Catfish Hunting

[txcowpoke]

Is there any place in Texas that is legal to shoot catfish and if so what kind of catfish?

[carsonwild]

Hey txcowpoke heres the regs for Texas.http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publicat...legal_devices/
You cant shot catfish with a spear gun in public waters.
But if you know some one with a big lake on there property ie private property then your in business.
Good luck and let us now if you find some were that you can shot catfish.
Good luck Carson

[txcowpoke]

Thanks Carson im looking right now for some private waters will let you know when I find some, maybe we will hook up.

[mudhole]

You can't shoot catfish in Texas lakes, but you can shoot catfish on the Oklahoma side of lake Texoma. The dividing line for Texas and Oklahoma is the old river channel. . . If you shoot a catfish in Oklahoma, then cross the line into Texas, you can be fined by the lake rangers. Also, you must have a Texas fishing license in Texas waters, or an Oklahoma license in Oklahoma waters. . . or a lake Texoma license for any part of this lake. Some pretty good sized catfish come from the muddy areas of the lake, but some good fish come out of the waters near the dam. Good Luck.

[hyeparis]

Just curious. How big do catfish grow in US lakes and rivers? In Russia, some species can weigh more than 100 kilos.

[mudhole]

There are variations from lake to lake because of conditions and food supply. . . My spearfishing tutor many years ago speared a 67 lb flathead catfish when I was with him. Later he was on a trip to another state and speared an 81 lb flathead. . . What we call flathead catfish describes the head shape, this fish also changes color according to the bottom colors, and seldom eats anything but live fish. The flavor is always clean and fresh.

To illustrate the variations from lake to lake. . . My "home" lake in Eastern Oklahoma has held spearfishing tournaments for almost 50 years, In early years the winning catfish was always in the 60 lb. range. in the 1970's, 50 pounders would win. In the 1990's catfish in the 40 lb. range would win. . . This summer, mid 20 lb. fish was our best. Over the years, the number and variety of bait fish has changed. The number of divers has dropped by a huge number.

[diver50]

Hey, mudhole, does it seem to you that the number as well as the size of flatheads at Tenkiller is going down? I just started hunting there five years ago, and it seems to me that I am not seeing as many as I was even five years ago. I wasn't able to hunt much this year due to a couple of eye surgeries, but things seem to have changed sorta rapidly. What do you think?

[mudhole]

diver50. . . I wish I knew. Part of the problem I'm having is with dive partners that don't want to hunt anything but flatheads, so they won't hunt very many places on the lake except the same old "good spots". I'm used to hunting anything legal to shoot, and running up and down the lake. . . so take what I'm saying with those limitations.

Thirty+ years ago, Tenkiller was famous for fishing. On every dive we would see hugh schools of shad, in the millions. Bass fishermen would catch big heavy bass, sand bass fishermen would come from all over the midwest to catch 100's of sand bass a day. Slowly the quality of fishing kept falling over the years, size of all fish declined and most were thin and hungry looking. It is rare to see shad these days, and I can't remember seeing a crawfish, they used to be very common. About 10 years ago most experience divers would be embarrased to shoot less than a 20 lb. catfish. . . this summer a 20 lb flathead was a great trip. Those opposed to spearfishing will blame divers, but when there were lots of big flathead catfish, there would be 200 divers in the 24 hour Marathon, and half would bring in catfish, the Marathon 2 years ago there were only a handful of divers and only 2 catfish, that I saw.

I can't give answers, only tell my observations now compared to the past. There are still good catfishing in some other lakes, so the changes seem to be limited to Tenkiller. If we could move lake Ouachita out of Arkansas, somewhere near Thunderbird, we could try to empty it of flatheads in large sizes. . . Just dreamin.

[diver50]

Yeah, I don't know what is up with Tenkiller either. And I honestly can't remember seeing a crawdad there at all. So I take it that you think pretty highly of Ouachita for flatheads? Maybe I just don't know where they are at Ouachita. How is Beaver for flathead?

[mudhole]

Originally Posted by diver50

Yeah, I don't know what is up with Tenkiller either. And I honestly can't remember seeing a crawdad there at all. So I take it that you think pretty highly of Ouachita for flatheads? Maybe I just don't know where they are at Ouachita. How is Beaver for flathead?

Flathead catfish, like all predators will follow the bait fish. In the northwest part of Ouachita there are two feeder streams close together, get a good topo map and look in those places flowing water will turn in close to shore. Not every place will be good, but worth looking at. Where you find water current, hard clean bottoms and bait fish, somewhere nearby you will find the predators, including flatheads.

The same techniques will work on Beaver lake, although there are so many twists and turns in that lake, you will have to drop on a lot of spots before you can pick out the best areas. . . When you find good conditions make a note. . . they will probably be good for the rest of your diving career, whenever lake level, lake temperatures are close to the same.

[hyeparis]

Originally Posted by mudhole

There are variations from lake to lake because of conditions and food supply. . . My spearfishing tutor many years ago speared a 67 lb flathead catfish when I was with him. Later he was on a trip to another state and speared an 81 lb flathead. . . What we call flathead catfish describes the head shape, this fish also changes color according to the bottom colors, and seldom eats anything but live fish. The flavor is always clean and fresh.

To illustrate the variations from lake to lake. . . My "home" lake in Eastern Oklahoma has held spearfishing tournaments for almost 50 years, In early years the winning catfish was always in the 60 lb. range. in the 1970's, 50 pounders would win. In the 1990's catfish in the 40 lb. range would win. . . This summer, mid 20 lb. fish was our best. Over the years, the number and variety of bait fish has changed. The number of divers has dropped by a huge number.

Thank you. We have the same trend when it comes to most species. But catfish in Russia and neighboring states can still grow real big. Like this one:
<a href="http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVSWZZr" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.postimage.org/aVSWZZr.jpg" border="0" /></a>

[mudhole]

Wow! we are not hunting the same kind of fish. . . The head and upper body is a really good fish that I might be able to find in some lakes, but the lower half of the body is much, much longer and many more steaks than any catfish I have seen. You did a great job of landing a fish with that kind of tail power.

[sticknrelease]

Holy Cow! you are just another part of the food chain with those cats! be careful and shoot first

[hyeparis]

Guys,
Just to make clear. It is not my trophy! I posted this link from a russian spearfishing site. I did spear catfish myself, but it was much smaller - than that - weighed about six kilos. The monsters, such as the one on this picture, dwell in bigger rivers, such as the Volga.

[SonnyEdmonds]

Umm, I think I'd want a bang stick for something that big. Holy Crapoly!