What’s y’all’s heaviest catfish to date?

Deerhuntr

Ten Pointer
Figured I’d start this thread since the bass thread seemed to do pretty good.

I’ll start by saying I’ve enjoyed fishing the Cape Fear river many years and that’s where I would go when I targeted catfish being that I lived only a few minutes away from lock number 3.

I’ve caught several catfish I consider to be large but I have two that I consider to be my best. One was a 56 pound flathead caught on a live war mouth perch and the second being a 67 pound blue that was caught on a piece of cut shad. Both were caught out the Cape Fear.

I was fortunate to grow up with a father who loved the river and was a friend of the late Ed Davis out of Fayetteville. Ed and my father would share spots sometimes when they were both on big fish.

I’m looking forward to reading about some of y’all’s biggest.
 

Deerhuntr

Ten Pointer
You mean you didn’t catch your biggest off of chicken with garlic powder or koolaid... or hot dogs.... or chicken liver?! 😮

No monsters, 40s for me. Never weighed them. Blues and flatheads.
No mostly live or fresh Shad. If I’m after channels I’ll use chicken liver some.
 

nekkedducker

Ten Pointer
You mean you didn’t catch your biggest off of chicken with garlic powder or koolaid... or hot dogs.... or chicken liver?! 😮

No monsters, 40s for me. Never weighed them. Blues and flatheads.

That always made me chuckle when we would go by Buckhorn Dam and guys would be slinging chicken livers on a 8500 series spinning reels with store bought double surf rigs, just to be reeling in 12 inch channel cats. But I am an admitted kool aid hot dog user at times when we re filling up a cooler of channels at Harris Lake. We tried them as joke and ill be damn if they didnt work. Still prefer fresh netting shad though.
 

HarryNC

Eight Pointer
Haven't weighed many, but probably 35-40 lb blue cat out of Kerr Lake. Prefer live or fresh cut shad or white perch for bait. Have seen days, though, when the garlic and strawberry marinated chicken breast strips worked best.
 

Hunterreed

Twelve Pointer
Blue cat was 24,channel cat 8 and the largest flathead that got weighed was 19. Two years ago I landed a larger flathead but never brought home to weigh because of the long walk out to the truck that would have been mid 20's easy
 

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
No mostly live or fresh Shad. If I’m after channels I’ll use chicken liver some.

it was sarcasm because of all the naturally occurring baits that catch big and small depending on how you fish them, people still recommend the kind of stuff I said.
1) I ain’t wasting perfectly good chicken, garlic powder, livers, or hot dogs on a fish lol
2) see 1)
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
Oh, biggest channel was 19 and biggest flathead only 35......That flat head would have won tournament on dan river that night but I didn't enter....
 

CutNRun

Ten Pointer
Contributor
My PB is a 40 pound Flathead on the PeeDee below the Blewett Falls Dam on 17 lb. test line. Felt like somebody slammed a car door on the eel when he hit. Forty minute fight.

Jim
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I haven’t caught any big ones. Maybe 10-15 lbs.

But if we talked about who had caught the same catfish the most times.....my uncle had a decent blue cat in his pond. I think everyone had caught that one a few times each. He died a while back.
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
No harm in killing some some big ones.....the big ones are eating mo chines. I have personally seen a 70-80 lb flathead with a 30 lb blue half down its throat. 50 lb flathead eats more than shad, gills, bullheads.....they eat plenty of 5-10 lb blues and flats.
 

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
No harm in killing some some big ones.....the big ones are eating mo chines. I have personally seen a 70-80 lb flathead with a 30 lb blue half down its throat. 50 lb flathead eats more than shad, gills, bullheads.....they eat plenty of 5-10 lb blues and flats.

I have seen plenty of them float to the top during the spawn fighting over the best spawning grounds. If you didn't know what they was doing then you would say they was trying to eat each other. I just don't see how a 80 lb fish could eat a 30 lber. That would be like a 200 lb human eating a 25 lb steak. I found a white cat floating at Tillery once that was still alive but only had a skeleton for a tail. It was clear to me another catfish had held on to that fish long enough to digest its tail then release it.
 

labman63

Ten Pointer
73 lb blue for me 42 lb blue for the wife. Caught mine on a crappie head and hers cut shad or brim can't remember which.
 

TobyScreams

Twelve Pointer
55 lbs. flathead on shad in 6ft of water early in the morning. Thought I was hung up. Rod went over sooo slowly. I admit to chicken livers and hotdogs for eating size cats too. Chicken livers or shrimp will sometimes buy me a striper or hybrid.
 

Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
Helped a cousin pull in a 57 lb flathead on a limb hook some years ago. A 3-4 pound blue had bit the hook and the flathead had sucked him into his craw until the hook snagged him and the fight was on. A fish that big is a little hard to handle in a creekboat. This was in the Cape Fear drainage.
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
I have seen plenty of them float to the top during the spawn fighting over the best spawning grounds. If you didn't know what they was doing then you would say they was trying to eat each other. I just don't see how a 80 lb fish could eat a 30 lber. That would be like a 200 lb human eating a 25 lb steak. I found a white cat floating at Tillery once that was still alive but only had a skeleton for a tail. It was clear to me another catfish had held on to that fish long enough to digest its tail then release it.
We broke them up trying to net them and I would bet you money that blue died....those huge flats eat plenty on 5 to 10 lb cats....seen that on trotlines at santee...
 

slugoo

Eight Pointer
4 lb channel out of Lake Michael. I love catfishing but am very uneducated on fishing for anything other than small channels.
 

Infamous1

Eight Pointer
Caught some decent flats over the years. Never really weighed em. Here is an old pic of one out of upper Cape Fear.
IMG_20150626_190834_421.jpg
 
Top