BOC Catfishing Hall of Fame/California

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Flathead Catfish record holders. Learn the catfishing secrets used to boat monster Flathead Catfish

Flathead Catfish record holders. Learn the catfishing secrets used to boat monster Flathead Catfish

Member Name Brian Cummings	BOC Screen Name bluehunter	BOC Join Date September, 2002
Catfish Catch Date June 6, 2008	State Caught In California	Body of Water Fished Palo Verde Canal
Catfish Species Flathead Catfish	Catfish Weight 42 Lbs.	Rod Used Gator rod heavy action
Reel Used Abu 7000	Line Test & Type 40 Lb Big Game	Hook Used 10/0 kahle
Bait Used Live Bluegill	Approx. Time Caught 12:00 AM	Air Temperature 80⁰
Weather Conditions Clear Night	Bite Activity Rating 5 – So So	Boat or Bank Fishing Bank Fishing

Fish Tale of the Catch:Went to Palo Verde over the weekend with my group and met with some fellas at the BOC gathering in Blythe. We arrived early sat morn to go after some gills. Had a tough run on the gills than we moved over to oxbow and got into some nice redear, some even over a pound. Tony got one about 2 pounds. We went to holler at Dale, Plumbertom, and a few others from the Boc. After a while of shooting the breeze we went after gills in Blythe and got into some decent ones enough to hold us for the night. We than purchased Goldfish and went to kicked back at the canal by 330 after some town errands with food and drinks.

Keep in mind I was under the weather with bronchitis that week and almost did not make it but I went anyway since we had this in our plans for the last few months and I had some medicine. The medicine had codeine in it so it made me drowsy and put me to sleep. While I was sleeping Trueblue, Tony, and Sean got into some flats up to 8 pounds. The bite was slow. I decided to check my lines as they were out there for hours from 8 PM to midnight. One line was still good and had the gill on it, the other line was straight across the canal and my reel was almost at a backlash. I picked it up and the rod was hung up. I figured a fish buried me in the snags so I placed it down and walk down to ask Steve for some help so I can see the line. After a while of pulling and tugging the bush across the canal all of a sudden moved and then a big log like flat appeared. He was on.

This fish gave me problems and if it was not for the fellas - Steve, and Tony, and Sean and Deandre with the flash light, I would have lost him. We had him almost to the bank and netted and he just took off and went for the bush to my right. I was like dang and a few other words and he was stuck. We had to get dirty style to get him out and break some of the timber to get him loose. This took about 15 minutes. This is after the 10 minutes of getting him unbuttoned from the first snag across the canal.

So Tony and I did like anyone else in that situation would have done, jump in the water and get him. After breaking sone snags and keeping tension on the rod we found out the fish was heading back across the canal while the line was caught in the snag. We got that lose and then my line was straight with the fish in the middle of the canal. I reeled him in and we finally netted him. End result was a 42 pound flat and two and muddied up fellas.

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2nd place image

Member Name Tony Ferguson	BOC Screen Name Luckie33	BOC Join Date September 12, 2007
Catfish Catch Date May 17, 2008	State Caught In California	Body of Water Fished Colorado River
Catfish Species Flathead Catfish	Catfish Weight 31 Lbs.	Rod Used Ugly Stick Custom 7’6” M/H
Reel Used Ambassadeur 7000	Line Test & Type 30 Lb Big Game	Hook Used 10/0 Kahle
Bait Used Live Bluegill	Approx. Time Caught 3:15 AM	Air Temperature 78⁰
Weather Conditions Clear Night, ľ Full Moon	Bite Activity Rating 5 – So So	Boat or Bank Fishing Bank Fishing

Fish Tale of the Catch:Had put a new gill on around 12pm that night and I was sleeping when my clicker starts to sing at 3:15, I pick up my rod out of the holder and the fish is still peeling line. I set the hook and the fight was on. 15 minutes later we netted him.

