August a fantastic month for catfishing

A big Missouri flathead catfish.

Photo courtesy of MDC

Fishing for catfish has long been an activity that has provided angling excitement as well as great table fare.

When the dog days of August roll around, anglers like Fred Brooks and Tom Robbins of Sedalia, break out the catfishing gear and head for the lake.

“There are a lot of good-sized catfish in Missouri waters, and August is a great time to catch them,” said Brooks.

This pair of catfishermen have lines in the water, from the north Grand River to Table Rock — with good rates of success.

“We began fishing together back in 1975 and have taken cats over 70 pounds,” recalled Robbins. “We started near home on Blackwater River and the Lake of the Ozarks. More recently we have fished Stockton and Table Rock. Although Table Rock is better known as a great bass lake and Stockton is known as one of the best walleye lakes in the state, both have some catfish in them and fishing for them at night this time of the year can be rewarding.”

Catfish consume most anything

Since catfish aren’t too particular about what they eat, the two fishermen use whatever bait is easiest to obtain.

Said Brooks: “We’ve used everything from hot dogs, to liver to catch catfish. One camping trip, we had some leftover hot dogs so we baited several lines with them. To our surprise, the lines set with the ‘dogs’ caught more and larger cats than the ones set with shad sides and liver. With catfish you never know what will work.”

Both anglers started out fishing for catfish while in grade school when their fathers took them fishing. The parents used a blend of stink bait that you could smell in the next county — but it must have worked, as Brooks said, “They always brought home fish.”

Recently, Brooks caught one of the largest catfish he has tangled with — a 52 pound cat he hooked from the Lake of the Ozarks.

“I couldn’t believe that the fish was that big,” said an elated Brooks. “I have taken 10 pounders that fought harder. I guess it was just fat and lazy. It hit a shad side about two minutes after I started fishing. The monster hit so light, I gave it line before I set the hook. I thought it might have been a turtle, but when I felt the pull of the fish, I knew it had to be real big.”

Although August is the favorite month for this pair of fishermen, they fish for cats all year long.

Two young catfish anglers proudly display a very large catfish.

Photo courtesy of MDC

“One of my best trips was in January on a Kansas lake that had ice in the coves,” explained Brooks.

“We were using a pontoon boat and used shad sides and fished in water about 10 feet deep. A TV crew was nearby filming waterfowl, but when they saw us pulling channel cats, they focused on us.”

Continued Brooks: “We caught more than 20 catfish in the three hours we fished, including a 12 pounder. Most of the fish were in the three to five pound range. It was a great day, even though the temperature was around 40 degrees. The hot fishing made it seem much warmer than it actually was.”

Both fishermen rate August cat fishing in Missouri waters as the best anywhere. It is a rare day or night when these two anglers don’t catch some keeper catfish.