By Andrew Ragas
With Marc Cooper, and Matt Lynch
Tricks of the catfish trade with southern hospitality, on the intricate art of baiting for big blue behemoths in southern fisheries.
Spending most of my time on the waters up north, our lakes and reservoirs aren’t as diversified with fish species as what’s found down south. A big fish adventure I’ve never gotten to experience up until last month is the pursuit of blue catfish. A recent late March adventure to Eastern Tennessee for multi-species treated me to this memorable first time experience.
Fish of all shapes and sizes fight differently. Catfish are fat, muscular, and laced with power. What I discovered on the gargantuan waters of Watts Bar, Tennessee, is when the largest North American catfish species, blue catfish, vacuums up the circle-hooked cut bait from 40 feet below; the ensuing battle becomes an exercise. It’s like pumping iron in the gym, but it gets better. This workout is best experienced by rod and reel.
“This fish isn’t helping my sprained shoulder heal from winter basketball season!” I yelled to my friends and guides, Matt Lynch and Marc Cooper, as I corralled an average sized Watts Bar blue catfish into the boat. Down deep, and even with our heavy saltwater rods and reels, the experience still felt like hooking into the ‘Free Willy’ of fish, regardless of being a 25 pounder.
So how much bigger can these species and the fight actually get? Let these southern boys and their hospitality tell you.
Fishing with Southern Hospitality
“Fighting a blue catfish is like fighting with a bull, at least in terms of the intensity of the conflict,” says Matt Lynch, a Tennessee outdoor writer, part-time fishing guide, and frequent contributor to numerous catfish publications. “Look at the physical builds of catfish: In Watts Bar, they are the hulking titans of the river and their bodies are one big muscle. When a blue catfish is feeding, nothing stands in its way.”
“A blue catfish is like an M1 Abrams tank of the deep,” adds Cooper. “Hook into one and you’ll see what I’m talking about!”
Marc Cooper, 20, and Matt Lynch, 29, are passionately driven by monster catfish. As I witnessed in their approach, their obsessions and angling styles parallel and compliment each other’s. With Cooper’s expertise in electronics and Lynch’s precision baiting techniques, together they form a bright and dynamic duo that has caught and released upwards of 400 lbs. of blue catfish in a single day.
Founder of the Collegiate Catfishing Association, a growing national fishing organization, and president of the University of Tennessee Catfishing Club, Cooper takes pride in helping anglers like me catch the largest catfish of their lives. On this day, his mission was accomplished.
With the potential to surpass weights of 100 lbs., blue catfish are North America’s largest catfish species. The Tennessee state record stands at 112 lbs., and both Lynch and Cooper have obsessive aspirations to someday break it. According to them, Watts Bar is a blue catfish paradise.
Watts Bar
Situated in the heart of the Tennessee River Valley at the confluence of the Emory, Clinch, and Tennessee rivers, Watts Bar reservoir encompasses 39,000 acres of water. Rich in deep rock, ledge habitat, and abundant forage species to support a thriving fishery that isn’t heavily pressured, blue catfish are the clear kings of Kingston, Tennessee.
Cooper and Lynch have helped anglers and their guests catch several personal bests, with specimens surpassing 65 lbs. However, what drives them most is the realistic chance at wrangling with a historic 100 pounder, and to continue breaking their own personal boat records.
“Fishing Watts Bar on a good day will leave anglers at a loss, like when Cooper and I recently hauled in an epic 420 lbs. of catfish in mid March,” says Lynch. Staggering numbers and a large average size of adult fish between 25 to 50 lbs. sets this southern reservoir above all others, and it’s easy to see why. “Looking back, we wrecked the fishery!” he concludes.
Watts Bar has shown both anglers its glory and potential. Cooper and Lynch have yet to haul in less than 120 lbs. from Watts Bar on any of their excursions. “On a bad day, you can still catch 100+ lbs. of fish. We have never caught below this amount on any Watts Bar outing,” repeats Cooper. On the miserably cold windy day I joined these two friends of mine, we easily surpassed that number, catching a handful of blues up to 38 lbs.
Beating the Blues
Blue catfish can be sought at any time of the year, but some specific seasonal periods “Can provide a little more weight under their belts,” says Lynch.
Much of the Watts Bar ecosystem is driven by the output of the Kingston Steam Plant. When it’s generating power, an influx of baitfish species turns this waterway into prime big fish feeding grounds. Anglers must also give consideration to the annual shad die-offs too, which allows hungry cats to gorge themselves on another abundant food source. With these two feeding events, Lynch and Cooper favor the late winter through spring period.
Locating the food isn’t the only thing that yields best fishing success. Current and flow rates have a lot to do with high catch rates as well.
Anglers have a realistic chance of catching a giant year round, but the likelihood of that catch varies by season. “Cat fishing success and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) current flows are usually in direct correlation,” says Cooper. “Fish expend energy, like humans on a workout regimen, and the caloric expenditure requires fish to feed in order to compensate for that. Anglers should follow the TVA release schedule like a stock market broker and his investments,” he quips.
