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Catfish Fishing
Lake Sinclair has always been a big part of Tommy Spell’s life. He grew up fishing there and that hasn’t changed through the years. It’s more than 55 miles from his Alamo home, but he still makes the trek there often because it the largest lake closest to his home. Those late-night hours fishing for…
Eric Kent and Dustin Herndon, both of Gray, won first place and a check for $5,000 in the 100% payback Brandon Key Catfishing Tournament on Lake Sinclair June 11-12. The 7th annual fundraiser netted $50,485 for 30-30 Ministries, a 501c3 non-profit organization youth ministry whose mission is to use hunting and fishing as a platform…
Yes, gas prices are high and travel expensive, but that didn’t stop the boats from rolling in to the 18th edition of the Wayne County Catfish Tournament, June 4-5. In fact, there were even more than last year’s! The Wayne County Board of Tourism’s annual Altamaha River-based hoedown drew 89 boats and 208 fishermen for…
On May 31, I called my fishing buddy and striper mentor Perry Nichols, and we talked about a plan to fish for stripers on the Etowah River (we call it the “E”) on Friday, June 3. We planned to take Perry’s jet boat, which is larger than mine, and Perry invited his nephew-in-law Allann Moroni…
An angler’s first fishing trip on the Etowah River produced a river record—a 38-lb., 0.8-oz. flathead catfish. “I guess you could call it beginner’s luck for me,” said John Morgado, of Canton, “but my friend Hugh Stephens fishes the river a lot, and he said he likes taking friends out. I usually go fly fishing…
If the 5th-grade class at Morgan Elementary School in Madison had show-and-tell a few weeks back, Zackary Mashburn was undoubtedly the winner. The 10-year-old caught the largest blue catfish—38-lbs., 11.52-ozs.–to ever come from the Oconee River below Lake Sinclair. He caught it on April 24. “It took me 15 minutes to get him in,” the…
Good Friday last month was a really good Friday. On that morning, I experienced the best catfish jugging trip of my life. From the 118 jugs we soaked in the waters of Lake Sinclair overnight on Thursday, April 14, I watched a 210-quart Yeti cooler fill to the point where it wouldn’t close. In the…
Some divers went down to work on the dam and came right back to the surface. They said there were catfish down there as big as Volkswagens and would not go back. I heard that tale about Clarks Hill in my teens, and I’ve heard it about every other lake I have been around all…
John Burnett’s name will appear on GON’s Lake & River Records signifying his recent catch as the largest flathead catfish ever caught on Lake Oconee, but the Conyers angler says it was really a family affair. The 52-lb., 8-oz. flathead caught on April 23 has been certified as the lake record after being seen by…
“Pull him in the boat” I yelled with excitement as I watched my youngest boy tussle with a nice-sized channel cat. The fish was thrashing its tail on the surface trying to make an escape, but my 4-year-old pulled him over the gunnel and into the bottom of the boat. He held up the cord…
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…