Catfish Hunter

Catfish Hunter: (a) the name of a huge catfish sought by the stars of the movie Grumpier Old Men, (b) the name of a professional baseball player from 1965 to 1979--a pitcher for the New York Yankees and other teams, or (c) Kathie and me this afternoon.

On only one prior occasion have we caught a catfish while fishing on our lake. I believe Donna and David were here at the time when I had a Channel Catfish strike my jig near the mouth of the river entering our bay. Well today, in approximately the same location, Kathie and I each had a Channel Catfish take our bait. Mine was first and was a very nice "eater"--just the size for a meal for one person, although we turned it loose. Soon after, Kathie hooked a much bigger one--something like 20" and probably three pounds. Again, we turned the fish loose.

People around here would likely turn their noses up at fish like this. Crappie, Walleye, and Musky are the preferred game fish. But, I grew up loving catfish, both to catch and to eat. We frequently have access to reasonably good farm-raised ones at our local grocery in Iowa and enjoy having them for dinner. I wouldn't mind at all being able to catch more of them up here. Maybe this afternoon's luck was just that, but if we work the same spot again and catch more, they might not be returned to the water.