Lynch and Cooper both have a strong personal preference to fish deep water and use it as their starting points in locating big catfish. Utilizing the Buck Perry mentality, “Blue Catfish follow structure like a road map,” says Lynch. “Looking at a key spot means it has to have immediate access to deep water. A great-looking spot without it will not be productive, because without prominent structure they have no road signs to guide them to these locations.”
“You can never go wrong with a steep channel breakline,” adds Cooper. Main lake structure relative to deep water is his favorite form of topography to target for trophy catfish.
Prior to wetting the lines, Lynch and Cooper spend hours studying topographic maps and their Navionics Platinum chips to determine productive spots and eliminating dead water. “Bends in the channel, humps, ledges and channel confluences, current breaks, and holes all provide key areas for us,” says Lynch. “It’s all a matter of breaking it down even further when on the water with electronics,” he concludes.
As fish are in a state of migration, electronics are heavily employed as Lynch and Cooper locate schools with a Lowrance HDS unit equipped with down-imaging and structure-scan. Run and gun with Lynch’s 17 ft Lowe Roughneck with 30 hp. Yamaha jet becomes their preferable tactic, seeking the active fish, and when found they will usually still be schooling up. On 2-dimensional screens, blue catfish tend to appear as a bulky ¾ arch. When using Lynch’s structure-scan, the shape of the catfish becomes obvious with its thicker muscular shape.
During the spring season, blue catfish are still holding deep, but will make short movements into the shallows to feed. Couple this with unpredictable weather and you will see why Lynch and Cooper both prefer to fish the deepest waters.
“Not only do we fall back on deep water being the home of big fish, but it offers them stability in the early parts of the season,” says Lynch. He affirms, “For this reason, deep holes will be their sanctuaries, and once water temperatures rise into the 50’s, fish will begin migrating upriver towards the headwaters and smaller rivers to spawn.” Blue catfish do not tend to follow a basic migratory spawn movement like most other species, but when schools are located, they will be concentrated.
By late spring through summer, Lynch and Cooper turn their attention to river stretches and current seams feeding into the main lake. “We focus a lot on the tailwater areas of many reservoirs, and drifting can be the most effective technique for covering an endless East Tennessee Reservoir like Watts Bar because fish will disperse,” says Cooper. Throughout summer and into early fall, catfish will still relate to the same forms of structure and cover before a reverse migration takes place in late fall, leading them back to their wintering holes.
The Blues Brothers Battle
For most of their cat fishing, cut bait is the overwhelming bait of choice. Due to their abundance in the Clinch and Tennessee River systems, skipjack herring is often the best catfish bait when properly prepared.
“Skipjack herring is an inherently bloody and extremely oily fish,” says Cooper, who is a new world record holder with a recently caught 4.28 lb specimen. “They grow to large sizes and are in abundance, which is why they are a key target for predation,” adds Lynch.
Skipjacks can be caught from any of the local steam plants by ultra-light hook and line methods. Lynch and Cooper insist that for best preparation, the skipjack must be immediately thrown on ice and vacuum sealed for freezing. When prepared this way, the head and mid sections are tempting bloody mess to cats when rigged properly.
For rigging, Lynch and Cooper rig their entire six rod spread in Carolina style fashion with sinker bumpers, slides, and 6 to 8 ounces of No Roll bank weights poured by Lynch himself. This package is then attached to a snelled Team Catfish 8/0 circle hook that is presented in both single and double-hook versions that are dictated by the size of cut skipjacks.
Lynch and Cooper use a multitude of heavy saltwater gear built to tackle large fish. For most of their cut bait fishing, their preference is to use 8 foot Okuma Battle Cat rods. “New to the market, they have wonderful traits ranging from sensitivity and backbone to the handle design,” says Lynch, believing they are superior to the competition. As for reels, size 300 to 500 Quantum Irons, Abu Garcia Ambassadeurs, and Okuma Komodo reels equipped with loud bait clickers and strong drag systems are the preferred choice. Most importantly, the reel too must have a huge line capacity to support 50 lb. high-vis Trilene Big Game monofilament.
Rod holders are the quintessential part of a catfish boat. “If anchoring or control drifting, rod holders are required,” says Cooper.
Lynch’s jet boat features an elaborate custom welded removable overhead rod holder system equipped with Monster Rod Holders that effectively spreads out lines and keeps them angled perfectly above the surface, engaged with current. “I don’t see a lot of people employing the bar set-up that I use, however most people may not seek catfish with such diligence like us,” says Lynch. “It allows a better rod spread off the stern, and allows the bait to work and disperse a scent trail with the current,” he concludes.
“This setup is my preferred method,” says Lynch. “I love doing anchored sets with my Cat River anchors, bow faced into the current, and just kicking back and waiting…… watching for any line jiggles and the drags to scream.”
Blue catfish may be bottom feeders, but their fight is categorized by deep and powerful runs with bone shaking headshakes. Anglers like Matt Lynch and Marc Cooper are setting the southern catfish world on fire through their stewardship in catfish conservation, education and exposure, and introduction of intricate and artful new age techniques. Last, but not least, they’re helping many deprived catfish anglers like me pop their first catfish cherries.
