Opossum Lake Catfishing

I wanted some catfish for a fish fry so my wife and I headed out to Opossum Lake Saturday night. I fished from 6:45 pm until 10 pm when the lake closes.
I brought home 26 bullheads ranging from 12 inches to 17 1/2 inches. Almost all of them were caught using pieces of raw shrimp for bait. I tossed several smaller ones back and lost a few too. I caught 35 catfish all together plus a big bluegill and a small largemouth, also on shrimp. I cut the shrimp into 3 pieces and threaded a piece onto a 3/0 and 4/0 Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap hook. These are great hooks for catfishing!

The excitement of the night was right before dark when two big ole snapping turtles found my shrimp. The largest being about 15 inches across his shell. Both of them came right in when hooked but changed their attitude when they got to the edge of the water. I cut my line close to their mouths. They were hissing, snapping and carrying on.

I got enough filets for several meals. It was a nice change of pace from bass fishing. From the time it got dark until we left at 10 pm, I had to take one rod out of the water and just fish with one because I couldn't keep up with two rods.
Not bass fishing but it was fun!

Tim