Conversation Between Box kicker 101 and SlingerDun

Fish On!

When my unit first got out here in Iraq my roomate that i was replacing just gave me a brand new pole, shimano reel and some 10 pd test. I came across some rooster tails and at first just snagging some karp up. Eventually a DOC gave ma some silver Kastmasters that were doing the job till my 3/4 oz bronze tanks came in. They have been working ever more so then anything else i have in the tackle.

Another Marine one day while on the lake came up to me and told me that he had caught some cats out of here using some bread? When i was younger and my pops used to take us fishing he only used liver so going with my old mans thinking i just recently bought some liver from cabelas. It's been close to 1 month though and some other fishing euipment i've ordered came in at the same time.

I remember one day i was walking around the lake just doing my spot fishing and like you said earlier i couldve sworn this cat was a log right up almost on the shore and as i was gettting close it took off like a bat out of hell.

The lake i fish at is a man made lake like all the lakes here in iraq so the water is almost cyrstal clear. The fish that ive came across have all been either karp family or in the minnow family i havent caught any cats yet but would be nice to switch up the catches..

I've done considerable catfishing in the Columbia and Snake drainage systems and they rarely hit hardware especially if it's buzzin faster than the current thats bringing them feed. Static or slow, live and dead bait, crawlers #1, prawns, herring, sand shrimp are slayers with a little cover like WD-40 or scented hand soap to wash out human sign and bring em closer in cloudy water. A couple few inches off the bottom for no more than about 5 minutes or so, then ill work different water.

They sniff out and identify minute particals better than Salmonidae and thats impressive. Sometimes cats lurk alot closer to the shore than one would expect and just poke their heads out for feed drifting by but the presentation should always be slow and unassuming, cats don't tend to go lookin for a fight.

If you can take a stick and gently probe (as if it were to the fish nothing more than driftwood) for holes or caves in the bank they might be holding there, also under log jams and snags. It's hard to get terminal gear in front of their face in those areas but sometimes worth it.

Damn i need to get my ass out on the river!

~Dave