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3rd place image

NO ENTRY SUBMITTED

Member Name	BOC Screen Name	BOC Join Date
Catfish Catch Date	State Caught In	Body of Water Fished
Catfish Species	Catfish Weight	Rod Used
Reel Used	Line Test & Type	Hook Used
Bait Used	Approx. Time Caught	Air Temperature
Weather Conditions	Bite Activity Rating	Boat or Bank Fishing

Fish Tale of the Catch:

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Blue Catfish record holders

Member Name Brian Cummings	BOC Screen Name bluehunter	BOC Join Date September, 2002
Catfish Catch Date January 7, 2005	State Caught In California	Body of Water Fished San Vicente Reservoir
Catfish Species Blue Catfish	Catfish Weight 81 Lbs.	Rod Used Calstar 7ft
Reel Used Penn 545	Line Test & Type30 # Mono	Hook Used 6/0 J Hook
Bait Used Mackerel	Approx. Time Caught 1:30 PM	Air Temperature 60⁰
Weather Conditions Heavy rain	Bite Activity Rating 3	Boat or Bank Fishing Boat Fishing

Fish Tale of the Catch:It was a rainy day on January 7, 05, the last of a 3 week holiday break I had from my job as an 8th grade U.S. History teacher in Los Angeles, Ca. I woke up around 8am that morning and debated about wether or not I should go fishing. I called a friend and talked about my thoughts with him and said, this is the prime time to go after the big blues in weather like this, I should go for at least an afternoon bite. He gave me the encouragement to go, plus I figured why let my last free Friday go of my break go to waste, so I packed up my gear and decided to go fishing. I made the drive to San Diego to go after monster blue catfish which is about an 1hr and 45 minutes south away from my home in Ontario, Ca. For some reason, I had a good feeling that morning.

The feeling that I would catch something on this day did not come from recent success either. In December I had lost three big blues to mishaps, such as fish wrapping themselves in underwater cover, or becoming unbuttoned after a good fight. I was due and could not strike out 4 times in a roll. My Calstar medium action rod and my Penn 545 baitcaster helped give me the confidence that if one hits my line again, I will take it to him.

After leaving around 9am and making a few stops, I arrived at San Vicente Reservoir around 1130am, and after paying my permit and renting a motor boat, I set out in pouring rain, hoping that I'd actually land the next big blue that hit my bait. I went to a spot that had a slopping drop off from a rocky area. The depth had a slanting drop off going from 5 feet to about 40 feet. I armed my self with mackeral heads and casted one rod in about 8 feet of water close to the bank, and another rod in about 40 feet of water going towards a point that was in front of me. Big blue cats love mackeral heads, and that was my bait of choice for the day. I set at my spot for 2 hours without recasting or checking my bait, and at 145pm, I had my first run on a rod to my right that was in 40 feet of water. The reels clicker screamed for about 6 seconds. I picked up my rod and it stopped. I am thinking, " Man I missed it."

Hoping that the fish would come back to the bait and hit it again, I just sat there with the rod in my hands for about 15 seconds. And then the reel on my second rod - the rod on my left - started clicking. Line peeled out steadily as the clicker called to me louder and louder, giving me a chance to pick up the rod and set the hook. In pouring rain, this fish was on.

Almost immediately I knew that I had a big fish at the other end of my line. So what did I think about? Naturally, those three big blues that had escaped my grasp in December. I tightened the drag more than I had done in December since I had 30 pound test on it, attempting to stop the fish from burrowing down. The fish was still pulling line, but I was able to get a good crank on the fish and bring it close to the boat. That's when the fight really began.

The fish did not want to come up, and for a long while I did not see it. The blue tried to go under the boat, then around the boat, but I kept cranking and gaining line _ at least more than it would take out on successive runs. After about 12 minutes, the fish tired and came to the surface. I tried to net it and the fish came loose from the net. After about ten seconds he came back to the surface and I was able to get the head in the net and some of its upper body. My net wasn't big enough to envelope the entire fish.

I grabbed the frame of the net with both hands and pulled the fish into the aluminum boat, happy that the fourth blue did not escape. I initially estimated the fish would weigh about 60 pounds, so imagine my surprise back at the dock when the scale there read 81.5 pounds.

I took pictures of the fish, and then released it back into the lake to grow to a bigger size to be caught again.

