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Catfish Fishing
DNR Fisheries staff recently captured non-native flathead catfish while sampling in the Ogeechee River. WRD staff conducts annual catfish sampling in coastal rivers to monitor native species and detect any potential non-native species. In December 2021, a single flathead was caught by a commercial fisherman. Until then, no flatheads had been reported in…
The world moved slower a hundred years ago in south Georgia. Life was simpler; but, truly, times were hard. There was little industry. No “town” jobs to speak of in a spot as sparse as Soperton. Willie T. Barwick was struggling just to get by in the year 1920, at wit’s end. That’s when he…
A blue catfish tagging project on the Satilla River is underway, and Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD) researchers need your help. Discovered in this waterway a few years ago, fisheries managers hope to use this study to learn more about this non-native species and better assess its impact. “As a large…
Dennis Johnson and his crew won first place and a check for $7,500 in the 100% payback Brandon Key Catfishing Tournament on Lake Sinclair June 10-11. The 8th annual tournament is a fundraiser for 30-30 Ministries, a 501c3 non-profit organization youth ministry whose mission is to use hunting and fishing as a platform to share…
About twice a month, James Rowland likes to go to Lake Sinclair with his fishing buddy so they can stock their freezers with good eating-size catfish. The Hartwell native never imagined that he’d ever catch a single blue cat that would seemingly feed half of his hometown. James is the new Lake Sinclair record holder…
One evening, Seth Shoults headed out to the Etowah River specifically to set a new waterbody catfish record. He didn’t just break a record. In fact, he established two new records in less than an hour of each other with two different species. The angler from Cartersville regularly fishes the Etowah River in northwestern Georgia.…
Rachel Harrison is a serious angler who has years of fishing under his belt. She laughs when she says she may have trouble getting family and friends to accompany her on future fishing trips. She recently broke the Oostanaula River record for flathead catfish with a fish that was officially weighed by WRD at 40-lbs., 13-ozs.…
A new lake record flathead catfish was caught during a tournament at Lake Seminole last weekend. Tim Trone was fishing with his son Chase when he hooked up with a big flathead that ended up taking big-fish honors weighing 53.70 pounds (53-lbs., 11.2-ozs.). Tim is no stranger to massive, record-breaking catfish. He is the Georgia…
Koob Moua, from Monroe, didn’t set out to establish a new Lake Oconee record for blue catfish. In fact, Koob seldom even fishes for catfish, but he might from now on. On March 22, Koob joined his brother Jacob Moua and their friend Justin Pledger in a 16-foot aluminum Bass Tracker boat. Using light tackle,…
Glenn Settles knew the process quite well when he boated a big channel catfish. He would have to get this fish to a set of registered scales, contact the WRD for species confirmation and have two unrelated witnesses who would agree to testify to what they saw. And, if at all possible, he wanted to…
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…