Fooled By Eels; 2x2x2
I went fishing in search of a small white perch and a small white catfish. Instead, I caught 2 largemouths, 2 bull heads, and 2 monster eels. I lost quite a few big eels too.
Typically when catfishing in the Charles, I'll catch one eel for every 20-30 catfish (I usually catfish when the stripers slow down and the warm-water fish pick up--mid summer.).
Also, usually for every 10 catfish in the Charles, 8 are about .5-.75 pounds, 1 is 1.5 pounds, and one is about 2-3 pounds.
I caught one big eel early on, and thought it was a huge cat. I assumed it was a random eel; I was happy to catch it. Then I caught a respectable bullhead. I spent the next hour-and-a-half loosing what I thought were monster cats. I had a couple very big, strong, and scrappy fish break my line off before I could see them too.
Finally, I threw on a smaller hook, and sure enough I caught another huge eel. I was using my normal catfish gear and haven't had a 4/5 pound fish break me off... These were pretty tough eels.
Before the sun went down I caught a couple little bass on plastics. They were about a pound each.
The white catfish aren't active yet.
Good easy, local trip after my kid's little league.
swill17 -- You should be fine fishing Waltham. I didn't know about the fish kill... Again tonight, I caught loads of bullheads and not a single white catfish. The ratio is usually 60/40 white cats to bullheads. Perhaps they were part of the kill and the bullheads weren't.
What areas of the charles had a fish kill? I was planning on spending some good time off waltham
Very little grass so far. I had about 3 or four visits down there and only caught a single yellow perch until yesterday. I didn't know about the fish kill... ouch.
Yuck! Better you than me. Has the grass started growing down there yet? I have been out there 4 times this year and its been slow. Said I wasn't going back until I could throw a frog. Also, there was a big winter fish kill on that stretch this winter. Saw so many big dead bass and catfish after ice out.