Nice cats frank. And
T
Thekid
that is a great bass. I have only caught 2 bass on red worm plastics, about 13cm each.
I also want to put some dates on the calender with dad for fishing, probably for carp since i need to catch on bigger than 7lbs.
I might also try and talk my dad into travelling to the east part of SA (near the kruger park) for some Tiger fishing in December or next year December for my 16th
Do you guys have any tips for catfish? I want to try and catch some baber(sharptooth)
Best advice I can give since I obviously never been to South Africa for ANY predatory fishing, is to take a long careful look at your local streams and study the food chain. As you look around , flipping rocks and logs and debris to examine the local crustaceans and arthropods and insect larvae, cast your Ultra-light rod and reel combo (which you should have brought with you
) equipped with some of the tiniest hooks you can find and itty-bitty pieces of earthworms on it (BB-sized spilt shot optional for distance) and see what/how many of the local bait fish you can catch on this set-up.
It would be best if you did this in tributaries of the rivers or lakes you will be fishing for the Sharp-tooth Catfish or Tigerfish, as they will be more likely to strike a baitfish or prey item they are used to seeing regularly. Bring several buckets or containers to collect bait so it doesn't get stressed or eaten by other species, for instance crayfish and crabs should be kept in a different bucket than minnows, amphibians (or larvae) or Nymphs, and you can keep a sturdy plastic Rubbermaid tub at home w/ aeration and/or filtration to keep your bait accessible any time you feel like fishing.
Some species like crabs will drown (YES DROWN) if you keep them in water with no oxygen, but they can live 10X longer just sitting ON a bag of ice( do not remove the ice from the bag), no liquid or just keep them in a container lined with wet paper towels and some dead fish carcasses to feed on.
Since Catfish typically patrol the bottom or near the bottom, a drift or bottom rig done with a 3-way swivel, dipsey or bank sinker and a hook will work for you.
The line that connects the sinker should be considerably lighter than you main line so if you get snagged, you can break it off and not lose the entire rig, or more importantly - a fish. The only difference in rigs is that on a BOTTOM RIG, the sinker is connected to the 3-way swivel with 12" of line while the hook is connected with 18" (roughly, adjust measurement according to vegetation or bottom-type) while on the DRIFT RIG, it is the opposite. If bottom-feeders and scavengers are a problem and steal your bait, a small float can be placed a few inches above the hook to keep it off the bottom (Santee rig).
The other alternative for a clean bbottom such as sand, mud, silt, gravel, etc would be a Carolina rig, which entails a slip-sinker (bullet or egg) place above a standard barrel-swivel which is in turn tied to an 18"-24" length of line which has the hook at the other end. This is more effective on finicky, spooky species that are easily frightened or drop the bait when they feel resistance - the amount of line connecting the swivel to the hook determines how far off the bottom your bait will be suspended and by placing the slip sinker above the swivel, this permits the fish to take the bait and run with it and no limit is put on how far it can go as the sinker just stays on the bottom and the lines simply slides right through it as the fish pulls.
Modified versions include the use of a 3-way swivel instead, but TWO lines with hooks instead of 1. Again, the slip-sinker is placed on the line to slide freely above the 3-way swivel. This is especially effective if you would like to try 2 different bait presentations on the same rod, or suspend 2 of the SAME baits, but at different depths to find the fish.
As long as it is within your country/state/province rules, several rods should be used with as many different offerings and rigs until you figure out which one they prefer most, or if you are catching 3 different species on 3 different rigs and baits, have a little fun and keep going for diversity.
Good luck!