9/23/2020 Big Channel Catfish in the rain at Lamar Park (Oxford)

It had basically rained all day which is a shame because I had the availability and desire to get out in the woods or on the water. Realizing it wasn’t planning on letting up, I asked the boy if he wanted to go catfishing in the rain. Normally it would be a toss up as to whether he was down but since he too had been cooped up all day he quickly agreed to let Nana dress him while I went to the bait store (Dollar General) to get bait (two loaves of bread and some minced garlic).

Three year old Cal putting the squeeze on a catfish at Lamar Park (Lake Patsy) on 9/23/2020.

Within ten minutes of getting bait on the water a nice 4-5 lb channel catfish learned that the bread wasn't free and Cal whipped him with a ProFishiency 6’6” rod ($19.99 at Wal-Mart) and an Abu Garcia Silvermax (bought on sale for $29.99 from academy) rigged with just a small treble hook and bread.

At the plate, James, on deck: two nice catfish

We got the hook out and bait back in the water. Some 90 seconds later another pole (this time a Zebco 33 on a 7’ Shakespeare Excursion, also under $20 at Wal-Mart) started screaming with a hooked fish. Cal fought it like a champ to the dock and when I tried to net it (while filming with an iPhone X and helping Cal with the pole) I dropped the net in the water. Unsurprising (to me) the net sank before I could climb over the dock. No problem. I just drug the fish to the bank along the dock and landed it with my hands.

Catfish on a stinger

By this point, me, the dog, and the boy were soaked. So even though the fish were cooperating, we opted to end the trip on a happy high note rather than risk souring him against future trips by keeping outside in the cool rain past his comfort or willingness. And so we packed up, went home, told mama about our fish and got clean and dry. Tomorrow calls for rain so unless it doesn’t answer, we’ll be back for another day of rainy catfish catching.