More Proof that Bananas are Bad

What another year of screwy weather! More so by looking back to last spring when the warm temps came so early.

So in keeping with the flavor of less then normal, here’s my cat fishing report without any catfish.

Last evening I had the opportunity to help Corey Waller out by asking him to take a boat ride with me looking for some stray cats. Corey was to clean out the garage, so the short notice phone call was well received by him. Jen, he promised to take care of the garage tonight.

Our first “hit” came early. It was an odd bite. Jerk jerk jerk…then the line started to move up stream. As I lifted the I-Cat rod out of the holder, there was more jerking.

Seemed a little early for a flathead. When I set the hook, I felt something..then it was gone along with the bullhead. Must have been a channel cat I said to Corey not thinking about the “other” species of fish in the river.

I was telling Corey about my “Banana Skunk” the night before. He agreed with the old legend, bananas and fishing don’t go together.

We’ve been catching flahead regularly for the last week. Most on the smaller side putting three in the boat each night even with whifs (that I now call “chirps”). This last Friday, when dusk came and the night turned to darkness without so much as a clicker sound, I asked my clients if they had a banana in their bag of snacks. I was shocked when I heard “yeah, would you like it?”

They were skeptical when I explain the curse on fishing with a banana in the boat, so I had them Google it. They are now believers!

About 20 minutes later I thought I might as well take a photo of them sharing the banana. Nothing else to do ya know?. When I asked for the fruit, I was told it wasn’t on board any longer. I laughed, but the damage was done.

First skunk in two weeks.

Back to last night.

I found out we can take a bass guy cat fishing, but you can’t take the bass out of a bass guy. Corey pulled in a few nice size White Bass on top water poppers while we were waiting for the clicker to sound off. Just watching the fish smack a top water popper is a hoot!

The area we were fishing looked good for both channels and flatheads. We fished in the current eddies behind a closing dam. There was deep water about 12 feet and a flat area that ran about 6 feet. The banks were dirt. Using the Downscan we toured the area looking for logs or submerged wood but didn’t find any. We set up first on the deeper side, then the shallower side.

Corey commented on the difference of two people looking at the same water. I targeted the seams of the eddie and he was looking more at the shore line edge to place our baits. We ended up dropping a bullhead in both areas.

All to no avail for the targeted whiskered fish we were after.

The gear we were using was the Team Catfish I-Cat carbon fiber rods, Garcia 7000s, Team Catfish Nuclear Yellow Tug O War 80 pound braided line, Team Catfish 9/0 Super J hooks with a bullhead hung on it.

I might add with the cooler water temps the smaller 5-6″ bullheads seem to work better over the last couple weeks. As we approach the 70 degree mark I’ll be upping the size to at least 7-8″.

Three of the 5 ramps are being used at Everts. As many folks are heading down toward the lake, there are a few boats in the know that are connecting with eater eyes very close to the resort. Since I’m not a walleye guy, details can be had by talking to Steve or Kari at Everts.

By the way, don’t allow bananas in you boat.