Labor Day, another PB

[paxmule]

Put in at lower marlboro yet again around 6am with jigsup and his buddy, went up to the same area as Friday. Action was a little slow with a low pressure front moving in, but hooked up on a 17 lbr and then 4 or 5 dinks. Then my rod doubled over and drag started screaming. As I was fighting it a big tree branch got caught in my anchor line and I had to unclip. Got it in the kayak and weighed it at 33 lbs. I knew the length record on this board was 34 inches so I took it to the bank and measured it for photos. It was 37 inches and a 2nd personal best in 3 days. I saw jigsup catching a few as well. At about 10 the barometric pressure dropped sharply and the bite went totally dead. Tried another hr and the labor day boat parade started picking up so I got off the water. 20220905_084955.jpg

[Big Mike]

Impressive catch. Curious, do you keep these and kill like DNR encourages or release? Not sure I’d want to eat one that size.

[paxmule]

I dont have room in the kayak for the size of cooler I would need to keep this quantity and size

[dsaavedra]

Man you're crushing it lately. I'm always really allured by the notion of catching huge catfish but every time I try it is unsuccessful and terribly boring. I always try in the late winter/early spring when not much else is going on which may be a tough time of year... I've never tried in the late summer. Maybe one day I'll meet you down at Lower Marlboro for a change of pace.

MDE says you should not eat blue catfish over 30" due to bioaccumulation. I know many people have personal limits less than 30". On one hand it seems wasteful to just kill a big catfish and toss it back, but on the other hand they are so destructive to the ecosystem I wouldn't want to release them. Some people use them for fertilizer but I'd have no use for that. I think I would be in a moral predicament if I caught a big one.

[Jigsup]

Had a wonderful time out there this morning. That was a hog of a fish you caught. I figured you must had been hanging onto good one when you floated passed us lol.

My friend was tired so he left early. But he enjoyed himself. I just about filled my cooler with great table sized fish. Which was a first for me and my cooler. I had one big fish on that broke my line at the barrel swivel. The rod hung down. I gave it a fast crank to set the hook. The fight was on for about 30 seconds. He gave a shake and ping, there goes my rig. But I did manage a 27 incher to end the day. It’s a kayak record for me. All in all was a banner day.

My family and I enjoy eating blue catfish. But I find anything over 15 lbs is not worth eating. Too much fat. And by time the filet is trimmed, the fish might as well be 8-10 lbs. 15 lbs is big enough for me to keep. Anything over I don’t want to take home. They are great tasting and plentiful.

[paxmule]

That's a good looking fish

[Shoobs]

Wow - great catch !

[Slackdaddy]

Nice catch,,,
I have been tied up chasing smallies in WV and VA.

Question,, could you hold position over the channel with a peddle kayak? without anchoring ??

[paxmule]

With an incoming tide, the current isnt as swift in a lot of spots so I would think so. Just find those current breaks near the bends over ledges. You may still drift a bit but it wouldn't be enough to be a problem. I've done it with a paddle.