Catfishing Always Presents Challenges: You Can Be Prepared

Catfishing Always Presents Challenges: You Can Be Prepared

By Brad Durick

It seems if you catfish it is inevitable that something will happen that can turn your day upside down. Most of this is out of your control.

If you fish enough you know how this can go all too well. You know that little things happen, some can be fixed on site and others are a little more dramatic and need a little more planning and/or preparation.

Things That Can Go Wrong on a Catfish (or any) Trip:
There are obvious things that can go wrong. Snags, broken lines and lost hooks are little things that can go wrong making a day on the water a bad day. While these are not the end of the world and should be expected. Here are some ways to make this easier to deal with.

Snags
The most common problem one might run into while catfishing, but you already knew this, is snags. Everyone goes to the river prepared to tie a few snells on the line, but there are a couple ways to make your day easier.

Have your snells pre-tied and ready to go. Pre tie them at home and wrap them up for safe keeping. I like to use a section of a kid’s pool noodle to wrap my snells on and put them in my box for safe keeping. This will save a couple moments after a break off because rather than getting out line, hooks, and swivels you will just unwrap a snell and tie it on.

If you should be dealing with a situation where you are fishing deep wood or rock piles and having more break offs than normal an easy way to save terminal tackle is to tie your snells with a little lighter line than your mainline. Then you put a snap swivel into the line below your sinker so you can simply clip on another snell and move on.

Dead Batteries
I don’t mean boat batteries here because they will ruin a day for sure. I am talking about batteries in gadgets such as in your scale or cell phone. Scale batteries don’t fail often but they always seem to when you really need them. Of course you can always carry batteries around just in case or you can get a spring scale that requires no batteries. A fish grip with one built in like the Pro Grip from Rippin Lips has a spring scale built right in. This is perfect for a quick weight or when in a pinch from dead batteries.

Cell phones can be important for safety and when they go dead that is always annoying. Nowadays you can get power charges for phones and other gadgets to keep a charge. These little units fit right into your tackle box or even pocket for that matter. A little power in a pinch could be the difference between being safe or being stranded.

Broken Rods and Reels
This is an area that sometimes cannot be avoided. One never wants to drag a bunch of extra rods along with them, especially if you are on foot. There really is not magic for a broken rod other than cutting back a line for the remainder of the trip.

Space is a big issue in my boat and I almost never carry an extra rod with me because of it. Sometimes my six line spread becomes a five line spread for the day. With that I always keep two or three Supercat rods from Rippin Lips rigged up and ready at home so there is no panic to be back in business for the next day.

Reels have a tendency to break at the least opportune time. I do carry an extra reel with me because I have had more reels fail than rods over the years. Usually it is something very simple like a pawl wears out causing the reel to not wind properly. If you have a good tool box on board it can be as easy as keeping an extra pawl or two in the tool box for a quick fix on the fly.

Other reel problems that come to mind are a bad snag taking all the line off the reel. Normally I would wait to just re-spool at home but in a pinch or at the beginning of a trip it has happened where I will tie a new piece of line in right off another reel to keep rolling. A good blood knot really does hold well and won’t cost you any fish.

Motor Problems
When the motor fails you usually have one option and it is not a good one. Getting towed back to the ramp for a trip to the shop. A couple issues on the water than can be fixed on the fly are breaking a prop or having a plugged water pump.

I always carry an extra prop, prop nut, and a few pins just in case I should hit something causing prop damage. The extra nut and pins are not because they are damaged but rather when changing a prop on the fly sometimes you are over water and dropping one without an extra would be really bad.

The plugged water pump is one that never would have come except for on muddy rivers sometimes you will suck something into the pump and it will plug the drain. I have been forced to use a piece of copper wire on more than one occasion to cautiously poke into the drain hole and break up the plug so it can pee freely. That little piece of wire has been a life saver.

Bad Weather
Of course weather can creep up on a good day of fishing and one should be prepared. The best way to be prepared is have good rain gear packed. Anything that can be easily packed away will do a good job should the situation arise that you are about to get wet. The F-Series suits from Frabill are a good suggestion to keep on hand to stay out of the elements. I have used the F-4 Cyclone but for ease of packing I plan to add the F-1 Hybrid Pants and Storm Jacket to my collection. They are perfect to be packed in storage and be ready for a hot day storm.

These are just a few of the obvious things that can happen when going catfishing. I’m sure there are many more that I have not mentioned. Staying cool and being able to adapt is a huge plus. Some other things you should have with you catfishing are a good knife and shear. You never know when you need to be cutting line or things other than bait. Tools you may need are an adjustable wrench, a flathead and Philips screw driver, plier, extra pins for a prop and even an extra prop might be a good idea to keep in a boat.

Being prepared but not taking the entire shop with you can be the key to getting through a day on the water. Of course we hope we never have to experience any of these hurdles but we must be prepared if we do because there is always something when we go fishing.