Brian Cummings

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Blue Catfish 2nd place image

NO ENTRY SUBMITTED

Member Name	BOC Screen Name	BOC Join Date
Catfish Catch Date	State Caught In	Body of Water Fished
Catfish Species	Catfish Weight	Rod Used
Reel Used	Line Test & Type	Hook Used
Bait Used	Approx. Time Caught	Air Temperature
Weather Conditions	Bite Activity Rating	Boat or Bank Fishing

Fish Tale of the Catch:

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Blue Catfish 3rd place image

NO ENTRY SUBMITTED

Member Name	BOC Screen Name	BOC Join Date
Catfish Catch Date	State Caught In	Body of Water Fished
Catfish Species	Catfish Weight	Rod Used
Reel Used	Line Test & Type	Hook Used
Bait Used	Approx. Time Caught	Air Temperature
Weather Conditions	Bite Activity Rating	Boat or Bank Fishing

Fish Tale of the Catch:

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Channel Catfish record holders

Member Name Randy Ritter	BOC Screen Name KnotGillty	BOC Join Date December, 2006
Catfish Catch Date August 2, 2008	State Caught In California	Body of Water Fished Clear Lake
Catfish Species Channel Catfish	Catfish Weight 28 Lbs.	Rod Used Ugly Stick 9 foot Slow Action
Reel Used Shimano Baitrunner 4500	Line Test & Type Suffix Elite 17 Lb Mono	Hook Used 6/0 Circle Hook
Bait Used Mackeral	Approx. Time Caught 6:45 AM	Air Temperature 65⁰
Weather Conditions Clear	Bite Activity Rating 6	Boat or Bank Fishing Boat Fishing

Fish Tale of the Catch:I was fishing in 15 feet of water with a slip bobber, suspending the bait about a foot above bottom. I was laying on the floor trying to get some rest when the reel began to scream. After a few runs and some serious rod bendage, the fish came to the boat. The fish was a big old male channel cat with very broad shoulders. I've caught fatter channels (stomach girth), but none as wide & thick in the upper body. After some quick photos I gave the fish a kiss and released the beast to fight another day.

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Channel catfish 2nd place image

Member Name Brian Cummings	BOC Screen Name Bluehunter	BOC Join Date September, 2002
Catfish Catch Date October 4, 2008	State Caught In California	Body of Water Fished Lower Otay Reservoir
Catfish Species Channel Catfish	Catfish Weight 23 Lbs.	Rod Used 7 Ft. Gator Rod
Reel Used Abu Garcia 7000	Line Test & Type 30 Lb	Hook Used 8/0 J
Bait Used Mackeral	Approx. Time Caught 12:30 PM	Air Temperature 68⁰
Weather Conditions Overcast skies	Bite Activity Rating 5 - So-So	Boat or Bank Fishing Boat Fishing

Fish Tale of the Catch:Fished Lower Otay in San Diego and came across a hump that went up to 35 feet from surrounding deeper water of up to 80 feet. I anchored on the area and cast out to an area that maintained the shallower depths up to about 30 feet. Bluegill were also present so they kept me busy with getting gills up to 1.5 pounds. Sat for a while and had my first cat run after about an hr of waiting for the cats to bite. He ran smooth and I had no idea that he was of any size till he reached close to the boat and he decided to put on the breaks and fight me. After about a 4-5 minute fight near the boat I finally saw color and I was more amazed to see its color. Bright orange and the first thing came to my mind was a giant albino. I finally got him in the net and the channel cat top out at 23.5 pounds. Surely one of the amazing catches that I made since I been in the cat fishing game. A catch to remember.

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channel catfish 3rd place image

monster_channel catfish_22 pounds by KnotGillty

Member Name Randy Ritter	BOC Screen Name KnotGillty	BOC Join Date December, 2006
Catfish Catch Date September 15, 2007	State Caught In California	Body of Water Fished Clear Lake
Catfish Species Channel Catfish	Catfish Weight 22 Lbs.	Rod Used Ugly Stick 9 foot Medium Action
Reel Used Shimano Baitrunner 4500	Line Test & Type Suffix Elite 17 Lb	Hook Used 2/0 Owner Mosquito Hook
Bait Used Mackeral	Approx. Time Caught 4:00 AM	Air Temperature 52⁰
Weather Conditions Clear Night	Bite Activity Rating 5 - So-So	Boat or Bank Fishing Boat Fishing

Fish Tale of the Catch:I was anchored on a big flat in 12 feet of water. The bite had been fairly slow and I finally decided to lay down in the boat to try to get some sleep. I was startled by the sound of my baitrunner reel releasing line and I jumped up and layed wood to the fish. The channel cat actually jumped out of the water seconds after the hook set as I could hear the loud splash out in the darkness. After that he bulldogged back to the bottom and I slowly played him to the boat. After about a 5 minute battle my wife netted the fish and we took some pictures, got a weight reading on my digital scale, and released the beast to spawn another day. Please practice catch & release on trophy fish whenever possible.