Fall catfish bite

[paxmule]

Went out to clyde watson today just before low tide. The current was ripping from the past storm runoff and the wid was much stronger than forecasted. Water temp was 58 degrees which is great for the fall feeding frenzy. I think if there hadn't been such a sudden cold snap along with the heavy current, the bite would have been even better. In the short time I was there, I caught 5 quality blue cats. Nothing huge but all over 10 lbs. When the incoming tide started the wind caused the waves to get too dangerous even for my very stable bonafide kayak. It got bad FAST. Luckily I was right next to the boat ramp. 20221008_092747.jpg It should only get better through this month and next.

[Jigsup]

Nice going. Those are quality fish. Friend of mine fished the lower Marlboro pier Thursday morning and lost 2 big ones at the pier and took a few quality fish home for meals. Definitely would like to get back out there soon.

[paxmule]

I'll get up there again next weekend if the weather is better. I've never seen it get so rough there as it did today. I'm sure it was the wind against the post storm current that got the water churning like that. I mean it was fine from 8 to almost 1 but then all of the sudden I was riding whitecaps. I'm thinking about trying bushwood Monday

[rugbyfish]

Nice fish! Sounds like fun outing. I’ve had good luck with eating-sized cats at Bushwood in the spring, but I’ve never tried in the fall.

[paxmule]

Got out to the same spot today. Got a 22 pound blue within 5 minutes in front of the ramp. Followed by a 12, a dink, and a small flathead. I was wondering if there were flatheads there and now I know there is. This was all in 15 minutes. Up and down the area for 4 hrs after that just produced more dinks. Not a bad day overall. 20221010_124203.jpg

[dsaavedra]

Are you sure of the flathead? I have never heard of them in the Patuxent. I have caught channel catfish and whiten catfish in the Pax though. Neither one really looks like a flathead.

[paxmule]

Ya, yellowish speckled skin, big head and mouth, non forked tail fin, Very flat top of the head. They catch a lot of flathead in the James north of Richmond and in the potomac north of DC, also the elk and sassafras rivers. Gotta figure they could get into the patuxent eventually. I've caught so many fish here this year and all mostly blues and few channels, but that was the only flathead. So they are of course rare by my metrics.

[dsaavedra]

Wow, that's cool - well, not really since they are invasive - but interesting nonetheless

[NoDakYak]

I probably waved at you on Saturday! Some friends and I were camped at the Milltown Landing site just south of the Clyde Watson ramp, and we waved at a couple kayakers. We were planning on paddling around and fishing, but due to the conditions being worse than forecasted we ended up mostly hanging out in camp and catfishing from shore. Pulled in lots of blue cats, mostly pretty small, but a few in the 10+ pound range. Two small channel cats also.

Between the full moon tide, the post-storm water level, and the winds, it was much tougher paddling than we planned on. Beautiful campsite though.

[paxmule]

Ok, ya I saw you Saturday. I was in the grey bonafide kayak. I actually have milltown landing reserved for another weekend. Looks like a great night-time bank spot.

[Jigsup]

A flathead? Hmm. I’ve heard people talking about catching them in the Patuxent but never laid eyes on one. I’ve caught what I call a bull head catfish. Had a wide mouth. More head than body. It was short, mabye about 8 inches in length. I figured if there small ones there have to be bigger ones. I’ve never seen or heard of a big flathead caught in the Patuxent. You take a picture of it?

[paxmule]

It was too big to be a bullhead. probably 6 or 7 pounds. We have bullheads back home and they cant get very big. The record is like 5 lbs i think. Had a flat, non forked tail fin so couldn't be a channel or white catfish. Didn't take a picture cause it wasn't very big and I'm used to catching flatheads back home so i didn't think a whole lot of it. It wasn't very surprising to me since so many other rivers in the area have flatheads in greater numbers. I doubt anyone will see many more in the area. Probably a one off thing. Flatheads don't typically handle any amount of salt.

[paxmule]

Today was a decent day at lower marlboro. Launched at 7 and tried in front of the pier with no luck so I motored up to white landing and found a drop-off a little farther than I normally go that was loaded. I was doubled up with a 13 and 16 pounder 10 minutes after setting up, then caught several more around 10 pounds. Stayed until about 11 and then started drifting back all along the entire bend and was catching 1 every few minutes the whole way. Wind picked up and it got dicey so I quit at 12. Took a pic of the 2 in the double, the larger one came out blurry because it tail slapped my phone as the camera timer was counting down and slimed it. 20221015_101830.jpg 20221015_102902.jpg

[paxmule]

The big cats are feeding heavily with the water temp in the 50s. Today I fished a stretch from white landing down to lower marlboro and was catching fish for 5 hours, both tides. All were biting hard and pulling with a vengeance. 3 fish were over 20 lbs, the smallest was 13. I think I caught somewhere near 15 fish. The last 1 had one eye and was missing part of its upper lip. They weren't concentrated but were all over the place biting frequently in all depths.
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[Jigsup]

Looks like a great time! those fish are hungry right now.