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Catfish Fishing
As the sun came up on Feb. 1, Capt. Ken Athon took two brothers out for a casual fishing trip on Goat Rock Lake. The air was cool and a dense fog was set over the water. Despite the conditions, the group was eager to get started, knowing the fish were going to be active.…
Some people luck into record Georgia freshwater fish. Some people deserve it. Kevin Carey, of Glenwood, earned his new river record. Kevin’s 62-lb., 15.2-oz. blue catfish caught Jan. 12, 2025 on the Oconee River below Lake Sinclair has been certified by DNR and is now recognized by GON as a new river record. It is…
Divers went down at the dam at Clarks Hill to do repairs and came right back up. They said catfish as big as Volkswagens were down there and they would never go down there again. I heard that tale in the 1960s while in high school in Thomson. You can change it to pretty much any…
For Buford’s Tyler Kesselring, it was a fishing tournament outcome that he wasn’t necessarily expecting. Fishing in the Lake Lanier Catfish Challenge, he went to the scales at 2 a.m. with a winning weight of 40 pounds. In his catch was a new Lake Lanier record blue catfish that tipped the scales at 19-lbs., 5.5-ozs.…
Terry Denman caught his first catfish 61 years ago on a cane pole while fishing with his grandfather. A lot of things have changed over the years for the Vietnam veteran, but nothing ever could erase the excitement of feeling a catfish tugging on his line. The biggest tug he ever felt came recently when…
For the second year in a row, Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) researchers are conducting a blue catfish tagging project on the Satilla River and need your help. Fisheries managers hope this study will allow them to learn more about this non-native species and better assess its impact. “As a large…
It would probably go down as one of the worst days of Eli Carey’s life if not for one thing. That one thing made it all worthwhile. “I had a rough day,” the Lyons resident said. “I had the day off and decided to go fishing on Oconee River, which is about an hour and…
You would have to consider it quite unusual if a 45-year-old lake fishing record was shattered by someone fishing from the bank in a community fishing hole that everyone knows about. Well, Walker Crowe is a quite unusual 16-year-old. While others his age are playing video games and worrying about teenage anxieties, Walker is dominating…
I don’t mind sharing with you that my focus is almost always catfish. And, my methods are almost solely toward big fish. Complete honesty… I want to catch the biggest fish in the lake! What is evident over the past two weekends is that the blue cats are most definitely in spawn. Their bite…
A lazy, yawning, stretching sun is warm, finally, as it peers across treetops bordering Crooked Creek. Winter’s bite has clung on tenaciously this year. After months of chilling winds, rain and more rain, Lake Sinclair almost feels like home again on this Monday, the second week of April. The old faded vest that has weathered…
Catfish Recipes
Smoked Catfish Dip We had some company coming over to watch some football recently and my wife asked me to pick up an appetizer at the grocery store. A smoked fish dip sounded nice, so I checked out the offerings at Publix. It was $8.99 for a small tub of dip, and I would probably…
I caught six small catfish recently and realized after cleaning them I had no peanut oil. It was late, so I decided to blacken them with Cajun spices instead of frying them. They were incredible. But trust me, don’t try this inside the house! Catfish fillets, skinned 1 teaspoon black pepper 1 teaspoon garlic powder…
I must admit, I first thought putting catfish in a taco might result in my man card being revoked. For me, fried or blackened catfish was the only way to go. I was pleasantly shocked just how good a catfish taco is. I plan to make my own next time when my buddies aren’t around…