[liv2fish]

Well the pond in my apt. complex is a lot of fun to fish for little bass but last night I was getting ready to leave and stripping the popper in towards the shore when the water just errupted. I thought it was a huge bass, the biggest before that being only about 2lbs (small pond), turns out it was a catfish. As ugly as they are it put up a real fun fight. Has anyone else had a catfish hit a topwater fly before? Granted, the fly was close to shore so it only had to swim about 2ft to the surface but still, I had no idea one would hit topwater.

[Frank Whiton]

Hi liv2fish,

Catfish will take just about anything they might think is good to eat. Top water is a bit unusual but the water was shallow enough that it didn't have to expend much energy to take a taste.

Frank

[kais 4795]

Nice story. I don't think that many people can claim to have caught a cat on a popper, let alone a fly. I wish I could have seen that. Awesome.
Kais
Onetoomanyhobbies.com

[FlyRichardFly]

Up here in central PA, I catch channel cats all the time with flies.
In the Susquehanna with all this extreme heat the fish hide in the shade and only feed at night.
A White Miller hatch almost every night until the end of August has all the smallmouth, rockbass, and cats feeding on the flies after dark.
I catch a lot of catfish with topwater drys. Actually, they are more prevalent then the bass.
Tonight I caught quite a few channel cats with a flyrod. I wade to the middle of the river and I can see the fish all around me gorging themselves on the abundant white flys. I can see their fins out of the water sipping the bugs....... I just put my dry in front of them and hold on to my rod!!
I use my 8wt with a floating line and a size 10 White Miller (I make my own with a foam body and lot's of hackle)
The catfish are stocked and now outnumber the smallmouth 10 to 1.
Lot's of fun with a flyrod.

[dead fly]

Never cought one on a popper before. But did catch one on a mickey finn on first cast. It coudn;t have been two inches under at the time. As I could still see the fly, and acually seen it hit. That was one fun fight....

[kais 4795]

Originally Posted by FlyRichardFly

Up here in central PA, I catch channel cats all the time with flies.
In the Susquehanna with all this extreme heat the fish hide in the shade and only feed at night.
A White Miller hatch almost every night until the end of August has all the smallmouth, rockbass, and cats feeding on the flies after dark.
I catch a lot of catfish with topwater drys. Actually, they are more prevalent then the bass.
Tonight I caught quite a few channel cats with a flyrod. I wade to the middle of the river and I can see the fish all around me gorging themselves on the abundant white flys. I can see their fins out of the water sipping the bugs....... I just put my dry in front of them and hold on to my rod!!
I use my 8wt with a floating line and a size 10 White Miller (I make my own with a foam body and lot's of hackle)
The catfish are stocked and now outnumber the smallmouth 10 to 1.
Lot's of fun with a flyrod.

That sounds like a blast. I am going to have to try it. How big are the fish you are catching? Thanks for the awesome tip. I am getting pumped just thinking about it.
Kais
Onetoomanyhobbies.com

[racine]

I got invited to a local club fish fry near a private pond with lots of cats. I asked what flys and the response was "...brown purina bugger or Science nugget nymphs..." He didn't want to share the pattern but said they were commercially available... I just couldn't make it.

[FlyRichardFly]

Originally Posted by kais 4795

That sounds like a blast. I am going to have to try it. How big are the fish you are catching? Thanks for the awesome tip. I am getting pumped just thinking about it.
Kais
Onetoomanyhobbies.com

Most of the channel cats are small, but with a flyrod it's a blast. Some are huge!! I've caught several over 5lbs and a 10lb carp. LOL
The smallmouth bass are decreasing in the heavenly Susquehanna and I won't get sick about it any more.
Someone on this site posted a story about how we have to take what is available and not get sick for not fishing in Montana with drys for wild trout! I'm a fisherman and I like to catch, so I'll take what I can get. I C&R anyway, so I really like the action.
The smallest cat fights better than the biggest trout I ever caught.
I use a 8wt with intermediate or floating line. A couple huge carp pulled all my line and went into the backing........ almost broke my 8wt. I use that rod for stripers in the surf, but a big channel fights better than a striper any day.

[kelkay]

What fly did you catch the carp on?

[plland]

I've never caught a catfish on a fly, but I remember throwing pieces of bread off the dock at a local lake as a kid and seeing catfish rising to the surface like koi to eat it. So I definitely believe these fish are opportunistic.

I'd also be interested in the specific flies you all use for cats and carp.