Entry 65-3

Billy Blakely On How To Catch More Catfish On Strike King Catfish Bait

Doughing Cats

Editor's Note: Billy Blakely, a guide on Reelfoot Lake in northwest Tennessee, is a member of Strike King’s professional guide service, and is known as the “Cat Master.” Throughout most of the year, Blakely can produce a hundred pounds of catfish or more every day he fishes. For the next five days, Blakely will tell us all how to catch more cats on Strike King’s catfish bait.

Blakely: Another technique that we use to catch cats at Reelfoot Lake is to fish with Strike King’s Catfish Dough, either in real thick cypress trees or in really thick lilypads. Early in the morning we fish the lilypads. Then as the sun comes up, we move into the thick cypress where the fishermen and the catfish find shade.

I like a No 4/0 hook when I’m fishing Strike King’s Catfish Dynamite Dough. I’ll be using my 7-foot rod and 20-pound-test line because I need that power to get the cat out of the lilypads and out of the cypress roots. I’ll have a half-ounce sinker up the line above a barrel swivel with a 1-1/2- to 2 feet of leader. We usually can fill up a 48-quart cooler before dinnertime using this technique.

Because no one commercial fishes for catfish on Reelfoot Lake, we have a huge number of channel cats in the lake. We seem to see more and more catfish there every year. We also have a real good crop of flathead cats in the lake. If there ever was a cat fisherman’s dream lake, then Reelfoot’s it.

To contact Blakely and to fish at Blue Bank Resort, write Rt. 1, Box 970, Tiptonville, TN 38079 or call (901) 253-6878. You can also visit them on the web at www.bluebankresort.com or e-mail them at fish@bluebankresort.com.

Next: Old-Timey Cat Catching

Contents:

• Part 1: Dynamite Cats
• Part 2: Bites and YoYos
• Part 3: Doughing Cats
• Part 4: Old-Timey Cat Catching
• Part 5: Load The Boat