there are
too many variables to draw a direct conclusion from whatever data we use. Let's
face facts: cats do exactly what they will do and our speculation about what makes
them do something is sort of silly. They eat a wide range of things live and dead
which are lots of different sizes. They search far and wide, they stick with a good
spot in current. Why did they swim past everyone else at the River Pond of Melvern
to bite on your line alone? Might have something to do with Fate. Might be that you
are just one hell of a channel cat fishermen and the cats want stream cred with
their homeys. What I want to know is why they avoid being caught by ME!!

 

[n2fishn]

Michael you might be scaring the shit out of the fish that swim by your offerings.
Try wearing camo like JJ you might fool a few cats.
Just kidding but just had to reply with something.

 

[Backlashed]

He scares the shit out of me, and I'm fearless.:sinister:

 

[center12]

If I'm on the lake it's all about eater size fish for me........pound and a half to 5 lb. are my favorites. Anything over 5 is borderline work to clean so I really try and avoid that!!

On those rare occasions that I fish the river I prefer 4"-5" live bait of some sort and hope I get bit. Won't eat river fish so I'm there for the tranquility.......doubled over rods sorta disrupts my inner calm:smile-big:

With the river running like it is, may have to take a "tranquility" trip this weekend.

 

[Katatonik]

So what's so scary about me? Could it be that I am unestamatible? Sometimes I'm
not altogether certain what I'm going to think or say and I've gotten to the point
that I will just say or do it regardless. What am I supposed to do, take some internal
vote amongst my strange urges to see which one is safe to display? Camo might be
a good idea, but my wife would never approve of it. She's afraid I'll disappear some
day and leave her with no one to reach high objects on command. Of course, I'm
no good at hiding from her anyway. Keep snickering to myself...

 

[center12]

After reading that post I have a question.........do you have any idea when your going to set the hook??

 

[Katatonik]

There are some things that just happen by themselves. If I see the tip of the rod go down
or if the bobber goes under I grab the rod and take the slack out of the line. There is a
moment of consideration here. Most often I set the hook. Sometimes, it appears that
the @#%! has dropped the bait. Then I go back on point for a few minutes. If nothing
returns to pick at the bait, I check it to see if I've been cleaned out. Then put it back
out with fresh bait and resume being hopeful....I'm not so crazy that this proceedure
has changed much, Charlie!

 

[center12]

Good to hear Michael. I just had a vision in my head of you getting some uncontrollable urge to throw down a bass pro hook-set.........bite or not.

 

[Circlehook Jester]

And Michael, I have also seen you fall straight back while sitting in a chair and land with a thud. If this has any resemblence on how you jerk a rod, while waking up from a soft slumber when bitten, the fish are in trouble........:doctor: