In Search of a River Monster

During the summer of 2020, COVID-19 and cheap gas provided my family many opportunities to go fishing. Following our normal springtime routine, we started fishing for spawning slab crappies in May, eventually transitioning to dinner plate bluegills in June. After filling the freezer with scrumptious panfish fillets and juicy cut bait, my focus turned to catfish.

As a lifelong catfisherman, I’ve always been amazed by their strength and tenacity. Even small cats bite aggressively, and fish weighing several pounds can easily pull unsecured rods into the water. Even more impressive, cats that reach double digits can strip reel gears and snap fishing rods from unwary anglers like toothpicks. The true giants, 100 pound and larger catfish, can break 80-100 pound braided line on tackle designed for tuna and sharks. In a word, catfish are “tough”! With this in mind, the quest to catch my personal best channel catfish began.

I chose Saylorville Lake as the destination to catch my river monster. Saylorville is a flood control reservoir located in Central Iowa that covers approximately 5,000 acres and boasts a large population of channel catfish, including trophy fish over 30”. Fed by the Des Moines River, Saylorville is nutrient dense and highly productive, supporting hoards of gizzard shad that catfish hunt and fatten up on throughout the year.    

To prepare for the trip, I did an equipment check to make sure everything I needed was in the boat. First and foremost, I double checked to make sure my Whisker Seeker GFX and Whisker Seeker FMJ rods were in the locker. Next I grabbed my catfish tackle box and opened it up to inventory the gear. Inside I found a Whisker Seeker Triple Threat Catpack with a good supply of hooks in various sizes. Since I was using both whole and cut bluegills for bait, I was glad to have the 6/0 and 8/0 hooks available. On the top shelf I found several different Whisker Seeker rigs, and since I was trolling in stained water I selected Whisker Seeker Rattlers in orange for added visibility and sound. One last look confirmed I had plenty of sinker slides and lead sinkers in multiple weights to keep my presentation at the right depth.  

The next day after work, with rods, tackle, and bait loaded, I hooked the boat up to my truck and proceeded the 60 miles to Saylorville Lake. Upon arrival, the boat launch was relatively calm with only a couple pleasure boats occupying the double ramp. When I stepped outside to remove the boat cover, unhook the trailer straps, and insert the bilge plug, the heat and humidity slapped me in the face like a moist, hot towel. Almost immediately, sweat began pouring down my face, back, and chest, soaking through my shirt, the gusty wind unable to wick it away fast enough. I smiled and thought to myself, “Perfect catfishing weather… But I really wish I would’ve pulled the trigger on that neck gaiter”.  

After the boat was rigged and ready, my cousin pulled up 10 minutes late, right on schedule for him. Once we got the boat in the water, Josh parked the truck, jogged down the ramp, and jumped in the boat. I already had the 60 horse idling, and with a tight arc we turned and putted our way through the no-wake-zone and into the open lake. Once the boat was on plane, it only took a few minutes to get to the spot, a long, steep, underwater dropoff that formed a shelf between warm shallows and cooler, darker depths. This feature alone made it an ideal ambush location for voracious catfish. However, on this day, a strong southwest wind with powerful gusts pushed swarms of shad against the dropoff, creating a calamitous smorgasbord for the predators lurking below.  

After shutting down the outboard motor and trimming the prop out of the water, I deployed the trolling motor that would guide our hunt. I quickly tapped the electronic anchor on my remote control to keep the boat stationary as we geared up. We pulled the rods out of the locker and clicked the bails open to release the spools. We played line through the rod guides until we reached the tip and then pulled several additional feet out for slack. The process was the same for both poles, and we started by slipping a sinker slide on the lines followed by a bead. Next we attached an orange WST Rattler to the lines using Palomar knots. With the rigs tied on, the last steps were to add sinkers and bait hooks. Because we were only fishing 15 feet of water, we added a 1 ounce sinker to each pole.  

The catfish at Saylorville eagerly devour shad as their primary forage. However, since I’d been successful on other lakes and rivers using bluegills for bait, I grabbed some frozen fish out of the freezer and threw them in the boat before we left. Using the top of a cooler lid, I carefully clipped and sliced cut bait out of a large frozen bluegill with my Whisker Seeker bait knife and scissors.  On the rod facing the shoreline dropoff I baited a 4-5 inch chunk of cut bluegill to the hook. On the rod opposite we attached a whole, 6 inch, frozen bluegill to the rig. We casted both presentations straight out the sides of the boat, the baits landing with a deep, hollow plop and impressive, foamy splash. When the baits found the bottom, we put the rods in holders, engaged the trolling motor, and began our first run, accelerating to 1.2 miles per hour. After pulling roughly 50 feet of line off the reels, we clicked the bails shut and began trolling.

On the first couple passes across the dropoff, we never hooked up with anything but the bottom, snagging the lines a few times on rocks and other debris. On the third pass we tied on fresh baits and increased our speed to 1.5 miles per hour. On this attempt we no longer snagged the bottom, but we didn’t have any bites either. We decided the spot was just too good to leave and agreed to give it one more try. Shortly into the run, Josh said he thought the starboard rod had a hit. Unfazed, we kept going until all of a sudden the same Whisker Seeker GFX jerked backwards violently, bent in an impossible, throbbing arc! I immediately hit the electronic anchor and jumped out of my seat. In half a second I was standing over the holder struggling to get the fully loaded rod into my hands as whatever was on the other end continued to pull powerfully on the line.  

An epic battle ensued as the fish peeled line off the reel and the drag screamed. For several minutes I simply hung on to the rod with steady pressure as the fish made run after run and circled the boat. Eventually I was able to gain some ground and recover some line from the surging leviathan. However, once I finally reeled the fish in close enough for murky identification, he turned hard and torpedoed straight down, erasing the gains and taking additional line. In that brief moment, the creature’s identity was betrayed as the foot-wide forked tail propelled it into the deep. I had indeed caught a channel catfish, and it was a monster!

Ten minutes into the struggle, I felt the fish begin to tire. Each run became weaker than the last, and I was finally in control. Supremely confident in the construction of the GFX rod, I horsed the surly fish to the side of the boat and was humbled and amazed at its size. Eager to put my hands on the beautiful trophy, but not willing to suffer a crushing bite or stabbing hook, I reached for the set of Whisker Seeker Lock Jaws that I keep hanging from the boat’s throttle lever. With a well-timed maneuver, I reached over the side of the boat and clipped the jaws onto the formidable lower jaw of the catfish. With the fish secure and subdued, Josh quickly reversed the Triple Threat hook from the corner of its mouth.  

With a heave and a grunt, I pulled the hulking fish over the side, right hand supporting its belly and left hand secured to the Lock Jaws. We knew the fish was weary from exertion and needed to be released quickly. We grabbed a quick length measurement and weighed it with my Whisker Seeker digital scale. The stunning catfish stretched 32 inches long and weighed an astonishing 13.25 pounds. After snapping a few photos to share with friends and family, I leaned over the side of the boat and gently laid the catfish under the water to revive it. After a short respite, I unhooked the Lock Jaws and simply held the fish by the tail. Without so much as a “thank you” or “goodbye”, the icon ripped its tail from my grasp and whipped it wildly, jetting down to the bottom and drenching us with a thunderous splash. I succeeded in catching my first 30 plus inch catfish and smashed a long held personal record in the process.